Sun Pure Botanicals - Not a Happy Camper

[dibbles]

I needed to order lavender and spearmint essential oils. Because of positive comments here, I decided to give Sun Pure Botanicals a try. I ordered both on 2/29 and my card was charged on 3/1. At the time of order, I did not receive an order confirmation or any kind of tracking information. I sent an email on 3/7 asking about the status of the order.

I received a response on 3/9 which provided a tracking number. She said the tracking showed a delay and she couldn't find out anything more, but if it was lost she would file a claim with the post office and reship the order. I checked the tracking which showed the package was out for delivery on 3/6 and then on 3/7 there was an Alert - waiting for delivery confirmation. Okay, fine. At least this gave me something to use when I contacted the post office. Which I did. They looked and the package wasn't there. The post office employee I talked to said she would ask the carrier about it. I waited a few days, heard nothing more from the post office, and then 3/13 sent an email to SPB asking how long to wait before filing a claim. She replied the same day and said they usually wait about 10 days.

3/19 I sent another email to SPB to let them know the order still hadn't been delivered. She replied the same day and said a replacement would be shipped on 3/20. Again, no tracking information was provided.

3/26 the order arrived. The lavender was fine. The spearmint, however, had leaked about 6.5 ounces out of the bottle. There was no damage to the box and the bottle wasn't cracked or broken, so this was clearly a failure in their packing the order. I took pictures and contacted her the same day.

4/1 I received a response asking if I wanted a replacement or a refund. I replied that a replacement would be fine.

It is now 4/14 and nothing so I guess I will have to contact them again. Their prices may be good. The products may be good as well. I know many companies are working short staffed and this is an unusual time. I am understanding of delays in communication and order fulfillment. We're all doing the best we can. But, it seems to me that if I had a business and a new customer experiencing all these issues I would be going out of my way to make sure the problems were resolved as quickly as possible. Not to mention that they have had my payment since March 1. I don't think I'm being unreasonable here. They've lost a customer.

I needed to vent - it helped a little.

 

[msunnerstood]

Ive never ordered from them and likely wont knowing this. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[shunt2011]

That'sounds horrible. I think both Zany and Carolyn have said they had good luck with them. Hope you get your order. I too would be hesitant to order from them.

 

[cmzaha]

That is really a bummer. I have ordered from them for several years with never a problem. No shipping problems, in fact, quick shipping, no leakage etc. I am sorry you have had such problems. I can vouch this is not their normal service. I love their Tea Tree Oil and Peppermint Oil. I have not tried their Spearmint but am going to it when I need it next. I would not let this discourage me, things are just not normal right now. I also like their dark brown plastic brown bottles that do not break and never have I had them deteriorate.

I had an Aliexpress order lost in about your same time frame, and I just asked the company if they could try again. I see that ordered reshipped. It is the first time I have ever had an Aliexpress order get lost, so it is happening.

 

[dibbles]

That is really a bummer. I have ordered from them for several years with never a problem. No shipping problems, in fact, quick shipping, no leakage etc. I am sorry you have had such problems. I can vouch this is not their normal service. I love their Tea Tree Oil and Peppermint Oil. I have not tried their Spearmint but am going to it when I need it next. I would not let this discourage me, things are just not normal right now. I also like their dark brown plastic brown bottles that do not break and never have I had them deteriorate.

I had an Aliexpress order lost in about your same time frame, and I just asked the company if they could try again. I see that ordered reshipped. It is the first time I have ever had an Aliexpress order get lost, so it is happening.

I know you were one that has had good luck with them. I also know that things are not normal now and packages can be lost. If it isn't delivered today, I will contact them again. I'll reserve final judgement until I see how they respond. I'm just really frustrated that my card was charged March 1 and I still don't have half my order. They have had two full weeks to get it here, and I've heard nothing since April 1. I don't like being put in the position of having to ask over and over what is happening. A simple email with shipping confirmation and tracking would eliminate a lot of my frustration. My intent isn't to keep people from giving them a try. But I'm still inclined to not order from there again.

 

[cmzaha]

I certainly get the frustration, and I am one of the first to cancel out using a supplier when I have problems with them. I know Zany has good luck with them too, so I wonder what has gone wrong. I have not placed any orders with then since the end of last year so I cannot compare how things or judge how things are going now.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

It is now 4/14 and nothing so I guess I will have to contact them again. Their prices may be good. The products may be good as well. I know many companies are working short staffed and this is an unusual time. I am understanding of delays in communication and order fulfillment. We're all doing the best we can. But, it seems to me that if I had a business and a new customer experiencing all these issues I would be going out of my way to make sure the problems were resolved as quickly as possible. Not to mention that they have had my payment since March 1. I don't think I'm being unreasonable here. They've lost a customer.

Blame it on the lockdown. This delivery issue is the same everywhere -- even on Amazon. Once an order leaves the vendor they don't have any control over what will happen next. I'm sure the gals at Sun Pure are doing everything they can to resolve the issue for you. All you can do is stay on top of it and continue to communicate with them so they can stay on top of it too. It's crazy-making for sure.

That is really a bummer. I have ordered from them for several years with never a problem. No shipping problems, in fact, quick shipping, no leakage etc.

Ditto here. They are a good company to do business with under normal conditions.

 

[dibbles]

@Zany_in_CO I'm not faulting them for the lost package. I am faulting them for lack of communication and the way the issue has been handled since then. I am sure the situation right now does have an impact and I am willing to work with them. I have finally heard back from them and the EO has, I guess, been shipped. But they still haven't provided me with tracking information as I requested, and it's another week that has gone by.

I trust that you and Carolyn have had good experiences with them, and I'm happy with what I did receive. The prices are good. I am just at the peak of my frustration level. This has been - not counting the time I was waiting for a lost package - a few days short of a month.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I hear your frustration, Dibbles. I would be too. Sent you a PM.

 

[Hinata]

I ordered a few things from amazon since the zombie apocalypse and never had an issue with amazon.

However, I had an issue with maplestreet sending a fraction of my order, yet charging me the full amount.
I don't blame the mail since the mail clearly delivered a nearly empty box with leaked oils to my house.
Been days since I reached out for help and nothing fruitful has happened yet. I agree, I am upset most from the lack
of communication more than anything else.

 

[Hinata]

No need to hold back your perspective. There is a difference between compassion and accountability.
My issue was the lack of communication. If there was a mistake, at least apologize for the inconvinience
and do something to rectify it. I have yet for someone to even properly communicate with me in troubleshooting.

I don't mind waiting 2 weeks or even a month to finally get my order as long as there is communication and a plan to fix the issue.

 

[cmzaha]

Please excuse the hijack and a bit off-topic, sorry Dibbles, but I really do not know if companies are using this, as Hinata calls it, zombie apocalypse, as an excuse for poor customer service or not. I had an order for food for my new Ghosties and the miserable supplier decided the order was fraud because my daughter ordered the flies and had them sent to me so they just cancelled my order, but put her part of the order through. The idiots could not figure out our unusual last name is the same, so they sent her her order. I am furious, now my little friends are without food for a few more days until another company gets my new order to me.

 

[Hinata]

I work in a hospital and if anything we have to step up our services. Costco usually opens like 9-6 but they are opened from 6:30 -7am these days and stay open until later. Many people are sitting at home jobless and stressing about paying their rent, yet eager to work.
Maplestreet has a history of poor customer service, slow to reply to emails if they even reply at all, and they don't even have a number to call. I took a risk buying a big order and now I have no choice but to file a claim to my cc company about an order they didn't ship to me, even after having stalked them on FB lol. As I have said before, I have made time sensitive orders from amazon, petco and other online purchases last week and had no issues getting the products ordered correctly. (not referring to delivery time; but the actual products I was charged for). After working 13 hours yesterday, one of my patients couldn't breath due to covid and we had to intubate. I can't say, "ohh I worked too many hours so I am allowed to slack off." This is about accountability. Its a job you are getting paid to do so do it. Otherwise there are many people sitting at home that have kids to feed and would be happy to work.

 

[dibbles]

@cmzaha Sorry your little buddies don't have food. I want to believe SP is trying their best. I am not aware of the staff shortages, etc. that they might be working with. I just feel like communication is very important in a situation like mine, and they have failed there. It doesn't take long to send an email. And they were able to ship my original order within a day or two - it just never got here, which wasn't their fault. From that point on, it's on them.

 

[cmzaha]

I really do agree with you Dibbles. It takes such little time to send an email, and not worth losing a customer. It is certainly understandable why you are angry.

 

[dibbles]

Well, well, well. Guess what FINALLY showed up in the mail today. So here is the rest of the saga if anyone is interested. Hearing nothing from them on 4/14 I sent another email asking about the status. Finally got a return email on 4/21 saying the individual who was handling my account no longer works there, it would be printed out and hand delivered to fulfillment for packing and shipping. And was there anything else I needed. I replied the same day with nothing else, but I would like tracking information once it shipped. 5/5 - still hadn't heard anything from them, and nothing delivered, so I emailed them again asking about the status and letting them know an answer would be greatly appreciated. Didn't hear back.

What I can say is, I am not in any way trying to discourage anyone from using this company. As I've said before, the prices are good and I'm happy with the products. However, there was never an 'I'm sorry'. There wasn't acceptable communication. I was made to feel like I was begging for an answer to my questions. This shouldn't happen. Ever. I gave them 2 weeks each time to get back to me before contacting them again and I think that was being more than fair and patient. 10 weeks later, I finally have my order. I could even overlook this if there had been good communication with this issue. I probably shouldn't say never, but at this point it is highly unlikely I will ever order from them again. I will say I ordered directly from their website rather than ebay, because I prefer to avoid the whole ebay thing if possible. I wish I had ordered from ebay though, because I would at least have had some recourse. If you decide to order from SPB, I would highly suggest doing it that way.

 

[cmzaha]

I have always ordered through Ebay when I order from them.

 

[MellonFriend]

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, @dibbles. I figured I'd bump it to see if anyone had any recent positive or negative experiences with the company.

 

[dibbles]

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, @dibbles. I figured I'd bump it to see if anyone had any recent positive or negative experiences with the company.

I really hope that this business has been able to get itself back on track. I have passed many times on leaving further negative comments here when SPB is recommended because I hate to think I am causing harm to a small business. I doubt I will place another order from there, but my experience doesn't necessarily mean that things haven't improved. At the same time, I value the recommendations of others here at SMF, and so I will sometimes comment when appropriate about my experience, especially since I know I am not the only one. I do hope to hear that others have recently ordered from there with positive results in both customer service and product quality.

 

[justsomeguy]

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, @dibbles. I figured I'd bump it to see if anyone had any recent positive or negative experiences with the company.

Positive response here. I ordered through eBay EOs and benzoin and oakmoss absolute last month. All arrived in a timely fashion and undamaged.