Is Camden Grey as difficult as their FAQs would imply?

[makemineirish]

I have not ordered from Camden Grey before, but am in the process of honing my wish list down to a reasonable (or more accurately, just less unreasonable) size...given that I do not sell.

Snappyllama had referenced how amazing she found their Lime Margarita fragrance oil (even more so than Sweet Cakes) in a sniffie swap. I was intrigued and started shopping around. In the course of doing my research, I read the FAQs page. I try really hard not to ask a question that has already been answered.

I was a bit flabbergasted by the abrasiveness of some of the answers:

44. I am looking for lavandar oil. We offer various lavender oils, but you misspelled the word and that's probably why our Search feature did not find it. It's spelled LAVENDER. Please try again.

Have I just been too spoiled by the convivial and courteous customer service offered by vendors like Bramble Berry, Mad Oils, and Nurture Soap Supply? Many of the responses seemed exceedingly rude, especially given that this is a crafted page on the website representative of the brand. To be fair, I did not disagree with the content of the answers, just the tone. Am I just being overly sensitive?

More concerning to me was this one:

21. Why are you sending my invoice and charging me an additional charge days after my order shipped? Sometimes, when order volume is extremely high or we close for the holidays, we may fall behind on finalizing invoices. However, even if it takes us a number of days to close an invoice we have to get it done and we have to get paid. We thank all customers for their understanding.

This one is concerning to me. I am not really comfortable placing an order with a company that reserves the right to alter that amount after shipping my products :wtf:. Even the grocery store asks if I approve the amount being charged before processing my credit card. From reading the forum pages, most of you make decisions on where to order from based largely on shipping rates. How are you supposed to do that if the number quoted is not accurate? Have any of you experience problems with this?

I would like to try some of their fragrances based on comments made here, but am pretty adamant on "voting with my dollars". My first impression, based solely on a perusal of their site, is not that favorable. Set me straight, friends.

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[lionprincess00]

#1 I had an issue with the fact ANY sale knocks off what they call discount shipping and changes it to standard.
I put in the promo code and it took off, what, 5% which was something like 2 dollars. The shipping changed from 11.95$ to over 20$! Well come to realize their "discount shipping" is a different company than their standard shipping. Discount implies they foot the bill on the same company and offer, well, a discount. One is usps I believe and the pricey one was ups orFedEx, can't remember. It's wrong to call one shipping company over another a discount. Why not make them all the cheaper company and offer sales occasionally?

#2 in their confirmation email once you purchase it states...
CHANGES REGARDING CERT. OF ANALYSIS eff. 12/9/14:*Requests for CofA’s are getting out of hand, many times we’re left to wonder if each and every customer who requests a CofA actually needs one or knows what to do with a CofA.* Our policy regarding CofA’s is now as follows: (1) Please request the CofA directly on the order form. (2) Allow 10 business days from our ship date for us to provide the CofA. We’re a small business, we do not have one employee dedicated to only handle CofA’s. (3) If a CofA is extremely important to you, we suggest that BEFORE you place the order you email and ask if we have a CofA for the product(s) so you won’t be disappointed if there isn’t one.

Sounds combative and inflammatory.

All that said in basket with shipping they are cheaper than BA and have a good small minimum order for those of us that are hobby soapers on a budget unlike other companies (with regards to eo's). I like them for eo's for this reason. Not to mention you can tell me until you're blue in the face this isn't true and eo's pricing fluctuates, but BA raises their eo prices during a sale and it lowers back IMMEDIATELY after the sale the last two sales. I scoped it out and it's a fact (for the last two sales). That's also crummy imo.

So if you want to try once, can't hurt. Their eo's were quality and I'll buy again, albeit reluctantly.

 

[doriettefarm]

I'm pretty much with you lp! I'll order from Camden Grey when I need EOs but don't need enough to meet the $100 minimum at NDA. Maybe I should pay closer attention to shipping especially if they're having a sale but it's never seemed terrible considering I'm only a state away.

 

[Stacy]

I'm a sarcastic person...like REALLY sarcastic, and I find that lavandar vs lavender answer rude, not humorous.

I think if a company is entering into an agreement with me and is already combative and expecting me to be difficult (how dare I make them stand behind their claims of how pure their product is!), the only place I can really expect the experience to go is down.

Of course I say this as someone who lives outside of the US and probably wouldn't order from them regardless.

No, I don't think you have an unrealistic expectation.

 

[lsg]

I have ordered from Camden Grey in the past with no problem. When I ordered, you could build up reward points and deduct the amount they equaled from your next order. Many times I have paid for the shipping or at least part of it using my reward points.

 

[jules92207]

I've never ordered from them but I will say I like Liberty Naturals just fine when I can't meet NDA minimum. I think there are plenty of options out there you should never feel you HAVE to use any company you have a bad feeling about.

 

[makemineirish]

Stacy, I am exceedingly sarcastic myself and would not have blinked if the FAQ responses had been delivered with a punchline. Maybe that was the intention and it simply did not translate. My brand of humor is not always well received and I am quick to forgive verbal faux pas. Once again, this is an edited final draft of the questions that they selected and answered in a manner that seems...brusque and condescending.

Thanks to lionprincess, doriettefarm, and lsg for sharing your experiences. It helps pro/con making a purchase. They have some oils and butters that are a little harder to track down. That makes it a bit easier to justify purchasing the few fragrance oils that interested me. However, I am inclined to get the bare minimum.

Typically, I try to leverage my shipping fee into as much product as is reasonable to do so. Who cares if I am not out yet. I will be soon and getting it now negates the shipping that would be required by waiting.

I just really hate to support a business with my money that does so little to earn my loyalty. This is especially galling when many of the vendors that I have interacted with have been so gracious and lovely. The disparity is a bit shocking.

I am not sure that I have ever encountered a business before that undermined my confidence in their motives just be reading the webpage. That distinction is usually reserved for late-night personals ads on Craigslist

 

[cmzaha]

Guess I am the odd man out here. I have never had a problem with Camden Grey and have picked up some awesome sales on their site such as 40/42 lavender for around $110 for 5 lbs. Granted you can only purchase one item on such a sale but it is worth it when it is a huge savings. Bramble Berry site does not find an item when it is spelled incorrectly.

 

[dibbles]

I've ordered EOs from Camden Gray and haven't had any problems, so I can't speak to what the customer service is like when there is a problem. I think the EOs are good quality, and the prices are usually good on other things too. When there is a sale on a particular item, I'll order that and whatever else I need and take the discounted shipping. The "% off order" sales I skip, because I don't order large quantities of anything to make the shipping increase worthwhile. I do agree though, that they should use the discount shipper for all orders and offer the upgraded shipping as an option.

 

[Dorymae]

Well I can't say I take any offense from their FAQ's although if it were my company I don't think I would have chosen their words.

It sounds to me like they are venting a bit about some of the rather more difficult customers they have had.

Let's face it. If you can not spell lavender, you have no place questioning why the company doesn't carry it. Yes their wording was a bit harsh but I have to wonder what kinds of ridiculous emails they have had to spend time trying to resolve, and how frustrated that has made them.