Smartpak issues resolved

[TatteredDaydreamer]

[QUOTE=french fry;7958092]
Are all Smartpak bridles HK? I don’t think either the Plymouth or Plymouth Elite are.

Honestly, my initial impression of my Plymouth Elite was, “oh, great. a plastic bridle.” but after reading all the good reviews I was hopeful that it would break in softer since it is really attractive with the monocrown and padding. Instead I got the dye rubbing off of the reins.

I got mine in March '14. It gets used about twice or three times a week and is cleaned literally after every ride.

ETA: I also recently purchased their house brand lined stirrup leathers and it’s actually sort of amazing how awful they are. They look like rubber and they are so bulky that they’ve actually bruised my legs. People refuse to ride in my saddle because of them. Again, I chalked this up to a, “don’t buy cheap sh!t, french fry” thing and never complained or returned them. I think I will be hitting up Dover for inexpensive leather items going forward.[/QUOTE]

My bridle experience has been exactly the same and I have the Elite too. The leather sucks and while I do love the padding and monocrown, the leather sucking is sort of a huge deal to me.

[Trevelyan96]

I’ve been growing frustrated with the constant website updates that make it harder and harder to change the contents and shipping dates of my SmartPaks. I did send an email to them to that effect. They responded with instruction on how to change my SmartPaks, but by the time I need to do it again, I’m sure there will be yet another website change that will leave me frustrated again.

[Donnie_Steele]

Hello fellow COTHERs! On behalf of everyone at SmartPak, I wanted to take a moment to comment on the gutting, but invaluable, feedback from this thread. By ways of a quick introduction, my name is Donnie Steele and I head up the Marketing team at SmartPak and have proudly been a SmartPaker for 7+ years.

Shipping Speed
One of the big concerns that I read was in regard to slipping of shipping times over the past couple of weeks. I can absolutely attest to the fact that we have not been good. Where we are usually 99% on-time each and every day, we got behind over Christmas and New Year’s, which we were days off for the team. Even after running two full shifts and maxing out overtime (maxing out in terms of number of people that can operate in the warehouse, not because of some artificial financial cap) it took us longer than expected to catch up.

I am so profoundly sorry for our slowness. We view fast shipping speed as being synonymous with great customer service and have reinforced our Operations team so we don’t have to worry about an issue like this happening again. We are just about back to normal – meaning orders placed today, ship today.

Change in Ownership
A couple of posters questioned if the change in ownership was having a negative effect on how SmartPak operates. I can proudly and defiantly say we haven’t and aren’t changing in any way for our new partners – and they don’t want to change us either!

At the end of the day, everyone involved with SmartPak recognizes that the only way we are successful is if we stay focused on our riders – you are our stakeholders… you are what keeps our us going each and every day! To hopefully alleviate further concerns about our new partners, we still have the exact same management team. That means the folks that are responsible for our customer service and all of our product innovation are still here, doing what they do best – serving you.

Product Quality
Along the course of the thread, I saw a couple of notes regarding the quality of our bridles. The SmartPak line of bridles – Plymouth, Harwich and Wellfleet bridles remain amongst our most popular in the company. But we recognize that just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s perfect. We have a lot of controls and QC practices to ensure our products match our exact specifications before they ever make it to your door. Your concerns raised here are forcing a fresh look on our QC processes so that we can be flawless. And of course, if any of our products ever fail to meet your expectations, we will always stand behind our 100% Happiness Guarantee. That said, I would pick up the point made earlier that while we try to go above and beyond in making mistakes right, our goal is always to be in a mode of proactively pursuing excellence.

Thank you
Lastly, I want to thank all of you that have commented on this thread and shared your experiences. While not fun to read, your ongoing feedback is critical to us building a truly world class equestrian experience for you, our beloved riders. Please know that our Customer Care team is always here for you. Moreover, if there’s any feedback you’d like to share directly with me, please feel free to email directly at dsteele@smartpak.com.

Again, THANK YOU!

Donnie Steele
dsteele@smartpak.com

[french_fry]

Update: Smartpak resolved the issue I described in my OP independently of this thread (I don’t want anyone thinking I strongarmed Donnie! :lol:) I emailed customer service directly, got a swift response, and while there wasn’t a whole lot they could do to go back in time and prevent my gift from being late/ incorrectly personalized, they did send me a replacement extremely quickly.

It sounds like the holiday season was crazy and I am willing to give them another chance on the shipping. I will wait and see what happens regarding the leather quality.

[asb_own_me]

Thanks for posting, Donnie.

[sabinomare]

Thanks for being honest, Donnie! We all appreciate it

[TWH_Girl]

Ok, I’m still yours, SP. My supplements came today, and pony thanks you, while Mom added something to her cart already for next month. :yes:

[quietann]

I’ve always had great experiences with SmartPak. I haven’t ever ordered their in-house brand gear (tack, clothing etc.) though.

On the shipping issue: it so happens that I had mail ordered from several different companies around the holidays and the orders ALL took longer than usual to get to me. There was some bad weather in there and also many people taking 4-day weekends for Xmas and New Years. I chalk it up to sh*t happens…

[Sticky_Situation]

I’ve never had anything but good experiences with SmartPak so far. I don’t consider shipping taking a couple days longer than usual to be a big deal.

I have one of the SmartPak Plymouth bridles and I would say the quality is as good or better than I would expect for the price range. It’s not the world’s softest or most beautiful leather, but it has held up well with regular use.

[PletchersMom]

I still love smartpak even though they started charging sales tax for the state you live in. Boooo

[pattnic]

[QUOTE=PletchersMom;7960714]
I still love smartpak even though they started charging sales tax for the state you live in. Boooo[/QUOTE]

Wait, when did this happen?

[tinyrider]

FWIW, I just yesterday had an excellent customer service experience with SmartPak. I had ordered some supplements for my pony, and he wouldn’t eat them. I emailed SmartPak and they issued me a refund and are sending me a trial version of the pelleted form of supplement to see if pony will eat that. The response was prompt and very polite, so I certainly have no complaints. Now if they could just give me a surefire way to get my pony to actually EAT the supplement, then they would have a customer for life!

[PletchersMom]

[QUOTE=pattnic;7961110]
Wait, when did this happen?[/QUOTE]

Nationwide impacted as of 1/1/15. All online services are impacted.

[superD]

I have also noticed that they have been taking a lot longer to ship things out. My Smartpaks were really late ( my horse was off them almost a week before they were even delivered) and I had ordered something else that went out almost a week after I had placed the order. I was very disappointed.

ETA-- Of course I just read Donnies post. I understand the shipping issue now…

[PushersBlue]

Well done, Smartpak, thanks for the candid response as well.

I’ve loved Smartpak since I started using them 10+ years ago. When I removed my elderly gelding from my order after he passed suddenly last year, I checked off the “passed away” reason box and tried to move on. They sent me a hand-written condolence card. That alone has me as a customer for life.

All companies run into ops glitches from time to time. Glad to hear it’s a bump, not a spiral.

[simc24]

[QUOTE=PushersBlue;7961953]
I’ve loved Smartpak since I started using them 10+ years ago. When I removed my elderly gelding from my order after he passed suddenly last year, I checked off the “passed away” reason box and tried to move on. They sent me a hand-written condolence card. That alone has me as a customer for life.[/QUOTE]

My sister (and fellow rider) passed away suddenly last summer and I wanted to run my next XC with a special saddle pad for her. The text I wanted was too many characters for what they will allow you to order on the website, so I called and explained the situation, and asked if they would make an exception. The customer rep was extremely kind and accomodating. The saddle pad with the perfect embroidery landed on my doorstep just a few days later, and they unexpectedly sent it to me for free (free pad, free embroidery, free shipping).

Customer for life

[CaitlinandTheBay]

[QUOTE=Trevelyan96;7959823]
I’ve been growing frustrated with the constant website updates that make it harder and harder to change the contents and shipping dates of my SmartPaks. I did send an email to them to that effect. They responded with instruction on how to change my SmartPaks, but by the time I need to do it again, I’m sure there will be yet another website change that will leave me frustrated again.[/QUOTE]

I always call when I want to change my Paks. Yes, I hate making phone calls, but I’ve found that’s the fastest way to get it done. The only time I’ve had that fail is last summer when I called about electrolytes. The customer service person told me they’d send samples to figure out what the boys in the barn would eat- even took down my cc number for shipping. They never came, but I also wasn’t charged so no real loss.

I’m really hoping this great service continues. I got a new barn jacket for Christmas that I just hate. I hate the way it looks. I hate the way it fits. I hate the way it’s put together. I hate the embroidery. I just hate hate hate the thing. SmartPak said they’d take it back over the phone, so crossing my fingers! It is truly a repulsive jacket.

ETA: one weird shipping incident for me- I ordered a pair of rein stops late nvembr/early December. I clicked “ride along” shipping because, I mean, they’re rein stops, they’re tiny. Everything seemed to clear, but when my smartpaks got here, no rein stops! I figured they just got sent in my other order which was heading to my mother’s house (repulsive jacket from above). Then, not three days later I opened my mailbox to an 18" x 12" envelope from smartpak. Inside were the rein stops. Now, I’m happy to have gotten them but it was just a weird way to ship them. It felt like maybe somebody wasn’t paying attention, missed my two orders and then just threw them in the nearest bag and sent them. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled with their previous intentional-ness.

[pezk]

Interesting article from last yr
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/henry-schein-animal-health-enters-into-agreement-to-acquire-smartpak-expands-its-equine-offering-2014-05-22

[vxf111]

They are generally a class act. They set a high bar and usually hit it, but that means it’s extra disappointing when they don’t meet that bar

[seabreeze]

I wanted to let everyone know that SmartPak’s VP of Merchandising contacted me after reading this thread and went above and beyond to make right my issue with the SmartPak Ultimate sheet. That was totally unexpected, and I greatly appreciate it.

Just thought I’d share. Since I wasn’t hesitant to complain, I want to make sure I’m equally quick to praise. That is the SmartPak customer service I know and love.