Today I looked back into companies, I had written to in the beginning of this year and also in November of last year (2021);
They label (still do so, I checked) their products as “vegan” or “vegan-friendly” on their websites, in their catalogues or even on the product packaging but fail to reply, when asked about further information. Do they mean the whole product, or just for example the ink in a pen (see my 2022 Guidelines: cruelty-fee and vegan-friendly art supplies for reference; and this is my 2021 information sheet, which the companies in question received). Do they mean just the finished product or do they include the manufacturing cycle. And those are just details for the term “vegan”; then there is the whole cruelty-free status /animal testing topic, which makes a lot of companies uncomfortable, when asked about; so they just do the most convenient thing: ignore your enquiry. Which is a pity as well as bad customer service. I am not suggesting it was why the companies choose not to reply in these cases.
Companies that I, as of August 2022, have categorized as ‘declined to reply’ – after over 6 months to almost a year not responding:
- Fabriano (for an update; now label a couple of products as vegan-friendly on their website)
- da Vinci Defet (for an update; label some of their products vegan online)
- Léonard /Bullier brushes (brushes labelled as vegan in their online catalogue)
- Etchr Lab (vegan-friendly labelled products on their website)
- Strathmore (for an update)
source: websites; non-existing company replies