It’s always a very difficult time after a beloved pet dies. Your home is full of reminders of a pet who is no longer there.
When one woman’s dog passed away, she was left with an unopened bag of dog food he never got to enjoy — but when she tried to return the food, she got an unexpectedly heartwarming response.
Anna Brose, from Madison, Wisconsin, was left heartbroken after her dog Gus unexpectedly passed last month. She told the Washington Post that the dog died while she was visiting relatives in Alaska: “We came back from our trip and he was just gone,” she recalled.
While grieving for her dog, Anna was also left with an unneeded, unopened bag of dog food, a subscription delivery from the retailer Chewy. Not wanting it to go to waste, she contacted the company to see if she could return it.
Dealing with a company’s customer service isn’t always fun and we’ve all had difficulties trying to return a product, but far from being a hassle Anna received an unexpected deal of kindness from the company.
The company gave her a refund for the cost, and suggested she donate the food instead. On top of that, Anna soon received a delivery of flowers — and they were from the customer service employee she spoke to, giving her condolences on the loss of her pet.
Anna was deeply moved that the employee cared so much, and shared the news on Twitter, where the heartwarming story quickly went viral.
“It meant a lot that someone else knew about Gus and cared that he was gone,” she told the Post.
While it seems extraordinary, the company has gone viral before for showing kindness to customers after their pets died. In 2017, another woman received a bouquet of flowers from Chewy after both her dogs died, and in 2019 a man was moved after receiving a portrait of his dog from an employee.
In response to Anna’s story, other customers shared similar experiences:
My hubby used to work for @Chewy and he always raved about their customer service. They sent us a small painting of my Simba when he passed. I’m sorry for your loss 💔💔 pic.twitter.com/5EanjKXljx
— CFOLS (@bruins77girl) June 16, 2022
My hubby used to work for @Chewy and he always raved about their customer service. They sent us a small painting of my Simba when he passed. I’m sorry for your loss 💔💔 pic.twitter.com/5EanjKXljx
— CFOLS (@bruins77girl) June 16, 2022
It goes to show the impact a little extra kindness can have. Customers grieving for their departed pets is a frequent part of the business for pet supply companies like Chewy, so it’s nice to see that the employees have such heartwarming ways of cheering up these customers.
Anna was thrilled to see such a positive and widespread response to her story, and thanked everyone for their kind words about her dog.
“Gust would have been blown away!” she wrote on Twitter.
“It means so much that so many people will remember him!” she added.
What a sweet story. Losing a pet is one of the hardest things you can go through, and it’s so sweet to see grieving owners getting sympathy from the most unexpected places.
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