# camden grey shipping outrageous



## lionprincess00 (Mar 23, 2015)

This is the second time I visited the site ever. I wanted 20$ worth of eo's, and I left off the "ground only" frankincense with the hopes of the shipping being cheaper than when I first visited (and that time I had at least 5 1-2 oz bottles...this time only 3!).
I plugged in my info and was offered ups at 19+$
Or 
Ground, 11.95$
 I then used a 5% off coupon and once it's in there, the cheaper shipping disappeared and I can only do 20$ shipping, on 3 small eo's!

Here's my page. 
I'm reluctant to try and type my info to " see if the cheaper shipping reappears". 
Is the coupon the culprit? Everyone raves, but I'm not buying 3 eo's or 10 eo's from some place charging almost 20$ for 3 small bottles....bb was cheaper:/ and I got 5 eo's, 2-3 fo's and a mold!

The only reason I'm posting is because everyone seems to be on the fence on bulk apothecary, and had it not been for the patchouli dark being out of stock, I was going to buy from them. But being out, I went to visit Camden. Any insight appreciated!


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## Dorymae (Mar 23, 2015)

You know when things like that happen I leave the site and make note. I'm running a business, I don't have time or the patience to be messing around with sites that have crazy shipping, or penalize you for using a coupon. 

On the flip side when I get extra ordinary service that also gets noticed. I pretty much have my suppliers down, but when I hear of a new one or one I haven't used I do check it out. 

I know some people feel when you won't order from a company you should let them know why but honestly I don't have the time to run my business and theirs, if they can't figure it out, their problem.


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## lionprincess00 (Mar 24, 2015)

thx for replying, so now you confirmed I'm not being stingy or nuts!

You know, the cheaper shipping (which was a quote after typing my address info) appeared above the 19.31$ shipping.

It was only after my coupon and the site refreshing it disappeared.

I am not running a business, but I'm not a little tree made of dollar bills! I splurge way more than I should as it is, and there's no way I'd spend that much shipping on these 4 total oz of eo's. 

To be honest, I'm not going to go through the motions of typing my information in past the last
 screenshot I showed just to see if it reverts back. 

I'll wait for bulks (and keep my fingers crossed all the negative hype is just hype.... or maybe if it's true I luck out!).


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## jules92207 (Mar 24, 2015)

Have you compared with others too? I really like NDA but I know they have that $100 minimum, what about Liberty Naturals? I remember them to be really reasonable.


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## newbie (Mar 24, 2015)

I agree that that is completely crazy shipping. Forget it! that would make the EO's about $10 an ounce and I wouldn't pay that for about anything, esp when there are other places to buy EO's.


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## lionprincess00 (Mar 24, 2015)

Several have the 100$ min so I avoid them, for now. I just don't have it as of now. I wanted to make one last 45$+/- eo purchase before I have to reorder my oils from soapers choice. 

Thx for the advice Jules I'll look into liberty. Are they the ones with a gazillion eo's? I think I went there (or another place) and was overwhelmed. I'll recheck them though. 

Thx again everyone!


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## abc (Mar 24, 2015)

Liberty Natural has a minimum of $50. They are local for me, that's $100 minimum. They ship from OR, so keep that in mind.


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## AnnaMarie (Mar 24, 2015)

Camden Grey has more bad customer service stories then I could count when I looked into using them. The complaints all revolved around one particular person and really bad service. There were so many complaints I decided not to use them as I am running a business and don't have time for nonsense. 
On shipping, the price quoted sounds pretty standard, but what I've learned is that small orders don't pay when it comes to shipping costs. They have their minimum rates due to costs of doing business. However, the more you order the less per ounce You pay. When I order from Brambleberry they usually have a minimum of somewhere around $9-10 shipping cost as do other suppliers I use. You may want to look at Wholesale Supplies as they offer free shipping for a$40 purchase. I realize you may not want to spend that, but sometimes it's a "spend money to save money deal."
Good luck to you 
Best, 
Anna Marie


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## lionprincess00 (Mar 24, 2015)

UPDATE.
It's the coupon! Look. 

Before coupon. Pic 1.
I was able to click continue and the lower shipping was still there during checkout, Pic 2.
I went back and plugged in a 5%, 61 cent mind you, coupon and voila! The lower shipping vanished! Pic 3.

Load of malarkey.

Very disappointed. Would've liked to try them...


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## shunt2011 (Mar 24, 2015)

I would call them and ask why.  That's just wrong and poor business in my opinion.  Way to chase off customers for sure.


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## lionprincess00 (Mar 24, 2015)

I was thinking of contacting them...Thx shunt!


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## lionprincess00 (Mar 24, 2015)

UPDATE:

Email response from Camden Grey

Thanks for contacting us.* Once the cart is informed a coupon will be used the reduced S&H rate goes away.* We don’t allow combining two discounts, one for the purchase of products and one for S&H.* You might consider adding more products to your cart to make S&H more acceptable.
*
Very small or light orders usually pay a premium for S&H.* We look forward to serving you.
*
*
Cordially,
*

So...a 61 cent coupon revoked normal shipping rates.

Edit to say, using a different carrier, the post office in this instance, is NOT using a discount shipping rate! If the UPS shipping is normally 20$ and they offer a discount to me of 12 or 15$; that's a discount! Using a different carrier that charges different rates, how is that considered a discount on my shipping???


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## shunt2011 (Mar 24, 2015)

Did is state they were giving a discount on shipping before the coupon code was entered? If not then there was no discount in my thinking.   That's just wrong.  I would not purchase from them if that's how they play.


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## lionprincess00 (Mar 24, 2015)

No. There's no discount shipping labeled. See the attached screenshots, and there's nothing stating discount there.


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## DeeAnna (Mar 24, 2015)

While it doesn't say "discount" shipping, it does say "reduced rate" shipping in your first screen shot. I've seen that with at least one other company that does pretty much the same thing.

I agree the "reduced rate shipping" information could be handled differently so it's more obvious what their policy is --  that reduced rate shipping is a coupon or discount just like any other, and you only get one coupon/discount per order.

Duluth Trading Company, for example, puts the reduced or free shipping in as a code that automatically appears in the Coupon Code box when an order qualifies. They also state near the box that only one discount or coupon applies per sale. That makes it pretty obvious.

But I think it's less about deliberately deceiving the customer and more about not being as crystal clear as they might want to be to prevent misunderstandings like yours.


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## Dorymae (Mar 24, 2015)

DeeAnna said:


> While it doesn't say "discount" shipping, it does say "reduced rate" shipping in your first screen shot. I've seen that with at least one other company that does pretty much the same thing.
> 
> I agree the "reduced rate shipping" information could be handled differently so it's more obvious what their policy is --  that reduced rate shipping is a coupon or discount just like any other, and you only get one coupon/discount per order.
> 
> ...




While all of this is true, reduced rate shipping is usually just the reduction they receive through the carrier, your not really getting anything special. For that to void the use of a coupon, IMHO is just wrong. 
This is why I don't waste time with contacting the companies, just take my business elsewhere.


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## lionprincess00 (Mar 24, 2015)

Ah, deeanna I see what you are saying. Still shady to me, but I see what you're saying.


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## reinbeau (Mar 24, 2015)

I don't think it's shady at all, it just is what it is.  BB won't allow you to stack discounts and free shipping.  Many suppliers won't.  Lack of clarity, yes, but shady?  Not at all.  I buy from Liberty Naturals personally, I've always had good luck with them.


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