Hollister's Excellent Customer Service - A Pleasant Surprise!

Good news is a welcome change, and although this is no big whoop, it brightened my day. I have been experiencing some leakage problems with my Hollister pouches, through the vent. I had a couple of mishaps and called Hollister to report it and ask them if they would consider coming out with the same pouch, without the vent. They apologized and said they would send me some replacements for the ones (two) that leaked. They did indeed send me two new ones.

A couple of weeks ago I had another leak out of a different batch, but caught it before it became a mess. I have started to take preemptive action now, and put some waterproof tape over the vent as soon as I apply it. I called Hollister again, just to let them know that this particular leak problem was not just a one-off from a bad batch, and that it was continuing to happen. I did not ask them for any more replacements and they did not offer. A few days later, to my delight, I got a whole new box of pouches in the mail! Pretty good customer relations, I'd say. I really hope they do come out with a model without the vent, but in the meantime it made me feel good.

So, it pays to be a squeaky wheel folks!

Terry

That was a nice surprise.

Nice. No such luck for me. The agents here for the major companies in the US are shopkeepers. They probably make more on those supplies than the manufacturers do.

I emailed Hollister asking if they had a bag with specific features I wanted. They didn't have one with everything I wanted but said I could put it in to be considered in the future.

Yes, I think it's worth it to put in requests like that, and to give them feedback when things go wrong. Otherwise, they would never change or make improvements with their products, and they would assume everyone is happy.

Terry

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten anywhere by talking to the retailer that sold me the pouches either. Could you not place a call to the manufacturer, just as I did? Or even send them an email?

You are an optimist, delgrl. Do you think the manufacturers give out free samples in places other than the US or Europe? All enquiries are referred back to their local agents. I think that is part of the contract they sign. Maybe I could get an agency from a US manufacturer and help the needy ones. We were the first Toyota and Honda agents here before they became popular, and when they did, the agency was wrested away by a powerful political family. A different world exists here, delgrl.

Me, an optimist? That's something I've never been accused of before! Naive? Yes! LOL! I should have realized what a dumb question that was.

Terry

Nothing naive about any of your comments, they are actually well-written and composed.

Best wishes

By the way, I'm not in Europe or the U.S., I'm in Canada, but the major ostomy manufacturers do have branches here. The only 'inconvenience' I have found when dealing with getting products from some U.S. companies is that the 'free shipping' policy only applies to residents of the U.S. So, not too big of a deal.