Write It Down

I've always been a letter writer and sometimes the habit has paid off. It started when I was little and my Grandmother insisted that I write thank you notes for any gift or kindness.

It was good training, though I at times resisted. As an adult I started documenting most everything in writing. Many of those letters got filed away and eventually discarded, but a few became useful. Shortly after Rob and I were married I was diagnosed with carpel tunnel syndrome in both wrists. The doctor wouldn't operate on both at once so we scheduled surgery for six weeks apart.  The insurance company paid for the first operation completely without any complaint but they refused payment on the second wrist calling it a pre-existing condition.

I had kept all my paperwork from the doctors, the hospital and the insurance company and when they continued to balk, I sent off a well documented letter to the insurance commissioner of the state and also to the attorney general with copies to the insurance company. One month later I was informed that the bill had been paid in full.


Another time I wanted a bread maker. I loved making fresh bread but my wrists were too weak now to knead the dough. Rob bought me the exact machine I wanted and I made all our  bread, plus rolls and pizza dough. It was wonderful. Then one day it wouldn't heat up. I fired off a letter to the company along with the bill of sale and a copy of the warranty. Two weeks later I received a new bread maker. The same happened with our coffee maker.

When Rob and I moved to Maryland we bought a newly built townhouse. New construction has it's problems and though I called the contractor when we encountered one, I also sent a letter describing the problem. He was pretty good about repairing the minor things, but there was a major problem with the bay window and he refused to do anything. He stalled till the warranty period was up, then thought I'd go away. Didn't work. We hired someone else to do the work and we got written info from the new contractor and the manufacturer of the original materials and took the contractor to court. The judge looked thru all the papers I handed him and ruled in our favor. The contractor had to pay for the new window and repairs.


Yes, my desk is messy and I have a file cabinet full of receipts and letters but it has been worth it many times.

Now I feel in the interest of fairness, if I complain about something done wrong, I also need to give credit when something is handled well. I also write letters to people and companies who do a good job or treat their customers with respect.

This brings me to Chewy.com. Early in 2012 I was contacted by what was then Mr. Chewy and asked to write a review. We were sent a box containing dog food and treats and I was happy to comply. For a time with Samba's illness and other issues we were unable to purchase our food from Chewy but after a while we went back to ordering from them and doing treat reviews. Mr Andrew, who is our contact, has been wonderful to deal with and my pack loves seeing the Chewy box arrive.

Recently we purchased a product from Chewy and there was a problem with it. It wasn't a major problem, no one was at risk, but it was annoying. I contacted Andrew, explained the problem and asked who I should contact about it. He got right back to me, apologized for the problem, though the fault was with the manufacturer, not Chewy, and sent me a replacement. He put me in touch with the Customer Service manager who assured me they were checking their stock to be sure this wouldn't happen again. I've had several emails from Chewy about this and I feel reassured that they care and are truly concerned about quality.

Good job Chewy!