Automatic Litterbox Central

Hello Litter Box Central,

My name is Alan Cook and I am an inventor of the Scoop Free Automatic Litter Box. I am also the President of the company that manufactures and distributes it. The moderator of Litter Box Central suggested Scoop Free send over some customer service reps and we are very pleased to become part of your community.

By way of history, the idea for Scoop Free hatched in December 2001. Much time was spent “thinking” about the product throughout 2002. Proof of concept prototypes were developed during 2003. Some elements worked well and others, well, they didn’t work so well! – so we redesigned the product in 2004. Then we conducted additional in-home consumer testing and made adjustment for mass production throughout 2005.

Sales of Scoop Free began towards the end of last year. So far the consumer and trade response has been terrific. People seem to really like the product and being able to leave their litter box alone for weeks at a time. We receive many favorable consumer comments along the lines of, “This product has changed my life!” Occasionally we get less flattering or even negative feedback too. But we pride ourselves on listening to our customers as Scoop Free was developed by cat lovers for cat lovers.

To that end I welcome your questions, comments, criticisms and suggestions. Litter Box Central is a terrific resource for cat lovers and I hope some of my Scoop Free colleagues receive a warm welcome and become valuable contributors to the community.

I look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you.

All best,
Alan

Your product sounds like it is excellent. The only problem is the cost of the cartridges. I have 2 cats, and if I conservativly replace the cartridge every 15 days, that's going to cost me $365 a year at $89.95 a six pack. My cats are both one year old, and over the course of their lives, that's just too much more than I am willing to pay for even the perfect litter box. If you were to sell the cartridges for a considerably lower cost, I would definitely buy it, but for now I think I'm going to wait. Do you have any plans to lower the cost of the cartridges? Thanks!

I agree very much with the last comment. We bought the Scoop Free about 5 months ago and I am already considering replacing it with the Litter Robot despite orignally thinking $300 was too much for a litter box.

At first, we loved the Scoop Free even though our two cats (one a mere kitten) saturated the cartridge in less than one week. Still at $30 for 12 refills we were happy. Now of course, Amazon no longer has that spectacular deal and we are faced with spending close to $100 for a month and a half's worth of litter. That right there justifies the $300 for the Litter Robot.

So my questions:
Why so expensive? Come on, it's cardboard!
Just who were these cats you did the product testing with? Were they starved and dehydrated? By the way, my cats are perfectly healthy.

I would continue with this box if the cartridges were about 1/2 the price they are now. Maybe. I am lucky to have an outdoor balcony to keep the box - since the floor is always wet underneath after just one week. If I left it for 15 days it would become a public health disaster for me and my cats.

Read up on some of our attempts to make a washable tray and fill it yourself with crystals you can buy at any store for a much more economical price. Some have made their own trays - some like me were going to have an acrylic one made but will likely just work on getting a sealant spray to waterproof a tray.

I had a Litter Robot. I hated it. I cleaned it monthly - the full on hose out and let it dry in the sun treatment. The smell was overwhelming. The security of an automated machine did not overcome the fact that there was a waste tray that was filling up. Then it would get stuck halfway through the cycle sometimes and the cat would go on the floor.

I am leaving for a 2 week vacation soon. With an automated feeder and waterer, I have no worries.

is there any hope of a refillable tray anytime soon? I think if not, most of us will just make our own since some people have already had much success with it. but it is a hassle to do so - i don't see that scoopfree would be at a terrible disadvantage to mass produce a refillable tray and sell it for much more than it would cost for a company to mass produce it instead of having your customers go through the trouble of making their own plastic refillable trays. i'm just thinking that if your customers are going to get their refillable trays either way and stop buying expensive cardboard cartridges, at least you could make some money off of it by selling one that you make.

LOL! The sounds you are now hearing is SF_Lucky's car door slamming and tires squeeling out of the parking lot!

SF_Lucky wrote:Occasionally we get less flattering or even negative feedback too. But we pride ourselves on listening to our customers as Scoop Free was developed by cat lovers for cat lovers.

To that end I welcome your questions, comments, criticisms and suggestions. Litter Box Central is a terrific resource for cat lovers and I hope some of my Scoop Free colleagues receive a warm welcome and become valuable contributors to the community.

I look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you.

All best,
Alan

Alan, doesn't appear that you or any of your colleagues have posted here since your original post over a year ago ...... sure doesn't sound like a company interested in our questions, comments, criticisms and suggestions about your product. It seems unfortunate that your company has left it up to those who have purchased your product to be the ones to come up with ways to fix its flaws (i.e. the permanent tray is the biggest example).

Diane

Yea.....they post a lot here don't they?

My Story......

Purrforma then Littermaid then Scoop Free (Scoop Less) then Litter Robot.

I won't bother to elaborate on the Purrforma or Littermaid as everyone knows what a POS these are.......

I had the Scoop Less for several Months but was unhappy about the cost of Trays and also a bit unhappy about the small size of the containment area. No way can even one cat go 30 days with the size of that area unless they are seriously constipated! I contacted Lucky Litter but they did not seem too interested in my complaints.

So, I renamed it the Scoop Less because I was still scooping out the containment area every 3-4 days.

Finally I figured that I could buy the Litter Robot and save a ton of money over the long haul! Well, my cat never got used to the LR and I think it is because I have to travel for two Months at a time and leave my cat with at Boarding House that uses only open trays with regular litter. She would go in and Pee in the LR but she would do her Dumps on whatever rug may happen to be around! After throwing away all of my rugs, I finally decided to sell the LR! I could not return it because it had been over 60 days (while I was away for over 2 Months) since I bought it.

So I am back to the Scoop Less. After coming back to it from the LR, I can hardly hear it! The LR was VERY, VERY Noisy!

I had a year's supply of trays that I had accumulated before buying the LR and I had taken the bags of crystals out of them and was using the crystals in the LR. I finally purchased a "Forever Tray" off eBay last night and looking forward to receiving it. I will save one or two cardboard trays for backup and use the remaining bags of crystals in the Forever Tray until I run out. Then I will locate a generic bulk Crystal that will be reasonably priced. (if anyone knows of such a crystal product please let me know).

Anyway, that's my story.

Anyone in the North Texas area that wants a just like new LR2 AT HALF PRICE, check the classified section of this Site.

Regarding the crystals -- I've found Fresh Step at my local Walmart for $12.34 for an 8lb. bag, which is a bargain in my mind.......

I've tested some other crystal combinations (WM also has a product called Mimi Crystals for $3.69 for a 4lb. bag) but found that generally the FS still has the best odor control and absorbency.

Just FYI, I'm in the process of experimenting with making a larger compartment for the Scoop-less (great name). The goal is to more than double the capacity of the poop compartment (highly technical term there).



I'll keep you posted. However I've already promised the prototype to one of the other subscribers........

GREAT! You have my email (from eBay) (aea57) keep me posted!
I look forward to your Modifications.

I hope your upcoming modifications will allow the Forever Tray to be slightly modified by me (and others who have bought it) to take advantage of your new larger waste compartment.

I received your shipping notification and thanks for getting my tray out to me so fast!

Jack 'n Stans Dad wrote:Regarding the crystals -- I've found Fresh Step at my local Walmart for $12.34 for an 8lb. bag, which is a bargain in my mind.......

I've tested some other crystal combinations (WM also has a product called Mimi Crystals for $3.69 for a 4lb. bag) but found that generally the FS still has the best odor control and absorbency.

Just FYI, I'm in the process of experimenting with making a larger compartment for the Scoop-less (great name). The goal is to more than double the capacity of the poop compartment (highly technical term there).



I'll keep you posted. However I've already promised the prototype to one of the other subscribers........

I got the Forever Tray you shipped! Superfast shipping and a nice QUALITY build! Thanks!

Alan, doesn't appear that you or any of your colleagues have posted here since your original post over a year ago ...... sure doesn't sound like a company interested in our questions, comments, criticisms and suggestions about your product. It seems unfortunate that your company has left it up to those who have purchased your product to be the ones to come up with ways to fix its flaws (i.e. the permanent tray is the biggest example).

Diane[/quote]

Yeah, it sure says a lot that he hasn't made a posting in so long. Take the money and run seems to be their motto.

Are Tidy Cat crystals good with the forever tray and the scoop free? The reason I ask is I'm trying desperately to save money on the litter, without it getting to the point it is at the moment and I see a ton of tidy cat $100 off coupons on ebay 20 coupons for $1 or $2. Sounds like I could save a lot of money this way but I don't want to buy the coupons if the crystals won't work. I thought I read somewhere in the forum that they do but I can't find the post now. Sorry for repeating what I'm sure has already been covered many times! I'm new here and I just ordered your forever tray, sounds great.

Great timing! I'm actually in the midst of a Tidy Cat Crystals test. I've tried several different other crystals so far, and found that the FS are so far still at the top of the list, shared with the Pet Essentials (Target brand). So far Tidy Cat is working well -- their size is working well, and although they have a slight fragrance it isn't overpowereing.

One suggestion (mentioned also on the side of the Tidy Cat jug) is to stir regularly. This is important to distribute the moisture and allow the crystals to release some to atmosphere -- which extends their useful life.

For those of you who check in regularly, the "large capacity poop compartment" prototype has been put on the shelf for the short term, for a variety of reasons -- the most important being the ability of the crystals to absorb urine. I realized in testing that the added capacity of a larger poop compartment wouldn't effectively extend the duration between litter changes, as this is dictated at the same time by how urine-soaked the crystals get.

So at present I still do have a larger capacity poop compartment on the drawing board, but it is in effect only about a 15% increase, and will not be a separate removable compartment. While it is possible from an engineering standpoint, the cost to produce it would make the price of the tray ridiculous, and I want to keep the price as reasonable as possible.

Hope this helped!

Yes, thanks I will bid on the coupons then!