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SmartPak: An Ode to Customer Service & Horse Welfare

5/3/2016

10 Comments

 
It's widely known how AHH-MAZING the customer service is at SmartPak.

If you've ordered anything from their quality selection of products and for whatever reason it didn't work out or you had questions, you can attest to the amazingness of the SmartPak employees.

If you've never ordered from them -- you're missing out! -- but I'm sure you've heard your barn friends talk, tweet and post rave reviews. 

However, a recent interaction with the SmartPak team went above and beyond anything I could have expected.
A week into owning my new Thoroughbred hunter, The Wow Factor, he was shod at my barn. And with how horses go, within a day of getting his new kicks, he pulled his front right shoe. We are doing a little bit of a correction (TB feet, amiright?) and his shoes are a little wider than his hoof currently. Add that to his not-so-graceful self and I knew bell boots may be something to consider. 

So I ordered these from SmartPak.
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Heavy Duty Bell Boots by SmartPak
Wow wore these for a few days. And I mean a few days - I first put the bell boots on the evening of Friday April 8, and by Sunday morning April 10 they rubbed the back of his pastern to the point his left front swelled.

Upon a further look, his left front fetlock and slightly above was swollen and he was a little sensitive to the touch where the bell boots rested on his leg. After removing the bell boots I noticed some rubbing & irritation to the rear of his pastern. He was lame for about a day and has been fine since no longer wearing the bell boots.

I didn't think much of it after I had determined the cause of the swelling. A few days later I get an email from SmartPak asking me to review my purchase.

​Here's what I posted on April 26:
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Ok, I'm all for reviewing a product honest and truthfully. If you don't like it, say you don't like it, but avoid being mean and degrading. 

These bell boots were, as the product name implies, heavy duty. I loved the velcro on/off for ease. They seemed like a good quality product, that unfortunately didn't work for my horse. I spoke with a few of my barn mates who mentioned their horses didn't like the velcro and some that have worn them for quite a while with no issues.

I wrote this to give my honest opinion and I believe I did so with grace and tact. I said what I didn't like about them and why, but also praised them for appearing to be good quality and value. I wrote this without discourse or attitude or expecting anything.

Like I said earlier, Wow hasn't had an issue *knock on wood* since no longer wearing the bell boots.

Fast forward a few days to April 29. I get another email from SmartPak.
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Along with this note came a laundry list of questions about Wow (breed, age, weight), info about the incident, his health prior to and since the incident, his nutrition and any supplements he's fed, etc., etc. 

I of course was more than happy to help. I answered all of their questions in as much detail as I could. 

About 20 minutes after I sent in my answers, I get this reply. 
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I was quite taken aback by this. I was not upset that they caused an incident, did not call to complain, nor did I write a scathing review. 

The last thing I was expecting was to get money back for the bell boots.

Aaaaannnd, Jessica was so nice and addressed Wow by name, wished him well and told me to give him an extra pat when I saw him next!

In my mind, and I hope in yours, this interaction with SmartPak just takes them, their business, their staff and their customer service to a whole new level! I'm a SmartPak customer for life!
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This couldn't be more true!
Happy riding,
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10 Comments
Emily link
5/3/2016 03:14:57 pm

I have to say - I have had similar experiences with SmartPak. I reached out to them about their new fabric on the Piper breeches because one pair my old ones were really wearing after a year of very hard use. I asked if the new ones held up any better.

I got a review from a SmartPak team member, who had tried the pants and had really liked them. After I sent pictures of the damage of my old Pipers, she offered to send me a pair of the new type for half off. I can't wait to try them, and I ended up getting an awesome deal on the new pants!

Reply
AdultAmmyStrong
5/3/2016 03:19:44 pm

Awesome! Let me know how they are!

They go above and beyond to make sure their customers and their customer's horses are happy & healthy!

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Kara
5/3/2016 03:57:24 pm

I have had similar experiences with them. A few actually, but the best one was when after 6 months of using their hoof supplement my horses feet were getting worse and they refunded me most of what I had spent on the supplement for 6 months! I also had them refund pants that had gotten pillie (spelling, pils?) And when I had bought boots for my horses to try because i wasn';t sure which would fit and protect where he needed they told me just to let him go in the different ones a couple times and sent them back clean for a full refund. So i was able to get boots the properly protected his leg!! They are the best!

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AdultAmmyStrong
5/3/2016 03:59:12 pm

Fantastic! It's great to have such support from a company!

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Christy Fleener link
5/4/2016 06:01:18 pm

Wow! That is wonderful news. What a great company! I haven't had a lot of interaction with them but I've never heard anything bad about the company. I definitely will be more encouraged to buy from them now!

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AdultAmmyStrong
6/15/2016 04:08:07 pm

You will NOT be disappointed -- even if the product doesn't work for you or your horse!

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Raquel link
5/5/2016 12:17:54 pm

I've heard great things about SmartPak too. It was so nice of them to give you your money back unexpectedly. It's the companies that go out of there way that you will remember.

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Tracy - Fly On Over link
6/15/2016 02:36:03 pm

I've always found SmartPak to be helpful and accommodating. They're my first stop for anything horse related and I continue to be a loyal customer for exactly this reason!

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AdultAmmyStrong
6/15/2016 04:06:58 pm

Absolutely Tracy! This just went above and beyond in my mind and I'm forever a SmartPak ambassador!

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Tracy link
8/23/2016 02:23:38 pm

I really love SmartPak -- their customer service is top notch and their house brand of products are typically REALLY great, especially for the price!

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