Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  01/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Have been purchasing their Alfalfa cubes for no less than 15 years. In September/Beginning of October I had two horses die of botulism. Their company didn't issue a recall until December. They then continued to lie about which lots were recalled. Had a third die in January from eating their product before the recall was announced. I've contacted the **** So they're aware. Manzanola has not directly reached out to me. They gave me a phone number for their insurance representative and they have also not responded to mine or others in my situation. There's over 200 horse deaths around the country. *** announced the test results on January 9th. Another issue is Manzanola manufacturers for Dumor, ********, and Pride of the high plains. And not one of those companies has issued a recall. The way they're handling our horses deaths is unacceptable. People need to know their quality control is zero. Doesn't keep samples of hay he uses to make hay. Allows dead animals in them. It needs to be dealt with. Most of their bags are unstamped by lot numbers! I had several with no date stamps.

  Business response

  01/24/2023

  Good morning *********************,

   

  I am writing in response to the complaint filed with your office of the Better Business Bureau by ************************************

   

  There are several things that are incorrect in Ms. ********* complaint.

   

  1. We issued a recall on 12/12/22 when we were notified that there may be an issue with our cubes.  We did this voluntarily even though there was no proof that the cause of the illness was from our cubes.  From the beginning, we recalled cubes dated 11/12-11/16/22.  We NEVER lied about which lots were recalled.  We have been working with the *** the entire process.
  2. We did not directly contact ******************** about the recall because we only contacted our distributors.  We do not know who they sell to nor do we have personal contact information.  However, as soon as she emailed us, we did respond to her via email (which we have) and also sent her information to our insurance company and lawyer.  They have since responded to her claim about our cubes.
  3. The cases of botulism were not brought to our attention until 12/10/22, which was a Saturday.  The following Monday, we got to work on everything that needed to be done.  The *** has come to our facility several times and we have provided them with every piece of information that they have asked for and any additional information that we thought would help with solving the situation.
  4. There have not been 200 horse deaths.  At most, to date, we are aware of a possible 49 horses.  We received that number from the ***.  However, in order to confirm botulism in horses or any other animal, a necropsy has to be performed.  ******************** says that she has 3 horses that have died.  We have not seen any necropsy results or any information from her vet.
  5. We DO keep samples of our cubes from every day they are manufactured.  On January 9^th, the *** did announce that they had a positive result in ********* on cubes dated 11/14/22.  We were informed via telephone of the results, but have requested it in writing and have not received it in written communication.  On 1/23/23 we received results from ************* on the cubes that we sent in and also a concerned horse owner sent in.  The results were from cubes dated 11/14 & 11/15/22.  All results were negative for botulism.  I can provide the written report if needed.
  6. We do manufacture Du Mor Alfalfa cubes for **********************.  However, we do not manufacture all of them.  ******************** contacted TSC and told them that she had two bags of their Du Mor cubes from *****, **.  (Even though she said she only fed Top Of The Rockies.)  Those cubes were manufactured by Secate ***** in *******.  When she contacted *********************** she said that they did not alert their customers.  However, they did issue a statement within 24 hours of our recall on 12/12/22.  I have emails from ********************** to prove these statements.  We do not manufacture for ******** or Pride Of The High Plains.  Those are completely different companies who manufacture their own product.
  7. ******************** stated that she had two older horses that died in September and October.  We had no issues until the middle of November.  We were not notified that the issues existed until 12/10/22.
  8. We do not allow dead animals in our cubes.  This was a very unfortunate accident that we are working very hard to make sure does not happen again.  As stated, we keep daily samples of our cubes for quality control.  We have very good quality control methods and are working to improve them all the time.  If we had zero quality control, the *** would surely have shut us down when they spent more than a week here at the facility.  I can provide names of the *** personnel that we have been working with if needed.
  9. We occasionally do have bags that get through our process without a date.  The bags go through a ******* after they are filled, and because they are not flat, the ******* may miss the bag or only partially stamp it.  However, that is one thing we are working on improving.

   

  I do have all the correspondence concerning ******************** to and from our company, as well as the correspondence between she and our insurance company and **********************.  I can provide all of that if needed. As you can see, there are several things that ******************** is incorrect about concerning this issue.  We are trying to handle any and all cases regarding this matter in a professional and caring matter.  We do have horses of our own, so we understand the hurt and concern that customers are having.   If it is a legitimate claim, the insurance company will take care of it as soon as we have all the necessary information.

   

  Should you have any further questions, or need any additional information from our company, please dont hesitate to contact us either by email, or by telephone.

   

  Thank you for your time.

   

  ***********************

  Manzanola Feeds, LLC

  ************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩