BAEN Message Board

Clinton Anderson, Inc.

Posted by rosalita208 on 7/25/2012, 8:01 pm

I called Clinton Anderson Inc. today, because a cinch that I bought from them was too short. No worries. On the receipt it said exchanges need an RMA number. I figured this would be easy. Get the number, send back the cinch, get correct size sent back to me.

But no, I was told in a abrupt manner that I had to buy a new one, and then would get refunded after I sent the other one back. "Can you explain that to me again?" I said. "You are going to charge me again before I can exchange this cinch? Isn't that kind of unusual?"

"Our policy is on the back of the receipt." said customer service rep Dana in her exasperated voice.

"Actually, I have my receipt here and sorry, but it doesn't say that."

"It says you need an RMA number," barked Dana.

"I don't think the average person would understand that RMA number means you have to pay upfront for another one before you can exchange a product," I replied.

At that point Dana just started talking over me in a condescending voice, like I must be the stupidest person in the world. "We're not like other companies!"

"Forget it," I said, just wanting to get her off the phone, as she was so rude and unpleasant. " I'll just return it."

"OK, fine" said Dana, in her snarly voice. "Here's your RMA number. That will be a 10% charge for a restocking fee."

"Can I talk to your boss?" I asked. "That's me," she barked.

"You don't have anyone supervising you?"

"No. Clinton Anderson is my boss. You can write him a letter."

So this is how the biggest money-making horse trainer in the world lets his staff treat his poor little customers?

Crazy.

wow

Posted by cjride on 7/25/2012, 9:12 pm, in reply to "Clinton Anderson, Inc."
24.2.38.217

as they say, one annoyed customer can do a lot of damage to the reputation.

Wow, I hope you don't buy anything else from them!

Posted by LovemyTB on 7/25/2012, 9:20 pm, in reply to "Clinton Anderson, Inc."
76.225.157.182

They need to study what SmartPak does to keep so many loyal customers.

Save a life, adopt a slaughter-bound horse!

Nope, I won't

Posted by rosalita208 on 7/25/2012, 10:29 pm, in reply to "Wow, I hope you don't buy anything else from them!"

I'm not exaggerating the hostility this poor woman displayed. I can't imagine what kind of stress she is under that she couldn't summon up a little bit of patience and politeness to a customer.
I called Equine Elite recently about a mix up in an order that they sent and the woman on the other end of the phone talked with me for a 20 minutes about our horses, and how sorry she was about the little mixup. Completely genuine and made me feel like we were friends by the time I hung up the phone.
I don't expect that on every transaction but patient, professional and polite would be nice.

A friend of mine just got tickets to the Clinton Anderson tour show in Fresno and asked me to go, but ain't going to bother now.

Like and Love

Posted by Horse Lover on 7/25/2012, 11:35 pm, in reply to "Wow, I hope you don't buy anything else from them!"
108.221.22.216

Smart Pak. They are the best!
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." John Wayne

had personal run in

Posted by Guinny1 on 7/26/2012, 5:16 am, in reply to "Clinton Anderson, Inc."
173.84.210.46

With Clinton Anderson when he worked for Boyles in Ione, CA about 14 years ago. That man will NEVER get a dime of my money!

Wait a minute....

Posted by NaturallyCowgirl on 7/26/2012, 7:50 am, in reply to "had personal run in"

He worked for Boyles?! I think I remember him... that's hilarious! If he's the trainer I'm thinking of, I think I almost crashed into him once! LOL. I was mortified because I was listening to my trainer, doing what she was telling me to do and there were just too many people in the arena. I was double mortified that it was the grumpy dude.
Jenni
Cool, Ca.
http://www.BowenTherapyforHorses.com
My ongoing barter list: http://www.NaturallyCowgirl.com/barter.html

LOL...

Posted by Guinny1 on 7/26/2012, 8:46 pm, in reply to "Wait a minute...."
173.84.210.46

a girl named Ericka worked there for awhile during high school. She was a friend of mine. Poppy Phillips was my trainer, she was training at Boyle's at the same time as Clinton. I have always felt she was an excellent trainer for both of us. I loved that she was compassionate towards the horses and in tune with what they were trying to learn and tried different methods to teach me ("end product" was best for me).

I will never forget coming for my lesson one day and Clinton was on my horse in the round pen...just wailing on him. Gamblin didn't know which way was up anymore. He was worked into a frothy sweat and Clinton just kept at him. He did not have my permission to be on my horse and no one was supposed to be riding him that day anyway because he didn't get ridden on days when I had my lessons. Gamblin was bleeding from the spurs and welted. Course he is white, so the tiniest pin prick would look a lot worse with all the sweat and white hair. But I was furious. Took several weeks (and possibly up to 2 months) before Gamblin would calmly walk into the round pen again.

Gamblin is a lazy and calm/quiet horse...he was sold to me as a trail horse because, even as a 2 year old, it was clear that he was not interested and too lazy to be any kind of a performance horse. Apparently Clinton felt that he could spur and yank the laziness out of my horse. And for that, I will never support that man in any way. I pray that he is a better trainer now than he was then and that mine is the last horse that he abused (in my mind, other trainers might find it perfectly acceptable): but I have no reason to believe that any of that is the case. He has just become a better con artist.

Re: LOL...

Posted by NaturallyCowgirl on 7/26/2012, 9:15 pm, in reply to "LOL..."

I just emailed you...

That's too funny- I never knew I rode with "Clinton Anderson". Hilarious!

Sorry about the trouble he caused with Gamblin... I would have been furious too. If he was the same grumpy trainer with an accent that I almost wrecked into that day- he always gave me the creeps. I wouldn't have wanted him on my horses on a good day...
Jenni
Cool, Ca.
http://www.BowenTherapyforHorses.com
My ongoing barter list: http://www.NaturallyCowgirl.com/barter.html

Re: I am not surprised one bit

Posted by Lizzie on 7/28/2012, 5:42 pm, in reply to "LOL..."

I can't stand him. He has no respect for horses. I saw him in Red Bluff 6 or 7 years ago. I got it in a minute that he was so about dominating a horse--no partnership whatsoever. Please don't flame me for this--I just can't stand him

Re: had personal run in

Posted by Tracy Jan on 7/28/2012, 12:37 am, in reply to "had personal run in"
72.160.106.68

Was he there about 11 years ago? I bought a QH from the Boyles in 2001 and there were a lot of trainers in the arena with their clients when I rode the horse.
Living in wet and green Oregon
http://allthecreatures.org my animal blog
http://kingdomofhorses.com my new horse blog

He left Boyle's

Posted by Guinny1 on 7/28/2012, 9:48 pm, in reply to "Re: had personal run in"
173.84.210.46

and I think it was shortly after the incident with Gamblin. "Shortly" being within several months. Which would have been about 13 years ago.

Why would you buy a cinch from

Posted by equestqh on 7/26/2012, 12:43 pm, in reply to "Clinton Anderson, Inc."
184.8.121.88

him in the first place, or any tack for that matter? Better deals through the catalogs.
No, I am not smarter than a 5th grader, but occasionally I am smarter than a 1st grader.
Elk Grove, Sac County, CA (formerly of Palo Alto & EPA & yes, my horses had a better address than me-Woodside)

Wow. I bought two sticks from his show

Posted by Bitohoneylady on 7/29/2012, 10:19 am, in reply to "Clinton Anderson, Inc."
67.142.166.21

when they were at Rancho Murietta a few years back. One stick broke right away, had a fracture in the center of the stick which I didn't see when I bought it. I called to see if I could return it was told flat out NO! I have never ever bought another thing from them, nor will I. I went to one of his shows in Reno (free tickets) and with tons of children in the audience he made several sexual innuendos to his help while in the middle of the arena, we saw many people disgusted with his actions grab their kids and walk out, I mean you can expect it if you're in a nightclub but in an arena dealing with horses with families there, it was totally inappropriate. I would never go see him again.
Placerville CA

pedestals

Posted by cjride on 7/29/2012, 3:41 pm, in reply to "Clinton Anderson, Inc."
24.2.38.217

Reading these comments is a cautionary reminder to not put anyone (trainers, athletes, public servants, etc) on a pedestal.

I do believe that with many of the "biggies" their charisma and flair far outweighs their actual skill. I believe there are many skills horseman out there who lack that "star quality" and will never achieve the status that some of the lesser talented BS'ers have and will achieve.

I remember going to see one of the "biggie" natural horsemanship dudes in his early years. Blasted a young horse around a round pen so long he was covered in foam (in cool weather) and was literally shaking when he was allowed to stop. Had I had my own ride that evening, I would have left but had car pooled and was stuck. I was stunned that people didn't see anything wrong with what was going on. I was too young and too stupid at the time to realize I should have stood up and yelled "you are a fool, have probably permanently damaged that horse and should be sued for false representation."

Ever since then I've questioned the pedestals that people place these yahoos on. Give me an old school horseman any day (or yes, old school horsewoman).

I would much rather go audit clinics by trainers skilled and experienced in certain fields, even if it's not my chosen field. I believe I can learn something from almost any trainer be they a H/J trainer, cutting, saddleseat, driving, pleasure, trail or whatever. Never audited a George Morris clinic but would love to. Would I agree with everything ? Unlikely, but I'd learn a lot!

Many of these so called experts claim to have pretty much re-invented the wheel. Everything we used to know is wrong and their way is the only way. Their bits are gimmicky and I suspect much of their other equipment is gimmicky BS as well. Frankly, I find much of their commentary to be insulting and patronizing. How on earth did thousands of horse people ever get a horse schooled without all their special magic bits, whips, sticks and, of course, their videos?!?!?

blech

Hear hear, well put

Posted by Lee on 7/30/2012, 7:54 pm, in reply to "pedestals"
67.181.11.175

I also attended a well known trainer clinic that was held in a local town when said trainer was living locally and that;s all the identification I will give...

My friend took her gelding that was sorta squirley about some things, he was a rescue and had some issues. No mind you this gelding was broke to ride and doing well, just had some issues. This person that is otherwise known as a trainer put the gelding in the round pen and dragged him around by a hind leg backward..I kid you not.

I have no idea what he was trying to prove, he said the horse wasn't submissive..what the heck..

He also said some pretty crude things about the way the horse was trained...personally I think I did a good job on this gelding, he would walk, trot, canter, stop, turn, neck rein, worked off my legs quite nicely, was light in the bridle, load in the trailer, wasn't spooky..his one big issue was he didn't like to be handled by men and was really afraid of his farrier..a nice man the wasn't rough...I have a feeling his problems started way back and he just didn't like men.

He sure didn't after this clinic...I think this clinician was offended that this gelding didn't like him..

This gelding recently passed away at 30, and had never dumped his owner/rider, was a nice saddle horse and didn't like men to the end, he would just leave when a man showed up, head for the back of the pen...sigh.. so he had a lady farrier and a lady vet and he was a good boy.

Put that in your carrot stick and smoke it...
Unplanned dismounts, a way to get down and dirty..
Banta

hmmm

Posted by cjride on 8/2/2012, 7:02 am, in reply to "Hear hear, well put"
24.2.38.217

I can see the person I saw doing the same thing! That would have been right up his alley.

I vaguely remember some article or something about roping the hind foot. Fortunately, I have forgotten most of that sort of thing!

Sorry . . .

Posted by mary bluepony on 8/1/2012, 5:02 pm, in reply to "Clinton Anderson, Inc."
71.93.164.243

thought everybody had figured out what a bogus blowhard C A is by now . . . He's been a scammer since day one and a horse beater on top of it . . . heads up on ANY 'trainer' who is selling you stuff. normal every day gear works fine, it isn't the gear that trains the horse, it's the person doing it.

in your situation the gal on the phone was just an example of how he does business . . .

Re: Sorry . . .

Posted by littlebit on 8/1/2012, 11:09 pm, in reply to "Sorry . . ."

Glad to see that so many are finally seeing the truth about these "my way is the only way" trainers. Most of them have a great gift of gab-just good salesmen-to get you to buy their books, videos, and equipment.

there's always another one

Posted by cjride on 8/2/2012, 6:56 am, in reply to "Re: Sorry . . ."
24.2.38.217

It seems that some of the early 'experts' have faded from popularity only to be replaced by the next big thing.

On another group, someone explained their theory that many of these guys (notice they are all men?) appeal at some core level to middle age women looking for heroes and easy answers. I did not get into that debate!

I pretty much go in the other direction when someone starts trying to sell me something! no special whips, sticks, headstalls, pads, or whatever else they're selling. I might make an exception for a custom made bit

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