• Doctors Foster and Smith

2018 CUSTOMER CHOICE AWARD

Is this your business?

Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and manage your listing.

Claim Your Business
Is this your business?

Overview

Doctors Foster and Smith has a rating of 3.63 stars from 65 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with Doctors Foster and Smith most frequently mention customer service. Doctors Foster and Smith ranks 26th among Pet Supply sites.

  • Service
    3
  • Value
    3
  • Shipping
    3
  • Returns
    3
  • Quality
    3
See all photos

What reviewers want you to know

Positive highlights

Critical highlights

  • But sometimes it is worth spending a bit more to not have to deal with bad customer service.
  • I placed an order on the late evening of July 3rd.
How would you rate Doctors Foster and Smith?
Top Positive Review

“Superb service in all respects”

Arrie H.
1/4/19

I've been a customer for many years (20+) and have never had any issue with service, delivery or returns. Customer service folks have always managed any concern with politeness and knowledge. I rarely buy from anyone else. I had an aviary of 200 parrots and always bought food, treats, toys and accessories from them. Now with just 4 parrots I still rely on Drs. Foster and Smith. Highly recommend them. Let's hope Petco doesn't spoil this terrific company like Sears ruined Lands End!

Top Critical Review

“Badly packed product arrived damaged, company refused a refund”

Thomas H.
1/25/19

Ordered six cases of dog food. They were poorly packaged and too many in one box so the cans arrived badly dented and the box was destroyed due to the excessive weight, many near the seal. After jerking me around, they refused to refund my money. They claim cans with dents at the seal are fine to feed my dog. I'm not giving my dogs botulism. I've had dented can problems on occasion with other vendors like amazon, they always refund me especially when it was their poor packaging that caused the issue. I have photos of the packaging and damaged product, which I provided to the vendor.

Reviews (65)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (8) order (23)
Thumbnail of user thomash485
1 review
14 helpful votes
January 25th, 2019

Ordered six cases of dog food. They were poorly packaged and too many in one box so the cans arrived badly dented and the box was destroyed due to the excessive weight, many near the seal. After jerking me around, they refused to refund my money. They claim cans with dents at the seal are fine to feed my dog. I'm not giving my dogs botulism. I've had dented can problems on occasion with other vendors like amazon, they always refund me especially when it was their poor packaging that caused the issue. I have photos of the packaging and damaged product, which I provided to the vendor.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user melissal286
1 review
16 helpful votes
February 8th, 2019

My pet died and although the company charged me a substantial amount in postage, they accepted the merchandise back. Another pet died this week and the company not only will not accept the merchandise back ($45), they had no compassion. Chewy.com not only refunded for merchandise, they asked me to donate it and not worry about the return.

Thumbnail of user arrieh
Arrie H.
1 review
13 helpful votes
January 4th, 2019

I've been a customer for many years (20+) and have never had any issue with service, delivery or returns. Customer service folks have always managed any concern with politeness and knowledge. I rarely buy from anyone else. I had an aviary of 200 parrots and always bought food, treats, toys and accessories from them. Now with just 4 parrots I still rely on Drs. Foster and Smith. Highly recommend them. Let's hope Petco doesn't spoil this terrific company like Sears ruined Lands End!

Thumbnail of user liedt
1 review
10 helpful votes
November 2nd, 2018

Lied. In writing they said prior to ordering that shipping and billing addresses not matching, no problem. Lied. Ship only to billing address and that is the only one they see in their system. Order history on web page reflects correct shipping address. Confirmation email about shipping contained only ads and no address. UPS alerted me. Company refuses to correct it. Reps including supervisor just blamed me for ordering online. This company is garbage. I should have read reviews first.

Thumbnail of user jenniferh732
1 review
15 helpful votes
December 1st, 2018

This has been a nightmare. I mailed my Rx in so I could place an online order. It never showed up in my account. I called to find out why and they told me 1st couldn't find it and 2nd it didn't have a Dr. signature. They finally said "Oh I see the signature." Wow. Placed an order over phone. It's late by a week. Wanted to take advantage of a recent 30% off promo and go to my account. NO RX! Called and they tell me online and phone orders are not on the same server? That is ridiculous. I will never trust them again.

Thumbnail of user williamk315
1 review
15 helpful votes
July 21st, 2018

I have been a customer of this company for many years now they have switched to mailing items in a plastic bag instead of shipping my order in a small box cutting corners to save a few pennies is poor customer service i will be shopping with one of your competitors

Thumbnail of user ronaldp151
1 review
18 helpful votes
October 13th, 2019

I don't know what reasons drs foster and smith have decided to no longer be available as a company, but I want to say that they did everything that could ever be done for their customers, even if there was a total loss of any profit what so ever! They cared about the lives of the not so human variety, yet never thought of anything else but to please the customers completely. In my world that would spell the words of a not-for-profit business. Which I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't what may have caused problems for them. May goodness bless you wonderful people of Dr's Foster and Smith!

Thumbnail of user sumikar
2 reviews
3 helpful votes
May 10th, 2019

I feel like it will be very useful to most people. I encourage people to trust this as i was very much pleased with its work.

Thumbnail of user shawnl95
1 review
18 helpful votes
May 22nd, 2018

I will start to say they do have great prices. But sometimes it is worth spending a bit more to not have to deal with bad customer service. Half of the recent orders I placed had some items out of stock even though it said they did have items in stock. They supposedly have a good return policy. Good luck there. Takes a week to ship the items back and then they reserve two weeks to process the return. If you contact customer service they will blame you for everything even if you follow the return instructions to a T. So I had to pay to ship items back which I wouldn't have ordered if they hadn't shipped an incomplete order in the first place.

Thumbnail of user mr319
2 reviews
12 helpful votes
June 3rd, 2019

Everything especially good the dog show folks. Prices are reasonable, too!
I am happy with this site

Thumbnail of user mw146
3 reviews
9 helpful votes
October 30th, 2017

Purchased 500+ dollars worth of inverts for a large marine tank. They sent me an ammonia bomb (a bag full of dead mexican turbo snails) which wiped out the entire aquarium.

Over $5000 worth of fish, coral and inverts completely wiped out in a tank that was stable for over 2 years.

LiveAquaria (Doctors Foster and Smith) would not do anything to remedy the situation.

I would not recommend LiveAquaria.

Thumbnail of user peggyy5
4 reviews
27 helpful votes
May 25th, 2017

I've been ordering from Drs. Foster & Smith for a few years now and I love them! They supplied items for our dogs, fish, birds, hedgehog, rabbit & my outdoor birds & squirrels.
Their prices are excellent and they often have great sales allowing you to save even more. Great selection of items for all pets.
I submit orders and usually have a shipping notice in 12-18 hours. Items arrive wuickly(usidlly

Thumbnail of user catrinam3
1 review
4 helpful votes
September 19th, 2018

I called in an order 15 minutes later I called back to make a change. No problem Im told. Next day I see no change was made and I called back. Oh sorry the item had already shipped. Which proved to be a lie. The usps tracking proved it wasnt picked up till 5 hrs later. Integrity is everything in an online company this 1 failed me.

Thumbnail of user kareenav
1 review
19 helpful votes
May 31st, 2017

I made my first order with Drs. Foster and Smith about 2 years ago. I had seen their catalogue before and thought we'd give them a shot to fill our heartworm medication prescription. Their prices are typically a good chunk lower than my vet's office, so this is great. Still, I only order from them once or twice a year for prescriptions or if they have a good deal going on. While the products received are as expected and good quality, actually getting them is something else altogether. If you mail in your prescription, there is no confirmation to let you know it was received and it takes several days (7-10) for them to process it. There is no notification of shipping either. So you are either waiting for a couple weeks asking yourself "What's going on?" OR you are calling and asking one of the reps. Thankfully, an actual person will answer when you call, but who knows if they'll have answers. I've had to call 2 and 3 times to follow up on orders. Sometimes my order is delivered and sometimes its cancelled without notice or reason. AND if you ordered other items with your prescription order, but your script can't/hasn't been processed, they will not ship your other items separately. They also refuse to ship to my home address. They say its not a real address, despite my successfully receiving mail and packages for the last 32 years. I feel better non-urgent ordering items because eventually they do figure out the everyday orders. Its the prescriptions that equate to trouble. Unfortunately, they are really only competitive when it comes to prescriptions. Otherwise, no one can beat Chewy.com for food, treats, etc.

Thumbnail of user dylanc23
1 review
12 helpful votes
September 29th, 2015

I found Drs. Foster and Smith very helpful for some common pet care subjects.

However, I do think the senior pet supplement selection was rather bleak.

Neutricks is my favorite for my dog: www.neutricks.com

Thumbnail of user minam21
19 reviews
85 helpful votes
January 6th, 2018

It has been a few months back, but I had several sick kittens with conjunctivitis. I needed to get some medication quickly. I ordered what I needed and it arrived in just a few days. I was very surprised in how fast it was delivered. I think the prices could be a little cheaper though.

Thumbnail of user amyz28
1 review
16 helpful votes
May 26th, 2017

Buyers and pet lovers beware! This company illegally labels their prescriptions with drug companies names, and yesterday I contacted the drug company directly who says they do NOT do business with Drs Foster and Smith. What you are buying from Drs Foster and Smith is 'grey' market products, manufactured by companies whose names they will not reveal, where they are located, they could just be expired, stored improperly, or made to look like the real thing. I strongly recommend to talk to your vet about companies such as these who offer NO guarantee for their products, they cannot as they are not legally from who they say they are on labels.

Tip for consumers:
https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm048164.htm

Thumbnail of user marit112
5 reviews
41 helpful votes
March 15th, 2017

Recently I decided to take a dog from an animal shelter. In order to protect my lovely pet and my family, I started using this website. It's convenient and the service is normal!

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user virginiaw81
2 reviews
4 helpful votes
July 30th, 2018

This used to be a reliable source for cat food and other supplies. There shipping (and tracking) are so slow one wonders if the order will ever arrive. Now I'm off to a pet store to buy cat food.

Thumbnail of user romuloe
2 reviews
5 helpful votes
March 25th, 2019

Muy buena es esta pagina ya que apenas estoy entrando pero estoy revisando toso marcha muy bien hasta hora ya alguien me la envio para que le eches un vistazo

Thumbnail of user williamw470
1 review
14 helpful votes
September 3rd, 2018

I recently saw a sale listed for Roudybush high energy breeders food for birds listed 25 lbs for $13.49 never said clearance. When I tried to order it said not available until 8/27 so on 8/27 I called and tried to place my order I was told it wouldn't get there until 8/30 but they would honor the price. On 8/30 I call in and they tell me that they are not carrying the 25lb small size but I could get 15% off the 25lb crumble size not the 75% off they advertised after speaking with supervisor I was told they would not honor the price and admitted it was there fault so he gave me a $10 credit so what should have been a $27 bill cost me $102 and $10 off my next order which will be my last. I have been a long time customer but you only rip me off once and I have learned my lesson.

Thumbnail of user georgen81
1 review
16 helpful votes
July 4th, 2018

I placed an order on the late evening of July 3rd. I then changed my mind on the order and looked for a cancel order button. None to be found. I then used the support email as directed and sent a polite email stating that it was my fault for changing my mind but could they please cancel my order. I received an email on July 4th (around noon) stating that they could not cancel the order because it was already shipped. I contacted chat support and asked for clarification because UPS doesn't ship on the 4th of July (holiday). They said "oh well UPS leaves trucks at our place and we fill them and your order is already on the truck". I could see I was getting nowhere. I just received an email stating that my order was just packaged and being shipped USPS. Now I am certain that USPS does NOT leave a vehicle parked at their warehouse. I sent a cancel email within 15 minutes of placing the order and they simply do not want to cancel it because they either think I will just keep it or they just can't be bothered to stop the order. I will be returning the items even if I am forced to pay the $8 return shipping and will never order from them again. Again it was my fault for changing my mind but I have NEVER had this kind of service from the big retailer that starts with an "A". I will find everywhere possible to repeat this review.

Thumbnail of user leticiad2
2 reviews
13 helpful votes
April 20th, 2016

I made a huge mistake. I always get heart meds from my vet. This time the vet suggested I order online and I picked Dr. Foster & Smith. I'm still crying. My poodle had a heart condition and only 4 days of meds left. Dr. Foster send me emails saying they couldn't get the vet to approve them. There was so much confusion between the vet and them that it caused my dog her life. They emailed me Monday April 18. Saying the meds are approved and I requested them on Mar 29, I put my dog to sleep on Friday April 15. I don't think this works for pets that have heart problems I'm paying for this mistake now and so did my little dog. I let my guard down and I hold myself responsible for thinking that these folks cared about my dog's life.

Thumbnail of user kylew46
1 review
11 helpful votes
March 14th, 2017

I purchased an Eheim 350 surface skimmer from DrFosterSmith back in November 2016' for their black friday sale and didn't set it up till March 2017' and it wasn't working correctly. I contacted customer service past the 60 day return policy and they were still able to ship me a new one. Definitely recommend

Thumbnail of user row420
13 reviews
16 helpful votes
June 18th, 2018

We bought a fountain for the cat. It came in quickly. The cat loved it. Later, the motor stopped working and the customer service people answered questions about how to fix it. A toy we ordered didn't work out--it was not bendy and flexible as advertised--and they issued a refund.

Sitejabber for Business

Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.

About the business

Drs. Foster & Smith - The Trusted Name in Pet Supplies & Pet Meds. Shop for your dog, cat, fish, bird & more. FREE SHIPPING!

How do I know I can trust these reviews about Doctors Foster and Smith?

  • Sitejabber’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
  • Sitejabber has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
  • Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
Have a question about Doctors Foster and Smith?

Is this your business?

Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and manage your listing.

Claim Your Business