Swanson Vitamins, Fargo, ND - poor experience with customer service

# 9 for April 17, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on April 16, 2003:

From: John Smith [Email User]

RE: Swanson Vitamins, Fargo, ND - poor experience with customer service

Email User

COMPLAINTS.COM, PLEASE SEND THIS TO ABOVE E-MAIL AND ALSO POST IT ON YOUR SITE SO THAT OTHERS MAY BE WARNED of my situation.

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 16, 2003 TO:

Swanson Vitamins

P.O. Box 2803

Fargo, ND 58108 FROM:

John Smith

Wilson, NC 27896

Email User RE: PLANETFEEDBACK REFERENCE NUMBER 1996636 To Whom It May Concern: I have been a customer for a couple of years and you have a good catalog and good prices. Your problem is you have NO customer service, in my experience. Several months ago I was having problems with an on line order, so I e-mailed your customer care and after three days, received no response, I again e-mailed them and told them if this was the way they felt I would buy from someone else. I then finally got a reply telling me how busy they were and I was being impatient. I did not think so, so I bought from another company. After a period of time I realized that maybe I had been a little hasty and that maybe there had been an unforseen problem. I told them I would try again to be their customer and placed an order. Also stated that the next time I needed customer service, that I would expect a little better service. A time after that I placed an order and after a week, had heard nothing about my order, I e-mailed them and got a reply and was told that my credit card did not go through. I checked the info and found that I had mistakenly put the wrong expiration month down. Your people had sat on this order for an entire week and had not contacted me at all, even though they had my address, phone number, and e-mail address. Even though I was a little unhappy that they did not try to contact me, I realized that it was my fault for the wrong expiration date so went along with the order. Over time I placed more orders and got them ok. The last order I placed was for a new item that I had never used before. When I received the item, the directions on the bottle were completely than direction shown on Swanson's web site. I then e-mailed your customer care and stated the differences and asked for clarification. Your site said to take on empty stomach, 20 minutes prior to a meal, but the bottle said to take with a meal. I thought that this could be important and wanted to clear this up before starting to take the product. Three days later I had heard nothing from Swanson, so I e-mailed Natrol (the product maker) and had a reply back with the hour. They told me the bottle I had was an old product and had an outdatedd label on it, and told me how to take it. I then e-mailed your people and blew them out for not helping me with an important issue. They e-mailed me back and again told me I was being impatient, and that it had only been three days. Even with this reply, saying I was impatient and it had only been three days, they still did not an answer to my question. Apparently they never would have given me any help. This to me is NOT satisfactory. All through your catalogs you have so called excerpts from your satisfied customers saying how great your company is. All I can say is, that if these letters are real (and I have my doubts) then none of these people needed any customer service. I then wrote you Mr Swanson, a letter advising you of this very poor service, and sent the letter to you three weeks ago. You did not even care enough to answer my letter. Now I can see why your employees do not care for their customers. Frankly, I guess I'm not surprised by this latest problem because I've been very dissatisfied in the past. I definitely won't be a repeat customer of yours, and I definitely won't recommend you to people I know. Here's what I think Swanson Vitamins should do: I do not want anything for myself, and this I told you in my letter.

Also your web site, says if you have any questions or problems, e-mail our customer care and we have an answer for you "right away".

Right Away? What does that mean Mr. Swanson? It certainly does not mean to you and your people as to what it means to most other people. Warning to others, be careful when ordering vitamins. There are a lot of other companies out that will give you good service and help you when you need it. I am not looking for a response now. You had your chance. Only want to show others how your company operates and the attitudes allo of you seem to have, in my personal experience. Sincerely,

Email User

Comment On This

I actually know someone who works for Swanson Health Products and he just so happens to be a business ethics teacher at a local business college that I attend. I love Swansons and I have never had a problem with either of their products or services. On the other hand, I have never ordered thier products online, I just go to the store downtown.

Comment On This

Swanson Vitamins has been my favorite for years - they were recommended to me by a friend of mine who had used them for years before this.

I have had a couple of issues with them over the years. Once I received a bottle with the lid damaged and broken off on one side. About a year before that, one of the coconut oil jars had leaked a little in the warm weather.

As with ALL companies - I NEVER email with a concern. I ALWAYS CALL -- This has been my experience , if you call and speak politely to a (real person), things get taken care of immediately and to your satisfaction. Get the person's name when you call , repeat it and write it down. Emails are too impersonal. Each of my problems were taken care of immediately - the customer service people are courteous and helpful -

They replaced the bottle of supplements with the damaged lid immediately, no charge.

I called regarding the coconut oil and explained - they sent me another container right away - absolutely no charge.

The friend of mine that recommended Swanson's to me had a couple of incidents, but again, she called and they were taken care of to her satisfaction too. I tell everyone who will listen about them, because their prices are fantastic.

Yes, we want to think that emails are answered and carefully screened - but one on one speaking with someone is the best idea. I don't email any one with a complaint , unless they have no phone number. If they have no phone number, then I would think twice about doing business with them.

Swansons prices are so low and they have so many different things to choose from, I am happy we have a company to order from that I can afford. Sorry you had problems, but everyone I know , just gives a quick phone call and things get settled right away. Try it , it works !