Amazing Customer Service from Equestrian Companies
With social media booming and online commerce being more user friendly than ever, so many great equestrian companies are sprouting up from the underbelly of the internet. Whether you like monograms, fly bonnets, supplements or tack – there’s always something new to explore.
Sometimes the thing that stands one product above the rest is the customer service experience for the consumer. I have limited dollars to spend on fun splurges, and I try to buy an experience that will leave me smiling versus frustrated. Though I’ve certainly been frustrated many times in equestrian online commerce, the following three companies have earned my business in future orders from their great communication and care for customers.
The Herbal Horse
I’m not the only one raving about this relatively new company. Several bloggers have given more indepth reviews than I’m about to on their products, so I recommend cruising around for more information. Months ago, I ordered the sample package and was extremely impressed with the packaging. With my reasonably priced order, I got a hand written note, a free lip balm and a cute little pouch of lavender. There was also a cute box that showed a fine attention to detail that made me excited to open up my purchase and smiling when I laid everything out on the table.
As for the products, I am obsessed with “Fungus Amongus”. It is great stuff! You can order your own box of all natural happiness at The Herbal Horse online store.
One Horse Threads
I’ve been obsessed with One Horse American Thoroughbred t-shirt since it debuted earlier this year. Like a patient stalker, I waited for one of their great flash sales before I pulled the trigger. My eagerly anticipated shirt arrived, but it was the wrong design! Tear. I emailed One Horse explaining the problem, and they apologized and said they would get me the TB shirt in the mail asap. I offered to mail back the wrong design if they provided postage, and left it aside. A few days later, I got an email from One Horse letting me know that my replacement shirt was in the mail and that they forgot to include postage for return, so for me to just keep the original goof shirt.
What I really appreciated from this transaction was the price of the shirt (yay sales!), the prompt and thorough communication and how easy they made everything for me as a consumer. Though I don’t buy a ton of novelty t-shirts, I love One Horse designs and this positive shopping experience will make me come back to them in the future instead of a similar company. Check out One Horse if you haven’t already!
Equii In Style
I’ve been an Equii In Style or EIS fan since I first went to Wellington and saw everyone schooling in beautifully colored sun shirts. Though the price is steep, they have great sales and I’ve slowly picked up several shirts in the past year.
In the past I’ve reviewed EIS as compared to other sun shirts, so I won’t gush about the product in this particular post. What I will brag about is that on a particularly depressing Saturday afternoon I went to my old house to clean some stuff out of the shed, and found a strange package on my front door.
EIS had sent me a shirt! In the package was a hand written letter from the company’s founder, thanking me for my review and stating that this was one of their most popular color combos from the summer collection. There are no witnesses, but I did a little squee and happy dance in my kitchen. Of all the products I’ve purchased myself and reviewed on this blog, EIS is the first company to find me out and send a thank you. It is greatly appreciated!
What companies have impressed you with their customer service?
33 thoughts on “Amazing Customer Service from Equestrian Companies”
Literally no money right now, but my next treat is totally going to be the herbal horse starter kit!
I love herbal horse and one horse. I do find that my one horse shirts always end up shrinking no matter how I wash them which is weird and disappointing – like you I’ve only splurged on them when they have a sale so I guess I’m okay with the price and that happening.
Herbal Horse has me as a loyal customer. The owner is awesome sauce. Also a huge Riding Warehouse fans they have some amazing customer service though the selection is still growing.
My One Horse shirts run pretty small right out of the bag, so I typically try to stretch them out a bit before wearing. Not sure if they’ve shrunk more, but it’s totally possible. Love the sale prices!
I have the same problem! All of my One Horse shirts have shrunk- mostly upwards, which makes them close to midriff shirts for me. 🙁
Kastel did exactly the same thing for me after I reviewed their shirts! I love them so much, it was exciting both to a) get a free shirt b) feel appreciated. I’ve had great experiences with The Herbal Horse and One Horse as well. Plus Mango Bay is always just beyond fantastic to me, and obviously my favorite Riding Warehouse has gone above and beyond for me more times than I can count. Oh and Beka, Straight Shot Metal Smashing! And Luxe EQ. And Hamer and Clay. And If the Bonnet Fits. We could be here all day… I love small businesses, they seem so much more appreciative of the recognition.
I need to hit up Hammer & Clay for Christmas presents this year!
Equus couture is another small biz that is simply awesome… My Pip has an affinity for all things orange (it’s a very safe color you understand) and she makes glorious browbands and bracelets and stock pins and now dog collars too. I had emailed with her a great deal over my bracelets and when I met her at Rolex she was literally like meeting a friend… Big hugs and she immediately asked abt Pip 🙂 Also I’ve had great customer service with Team Ridesafe. Stephanie is awesome and so quick to contact if there are problems (I had a spelling problem on my bracelet that she rapidly corrected). And meeting her at Rolex was hilarious. There are other small businesses that I’ve worked with but these were the two that immediately popped into my head… Awesome about EIS!
Tiffany at Equus Couture is so great!! We ride with the same trainer! Her browbands are so beautiful. I think I’m going to get spur straps soon!
I know some people hate on SmartPak, but I love their products and their customer service is the best. Anytime a mistake has been made (those times are few and far between), or something didn’t appear as shown online, the customer service reps on SmartPak have always been friendly, helpful and FAST. The icing on the cake for me was when they did a custom engraved nameplate for the leather halter I just purchased, without an extra charge. When I reviewed their Piper breeches last year, they sent me a huge thank-you box full of great stuff, along with a handwritten thank-you note. For me, it’s SmartPak for life.
I’ve also been really impressed by Hunt Club, even though they’re a relatively new company (I think). When I purchased their Rise & Grind t-shirt, it didn’t fit me quite right. I emailed them and they sent me a replacement immediately, along with the free shipping label to send the first t-shirt back. Since then, I’ve purchased 3 belts and I’m constantly perusing their site, because their products are great and the customer service is top-notch; they respond within an hour or two, and are always willing to go above and beyond to make you happy.
I have no experience with The Herbal Horse, EIS or One Horse Threads, but I just placed an order with The Herbal Horse so I’m interested to see how their products work. One Horse Threads will be at WIHS this weekend, and I definitely plan on stopping by their booth.
I’ve been peeking at Herbal Horse stuff lately. Good to know I can count on their customer service if/when I order.
Unfortunately, my interactions with Riding Warehouse have been very hit-and-miss. Sometimes awesome, sometimes terrible. :-/
I love The Herbal Horse! I like the products, the customer service is stellar, and the prices are fair.
Beka @ Straight Shot Metal Smashing is super, too!
i’ve had similarly positive experiences with Herbal Horse and One Horse Threads too, tho i haven’t tried EIS. i’m also impressed with Riding Warehouse, esp given a rep recently called me to fix an issue with an order (i apparently mistyped some credit card info). lots of great companies!
The three you listed, If the Bonnet Fits, Equestrilifestyle, Luxe EQ, and the Tack Room. It’s kind of nice how many horse – related small businesses there are and that so many of them have excellent customer service.
I love Riding Warehouse’s customer service. They are so fast and solve everything/anything.
I have to give a shout out to Indy Equestrian and Amanda. I ordered my new Loxley jump saddle from her and she has always been available to answer my questions about the saddle. And there were a LOT! She also helped get me in touch with the manufacturer of my previous saddle to report a defect so I could send it back for evaluation. She has just been amazing to work with and I will now be checking with her first before I buy anything anywhere else.
I know this is one that most people don’t peruse unless you are into driving, but Amber Hillside which used to be Ron’s Horse Harness.
Back when I first started driving, I knew I wanted one of their harnesses. I had done all of the measurements and was almost ready to buy, (ponyman is sort of in between sizes) when we had an Epic tantrum and blow up at the horsepark. This resulted in a broken billet strap and no clue how things stayed together while the pony went all NFR and lost his mind. I sent the measurements in and ordered what I hoped/thought might fit. They were awesome! I also found photo’s of us added to their new website, so that’s awesome too.
I’ve had really good luck with Riding Warehouse’s customer service, it definitely makes a difference to know that I can always send something back easily. The Herbal Horse has been on my list of things to try but I can’t justify the purchase juuust yet. Now to check out those other two companies and have even more places to resist purchasing from…
I was actually in the process of writing something similar (ESPN or something?), but just about a recent experience with one company. Samshield has been excellent to work with on an issue I had. I sadly cannot say the same about Personally Preppy – I ordered a belt that appeared to measure short, based on the size I ordered, and even tho I sent them two emails, I didn’t even get a reply back to tell me I was measuring wrong and sorry I was an idiot or anything like that. Love wwhat I got but not ordering again.
When I ordered my Ogilvy, the first one took the standard 4ish weeks to arrive, and I was super disappointed to find that Customs had slashed open the cover and stabbed the pad when they ripped open the packaging. I emailed the company, and even though the damage was by no means their fault, they responded back the next day that were sending me me a brand new one with rush shipping, and let me keep the old one. The damage was mostly cosmetic, so I sent it to my mother to use for schooling once she stitched it up. I’m assuming this was a loss to the company, but they were so nice to work with, and so prompt with the fix.
Thanks for the tips! I might have to try one of those EIS shirts.
Libby at Higher Standards is pretty much da bomb
Oh my goodness how incredibly thrilled I was when I realized my business was in this post! Lauren I can not thank you enough for your kind words and support, they mean so much to me. And reading all of your comments really made me smile! I just love connecting with and meeting such amazing women on this little journey. If any of you are interested in ordering please let me know in the “Notes” section you found me here and I will make sure you get an extra happy 🙂 Sending you all my very best, Lauren!
Hi Helen – so nice of you to comment here. I just placed an order before reading your comment! The products sound great – thanks for shipping to Canada as well!
Good customer service will ALWAYS make me write a review even if I didn’t like the product. One company I got amazing customer service from was Higher Standards Leather Care. It’s not my favorite all around tack cleaner (though it’s the best for getting hard grime) but she won my business when the jar came cracked and Libby immediately sent me a new one and told me to keep the old one. Love that.
I’m saving up for herbal horse stuff! Glad to hear they are so awesome 🙂
So far, Smartpak has not let me down. I’d like to also give two shotouts for actual brick and mortar tack shops: Barrington Saddlery in Illinois (all-time fav) and Mary’s in Del Mar, CA.
LOVE the Herbal Horse!!
Good references to online business…although I hardly need any more help spending money! hahaha I just did an order from the Herbal horse and thanks to everyone’s comments have a lot more retailers to check out for fun purchases! A lot of these smaller companies seem to ship to Canada too, which gets them bonus points in my books! 😉
Couldn’t agree more! Why is it still so hard to get shipping to Canada sometimes??
Smartpak and C4 all the way! Love them to death.
Late to the party but…Horseware Ireland. I had one 200g Rambo turnout that started getting rips in the lining within months of use. The out side was fine, just the lining. I emailed the company to tell them. I didn’t ask for anything, just wanted them to know since I own several other Rambo blankets and never had this problem. They emailed me back, graciously apologetic, and asked if I could send pictures and where I purchased the blanket so they could evaluate the problem. I sent pictures and the store I ordered through. They emailed me back saying they would send me a replacement blanket, free. They had already discussed the issue with the store I ordered through and found I was the second person who reported this problem. The blanket arrived a short time later, to my door. I love that they did this even though I didn’t ask for a thing. Two Canadian winters later and that blanket has had no issues…bonus is now I have a back-up in that weight 🙂 a little seam-seal on the tears did the trick.
Oh, and soxforhorses.com. Great customer service and a great product if your horse suffers from mud fever etc issues!
I love One Horse Threads and have seen Herbal Horse popping up on Instagram a lot lately.