My horse became jittery, twirling in his stall and unmanageable in hand. That stopped when we stopped giving him the Curost supplement as recommended by the company’s vet. I stupidly bought two bags. We gave him the first bag hoping the extreme behavior changes would stop after the loading dose. But he got worse. So we discontinued after using one dose from second bag. Curost’s explanation that my horse’s system was too dry or too cold makes sense in a Chinese medicine way – it was electrifying him – but how was I too know…or you to know? Now I’m out $100 for the second bag, since they don’t stand behind their products like Smartpak, which has set the bar for customer satisfaction. Curost does not give refunds if the bag is opened. Back to Smartpak for me. Buyer beware. Read return policy first. And only order one, regardless of the enticing deal they offer.
What are the ingredients?
They list ingredients on the website, but not how much of each…
https://nouvelleresearch.com/index.php/products/all-products
Not sure which product OP was feeding…
As far as the hot or cold Chinese medicine explanation, that doesn’t make sense to me based on my understanding of science.
However, there are other explanations. He’s reactive to one of the herbs. Is there a stimulant? Or one of the herbs is causing pain. Or he’s feeling better and this is his real self. Or it’s the winter sillies.
I wouldn’t expect to be able to return feed or supplements. I wouldn’t want to buy a feed or supplement that had gone home to an uncontrolled environment and been returned and then sold to me. Also you opened up the second bag and expect a return from a small company?
I expect Smartpak has huge volumes and can afford to eat a certain amount of returns and refunds. Also they will likely be able to sell you something else.
I don’t see a customer service fail here. However it’s not the kind of product or concept that interests me so I’m unlikely to be shopping there anyhow.
Smartpak only will refund their own products, not supplements in general.
I just spoke to a rep from SmartPak. They do refund or credit you if your horse has what they call an “adverse effect” to any supplement they sell. This is a company that excels in customer satisfaction. On the other hand, when I contacted Curost during the loading dose and said my horse was having issues, they did not tell me to discontinue and/or return the second bag, which I wish they would have because I could have returned the second bag. Now I can’t return it because it was opened. Had I bought it from Smartpak, I could have returned it.
I go to a doctor who specializes in Chinese medicine, so I understand the explanation. And it makes sense. However, before my doctor prescribes herbal and mushroom remedies (much of the same things in the Curost product), she reads my pulses, examines my tongue and conducts a lengthy interview. It was not the winter sillies, it stopped when the supplement stopped and it’s a lot colder now. We will have to agree to disagree about customer service. One of the reasons Smartpak is so successful is because customers know they stand behind their products.
Hi! I’m not sure who you are responding to w respect to customer service…my horse had an adverse reaction to a chasteberry product not made by Smartpak. When I called, I was told that was unfortunate but there was nothing they could do or offer. I still buy things from them, but this was my personal experience.
IME think this is the default return policy so I wouldn’t expect to be told not to open an edible product I might want to return. Companies that allow you to return opened packages of things they then won’t be able to resell are the exception rather than the norm. I believe generous return policies are more common among larger businesses too, because they are more able to absorb losses like that. What does the return policy on their website say?
I’m curious which product you tried. Would you be comfortable sharing that? Thank you. I use one of the products-Adapt and Calm EQ with no problems. In fact, my horse’s insulin levels historically have been the lowest when he’s been on that so I was looking at other things they offer. Thank you!
I have an update…I’ve been waiting for my product to come from them over two weeks. USPS tracking provides no information. I called to check on it and was really disappointed in the response. The website now says they are having trouble w shipping and you should request UPS to be sure your product arrives in a timely manner. I ordered by phone, and that problem was not mentioned to me. The person I spoke w was a different person I’ve always worked w, so maybe that’s part of the problem.
I think it’s pretty common knowledge that USPS is suffering massive delays? It’s been in the news for months. Right now I’m not shipping anything important by USPS and if I did for some reason I’d insure for full value. I also asked to pick up some tax documents that are usually mailed to me.
I’ve had two packages disappear into the “in transit” abyss recently. One surfaced after about 7 or 8 days of being in an unknown location, and was then delivered. With any luck that will happen to yours, @NaturallyHappy. The second has been “in transit” with no known location for 11 days now. I contacted that seller and they immediately shipped a replacement for free. Hopefully one of them will make it to me eventually!
I had a cell phone cover shipped 12/4/2020 that arrived 1/11/2021 and a Christmas card from my father that mailed 12/17/2020 that arrived 1/9/2021. USPS is taking forever.
