Complain about a product or service

LitterMaid

Littermaid • Fire hazard • Feline entrapment • Unhappy new customers • Unhappy repeat customers • Accessory problems • Customer diagnoses • Privacy tent • Slow order processing

Who likes cleaning out a litter box? No one we know, so it seemed like a great idea when LitterMaid came up with a self-cleaning box. Only trouble is, it doesn't seem to work very well. Despite that, even the most ravenously dissatisfied customers keep coming back like cats to catnip, buying one derelict pooper scooper after another.

A few of the more recent complaints ...

LINDA of VIRGINIA BEACH, VA November 13, 2009

The Littermaid Litter Box: the first one I had was great until it stopped working, I upgraded to the elite, the worst thing ever, the rack sits in the back and causes clumps and extra noise and more work for me. I feel they should correct the design and send a new one that works properly. Also you can never find the cat liter thats associated with the Littermaid box.

paul of st louis, MO November 8, 2009

i had a littermaid 950 or 500 old style it lasted 3 years and worked great. when it broke, i bought the new littermaid elite. it was too wide to fit in my closet, it also would jam up because it couldn't make it through the litter often times. finally after 6 months it just stopped working, will never buy this again or recommend it

Ann of St Louis, MO November 3, 2009

Littermaid Self-Cleaning Litter Box. Wheel on rake broke off and the company won't do anything. The rake is also not a replaceable part. Very disgusted. Expensive bad product and no customer service.

Beverly of Dallas, TX October 14, 2009

This must be the worst product I've ever purchased. The motor is not even strong enough to rake through 1 1/2 inches of clean litter (which the manufacturer recommends), much less one clump of peed in litter. It will cycle 5 times and still not work. It's very loud, meaning you can't sleep if it goes off at night. If you try to turn it on in the morning you might as well have a conventional litter box because the only option is to scoop.The maker will offer no help at all. If you're not able to return it to the store of purchase, you're out the price of the box. In my case, my husband took out the packaging and receipt to recycle before I could tell him not to. Litter maid customer service offers no help or relief. This is a really bad product.

Mark of Eaton, OH October 1, 2009

We purchased a new Littermaid box to replace an older unit that could no longer be trusted to work overnight. I bought the Elite Mega even though we only have one cat thinking it would last and built heavy-duty. Well, its been two weeks and the motor fizzles out half way through the cycle and won't rake properly.

Called customer service and they ran me through reset buttons and chip ID's which has nothing to do with the problem of the electric motor. Finally, their answer is to take it back to Colorado where I purchased it on vacation (I live in Ohio). How convenient to hold a pet store responsible when I'm talking to the manufacturers representative. Oh well, I will NEVER purchase another Littermaid product and I warn you not to either.

Tracy of Sacramento, CA September 17, 2009

This is my fourth liitermaid unit I have purchased. The first 2 were the old style and lasted about 2 years each. I have purchased 2 of the new style ones, the first one lasting 3 months and the newest one I bought yesterday, and straight out the box the unit is defective, cleaning cycle will not stop. Called the company because paperwork the unit comes with says do not take back to store call for service.

I called and lady I spoke with said I had to much litter in box. I had no litter in box for I had just assembled and plugged in to make sure product worked. Then lady on phone told me to take it back to target where I purchaed it, that they couldn't do anything for me. Since when is it Target's problem? Target didn't make it. Lady on phone gave me an ID code to use at store if I have any trouble returning it. Will try to return, but when I called target on phone, they said if item is used they can not return.

Dayna of Murray, UT September 11, 2009

I've used littermaid for close to 10 years. I had the old school model for all, but the last month. I purchased a new one due to the addition of another cat in order to have two cat restrooms around the house. I got the Mega Elite thinking the new design is much better looking than the old one. Immediately I noticed problems. Instead of a plastic rake it has a metal tines. The feces and clumped chunks of urine seem to stick to it. It's removable, where the rake wasn't. However, wher exactly in your house is the best place to wash that? I don't really want it in any of my sinks or tubs. Yuck!

The point of the automated box is NOT to touch urine and feces, let alone spread it around the house. Okay, so at least that part I can deal with. My biggest complaint is that it not only pushes the cat waste out into the bin, but it pushes out the good litter too. I read their recomendations for using 'premium' litter and tried the brands they recommended. No go. The clumping is just fine. It's the enormous waste of having to check the little level, change the waste receptacle more often and the cost and bother of wasted clean litter.

With the old school unit I used to change the recepacle every week or so and top off the litter. Now I have to check it every day. Becuase of the clean litter being pushed out it sometimes cases the waste lid to not close, so it emits stinky smell and requires me to adjust the contents of the bin so the lid will seat and keep the stench in.

I would never get another of the newer models. However, while I was away the person taking care of my cats the old one broke. They bought me another Elite Mega. I only discovered after returning from my trip. They said the old one's motor just stopped. If I had known it happened I would have bought a different type/brand.

Now I change the receptacles every two or three day because they fill up with the clean litter. I expirmented with sifting out the used stuff and returning the loose litter back to the box. Mistake. After being in such close proximity to the waste in the receptacle it was totally tainted. I'm buying 35 lb bags of litter ever three weeks and going through receptacles like water. On top of that is the time it's supposed to save me is somehow been sucked away like the good litter. I don't want anything, but it is worth warning people to NOT buy the new boxes.

Desiree of White Settlement, TX September 9, 2009

This is the first automaic litterbox I've ever owned. I will never buy another, and wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. The litterbox stopped working a little after 30 days of purchase. The motor simply burned out. Since I could not return it to the store I purchased it from, I tried to contact the company's customer service department. I have been going round and round with them for the past 5 months!

The REFUSE to give me my money back, the REFUSE to take the product back. They've offered to exchange it for another small house appliance. I've since bought another litter box. It's one of those you just roll over on its side and all the "clumps" collect in a little bin. It cost 50 less than the "automatic" litter box, but I would pay it 5 times over.

DO NOT buy any of the Littermaid automatic litterboxes. They are simply a waste of money and you will spend MONTHS trying to get things straightened out! In this tough economy 100 goes a long way. We splurged a little to get a "fancy" litterbox, but now I wish we would have paid something off!

Rodney of Cranbury, NJ September 3, 2009

We purchased a Littermaid mega liter box from Walmart. # months later the motor stopped working. We called Littermaid to get a new unit under the warranty. The person on the phone wanted me to remove a lid next to the battery compartment. This lid did not exist. I tore the unit apart to gain access to the electronic circuit board to remove the ic chip they wanted. There were 2 chips on the board and they were both soldered in. Now the supervisor wants me to mail them the circuit board. None of the parts they wanted exist in this unit. No one should ever buy this product or ant item made by Littermaid. They have no idea about what they are talking about.

michael of kalamazoo, MI August 25, 2009

Littermaid quality is hit or miss at best, mostly miss. I have used them for years and max life is a year. I had a replacement last just a week. My Elite just dumped after a year, gears are stripped, tries to cycle. Spent a lot of time trying to repair but most important components are sealed. Made to fail. In the past I have been able to correct cycling issues with the reset button, have any of you tried that for your problems? It's not in the manual. Found one of the old style for 80 on line and seems to be working ok. I would never buy another and hope somebody comes up with a better system, if it works I would gladly pay more.

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