Customer Service Case Study: Natural Balance

Creative Commons photo courtesy of smiteme

If you are a dog owner, you’re probably aware of the massive dog food recall that has been going on for the past couple of weeks.

We feed our dogs Natural Balance, both their food and their treats products¹.

Dog food from various brands were recalled after a salmonella-tainted batch of food was made in a South Carolina plant.

The dog food recall has not affected Natural Balance, but they participated in a voluntary recall of their products and even posted a video from their president.

We had just bought a large 25-pound bag of dog food before news of the voluntary recall came out. We wondered what we should do with the food we had just purchased.

So my wife emailed Natural Balance and asked just that.

In response, we got an apology and a coupon for a free bag of dog food. We didn’t ask for it. But they sent it anyway.

As always, good customer service can enhance brand loyalty. That’s the lesson I’m taking away from our customer service with Natural Balance.

^{1 As proponents of the buy local philosophy, we had our dogs on Fromm Family Foods, a Wisconsin company, but switched back to Natural Balance because the food was too rich for one of our dogs. (He has a sensitive stomach.)}