Until recently I’d never considered buying anything from Chewy, but a few months ago they sent me a discount mailer, and I finally took the plunge. Let me tell you, I’m glad that I did! Chewy is now my favorite place to buy pet food, and it’s likely the only place I’ll buy from in the future.
So, when I ordered pet food this month I decided to do a full review for their service with photos. Chewy is Beanietoes approved, and here’s why you should consider them for your pet food purchases.
Careful packing and shipping
The time before last I needed to get some other items on Amazon, so I went ahead and bought my cat food there so I could get free shipping. This was something that I instantly regretted doing!
If you take a look at the reviews for pet products on Amazon, one of the biggest complaints from consumers is the fact that they don’t pack things well enough. While this was previously not something I was worried about, the last time I bought from Amazon I wasn’t pleased.
The bag of food I got was covered in dirt and looked like it had been under a shelf in the warehouse for about five years. I wasn’t really even sure if I wanted to feed the food to my cat at all. It ended up being okay, but it made me really think about whether I wanted him eating things from the Amazon warehouse.
Many pet parents have gotten destroyed cans or those with damaged seals which could effect the food quality and make your pets sick. That’s why when I got our cat’s food from Chewy I was so glad to see how well they pack everything! They just care so much more about proper shipping.
I ordered a bag of kibble and a package of cans, and they make sure to put one of those covers on top of all of the canned foods to make sure none of the seals get damaged in transit. I feel much better feeding our cat food that I know isn’t harboring any nasty bacteria from damaged cans.
Everything is shipped together, and I was happy to see that our dry food was also in good condition. It didn’t look like it was old or had been run over by a truck like some of the stuff from Amazon. I felt much better feeding it to our fur baby, and I’m glad to give my money to a company that actually cares about the products they send for my pets.
It also makes me feel like they do a better job than Amazon at rotating their pet food stock and making sure nothing you get is out of date. Many Amazon consumers have complained about getting out of date food or even packages containing mold!
Super fast 1-2 day shipping!
My last and final Amazon cat food order also had another problem. It took them forever to ship it! In fact, it took so long that I almost ran out of cat food before it arrived. While I could care less if it takes extra time to ship some gadget I bought, I’d like my cat food to have reliable ship times.
Chewy came to the rescue on this, and I was surprised at just how fast their free shipping is. Thanks to some strategically placed distribution centers they get pet foods anywhere in 1-2 days! You need to spend $49 to qualify for free shipping, but that’s pretty easy for pet food. Plus, even if you don’t, their shipping charge is a flat $4.95 for orders under $49!
I’m not sure how they offer such great shipping deals and times, especially for pet foods which are super heavy! It’s a great part of the service that they offer, and it makes it feel like a premium service without a premium price tag. If you need to order pet foods in a hurry Chewy is the way to go.
Great prices and discounts on auto-ship
I was surprised to see that Chewy actually manages to go toe to toe with Amazon on pricing. Amazon’s system automatically seeks to undercut the price of other retailers, but Chewy’s prices are on par with theirs.
Plus, Chewy also has an auto-ship program which allows you to save 5-10% on foods if you get them auto-delivered to your home on a schedule. I also managed to take advantage of an auto-ship promotion and get 30% off my order.
Chewy also has something else awesome that Amazon doesn’t though. They offer some really good deals and coupons! In addition to the 30% off auto-ship deal they also have some excellent in cart savings and buy one get one free deals.
The in-cart deal is likely designed to trick Amazon’s API from cutting their own prices to match since the discount only appears in the shopping cart. A clever trick to preserve their discounts and offer something that Amazon doesn’t to their customers.
If you’re a careful shopper you could end up saving even more on Chewy than on Amazon. This is particularly true if you purchase a pet food that has a loyalty program, because Chewy honors some of these. You may need to ask them specifically which ones though. These programs can get you a free bag of food after your 10th or so purchase!
To my knowledge, Amazon doesn’t honor any of these loyalty programs, so that’s yet another savings you can take advantage of. Some pet food brands which have loyalty programs include FROMM, Orijen, Natural Balance, Nutro, Earthborn, Acana, Farmina and Halo.
Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult to find out about these loyalty programs, and some of them are promoted purely through in-store promotions at pet stores. You may need to contact both your pet food manufacturer and Chewy directly to see if you can take advantage of the loyalty program.
Even if you can’t though, there’s tons of ways to save on pet foods at Chewy without sacrificing quality or service. Chewy lets you have your kibble and eat it too!
If you’re interested in giving Chewy a try, you can save 30% on your first auto-ship by going here!
