Arm & Hammer / laundry detergent

Arm & Hammer / laundry detergent

Consumer follow-up message - February 11, 2005 - From: Email User Consumer

Well, you will never guess what? After I sent this long complaint to you last night, I received an e-mail from Church & Dwight today stating that they would send a replacement coupon. They did not apologize though. Only time will if they will actually send a replacement coupon - they said they would two other times but did not follow through.

Thank you for having this service. It is a great way to vent and get closure even if the consumer problem does not get resolved.

PMR

Company:

Arm & Hammer

A division of Church & Dwight

Princeton NJ

My complaint is not only about the cheap packaging of Arm & Hammer laundry detergent, it is about the company that makes it - that company being Church & Dwight.

I am the type of consumer that will always contact a company when a product does not meet my expectations or the standards set forth by the company based on its advertising. I found out that so many products made by Church & Dwight were unsatisfactory, and in my opinion, fell well below their own personal claims. Apparently, they realized that I had this opinion (based on their files) and they treated me unfairly because of this discovery.

My latest complaint to Church & Dwight was about their Arm & Hammer laundry detergent. I had a bottle of it that was stored in my closet. The plastic bottle cracked on its own without being disturbed. Some of the contents of the bottle leaked out onto my wall-to-wall carpet. Since the laundry detergent was a bright blue color, it stained my tan carpet. Despite my best efforts to remove the stain, I could not. I had to call Service Master to come to my home and steam clean the carpet. They had a difficult time getting out the stain as well as all of the soap.

I called Arm & Hammer Customer Service Dept. (Church & Dwight) to let them know what happened. They asked me to send the entire bottle of laundry detergent to them. They did not want me to empty the bottle but to send it as it was with the remaining detergent in it. The person who helped me at the Post Office thought that was the most ridiculous thing she ever heard (as far as a company request). I agree.

In exchange for me sending back this cracked bottle of laundry detergent with its remaining contents, their customer service department told me that I was to get a replacement coupon for the laundry detergent. Even though I did exactly what they asked of me, the company did not send that coupon. Not only did they not send it, but when I called to check on that coupon, I was told that if I ever have any complaints in the future that they will listen but not do anything about it. To add insult to injury, they did not even respond to an online letter I sent to them that expressed my disappointment in the entire situation.

Again, I admit that I called Church & Dwight other times to complain about other products but I did not even realize that these products were all made by them. I did not do this deliberately - I was being an honest and forthright consumer. I feel that it is the responsibility of all consumers to complain when a product does not perform well. I feel that It is also good to compliment a company when a product proves to be fantastic. I did not know that I would be penalized for doing what I considered the right thing to do.

I hope this write-up helps consumers as well as other businesses. Consumers may now know what may happen if they call this company with a complaint....other businesses may be able to see what NOT to do if a consumer writes or calls with a complaint.

Sincerely,

PMR

Click this link to e-mail the above consumer: Email User Consumer

Comment On This

My wife has been trying to find a store that carrys Arm and Hammer HE laundry detergent in our area but have had no luck, we can find A & M detergents but not the HE. We want to try your product but can't find it. We live in the zip code area of 21157. Can you direct us were to look. We have tried Walmart with no luck.