Cat Owners, CatGenie is the shit

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darbsllim

darbsllim

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Mar 28, 2008
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London, Ontario
CatGenie, you are the shit - literally.

I saw this crazy thing on TV and I was amazed. It's a robotic litter box that is really environmentally safe, and great for people who dread changing the litter box.

It is also great for your cats health because most people don't change the litter as much as they are supposed to.

You just press a button once or twice a day (or turn on the cat sensor function) and the CatGenie goes through a 20 minute cycle of sifting waste, flushing waste into the toilet/laundry drain, washing the litter (plastic granules) and drying the granules.

It really is an awesome piece of technology, and when I saw the CatGenie thing on TV, my wife and I both thought it was the cat's pajamas. We copied down the coupon code and went to their website and ordered it!

It turned out to be a lot more expensive than I'd hoped, shipping alone ended up costing me about $150, add on UPS fees and the total cost of shipping was about $200. It was almost $500 after I finally got the CatGenie.

But I figured it would be well worth the price and I didn't think twice about the expensive cost of this glorious piece of technology!

About a week went by with smooth operation, and then the shit hit the...nothing, the shit stayed in the bowl.

I don't know how they freaking do it, but inside the machine, there's a little wizard that casts a level 10 liquify spell on the turd, then he mixes it with some special sauce, and it all gets flushed down the drain.

Not all of the shit was making it to the wizard, so I don't blame him.

Apparently I have a broken CatGenie, but the company won't admit any flaws.

The scoop is too big so some shit chunks falls through the scoop at least once a week when I run it, and then the machine ends up baking me a big bowl of Cat Shit Soup.

It makes my basement smell like a crackhouse, and I end up having to change the litter by hand anyway.

So yeah in theory this thing is awesome, but in my experience it's a high tech looking piece of cat shit.

I called customer service to complain, but the guy on the other end was not helpful at all, he was really catty to me - unsympathetic, didn't seem to care. He refused to even give me some free granules to replace the ones that got ruined in the CatGenie diarrhea bake-off.

However, he did let me know that if I'm not happy with the unit, I can send it back with a full refund, minus the $200 shipping and restocking charges of course. Thanks you're so awesome Richard. I felt like whipping him with the Cat-o-9-tails.

I couldn't deal with this guy, the cat had my tongue, so I hung up. I figured there was more than one way to skin a cat, and I emailed customer service a letter, hoping I'd get some justice that way.

The same guy that was on the phone answer my email!

This was at the end of November.

The guy responded all smug like again, and nothing got resolved. I gave up. I figured I was just going to have to watch the CatGenie more closely to observe that it wasn't letting shit pieces fall through the scoop.

So at least once every 3 times it misses some turds and I have to scoop them out by hand while it's going through the cycle. I should invest in a second scoop instead of doing it by hand...anyway thats beside the point.

So 3 months went by, every time I ran the machine is smelled like shit because once the granules get baked in a bowl of CatGenie Shit Soup, the smell doesn't wash out.

But I don't want to have to buy an extra bag of granules 3 times a week - that shit is like $20 a bag.

So now we just close the basement door for a couple hours and put some air fresheners down there. We just deal with it.

However last night, the machine stopped working. So I called customer service, and it turns out that "something" was clogged in the CatGenie, something that prevent the shit from draining.

I had to take the entire machine apart, and I saw that underneath the bowl, there were shit stains everywhere! The CatGenie is nasty.

I spent about 2 hours washing the entire thing with soap and hot water and bleach. It was horrid, I never had to deal with this when I was using a $5 plastic litterbox.

I just want to get a hold of the Fat Cat in charge of this operation and tell him that I'm not too impressed.

I called the customer service guy again to complain, got someone else this time. He said he would pass my information along, and he told me that I could buy an additional piece for the CatGenie that would prevent feces buildup under the bowl.

That's like selling a car and then afterwards offering to purchase an addon which is the gas tank.

It's not like cleaning shit is some BONUS FEATURE of the CatGenie. Cleaning shit is it's prime directive. The bonus piece which cleans shit under the bowl, should be included just the same as the piece that cleans shit in the bowl.

Anyway, sorry I had to rant so long, I just had to let the cat out of the bag and get this off my chest.
 


Serves you right for having a cat in the first place. I've found that if you let your kitty sleep in a dry cleaning bag, the need for a litter box is reduced considerably.
 
Shit, I presume you're a pretty intelligent person (you're on this forum anyway), and you STILL bought this $500 white elephant. Imagine how much profit affiliates could make on people even slightly less intelligent.
 
What a cat-astrophe! Your touching story really brings up sympathetic felines in me. I've been saving up for one of these, so I hope you're not just lion about the product. All kittying aside, great review.
 
Nikko said:
What a cat-astrophe! Your touching story really brings up sympathetic felines in me. I've been saving up for one of these, so I hope you're not just lion about the product. All kittying aside, great review.
Click to expand...

All the puns and nothing about a wet pussy ... what is the world coming to
 
darbsllim said:
CatGenie, you are the shit - literally.

I saw this crazy thing on TV and I was amazed. It's a robotic litter box that is really environmentally safe, and great for people who dread changing the litter box.

It is also great for your cats health because most people don't change the litter as much as they are supposed to.

You just press a button once or twice a day (or turn on the cat sensor function) and the CatGenie goes through a 20 minute cycle of sifting waste, flushing waste into the toilet/laundry drain, washing the litter (plastic granules) and drying the granules.

It really is an awesome piece of technology, and when I saw the CatGenie thing on TV, my wife and I both thought it was the cat's pajamas. We copied down the coupon code and went to their website and ordered it!

It turned out to be a lot more expensive than I'd hoped, shipping alone ended up costing me about $150, add on UPS fees and the total cost of shipping was about $200. It was almost $500 after I finally got the CatGenie.

But I figured it would be well worth the price and I didn't think twice about the expensive cost of this glorious piece of technology!

About a week went by with smooth operation, and then the shit hit the...nothing, the shit stayed in the bowl.

I don't know how they freaking do it, but inside the machine, there's a little wizard that casts a level 10 liquify spell on the turd, then he mixes it with some special sauce, and it all gets flushed down the drain.

Not all of the shit was making it to the wizard, so I don't blame him.

Apparently I have a broken CatGenie, but the company won't admit any flaws.

The scoop is too big so some shit chunks falls through the scoop at least once a week when I run it, and then the machine ends up baking me a big bowl of Cat Shit Soup.

It makes my basement smell like a crackhouse, and I end up having to change the litter by hand anyway.

So yeah in theory this thing is awesome, but in my experience it's a high tech looking piece of cat shit.

I called customer service to complain, but the guy on the other end was not helpful at all, he was really catty to me - unsympathetic, didn't seem to care. He refused to even give me some free granules to replace the ones that got ruined in the CatGenie diarrhea bake-off.

However, he did let me know that if I'm not happy with the unit, I can send it back with a full refund, minus the $200 shipping and restocking charges of course. Thanks you're so awesome Richard. I felt like whipping him with the Cat-o-9-tails.

I couldn't deal with this guy, the cat had my tongue, so I hung up. I figured there was more than one way to skin a cat, and I emailed customer service a letter, hoping I'd get some justice that way.

The same guy that was on the phone answer my email!

This was at the end of November.

The guy responded all smug like again, and nothing got resolved. I gave up. I figured I was just going to have to watch the CatGenie more closely to observe that it wasn't letting shit pieces fall through the scoop.

So at least once every 3 times it misses some turds and I have to scoop them out by hand while it's going through the cycle. I should invest in a second scoop instead of doing it by hand...anyway thats beside the point.

So 3 months went by, every time I ran the machine is smelled like shit because once the granules get baked in a bowl of CatGenie Shit Soup, the smell doesn't wash out.

But I don't want to have to buy an extra bag of granules 3 times a week - that shit is like $20 a bag.

So now we just close the basement door for a couple hours and put some air fresheners down there. We just deal with it.

However last night, the machine stopped working. So I called customer service, and it turns out that "something" was clogged in the CatGenie, something that prevent the shit from draining.

I had to take the entire machine apart, and I saw that underneath the bowl, there were shit stains everywhere! The CatGenie is nasty.

I spent about 2 hours washing the entire thing with soap and hot water and bleach. It was horrid, I never had to deal with this when I was using a $5 plastic litterbox.

I just want to get a hold of the Fat Cat in charge of this operation and tell him that I'm not too impressed.

I called the customer service guy again to complain, got someone else this time. He said he would pass my information along, and he told me that I could buy an additional piece for the CatGenie that would prevent feces buildup under the bowl.

That's like selling a car and then afterwards offering to purchase an addon which is the gas tank.

It's not like cleaning shit is some BONUS FEATURE of the CatGenie. Cleaning shit is it's prime directive. The bonus piece which cleans shit under the bowl, should be included just the same as the piece that cleans shit in the bowl.

Anyway, sorry I had to rant so long, I just had to let the cat out of the bag and get this off my chest.
Click to expand...


I have been laughing my ass off reading this, fucking classic.

My girlfriend wanted to buy one of these, thanks for saving us the trouble in advance. Good luck with the shit stains, sir!
 
Something tells me you could have hired a small Mexican kid to do it for you for a VERY long time.
 
This must be the longest post about cat poop (or cat shit soup) that has ever been written. It's like the anti-testimonial for a product page. If Cat Genie has a competitor you should post this rant as an anti-Cat Genie review and tell people their competitor's product is much better.

As the slave to five cats, we operate two high traffic litter boxes. Fortunately the girlfriend and I work from home so between the two of us we can keep the cat shit soup smells to a minimum. (Aren't diarrhea poos the worst? They go on and on and on and that fresh diarrhea smell sticks to the air molecules in your house for like, weeks.)

Dan
 
I hate to admit it, but I bought a Littermaid box that was supposed to do the same thing. I even spent the extra $30 for the "deluxe" version at the store, though I wasn't really sure was so deluxe about it. It's not like it had chrome accents or a built-in radio.

Anyway, it was a piece of garbage. Once my cats were done hissing at it and one of them dared to step inside, it took just one tiny piece of cat poop to clog it completely. For the record, it wasn't especially large, or wet, or anything else that would lead to it messing up the machine - it was just one simple average piece of cat poop.

Instead of getting pushed into the charcoal filtered waste box, it stayed stuck on the mechanical fingers. By the time there were 2-3 deposits, the thing was like a giant, poop-covered comb sifting through the litter. It smelled awful. A few pieces did eventually make it into the container, but that part kept staying open and having issues, too.

So I did what any sane person would do. I wrapped a garbage bag around it and took it back, poop and all. Everyone I know said I should just eat the cost, but it was a matter of principle. I won't pay for a product that sucks that horribly at its one crucial function.

When I took it back and complained, they told me that no one had ever brought one back - Obviously, since everyone else is apparently too scared at what people will think if they try. They didn't want to take it back, but after I told them that I was either getting a refund through them or documenting the incident and filing a credit card dispute, the manager caved.

I hate to think what would have happened if I had paid cash or purchased from some online retailer. Seriously, people, just hire someone to clean your litterbox if you hate it that much. The very first things I ever outsourced were dishes and the litterbox and it was a huge increase in quality of life for very little cash.
 
Nikko said:
What a cat-astrophe! Your touching story really brings up sympathetic felines in me. I've been saving up for one of these, so I hope you're not just lion about the product. All kittying aside, great review.
Click to expand...

lol nice puns I don't know why I didn't think of that.

stussy5555 said:
Here is the link to leave comments on their site. I would love to see that shit get posted:
CatGenie.com
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Thanks for the link, tried to post but it's not working, they may have a shit filter up or something...or maybe it's too long.


I also sent them a letter to their customer service like I said in that original post, here's what I sent them the first time:

"However if you have a problem, please, please contact us. A happy, satisfied customer is our priority. Cat lovers who chose the CatGenie become part of our family. And we take care of family."

Is that some sort of joke?

I love the idea of the CatGenie. I love it so much I bought one.

I didn't complain when I saw the machine shakes granules on the floor after a cleaning cycle, I didn't complain when I didn't qualify for free shipping because I'm in Canada. I didn't complain when the advertised code 1100 short changed my discount by almost half, and I didn't complain when I had to PAY an EXTRA $115 at the door when UPS showed up with the package on top of the expensive shipping I had to pay.

All in all this machine costed over $450 when it was supposed to be $297. However, I decided that it was an awesome invention, it was good for the environment and good for my cat. So I decided not to complain and just be happy that I had such an amazing machine.

However, when the CatGenie turned into a bowl of liquified feces, then baked feces, I decided to complain.

For some reason, during the first week of using the machine, the CatGenie didn't scoop out the poop, it just left it in the machine as the poop must have fallen through the scooper. The clean cycle ran, filling the bowl with water, then mixed it all around to make diarhea soup, and then dried it.

As you could imagine, the smell was absolutely horrid.

There was nothing I could do, I had to dump the entire contents of the machine into the garbage and give the entire machine a thorough scrubbing with soap to get the baked on feces out of the bowl, as it was all around the sidewalls.

I called customer service very calm, because I know that screaming and making a scene isn't the best way to go about getting a problem resolved.

However, the smug customer service rep refused to anything for my situation except throw me $20 worth of coupons. He wouldn't even send me an extra box of granules to replace the entire box I had to throw out.

Are you kidding me!?

"However if you have a problem, please, please contact us. A happy, satisfied customer is our priority. Cat lovers who chose the CatGenie become part of our family. And we take care of family."

Is that how you would treat your family?

If I sold a machine to a family member for $450, and they had an extremely terrible horrifying experience with it, I would damn well make sure they were happy. I wouldn't tell them "sorry here's a coupon to use when you buy more product from me."

I feel at the very LEAST I should be given an extra package of granules to replace the ones I threw out.

Nowhere on the order process was there a suggestion that I could get the machine for cheaper if I ordered it through costco or robotshop.ca
Nowhere on the order process was I told it was going to be an additional $115 at the door because of taxes and 'UPS fees'.
Nowhere on the advertising or in the manual was I told that I had to observe the catgenie while it cleaned to make sure it wasn't going to make diahrea soup.

3 days later and the stench is finally gone, but now I have a very very very negative view of the CatGenie. This amazing machine should have amazing customer service to go with it.

I would have recommended this to everyone I know, but now that I've dealt with the customer service, I'm not so sure I would.

I hope there is something someone can do for me to turn this terrible experience around. I'm not at the stage where I want to send the CatGenie back because aside from all of the problems I have had with it so far, I think it's an awesome invention and a great machine. However I'm quickly approaching that point because of the lack of customer service I've received so far.
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Of course the same smug dude replied back to the email, I almost shit a brick when I got the same guy on email.

What, are these guys operating out of someone's basement? He takes phone calls, answers emails AND works the company gloryhole.

I kinda feel bad for the guy, having people complain to him about cat shit all day long.

I remember when I worked for a call center, I would do anything to make the customer happy. I'd give them free shit and it would make them settle down instantly. I don't know why companies haven't realized that free shit = happy customers.

Maybe the CatGenie doesn't give free shit because it knows by purchasing their product, you'll have enough left over shit.
 
I have a littermaid self-cleaning litter box that I bought at walmart for about 120 bucks. I've had it for a few months and I like it a lot better then just a box with litter in it. I have to empty out the disposable containers every week or so, but it's pretty easy and the whole thing doesn't smell too bad. I have 1 cat. I really can not wait for robots that will clean my litter box, wash my dishes, and check me out at stores.
 
plz separate cat from litter before using scoop.

b694zt.jpg
 
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