LiberTEAS

First the good: This company has a few very intriguing flavors of tea which is what drew me in and convinced me to buy from them. I haven’t yet tried the teas, please check out my tasting notes for reviews on those. I ordered three different teas, they were fairly reasonably priced. And the shipping was VERY speedy, I was very impressed to receive my box today when it seems like I just placed the order.

The order was wrapped in tissue paper inside the shipping box, and I like little touches like that. Instead of a free sample, there was a honey straw inside … I’d rather have a free sample, but, I guess the honey straw is better than nothing.

Now for the not-so-good: I’m not particularly impressed with the packaging. They are the Kraft tea bags that are resealable with a wire closure (not a zipper pouch), but, the bag is just way too big for the amount of tea that I ordered. It is a bit too roomy for the amount of tea that I ordered. Not really a complaint but more of an observation. But here is where the “not so good” comes in to play, the labels are incomplete … they do not offer any kind of steeping suggestions on the label. I do like that the label has a date on it but the date appears to be the date that it was packaged and not the date that the tea was harvested. This doesn’t tell me how old the tea is inside, it only tells me when they packaged it.

And the label is at the top of this very large bag, so if I decide to roll down the top of the bag (there’s a good six to eight inches of empty bag here) I will fold over the label and I won’t know which tea it is. And if I don’t fold it over, it’s going to have this huge empty flap of a bag in my tea storage.

This stuff is minor, really, and I don’t think that it would keep me from ordering from this company again if I enjoy the teas. The package did not include an invoice, no free sample of tea as I mentioned already, and no personal thank you. There is a little card that offers some brief information about the company, but even that doesn’t say “thank you” on it… it is more or less like a business card in a postcard size.

The average rating is based upon the experience, which is just average. I’m happy with how quickly the order arrived, and this would make it just a little above average, but the lack of personality brings it back down a notch.

I am rating this company based solely upon the experience of placing the order online and receiving the shipment. I haven’t yet tried the teas, however, I have previously tried a tea from this company – http://steepster.com/teas/new-mexico-tea-company/13488-roasted-kukicha – and that experience was pleasant.

I experienced some difficulty in placing the order, because I kept getting an error when it came time to do the final check out. The error message stated that I needed to enter my phone number, but, there was no field in which I could do so. This is apparently a problem that occurs for those who pay via paypal and do not set up a customer account, but it is easily fixed when an account is set up. Before I realized this, though, I did call the company to try to figure out the issue, there was no answer BUT they did call me back almost immediately after I ended my call.

So far, the experience was fairly mediocre, so what gave this company four stars instead of three or two are these factors: FREE shipping and FAST shipping. My order was processed almost immediately, and I received my order three days after I placed it. That is impressive. Sure, New Mexico is a bit closer to me than say, New York, but the fact that the order was processed so quickly so that I could receive it in a timely manner is what impressed me the most.

I was also impressed with just how quickly they responded to me when I attempted to call with a problem. Although they did not answer my call, the call was returned before I had a chance to put the phone down. As I said, it was an immediate return call! I like that.

Probably the only thing keeping me from giving this company five stars instead of four stars are these factors: no free sample (although, in my opinion, free shipping DOES trump a free sample) and primarily what holds me back is the initial difficulty in placing the order. Under most circumstances I would have ended the order without trying again (there are just too many companies out there to waste my time with one that requires extra effort like that) but I really wanted to try more of this companies teas. Watch my tasting notes for those reviews.

Edited to add: Since writing this review, the owner (David Edwards) has contacted me via email to explain the few issues that I did have with my ordering experience. He did mention that after I called him with my concerns regarding the error message I received while trying to place an order using paypal, he did some research and this issue has been resolved … I have to give props to a company that steps up to fix a problem immediately like that.

Also, he did mention that New Mexico Tea Company does offer free samples, and again this was an issue connected with paypal orders. If I had placed my order using my credit card, I would have reached a screen that asked me which free sample I wanted. When paying with paypal, it unfortunately skips that screen, but I could have put a note in the comment field with my choice of free sample. Unfortunately, I did not know that, so I still didn’t get the free sample … but it is good information for all future orders (including YOURS!)

I do very much appreciate the effort that this vendor made to reach out to me. I think it says a lot about the company that they care what their customers think and DO something about it when something goes wrong. This gives me a lot of confidence in this company, enough to say that I’ll be shopping with them again. Oh… and their COCONUT DREAM tea is amazing!

I have not yet had a chance to try the tea I’ve ordered as I only just received the tea, so this review is based upon the ordering process, customer service and shipment of the tea only. You’ll have to watch my tasting notes for my thoughts on the tea I purchased.

I placed an order after hearing about a recent 40% off sale. The order was shipped promptly and packaged with care. I received my order within a couple of days after placing the order, which was expected since the company is in California and I’m in Washington, so the order was received within an acceptable time frame.

My only real complaint is that there was really nothing personal behind the order. No personal, hand-written note of thanks. No free sample. Nothing that really made me feel like I was special or important to them. Will I order from them again? Possibly, but then again, possibly not. I don’t feel any sort of a need to order from them because of the lack of personal touch … they’ve given me no real NEED to order from them.

When a company does something special – be it a handwritten note of thanks, unique packaging, a free sample – you feel special, and you want to feel that way again, so you order from them again to get that special feeling again. If a company leaves that something special out of the experience, it just becomes an ordinary transaction … and that is exactly what my experience with Zenjala Tea was. Rather ordinary. Not bad, but nothing special, either.

Well, it usually goes against the way I am to give a full five stars to a company that doesn’t give free samples with orders, BUT … I made an exception with Red Leaf Tea because instead of giving free samples, they have an amazing FREE MATCHA incentive program which more than makes up for the lack of free samples.

Basically, you have to start off by buying some Matcha. Write a couple of reviews, one on their website, one on Amazon.com and one here on Steepster. Then you get a gift certificate for more Matcha! This deal of theirs will keep you swimming in Matcha! Yummy!

And their customer service is excellent. I place an order and receive the order three or four days later. Only in rare cases is it longer than that, and usually it is because it was delayed in the postal system not because of a delay on the part of the vendor.

I love Robert – the owner of Red Leaf Tea – he is funny and personable. He has a sense of humor and gets my sense of humor. I enjoy communicating with him. I love the tea, I love the service. And … even though my first order didn’t come with a free sample, after that, I got LOTS of free Matcha … which more than makes up for it.

English Tea Store offers a variety of different brands of teas, including some Harney & Sons, Twinings, Davidson’s, Golden Moon Tea, and many others … as well as their “own” teas (which I believe are Metropolitan Teas that have been repackaged).

I shopped with them because I have a neighbor who doesn’t really like tea, but, was interested in some fruit tisanes. She told me some basics of what she’d like in a tisane, and I located something that I thought she’d like based upon my memory of Metropolitan Teas from back when I used to sell tea – Metropolitan Tea has one of the most extensive catalogs of any tea company that I’ve seen, and I’m willing to bet that most of the US tea companies out there purchase from Metropolitan Tea and rebrand the tea as their own. Finding a company that actually flavors their own teas is a rare thing.

I ultimately chose to shop with English Tea Store because they also had some other products I was interested in (Honey Sticks for yet another friend that I was swapping with), and they have some pretty interesting honey sticks (specifically, they have peach flavored and cinnamon flavored honey sticks and these were the two that I thought my swap partner would enjoy).

I rate this company as average. The prices are decent and the quality is there. The tisane I purchased tasted fresh, and my friend quite enjoyed it. However, they don’t really seem to go the extra mile for their customers. No free sample in the box and no thank you note.

In addition, I found that their shipping seemed a bit slow when compared to other tea companies that I’ve shopped with recently. While other companies may have a 24 – 48 hour turnaround time, or even 72 – 96 hour turnaround time, it took me more than 2 weeks to receive my order, and there was no communication from the company to inform me of delays.

As I’ve said before, I understand that things happen and 2 weeks really isn’t all that long in the main scheme of things, however, I tend to expect that kind of wait time when I’m ordering something from out of the country, but not when it’s within the continental US.

So it is a combination of the long ship time and the lack of communication and other non-essential niceties that have earned the “just average” rating from me. I got what I paid for, but nothing more than that. I probably won’t shop with them again unless there is something that they have that I can’t find elsewhere.

What’s not to love about Verdant Tea? I mean, seriously? Their teas are absolutely top-notch … some of the VERY best I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried a lot of different tea.

They offer fast order turn-around time (I placed my order on Wednesday, received shipping notification on Friday) and I got my package in less than a week from the time I ordered it. (Ordered Wednesday, received the package on Tuesday … would have probably received it on Monday but it was a postal holiday).

But for me, it’s not about fast shipping as much as it is about customer care. David from Verdant Tea included a handwritten thank you note and a free sample. Now that’s what I’m talking about! My order was a small order – just big enough to be able to get free shipping on it – but I still got a free sample. I like that David treats all customers – big and small – well.

I really can’t say anything bad about Verdant Tea, because there is nothing bad for me to say about them. It’s not a case of “if you can’t say something nice…” it’s a case of “I have nothing BUT nice to say.”

They have AWESOME – beyond awesome, really! – teas, fast shipping, and excellent customer service. Everything I want from a tea company.

I placed an order with this company because I had read some enticing reviews of the tea, so I decided to give them a try. I was impressed with the prompt shipping – I received my order within a few days of placing it, and the company is in Florida and I’m in Washington State.

The prices were fair, and they have a nice selection of teas. Everything was packaged safely and arrived soundly and in a very timely manner. The only thing that affects the rating is that there was no real “personal touch” – no personal thank you, no free sample, nothing that made me feel special or appreciated.

Having not yet had the opportunity to try the teas this review is based only upon the experience I had shopping with them, and it was above average, but, not exceptional. I might shop with them again, if they have something that sparks my interest or if I read a review that captures my attention, but, I probably won’t go to their website looking for teas to buy.

I placed an order with Butiki for a gift for a friend, and I’m very impressed with how quickly the order was sent out to me (within 24 hours), and how quickly I received it – less than a week from my order time. Impressive especially since Butiki Teas is in New Jersey and I’m in Washington State.

The package included two free samples, which makes me happy, and I received emails from Stacy before the package was sent asking me which samples I’d like (I didn’t check my email in time though, so she chose for me), and then another with the shipping and tracking information.

I’ve always been impressed with the quality of the teas from Butiki, but, I am now also quite impressed with the quality of service I received as a customer. I will definitely be shopping with Butiki Teas again in the future and would recommend them to anyone!

Overall, I would say that my experience shopping online with Harney & Sons was a positive one. I like that I can order samples of most of their teas, and that the samples are reasonably priced. I received my tea order in a relatively short amount of time (I placed my order on the 10th of April and received MOST of my order on April 17) given that the package traveled from New York State to Washington State. I say “Most of My Order” because part of it appears to be on back order.

Up front, I’ll mention some cons: I’m disappointed that I wasn’t contacted about the back order, and that I had to find out about it on my packing list. I would like a little more attention to detail … again, it’s the little things. I like it when a company includes a free sample. My order wasn’t a large order, but, I seem to recall that in orders past, I received a free sample, and this time no free sample. I also would have liked a little thank you note enclosed with the order. Like I said, these are small things, but, I like it when a company takes time to focus on the details like a quick hand-written note or a free sample, it makes me feel like I’m important to the company. When a company gets as large as Harney & Son’s has become, I feel like the personal touch is lost somewhere along the way.

Now, for the pros: I am glad that they sent out the rest of my order instead of making me wait until the back ordered item was in stock. While I consider myself to be patient when it comes to waiting for tea, I am glad that rather than assuming that I’ll wait, they went ahead and fulfilled the rest of the order. However, had I been contacted, I would have told them that it would have been quite alright to hold the rest of the order until everything was in stock. But I am glad that since they did not choose to contact me that they went ahead and sent the rest of the order.

Of course, Harney teas are usually top-notch, so I’ve no complaint there! I look forward to trying these. And I will also update this review when I’ve received my back order to let you know how long it took to receive, and whether or not they did contact me at all about it.

UPDATE: I had meant to update this review when I received my back order – but I failed to do that … busy, or it slipped my mind… one or the other, or both.

Anyway, I received the back-ordered item within a week of receiving my first package from Harney, so, I would say that their back-order time frame was sufficient. I was quite pleased overall with the the speed in which I received both orders, in fact, I would have been satisfied to wait until the whole order could ship in one package, but then, I’m pretty patient when it comes to tea orders. I know that some are less patient than I am – and I suppose my patience comes from the fact that I once operated my own tea business so I know how hectic things can get.

All that being said, I find their speed at fulfilling orders to be very satisfactory, and of course, the teas are wonderful. I think if Harney started offering more personalized service (customer contact when there’s back orders, or a handwritten thank you included with an order) or included a free sample with their smaller sized orders, they would be in my top three companies.

I just received my second order from Ovation Teas and overall, I’m impressed with this company. Their prices are fair, they do not overcharge for shipping (actually, this last time I ordered from them, they offered free shipping, and I like that price very much!) and the orders arrive in a timely manner … although, again, it doesn’t hardly seem fair for me to judge the shipping time since they are also in Washington State. But the processing time did not seem lengthy, given the fact that they are/were running their free-shipping promotion which means a higher volume of orders to get out the door.

Some of the pros: fair pricing on both the teas and the shipping rates, a nice selection of flavored teas as well as pure teas, and they also offer a custom flavored tea blend so that you can request the base flavored with up to 2 essences, and up to 4 additions added (such as fruit pieces, spices, nuts, petals, etc). I’ve utilized this service once and I was quite pleased with the outcome of my custom blend… and I probably will use it again at some point. Other pros include a fast processing time for orders, and the fact that they use Paypal (which may or may not be a plus depending upon whether or not you like this service, I happen to like it because I don’t have to dig out my credit card when I want to place an order).

Some of the cons: well, I almost feel kind of wrong to say that this is a con, but, no free sample is included with the order. I don’t wish to sound greedy or anything, however, I just feel … appreciated? … when I receive a free sample. I feel like I am getting a little something extra, like a little gift from the company. And I appreciate that. Also, there was no hand-written thank you, just the invoice/packing slip. I got what I paid for, and I got it in a timely manner, so overall it was a positive experience. I also would like if they offered sample sizes to purchase … I am glad that they have a small size of 2 ounces (rather than 4 ounces being the smallest size available), but, it would be nice to sample a tea before I buy.

An above average experience, and I’d probably buy from them again.

I was absolutely shocked to find my package from Inspired Leaf in the mailbox this afternoon. Today is Saturday, and I placed this order late on Thursday night. I expected it sometime early next week, but certainly not today. When I noticed the return address and saw that Inspired Leaf is in Bend, Oregon, my shock was lessened somewhat (as I live only a few hours away), but, it is still rather impressive to have my order in less than 48 hours.

I ordered from this company because their blends sounded intriguing and they offer sample sizes for just $3 per sample. Alright, that’s not the cheapest sample price out there, but I like the fact that I have the option of purchasing a sample rather than a full ounce or more.

As I’ve already mentioned, the turnaround time is very fast. While I do only live a few hours away from this company, so the order arrived incredibly fast, it is still impressive when a company can get the order in the mailbox within 12 hours of placing the order. I know a few other companies that can do that, and I’m equally as impressed with them.

They offer very fair shipping prices with several options – you can choose from first class, priority mail or UPS – and I chose priority mail because I wasn’t aware that they were in Bend … if I had known, I’d probably have chosen first class. But priority mail was only about 20 cents more than first class… and I didn’t pay EXTRA for “handling” charges. I paid what it cost to ship the envelope!

More impressive – at least to me – is the fact that the customer service here is very good. I had a problem with the first paypal transaction (and let me say this wasn’t a problem concerning Inspired Leaf but Paypal), and I contacted them about it, and I heard back from them within a very short time frame. I’m not sure how long it was, because I was away from my computer for a bit, but, within a couple of hours at most. They were very friendly in the email, and they were able to offer a quick and easy solution to the problem. The second transaction went through with ease. Also in the same vein of customer service, enclosed with the teas was my invoice, and the owner – Cindi – scrawled a handwritten note on it. A small thing… but as I’ve said before, small things add up to a whole lot when it comes to where I choose to spend my tea dollars.

I am about to enjoy my first cup of tea from this company, so I haven’t yet tasted the tea… but that’s next. Watch for my tasting notes!

Is this a company I’d buy from again? Absolutely! I’m a fan!

Townshend’s Tea is a tea shop that is like “starbucks” – but with tea. It has a very comfortable atmosphere, and I love going there whenever I can. But, unfortunately, I’m not able to go there as often as I like, so sometimes, I place an online order instead.

Because they are so close, I receive my orders from them in no time at all, so it’s probably not very fair to say that they have very prompt shipping. But I will say that the process orders rather quickly, within 24 hours! And having been a tea purveyor myself, I know how hard it can be to do that, so, kudos to them for being so quick.

Their prices are fair, and they have a really nice selection of delicious teas, and that is the reason for my perfect rating. That and the fact that I love this place, and they happen to carry two of my favorite teas – if you love chai, you must try their Alberta Street Chai (named after my favorite Street in Portland, which is also where Townshend’s Tea is located), and if you like pear teas, try their Pear and Pomegranate. Both of these teas are phenomenal. And… try their unsmoked Lapsang Souchong for a very interesting change-up from the heavily smoked version!

OK… here I go again. Somehow my review was lost, so I will rewrite it. I want to disclose that I have not yet tried the tea that I received from Still Water, so this review is based only on my transaction experience.

I had placed an order with Still Water Tea because I had purchased the ethical deal offer for them. The website is easy to navigate, and it has big photos of the teas so you get a good idea of what your getting. The prices are reasonable, and the entire ordering process was simple from start to finish. I received my order in a timely fashion considering it was an international order: I placed the order on March 14, and received the package today, March 30. Not bad when you consider processing time and such.

But I did find it a little disconcerting that I received no contact from Still Water, with the exception of the order confirmation. No personal note of thanks and no shipping confirmation.

The tea is packaged in resealable pouches, and it was shipped in a padded envelope. Not the most ideal packaging when it comes to tea, but at least it was not an excessive use of packaging. Inside the package was also my invoice/packing slip but no note of thanks (unless you consider the printed message on the invoice). It would have taken only a few moments to write a quick “thank you and enjoy” on the invoice, and that would have felt a little more personal than the printed message.

Also, no free sample, or little “freebie” enclosure of any type. These are things that are not necessary or required, of course, but, they are little things that make the customer feel special, and make them want to shop with a company again.

So again, it feels as though I may be nit-picking on things, but, really, its these little things that make the difference between an exceptional experience with a company and a company when you feel like just another number. I shop not only in my quest to find high quality teas but also to find excellent customer service and I don’t feel like I found it here.

So, as I have not yet tried the teas, I have nothing BAD to say about Still Water Tea, but I don’t have anything GOOD to say either. I am ambivalent, as that is how I feel I was treated.

I have ordered from the Tea Spot twice now, and both times, I’ve been very happy with my order and the service I received. The package was processed within 24 hours, and I received my order in less than a week. Of course, as I am on the west coast, a company in Colorado is much closer than one on the east coast, but, I do appreciate how quickly the order was processed.

The Tea Spot has many wonderful teas from which to choose, and they also include a free sample with orders and I requested a specific sample and that is the sample they sent. They have a very courteous customer service staff that responds quickly to email inquiries, and I appreciate that as well.

Really, I don’t think I could have been happier with a tea transaction. I received good tea that was delivered fast, and I was treated very well by the staff. Just what I want from a tea company … so YES I will be ordering from them again … and again!

Overall, I would describe my experience shopping with BourgeaTEA as positive but I was a little dismayed by a few things, and I’ll go into more detail of these things in a moment. They are relatively unimportant in the “big picture” and didn’t really affect the quality of the tea – which is of primary importance – but they did affect my overall impression of the company and these relatively unimportant issues are the reason for my average rating for this company.

First of all, I appreciate it when I receive some sort of indication that my order has been received and is being processed. My preference is a quick, personal email to make me feel more like I’m dealing with a person rather than a robot, but, even the automated “order confirmation” is preferable to nothing. I received no emailed order confirmation of any kind, nor any kind of email when the order was shipped.

I placed an order for five or six samples (and I am pleased that I can order samples from this company), and this order arrived in a HUGE 9×9×9 box! This is not really a BIG deal or anything, but I do find it to be a little wasteful. The samples were packaged in zipper pouches (I did appreciate the resealable sample) and the tiny label was handwritten and it wasn’t easy to decipher the scrawling on the little, itty bitty label and I found this to be somewhat discerning… again, not a big deal, but, it just seemed a bit more like I was receiving a swap sample than a sample from a company.

The box contained only the samples I ordered, no free sample, no note of thanks, no packing slip or invoice. Just a bunch of kraft paper to cushion the empty space of the box, and my ordered samples. This was probably the most disappointing thing of all. I think that a little note of thanks, even if it’s written on the packing slip or invoice, is a very nice touch and it’s personally something that I appreciate.

As I said, overall, it was a positive experience, and the tea that I tried thus far was quite delicious. But, just a few little things would have made this a happier experience for me, and would have had me recommending them. As it is, I’m a little ambivalent, and I probably won’t order from them again because there are other companies out there that treat me better. With BourgeaTEA, I certainly got what I paid for, but, I didn’t get anything that made me want to shop again, whereas with other companies, it’s those little touches that keep me coming back for more.

I have wanted to try Zen Tara Teas for some time, so I finally broke down and ordered from them. I had ordered a couple of teas as well as their tea-infused chocolate truffles. Since I was ordering shortly after Valentine’s day, they were sold out of the chocolate truffles. The system still allowed me to order, and did not inform me that they were sold out of this product.

However, they were prompt with contacting me asking me how I wanted to proceed. They gave me several options including canceling the truffles and receiving a partial refund for them, or receiving two separate shipments: one with tea and the second one with the truffles when they came in.

Instead, I told them it was alright with me if they just held on to the order until the truffles would be back in stock, so long as it wouldn’t be too long (it took less than a week). After all, I have plenty of tea to keep me occupied, and I had waited this long to try their teas, I could wait a few more days.

Within a week, I had received the notification that the order had shipped (like I said, less than a week from the time I ordered until the order was fulfilled and shipped). Everything was packaged carefully. The packaging for Zen Tara is white Mylar-type stand-up pouches with resealable, zipper closures.

Zen Tara also includes a free sample of tea with every order, and I like that.

They were kind and prompt with their correspondence and shipped as soon as they possibly could. I am very happy with my experience with Zen Tara and I’d order from them again.

The reason I rated it 4 instead of 5 is this: The tea infused truffles, we are given a choice of the flavors we want. But there was no field to indicate which flavors we wanted so I had to write a separate email – not a big deal but, it was slightly less convenient. Also, I do think it would be helpful to the consumer if there was some way the website could inform the shopper of what truffles were sold out. I personally did not mind waiting the short time that I had to wait for the order to ship, but, I can’t speak for others.

I have shopped both in-store and online with Steven Smith Teamaker, and all of my experiences with this purveyor have been exemplary. The staff is courteous and friendly, and the online orders are packaged and shipped very quickly. Of course, I usually receive my orders in record time because I’m only the next city over from Portland, but, they still manage to get each of my orders out to the shipper within 24 hours of placing the order, which is commendable.

The packaging is nothing all that different from packaging from some other companies, with one big difference that I don’t see with every other company: The date that the tea was packaged is on each of the mylar pouches. Freshness is not only assured, but visual evidence of the freshness is provided.

All of this wouldn’t add up to a whole lot if the tea wasn’t up to snuff … but this is STEVEN SMITH we’re talking about. Every tea I’ve tasted from Steven Smith has been worth every penny paid for it, and then some. Some of the very best teas available anywhere.

I love ordering from Andrews & Dunham. They have very distinctive packaging from the outer shipping box to the beautifully illustrated labels on the tins. With every order that I’ve placed with them (except for the last one – Thirsty Elf) there are little extras in the box. For example, with the Chinese New Year tea last year, they sent a fortune cookie. With the series five package, they sent temporary tattoos. It’s a fun experience to receive a package from them.

In addition, they ship VERY fast. With every order that I can recall, within 24 hours of placing the order, I’ve received a shipping notification from them complete with tracking information. I generally receive my order from Maryland arriving to Washington state within three days, at the very most, four.

If you’re thinking that the teas are a bit pricy from this company, trust me, the teas are well worth the price. I absolutely love everything about this company, with the possible exception that they don’t release new teas often enough!

52Teas is my favorite tea company. Why? Because they create a new flavor every week. As a former tea purveyor, I find that fascinating that one could come up with so many flavors and flavor them so well.

That doesn’t mean that every one of them are winners (they can’t all be my favorite), but, it does mean that it is likely that you’ll find something you’ll enjoy. I’ve liked more than I’ve disliked.

The shipping may not be as fast as some other companies, but it is FREE and I’d rather save a few bucks on shipping and wait a while longer than get immediate shipping and pay for it. And I have known instances where when one is in a hurry, Frank will do what he can to get the order to the customer as quickly as possible.

All of that aside, something else that means a lot to me is Frank’s (owner/operator of 52Teas, aka the Willy Wonka of Teas, aka the Chief Zoomdweebie) online presence. I can email him and usually the response time is pretty close to immediate. I am treated like a friend, and not some random customer. I have a great appreciation for that, because regardless of how tempting the flavor combinations might be, if the service was bad, I wouldn’t keep shopping with 52Teas.

By the way, I highly recommend the subscription service! It rocks!

Having recently placed an order with ESP Emporium, I can say that I am very happy with their service. The order was shipped ground, and when I was curious about when I might be receiving it (about a week after I placed the order, not an extraordinarily long period of time), they responded back very quickly with the information that my package should be (according to the tracking) arriving that day. I was pleased with how nicely everything was packaged, as well as the quick shipment and response time.

Golden Moon Tea is one of my favorite tea companies because they not only offer a wide range of excellent teas, but their customer service is superb! I feel like I’m dealing with friends when I deal with this company, I don’t feel like a number or an order … I feel like no matter the size of my order, I am important. That keeps me coming back again and again!