Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Last fall I ordered a wheel. I wasn’t part of the kickstarter, but a regular order. I waited months to get my wheel. Since they don’t ship to my state, once it was ready, I had to have it shipped to a friend and I then paid shipping costs for her. It wasn’t easy to put together, but I was able to, using a heavy rubber mallet. I checked and rechecked each piece. Once it was completed, I laid it out flat and checked for any warp, turned it on the other side and did the same. I tested it by spinning the wheel on its base and looking for any wobble. There was none. On two occasions, my little nine pound cat de-railed the wheel from the base. She wasn’t hurt, but it worried me. Then she recently jumped from the wheel while it was still spinning and batted at the small track wheel. Her foot got pulled in between the running wheel and the small track wheel. The running wheel is quite heavy, making this a very dangerous situation. There is nothing to prevent one’s cat from getting his or her foot or tail run over. When I contacted the company they blamed me for the de-railing, saying I had put the wheel together wrong. I had not, I took extreme care in assembly, watching the video as I went. I know I’m not the only one this has happened to; I’ve seen another complaint on Facebook. They refused to even respond to my concerns about the potential for entrapment of feet or tail in between the running wheel and the track wheel. I brought it up several times with no response to that concern. This wheel seemed like a good idea, but it is unsafe and the company seems unconcerned. I regret the time and money I put into this, and I fear for the safety of customers’ cats and small children. Updated as follows on July 29th, 2015 I wrote the above review three months ago. On the 15th of July, 2015 I received an email from a representative of One Fast Cat saying they were making changes in the design and wanted to address customer service issues. To that end they offered to send me a free wheel to test on my cat. They asked that if I was then satisfied, would I be willing to edit my Amazon review. I believe in small companies so I decided to give them another chance and agreed that if I found the wheel improved, I would, in fact, change my review to reflect that satisfaction. I told the individual that it is an incredibly busy time for me and that it might take “a while” for me to get to the wheel and to please not rush to send it. It would have to be built and the cat in question would have to be re-trained as she had become terrified of the previous wheel following her injury. To my surprise, the wheel arrived in a couple of days. Within days after that I started getting emails. One asked me to remove my review. This felt like pressure. I responded and reminded the individual that it is a stressful and busy season for me and that I haven’t had time yet; it had not even been two weeks since the box arrived at my door. A second email a few days later asked me to edit my review. Part of that email said, “I understand the demands on your time, and I remember that you said there were limits on what you could achieve this month. My boss (name removed) has been pushing me for updates on your wheel as he is anxious to see the review edited.” That email additionally stated, “I will give you a little breathing room now.” It became obvious to me that the end goal is not primarily my satisfaction; it’s my review. I waited many months to get my wheel, and several months passed between the time I wrote my review and the time that One Fast Cat contacted me, but I am expected to edit or remove my Amazon review when I haven’t had time to address the issues. It’s been less than two weeks. A reputable company provides a good product and good customer service and in so doing they receive good reviews. It’s pretty simple. A reputable company does not bribe, coerce or pressure customers into giving good reviews or editing or removing reviews. Today I returned the wheel in its unopened box at my own personal additional expense ($83.00). I cannot under any circumstances recommend this company. Bribery, coercion and pressure are simply unacceptable and I would not want anyone else to be on the receiving end of such incredibly inappropriate tactics.