Hi, Joe,
 
First, thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.  I really do
appreciate it, and it says something very good about your company.  I've
copied the FML on this because our discussion has been there up until
now, and I do want to be fair to your company, including complimenting
you when you deserve it.
 
The reason you can't find my account is because it is under the name of my
housemate, Keith Barringer.  We used his credit card the first time rather
than mine, and have done so ever since.  The order in question was not our
most recent, but one a few months ago.  We actually were down to the last
of our food and had to run to Discount Pet (which back then, at our old
address, was very inconvenient) and buy a five pound bag of TF to hold us
over, and mixed it with TFS samples we had gotten from you to stretch it.
At the time we had two rescues in the house in addition to our eight, and
ten ferrets can go through food pretty fast.  (Our ferrets like your food
just fine, BTW, except for the ever-so-picky Adric.) Keith expressed
frustration because he was not informed of a backorder and had to call to
find out the order had not shipped.  You used to ship almost right away,
and this year there always seems to be some delay.  As I said in my
original post, it's still within reason, but your company used to be just
incredible at getting stuff out fast.
 
I understand shipping heavy items, like our typical four bag order of
Yesterday's News, is expensive.  I also understand that you are passing on
your costs to us.  I still feel I have a right to be frustrated about the
price increase.  When you, like everyone in this area, briefly dropped
the product, we tried other things again, including the Celsorb stuff you
were selling.  What a disaster!  Keith wrote to your company expressing
disappointment that you had dropped the product, and your folks said it
was back due to customer demand.  The thing is, at that point, the price
jumped by $2-$3 per bag all at once.  That did seem like quite a bit to us.
 
I also understand that pet stores don't have to deal with outbound shipping
costs.  This is one of the reasons I make a point of supporting good pet
supply stores that don't sell animals, like Discount Pet.  I feel we, as
consumers, are best off buying locally and supporting local businesses.
 
If it is any consolation, we don't buy ferret supplies online from anyone
else.  I think you'll find that Keith and I have been loyal customers for
quite some time.  However, I do think that it's only right and natural to
look at alternatives when costs go up.  I also think it's only natural to
be a bit disappointed when we were used to a very high level of service
and that drops off some.
 
Regards,
Caity Martin
 
p.s.:  We'll be ordering more litter this evening.
p.p.s.: Any chance of getting you to carry Kenic Ferret Gleem shampoo?
Our local stores have dropped it, and while the Nature's Miracle we bought
from you is good at keeping odor down, the Kenic product is even better.
[Posted in FML issue 3510]