An Open Letter to ActionWipes 07/29/09

AW09singleweb-250x154Dear ActionWipes,

Good news first: you work! you really work. Better than the old damp paper-towel routine. Better than a washcloth and soap (no need to rinse).

You’re reuseable.

You do your best to make your packaging environmentally friendly.

You’re convenient.

You included a nice little handwritten note on my order slip.

Thank you for all of those things.

But do you have to smell like a hippie eating a cough drop? Herbal, I can live with, but smelling like the herb, I cannot. Can we pretty please have the cleansing and soothing properties of eucalyptus and tea tree with a little less of the scent? Because on all but the hottest days, I find myself opting for the slight BO/Chanel Chance combo instead.

Sincerely,

Trisha

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  • http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com dottie

    Ha, BO/Chanel is very sophisticated and French, no? (c’mon, someone had to say it! I’ve never actually been to France.)
    ;)

  • http://lovelybike.blogspot.com Lovely Bicycle!

    Hilarious! I have never tried Action Wipes, preferring the cheaper and more standardly scented Scott wipes instead. Makeup remover wipes work great as well.

    Psychological studies show, that a tiny bit of BO actually increases a person’s appeal to the opposite sex. Though personally, I prefer the Prada + unwashed hair lure.

    • http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com Trisha

      As I said, they do work — I’m just not a huge fan of the scent. I too have heard that about a bit of BO, but I wonder if nurture has bred that out of Americans. We’re so horrified of smelling the least bit like a human. ;-)

  • Ashley

    “Hippie eating a cough drop” – now I know exactly what you are talking about. Clarence has some shampoo that smells like this. Apparently he prefers the cough droppy scent. I think I much prefer BO/chanel – although for me it’s more like BO/baby spit-up.

  • http://cyclinmissy.blogspot.com Cyclin Missy

    Yes, indeed! BO/Chanel is very French!

  • http://thechaicyclist.blogspot.com spiderleggreen

    I can’t wait for their response! “Dude, take it easy. Relax. Why ya gotta be so hostile? Jah Herb comes from the earth, man. If it comes from mother nature, it’s gotta be good… mellow… if it’s yellow, it’s mellow. If it’s brown… um?” ;-)

  • http://www.pragmatik.org/blog Johnny

    “Hippie eating a cough drop” — LOL

    I’ve had luck with Huggy’s cuke/green tea lately. They do have baby prints on them, though:)

  • http://suburbanbikemama.blogspot.com/ Mamavee

    Hey- I go for the BO chanel smell too.

    • http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com Trisha

      Glad to see the support for my scent of choice. ;-) Johnny, thanks for the rec. I might try those…

  • http://mplsrad.wordpress.com Tad Salyards

    Just wait until they release their line of reusable patchoul wipes!

  • http://charlottedays.blogspot.com Allison

    LOL!

  • dukiebiddle

    “Herbal, I can live with, <but smelling like the herb, I cannot” – Har! Patchouli + thai stick + b/o = worse than just b/o.

  • http://www.actionwipes.com Martha Van Inwegen

    Haha! Love it. Take it easy all – no Patchouli wipes in the product development schedule. Though I do love the scent ;) (Yup, I grew in the 60s/70s so maybe I was influenced by the hippie crowd.) Sorry they were to strong for you we will work on other scents (but not Patchouli!) as we grow. Right now, we’re a very small company with limited funding, so one product at a time. I’m happy you like the rest of the stuff though. Check out the print under the hand written note – we guarantee your complete satisfaction, so just send them back for a full refund. I’ll let you know when the new scents come out. Thank you for trying them!!

  • http://www.actionwipes.com Martha Van Inwegen

    Just realized – you tried the 15 ct pack. We now offer single packs which have more of a sweeter scent. I’ll send you a couple of those – and yes, will want to hear your opinion on them too. Your refund is being processed as we speak. :)

  • http://bikehugger.com/ DL Byron

    One snarky blog post that probably didn’t take into account that massive time it takes to bring a product to market and how that product is probably not yet making money . . . with the yeah it sucks comments piling on. Nice of Martha to respond and may your future blog posts realize the effort product development takes. We dig the wipes ourselves and like what we call frankincense. It smells nothing like patchouli.

    • http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com dottie

      DL, There is nothing wrong with saying what one does not like about a product. You should note that Action Wipes reached out to the blogging community by offering a 10% discount through Bike Skirt’s blog, which is how Trisha found out about the product in the first place. I’m sure Action Wipes understood that the blogosphere is an incredibly open forum and made a reasoned business decision to take the good with the bad. This post raises awareness of the product and if people like the smell of eucalyptus and tea tree (no one ever said it smelled like patchouli, nor did any comment say it “sucked”), they may very well decide to buy Action Wipes after reading this, considering all the good things Trisha said about them. It’s great that you like Action Wipes and you’re free to say so on your blog. Bike Skirt loves Action Wipes and wrote a positive review here.

      • http://nbbb.wordpress.com Johnny

        No one can criticize anything until it makes money because of the time/money spend on research? In this case, Okay, this is a useful product and probably better than the Huggies wipes I keep at work. But if no one can criticize something until it makes money/pays off the research, that feels oddly protective of people/companies with money to make products.

        That said, am I seriously the only one who WOULD buy something scented like patchouli? :)

    • http://lovelybike.blogspot.com Lovely Bicycle!

      If it is not an honest review, then what is the point of commenting on a product (unless one is posting an advertisement disguised as a blog entry)? A review is not a promotional piece, but an honest description of personal experience. I am supportive of blogs that choose to stay independent and state what they think, as opposed to what they think will please manufacturers.

      Also, I can guarantee you that this post did more good to ActionWipes than harm. I will probably order some just out of curiosity.

      Trisha and Dottie, thank you for keeping your posts independent and honest.

  • http://www.cewtwo.com Charles White

    I have to admit that I haven’t really noticed anything about the smell that I did not like. I do like the way that Action Wipes clean. Anything on the human skin is easily cleaned by them. I also like the formulation. It cleans and moisturizes without drying out the skin. AND often our skin is exposed to a challenging environment for a long period of time.
    As far as it goes for me, I wouldn’t change a thing.

    • http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com Trisha

      Thanks Charles. I wish I didn’t mind the smell, because as you said, they work quite well.

  • http://www.bikeskirt.com Elisa M

    I thought your comments were fine and constructive. Yes, they were done a in funny way, but nothing is wrong with that. I applaud your unbiased take on reviews. I happen to like the smell b/c my only alternative is baby wipes, a smell that induces near gagging on my part. But new scents would be lovely as well.

    hurrah action wipes and hurrah LGRAB!

    • http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com Trisha

      I’m not a fan of smelling like a baby, either. Ah, decisions. Martha, thanks for taking this in the spirit it was meant. I’d be happy to try the new scent, and there’s no refund necessary.

  • http://www.bikeskirt.com Elisa M

    oh, and the one packs are sweeter smelling-give them a shot!

  • http://www.bikejuju.com Bikejuju

    I love ‘em! (Especially on days like today when it is over 100 degrees in Seattle!). That’s why I’m giving away some Action Wipes on my blog and helping get the Action Wipes word out.

    That said, I agree that it is totally within the bounds of this blog to post an opinion and “hippie eating a cough drop” is a pretty hilarious summation. Way cool of Martha to respond in good spirits, and offer a refund.

    I was thinking about the way I would describe the scent. It is a little tangy, you can definitely smell the eucalyptus and tea tree. (The scent being called “Tea Tree & Eucalyptus” after all). I’d say maybe more “Hippy relaxing with a pot of chamomile/peppermint tea after washing the floor with Pine-sol.” (Single pack scent)

  • http://www.actionwipes.com Martha Van Inwegen

    For those of you that are curious, I’ve set up a 15% discount code at http://www.actionwipes.com. Simply enter: RIDE.

    As I said earlier, it’s all good and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all blog reviews that we get – good or otherwise. It helps me refine our customer service, products and messaging. So thank you, it all goes to good use.

  • http://www.fullhandsx3.blogspot.com sara

    Thumbs up to Martha for being a part of this discussion in such an open, friendly way. Hey Martha– I am going over to your site right now to buy some Action Wipes in part due to Trisha’s review, in part due to your comments.

    • http://www.actionwipes.com Martha Van Inwegen

      Ooops, if you went to my website within the last 15 minutes, it may have been down, so try again. And thank you!

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