If at first you don't succeed...

Radio station KLAC played a commercial for Dinovite. This product claims to do wonderful things for dogs:

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I'm Ed Lukacevic, developer, manufacturer and distributer of Dinovite® Dog Supplement. Let me explain a little about why I developed this all natural dog supplement and what it can do to help make your dog the healthy, happy canine he was meant to be!...

Over the years, while raising and training my own dogs on our farm in Kentucky, I struggled to keep them in top-notch condition. Like you, I've seen dogs plagued with bad skin, allergies and other canine maladies. I tried almost everything on the market and spent tons of money on the vet with no real results. It became clear to me that many dog health problems have their root in some sort of nutrient deficiency. Unfortunately, even with the best dog food, dog nutritional requirements are usually not being met....

Considering my history with dogs and other animals, finding a solution to these dog health problems was a natural step for me. Through personal study and methodical, real world, hands on testing I systematically formulated natural dog supplement "recipes" that eventually resulted in Dinovite® Dog Food Supplement....

Our natural dog supplement proved to correct the problems that plague so many dogs. After many friends, family and canine professionals used Dinovite® and got remarkable results for their ailing dogs, we decided to make our dog supplement available online.

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This is then followed by a number of testimonials, similar to the ones I heard on the radio commercial. These claims, consisting of anecdotal evidence, awoke the skeptic in me. Unfortunately, anyone who advertises on the radio and cites customer testimonials (instead of scientific studies) gets lumped in with other companies that use the same tactic, such as penis enlargement peddlers.

So I was curious to see if anyone had claimed that Dynovite is a worthless scam. I searched the 'Net, but I only found two claims that Dinovite is a ripoff.

The first, dated December 8, 2006, was filed by Suzanne in Plano, Texas:

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My husband purchased a 5 lb. container of Dinovite for $59.00 after hearing a radio ad. We received the container and began feeding our two Sable Cockers the Dinovite food supplement. Within 48 hours we had to stop feeding the Dinovite because our pets are highly allergic to three ingredients contained in the Dinovite. I contacted Dinovite to return the food and get a refund. They insist you MUST FEED the Dinovite for 90 days BEFORE THEY WILL HONOR THE MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. If I continue to feed my dogs this crap,they may be dead in 90 days. Now I can't get any response from the owner. No phone call, no e-mail, no nothing. PET OWNERS BEWARE. IF YOU BUY DINOVITE AND YOU DON'T LIKE IT, YOU ARE OUT OF LUCK ON GETTING A REFUND OF ANY KIND. I CALL THAT A RIP-OFF.

Suzanne
Plano, Texas
U.S.A.

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On December 17, Ed Lukacevic from Dinovite responded as follows (in part):

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Suzanne,

I'm sorry Dinovite did not work for your dog. I've not received any emails from you, it is possible you responded to an auto email, I don't check these.

I'm not sure why you have chosen to blast our company and product instead of just sending your order back and receiving your refund. There is no catch 22 just send it back and we will refund the purchase price less shipping.

I've posted our Guarantee and return policy below for your review and others reading this comment.

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The guarantee and return policy, which is posted in two locations [1] [2] on Dinovite's website, reads (in part) as follows:

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We are so confident that your dog will benefit from Dinovite® that we invite you to use it for a full 90 days at no risk.

The bottom line is we want every dog to get a fair shake and we want all of our customers to be completely satisfied. That is why we encourage you to feed Dinovite® for 90 days.

Use the recommended dosage and size container for your dog. Feed the Dinovite every day for 90 days to give your dog the time he needs to reap the benefits. If you are still not satisfied with Dinovite® we will gladly refund your money (minus shipping).

Please don't rush to return the product before you have given your dog a chance to benefit! Feed it for 90 days.

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Back to the thread of the original complaint. P of Colorado Springs, Colorado replied:

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You missed the point of the original poster - the dogs are allergic to the ingredients and feeding it for 90 days would probably kill them. The complaint was that your company REQUIRED the use of the product for 90 days before you would consider a refund - your own post supports the complaint....

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This prompted the following response from Ed on December 18:

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Our company has never refused a refund whether the product was used for 1 day or 90 days. Our bottom line concern is customer satisfaction and their dog's well being.

As I stated earlier just send it back and we will issue a refund of the purchase price less shipping.

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So it's still unclear what Dinovite's official return policy is. Their website proclaims over and over that you have to feed the product for 90 days, but in at least one instance they offered to issue a refund after the product was used for a much shorter period of time.

Anyway, this was the first complaint about Dinovite. Now let's look at the second:

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This company CLAIMS it will help you pet if they have allergies. WRONG!!!!! IF YOUR pet ALREADY has allergies, IT CAN MAKE MATTERS MUCH WORSE. Both of our pets suffer from allergies and after feeding them Dinovite for three days, they were off to the vet again!!!!!! We can't get a refund because you have to feed this crap to your pets for 90 days. Good ole catch 22!!!! At the end of 90 days you will either have a sicker pet than when you began or you will have higher vet bills, or BOTH.

Dinovite will not respond to numerous e-mails, mail, etc. Bottom line is you buy it and there is no recourse for getting your money back.So buyer beware!!!! $59.49 down the drain for pet food and a vet bill to boot!!!

Suzanne
Plano, Texas
U.S.A.

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Yup, the same woman (Suzanne) who filed the complaint on December 8 went ahead and filed a nearly identical complaint at the same website a week later. Don't know if Dinovite was prompted to respond because of the second complaint, or whether Dinovite just responded to the first complaint and didn't even know about the second one.

The fact that Suzanne didn't log a third complaint may be attribute to one of the following reasons:

• Suzanne read Dinovite's December 18 comment, returned the product, got a refund, and was (relatively) happy.


• Suzanne was busy complaining to another vendor.


• Suzanne forgot to pay her Internet access bill.

Other than Suzanne, the closest thing that I found to a negative testimonial about Dynovite was the following:

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So far so good
Posted by: Jenny from Utah on 6/19/2006...

My German shepherd had horrible gas. We tried everything, from gas pills, changing diets, and prescription food to daily zinc and acidophillys pills. Nothing worked. after a week or so of taking dinovite, her gas is completly gone (or at least the smell is gone). We are still waiting to see results for her skin and coat, and her joints. She has been on it for 2 months now.

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And even that review can't technically be considered negative, since Jenny still has a month to go. And her house smells nicer.

(If you are interested, for scholarly reasons, in selected topics listed above, check my del.icio.us tags for dog and penis....Up go the corporate firewalls.)

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