LitterMaid Litterbox Problem (long+detailed)
Scott
Since LitterMaid just returned my phone call from this past Monday (4
days later) it appears they will not honor their warranty in an
acceptable manner, so I am posting this one day early. FWIW,
LitterMaid never did acknowledge my letter to their WEB page
(addressed to testim...@littermaid.com and in...@littermaid.com). I
did tell the customer service person about the letter I wrote and she
could care less - they were not interested in a resolution.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy of letter sent on 9/9/97 to LitterMaid's WEB page:
I am sending you this letter in hopes of getting an acceptable
warranty/replacement for my LitterMaid (TM) litterbox which has
malfunctioned. Please take the time to read the below letter and
contact me at your earliest convenience. The following letter will be
posted Friday, September 5th to the internet if I do not receive a
reply. Please acknowledge the receipt of this letter by e-mail to
ssa...@gwis.com. My main objective is to get my LitterMaid (TM)
litterbox warrantied in a practical and acceptable manner to me, the
customer. If this cannot be accomplished my secondary objective is to
let other LitterMaid owners and potential customers know how your
warranty policy works and let them decide if it suits their needs.
Letter as follows:
After recommending the LitterMaid (TM) automatic litterbox for almost
a year now and the frequency of people looking for information about
the litterbox I thought I would post my experience. About a year ago I
purchased the LitterMaid (TM) litterbox as a Christmas gift for my
wife and myself. Because of the high price tag ($200) of this item it
was one of those purchases that was not easily justified. Because we
had a puppy that was 2 months old we thought this may be the ticket to
keep her from helping herself to the litterbox for goodies (dogs do
this - especially puppies).
We placed the LitterMaid (TM) litterbox in the place of the old
litterbox and everything seemed to work great! Since it automatically
turns and cleans the box after the cat has done their business it
worked really well to limit the “window of opportunity” for the puppy
to get into the litterbox for some treats (again don’t ask - puppies
do this sort of thing - yes its gross). After almost a year of
operation we have been thrilled about the LitterMaid’s performance and
it has worked very well. A side benefit is never having to come home
to a “bombed” cat box which has been sitting for 8 hours, the
LitterMaid (TM) cleans itself about 10 minutes after the cat has done
the business.
About a week ago the LitterMaid (TM) litterbox began to malfunction.
The LitterMaid (TM) began to run continuously back and forth without
stopping in its rest position. It has also apparently lost its
ability to reverse if it encounters a heavy load (like your cat in the
box). It continues to run the cat right out of the box (a somewhat
dangerous situation if the cat gets caught in the box). Still under
warranty I was not overly concerned, but I tried the usual cleaning of
the guides and sensors, but this did not help fix the problem. My next
step was to call LitterMaid’s customer service and have the unit
repaired.
Apparently they do not fix the units but rather replace them (which
seems logical for health and bacterial reasons). To my dismay I found
out how the LitterMaid’s warranty actually works. You send in your
defective unit (paying shipping) and a $20 check to have them send you
a replacement. Meanwhile during this time period you are stuck with
no cat box! We didn’t keep our old litterbox (as used litterboxes and
not the most desirable items to store) so this means we would also
have the expense and hassle of getting a temporary litterbox
replacement. After talking to the customer service representative
explaining that I found this warranty arrangement somewhat
unacceptable I was told its their policy. For a $200 litterbox I
would have expected MUCH BETTER warranty service. I then asked if they
could give me a RMA (Return to Manufacturer Authorization) number and
send me the new LitterMaid (TM) litterbox and I would send them back
the defective unit when I received the replacement with the RMA
attached, offering my credit card number as security to charge me in
the event I did not comply with sending the defective unit back. Again
I was told its not their policy. I’m not sure of the origin of
LitterMaid’s “policy”, but it does not appear to be very customer
oriented.
So at this point I am sending this letter to LitterMaid’s customer
service in an final attempt to get the warranty service that I
require. If the result is less than acceptable (which if you are
reading this it has been unacceptable) I will have posted this message
to the following newsgroups so that others may benefit from my
experience:
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
alt.animals.felines
rec.pets.cats.misc
rec.pets.cats
rec.pets
Again to those people who I have recommended the LitterMaid (TM)
litterbox I feel the need apologize for my recommendation. I can no
longer recommend the LitterMaid (TM) litterbox because of the
malfunction which could have possibly injured my cat and also because
of the warranty process which leaves you without a litterbox while its
being replaced. The LitterMaid, it is a great and useful product, but
the warranty support is unacceptable and I now have serious doubts
about the reliability and service life of the LitterMaid since it was
less than a year old. If I do get it replaced I will be outside my
year warranty very soon and now realize if it malfunctions in the
future it will not be repairable and I will have wasted my money.
Anyone thinking about purchasing a LitterMaid should consider my
experience. If you own a LitterMaid (TM) litterbox call them and let
them know your feelings on their warranty policy - it may be you that
is required to send in your unit next and going through this hoopla.
LitterMaid (TM)
1-800-548-6243
1-800-557-9463
Thank-you for listening to all this - I hope it helps someone make
their decision.
Scott Sanderson
work ph: 440-XXX-XXXX
home ph: 440-XXX-XXXX
The below key words are for the search engines to ensure my post is
found and associated to the LitterMaid (TM) litterbox searches in the
future:
www.littermaid.com
Automatic litterbox
Automated litterbox
Windmere (TM)
Comtrad (TM)
Peter Read
On Thu, 11 Sep 1997 18:43:35 GMT, ssa...@gwis.com (Scott) wrote:
>
>Since LitterMaid just returned my phone call from this past Monday (4
>days later) it appears they will not honor their warranty in an
>acceptable manner, so I am posting this one day early. FWIW,
>LitterMaid never did acknowledge my letter to their WEB page
>(addressed to testim...@littermaid.com and in...@littermaid.com). I
>did tell the customer service person about the letter I wrote and she
>could care less - they were not interested in a resolution.
If Littermaid took that attitude in the UK, they would get slaughtered
under the Sale Of Goods Act! They would be appearing in the Small
Claims Court with alarming regularity!
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, I *was* waiting for
Littermaid to become available in the UK, I am not so sure now!!
Regards
Peter Read
mamie (Ann Horton)
Thanks for the warning. I was thinking about getting one this Christmas;
I think I'll pass, now.
Winston Henley
You may want to try and register a complaint with your local Chamber of
Commerce or Better Business Bureau. Some states have consumer offices
that can be contacted when problems like this arise, as well. I hadn't
heard about this marvel of science kitty box, but feel that your request
and your approach to the good folks at LitterMaid was quite reasonable.
Let us know if you hear anything further.
Winston
Nicole Morgan
Dear Littermaid,
I was just about to hop on the 'net and order a Littermaid cat box when I
decided to check the news groups to see if anyone else had anything about
your product, (pros, cons, etc.) I only found one posting and it was from
a man who had been very happy with the product until it broke down within
the warranty period. He told how he had to send his old one to you first
along with $20, pay for the shipping and handling, and was stuck without a
cat box until his new one arrived. He also noted that if the box ever
broke down again, it is not a mainstream product that you can take to a
repair shop, so you have wasted $200.
The reason that I am writing is because I have three cats and live in
a very small apartment and my fiancé and I are hoping your product will
eliminate the smell in our house. However, we are college students and you
have to admit that a $200 cat box is a pretty eccentric purchase. I very
much want to feel good about purchasing a Littermaid, but the terms of your
warranty have made me a little wary. I will be posting this letter to the
news groups where I found the original negative experience and I would very
much like to be able post another note saying that Littermaid was
understanding and changed the policy of their warranty.
It takes a special kind of customer to spend $200 on a cat box, and
you need to take care of those customers.
Please let me know when I can purchase your product with full
assurance that if anything ever goes wrong, you will do everything to ease
the inconvenience and help resolve the problem.
(Find the original letter on rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
alt.animals.felines, rec.pets.cats.misc, rec.pets.cats, rec.pets
jeff waldeck
Thanks for the post. I literally was going to order one next week. Now
I must reconsider. I certainly don't want to crush my babies!
Regards,
Jeffery
i...@ix.netcom.com
I think Littermaid should offer extended warranties,
such as 3-year and 5-year warranties.
A lot of people will buy these extended warranties even
if a 3-year warranty (for 2 extra years of protection)
costs $50 and a 5-year warranty costs $100.
And a lot more people will buy the Littermaid if these
warranties are available.
According the the original post, Littermaid does not
repair this product. So under the current policy if
you buy one and it breaks after a year you will have
to spend $200 over again.
I bought a printer from Comp USA for about $300 and
got a comprehensive 5-year protection plan for $89.97.
If the printer breaks they will come to my house and
repair it for me (or pick it up and send it to Epson).
Comp USA also offers carry-in printer service plans
for $29.97 (for 3 years) and $49.97 (for 5 years).
Many other household appliances that I have come with
5-year warranties at no extra cost.
Kimberly K Davis
> Many other household appliances that I have come with
> 5-year warranties at no extra cost.
And if those malfunction they don't endanger the life or health of
anyone in your home!
I should hope that for such a product where a malfunction is potentially
life threatening (to your cat anyway) a more robust warranty would be
offered as common fare!
Kimberly
John Parsons
I was considering the littermaid until I saw the posting about the
problems peopl are having with the warranty. I found the littermaid web
site through a search engine, and expressed my concern with their policy
on their "contact littermaid' page. I encourage all the people who have
read about the terrible treatment that man received to do the same. Why
put animals in danger like that, and then not make the warranty simple?
Jeanne M. Sirovatka
Personally, we've had our Littermaid box for 7 months now, and have had no
problems whatsoever. Both of our cats took to it easily. Personally, I
think that the idea of the box "crushing" cats is hard to believe; the
comb goes so slowly that it would be easy for any healthy cat to avoid
it. I think it was well worth the money.
--
Jeanne Sirovatka
Chemistry Department
Colorado State U.
jea...@lamar.colostate.edu
CRO
Personally, I think you need to take the time to read the posts
completely before you make a reply. He said his littermaid went out on
him just before the warrenty expired. That means your 7 month old
purchase may quit tomorrow. Nowhere did he say that his cat might get
"crushed", having a paw stuck in moving parts might be just a little
"dangerous" don't you think? If long posts require too much time for you
to read, you might just as well skip them.
=========================================
Remove the NO.SPAM to reply
What, me worry??" Alfred E. Newman
Please visit my homepage http://home.earthlink.net/~imntb/
I love to see the counter climb!!
i...@ix.netcom.com
CRO <im...@NO.SPAM.earthlink.net> wrote:
>Personally, I think you need to take the time to read the posts
>completely before you make a reply. He said his littermaid went out on
>him just before the warrenty expired. That means your 7 month old
>purchase may quit tomorrow. Nowhere did he say that his cat might get
>"crushed", having a paw stuck in moving parts might be just a little
>"dangerous" don't you think? If long posts require too much time for you
>to read, you might just as well skip them.
One of my cats will fiercely attack my vacuum cleaner even if
I turn it on when she's several feet away. So the Littermaid
is probably not for her.
I. Atcravi
cat
If anyone has one of those boxes they hae not been able to get
repaired, send it to me and I will see if I or one of my other
engineer friends can find the fix and return it to you. Then we ould
post a doc for the FAQ on how to fix the thing. The frustration might
get LitterMaid to actually develop a real service policy.
This may be a dumb idea but it is all I can come up with.
cat
i...@ix.netcom.com
spo...@nmia.com (sport) wrote:
>This is difficult for me to believe. I bought the first box, it broke 7
>mo later, I received a new box within 3 weeks. The part that had broken
>on the box had been improved.
>
>This box broke about 5 months later (I have 8 cats, the thing is on all
>the time so I don't consider that a sign of bad quality). I sent it in,
>it was back in two weeks, the cord which broke is now designed to be
>INSIDE and the sides are higher. As I understand it, if you send in the
>registration card for the new box, EACH BOX is guaranteed for a year.
>[...]
So you have extended your warranty by sending them
in a couple of times.
Wouldn't this kind of policy encourage people to keep
breaking their litter boxes after 11 months and have
them replaced so their warranties will never expire ?
Kathie Clark
spo...@nmia.com (sport) wrote:
>This is difficult for me to believe. I bought the first box, it broke 7
>mo later, I received a new box within 3 weeks. The part that had broken
>on the box had been improved.
>
>This box broke about 5 months later (I have 8 cats, the thing is on all
>the time so I don't consider that a sign of bad quality). I sent it in,
>it was back in two weeks, the cord which broke is now designed to be
>INSIDE and the sides are higher. As I understand it, if you send in the
>registration card for the new box, EACH BOX is guaranteed for a year. I
>have trouble understanding, given my dealings with the company, why anyone
>is having a problem It's a godsend to me, and my old cat is now entirely
>happy with the box and doesn't ever use the laundry pile anymore.
>
>The times I've called the company, I have received friendly service,
>also. None of my cats has been tangled, caught, crushed or in anyway
>bothered by the comb mechanism.
>
>This letter is so out of line with my own experience I am forced to wonder
>if I smell a troll.
Why, just because someone has an experience different from yours, does
that make them a troll? The original post had none of the earmarks of
a true troll. It was the experience of someone else -- an experience
just as valid as yours. Don't be quite so quick to condemn someone
just because they disagree. And, by the way, I don't own one of these
litter boxes, so I have no opinion one way or another.
Kathie
Send e-mail replies to kac...@pipeline.com
Scott
On Sat, 20 Sep 1997 22:36:27 -0700, spo...@nmia.com (sport) wrote:
>This is difficult for me to believe. I bought the first box, it broke 7
>mo later, I received a new box within 3 weeks. The part that had broken
>on the box had been improved.
This point was addressed in my original letter. It is unacceptable to
have to wait 3 weeks for a replacement Litterbox (that costs $200).
They could give you an RMA number (return to manufacturer), ask for a
credit card number, and send you out a new box immediately (Next day,
or Second day delivery). When the replacement litterbox arrives they
can be swapped, the defective unit placed in the original packaging
and returned, The credit card would be their assurance that if you did
not return the defective litterbox they could charge you for the
replacement litterbox.
>This box broke about 5 months later (I have 8 cats, the thing is on all
>the time so I don't consider that a sign of bad quality). I sent it in,
>it was back in two weeks, the cord which broke is now designed to be
>INSIDE and the sides are higher.
5 months later and another problem with a new box? Thats 2 months less
than your first unit - and on a "redesigned" unit? So you find the
quality acceptable having 2 replacements and being without your
LitterMaid for a total of 5 weeks during the year period you mention
above? Your LitterMaid spent almost 10% of its warranty period being
replaced. That is acceptable to you? Certainly not acceptable to me.
> As I understand it, if you send in the
>registration card for the new box, EACH BOX is guaranteed for a year. I
>have trouble understanding, given my dealings with the company, why anyone
>is having a problem It's a godsend to me, and my old cat is now entirely
>happy with the box and doesn't ever use the laundry pile.
I don't have the warranty in front of me, but as I understand it the
warranty applies for a period of 1 year from the original purchase
date. After calling LitterMaid (the 800-548-6243 number which is
apparently a company called Sultan's Consumer Service Department which
provides service for the LitterMaid) I confirmed this - the warranty
applies for a period of 1 year from the ORIGINAL purchase date.
What happens the next time your LitterMaid breaks? You are out of
warranty.
>The times I've called the company, I have received friendly service,
>also. None of my cats has been tangled, caught, crushed or in anyway
>bothered by the comb mechanism.
>This letter is so out of line with my own experience I am forced to wonder
>if I smell a troll.
I'm not sure how you could actually read my post and insinuate that it
may be a troll. As I stated in my post I was happy about the
performance and operation of my LitterMaid (until it malfunctioned).
Everything I posted was factual and applicable to anyone who owns or
is thinking abut buying a LitterMaid. Your own personal experience
with the LitterMaid supports the concerns I raised in my original
post. The only difference is that you seem to be satisfied having your
unit replaced TWICE during the warranty period and going almost 10% of
your warranty period without your LitterMaid while its in for warranty
service.
Lisa Wilder
In article <jeanne-1909...@rgfduo.chm.colostate.edu>,
jea...@lamar.colostate.edu says...
>
>In article <342196...@earthlink.net>, parson...@earthlink.net wrote:
>
>> I was considering the littermaid until I saw the posting about the
>> problems peopl are having with the warranty. I found the littermaid web
>> site through a search engine, and expressed my concern with their policy
>> on their "contact littermaid' page. I encourage all the people who have
>> read about the terrible treatment that man received to do the same. Why
>> put animals in danger like that, and then not make the warranty simple?
>
>Personally, we've had our Littermaid box for 7 months now, and have had no
>problems whatsoever. Both of our cats took to it easily. Personally, I
>think that the idea of the box "crushing" cats is hard to believe; the
>comb goes so slowly that it would be easy for any healthy cat to avoid
>it. I think it was well worth the money.
>--
>Jeanne Sirovatka
Each pet owner will need to decide if 200+ dollars is appropriate and what
chances to take with a mechanical device, but I want to second Jeanne's
opinion here. I missed the original post so if I miss anything here, sorry.
We've had our littermaid for 9 months and have had only good experiences. The
cats use it without problem. In fact, when we first got it they would sit and
watch it scoop. Now it's just part of routine and they ignore it. It keeps
the smell down and the cats seem to be happier (as evidenced by the lack of
mistakes now). Our maintenence problems have practically disappeared. We
particularly like this when we go away for the weekend - someone stops by to
feed the cats but they don't need to do anything with the litter.
The littermaid limits our litter maintenence activities to (1) Replacing the
waste container about once a week - We also check for health problems by
looking in the waste container, (2) replacing litter and disinfecting the box
(we do this monthly but you can choose), (3) refilling the litter and (4)
sometimes scraping the bottom to loosen any stuck on litter - we loosen it and
then the claw scrapes in the wastes.
We have had no problems with the company, but we also bought the box through
Comtrad which had (at the time, I don't know about now) a 90 return policy
with no questions asked. We realized that we bought too many of the plastic
refill trays and sent these back with no questions asked. In fact, we don't
even use those trays anymore since a plastic grocery bag works just as well.
As for the fear of cat entrapment - I worried about this at first since the
cats might be fascinated by it and try to play with it. From our cats'
behavior, I don't think they like to just hang around their waste dump. The
claw moves slow and it would be a freaky accident that would hurt a cat.
However, who knows and you'll need to assess the risk yourself.
I personally feel like we got a bargain with this box. Especially since I
spent 20+ dollars on one of those sifting systems that I didn't like. We
joked that we were going to charge admission to all the neighbors who wanted
to watch it in action...maybe that's an alternative.
Lisa Wilder
Simon Outhwaite
I have a friend which is interested in this andhis address is
patbe...@msn.com
In article <01bcc2f4$09f6a8a0$166802c7@papa-smurf>, nic...@open.com says...
In...@pacbell.net
rosey@?cba.bgsu.edu (Lisa Wilder) wrote:
>I don't want to get into a war on this but I had to point out what I think is
>humerous and maybe an unfair attack on a product. The author states:
>
>>Wait until it breaks, then see how you feel....I can now tell you how it
>>works and that the comb mechanism WILL self destruct in time (how much time I
>>don't know). The method they use to determine when the comb should reverse
>>will ensure it self-destructs in time. I'm sure this was not done
>>intentionally, but rather a manufacturing and design decision to reduce cost.
>
>Everything self-destructs in time...be it your car, your body, your
>education, anything I can think of. Products are not made to last forever.
>Even if making an indestructable product were possible (think about 1000's of
>years), it would be prohibitively costly and we would be worried about
>landfill problems. Design modifications may have been possible to extend the
>life of the box, but you could say the same thing about any other product
>(cars come to mind as a good example).
You can say the same thing about Maytag too but some products
just last a lot longer than others.
Many household appliances come with a five-year warranty because
the manufacturers know that their products will not break down
that easily.
>I think I understand the logic - that the product will not last long enough to
>make it worth the expenditure. That's a personal decision and I feel after 9
>months I have my money's worth already. By the way, I'll be quite now since I
>don't think we'll get past this honest difference of opinion.
>
>Lisa Wilder
If you pay about $200 for it and it lasts a little more than a year,
in the long run you will have to pay a lot more for this litter box
than for your washing machine, dryer, dishwasher and refridgerator
which come with a five-year warranty.
m...@primarycolor.com
ssa...@gwis.com (Scott) wrote:
> Lisa, as I stated in my original post I was happy with the
> LitterMaid's performance (until it broke). My problem was not with the
> litterbox breaking, but LitterMaid's poor customer service and
> warranty replacement policy. Many people have e-mailed me telling me
> that Littermaid has never responded to their e-mail directed to their
> WEB site either.
>
> As far as getting what you pay for..... I expect better service from a
> $200 litterbox which probably costs less than $35 to manufacture.
I sent email to the web site Saturday night and a reply came back this
morning. Here are my comments/observations:
You can buy an extended warranty for two more years (total 3) for $40.00.
The technician made an effort to be honest and said that the product
will not last forever. The biggest cause of breakdowns was
"abuse" of the product, shipping, and too many cats in the household.
(This poses a challenge for people with many cats. Even if you buy
more than one littermaid, how do you get them to split usage equally?)
I asked him about buying spare parts for unwarranted products. He
said that's a good idea but since the product hasn't been out that
long, they haven't gotten around to it yet.
He said his guesstimate of failure rate was about 5%.
--------
What it all boils down to is you buy an auto cat box for about $250.00
that will last at least three years with a breakdown possibly every
year or so (covered under extended warranty.) That comes out to
about $7.00 per month. I spend at least $10.00 per month on litter
so this expense doesn't seem that outrageous. Other people's
milage may vary.
In the meantime, I'd love to have a box that doesn't smell which is
why I store it out on the patio for now. Putting the box inside will
help in keeping my cats out of Coyote territory.
Mark Sobolewski
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