When good tea isn’t enough

Posted: February 21st, 2009 | Author: Brandice |

I hate that I’m about to write this post, but it’s time. I’ve personally and publicly backed a tea blender who has at this point really and truly disappointed on a business level, regardless of whether the tea sold by the company is fantastic.


Felicitea has, after over a year, been reviewed on my tea podcast STeaP multiple times, I’ve purchased the tea, I blogged about the company when I was writing for Slashfood, I’ve raved about it to many people, I helped in decision making for a tea that has my name, and in November I received an email that Felicitea was in danger of going under financially and needed some help.

I immediately jumped into action, recommending the site for Christmas tea gifts to several people, and I purchased (on November 22, 2008 at 6:04 pm EST) $68.99 worth of Felicitea Earl Grey Brandice to give away as Christmas gifts.

The events that followed:


November 22nd - I order $68.99 worth of tea from Felicitea.com, and sent the following email to several people:

Hi all,

I don’t typically forward newsletters, but Felicitea is a great company and Summer (the owner) is having a very rough time with the economy being what it is. People aren’t splurging on custom tea blends and massages during a recession, so if you know a tea lover who would enjoy some really good tea, I highly recommend Felicitea for Christmas/holiday tea gifts.

I particularly recommend the Earl Grey Brandice, which I helped in creating (and do not receive any compensation for - I just genuinely love the tea and am proud of the blend), or the Sloth Tea. Summer also does haiku tea cups on Etsy that are very cool. I’ve grabbed a few for myself over the past few months.

Anyway, if you’re looking for tea for gifts, this is my recommendation. I love a lot of the bigger tea companies, but I’ll be supporting this smaller one in hopes of keeping Summer in business during holidays, and I hope you’ll consider throwing some business her way as well if you’re in the market for some tea.

xo,
Brandice

December 2008 - My tea never arrives. I keep waiting for it, but eventually Christmas comes and goes and I’ve given away IngenuiTEA tea infusers with no tea to put in them. I’m a little hurt, but unsure how to broach it with Summer from Felicitea.

January 10th - I finally become uncomfortable enough with the fact that I never got my holiday tea that I send the following email:

Not to be a bug, but that EGB I ordered weeks before Christmas never arrived. :( I didn’t know if the delay was due to needing time to get supplies to make it or what, but since it’s been quite a while, I wanted to check in with you about it.

Brandice

And the response was (the end comments are about my invitation to have Summer start doing video footage and some blogging for the STeaP site, which has never happened):

My official position on the US Postal Office is “hatred”. These people can’t handle anything.

I’ll ship you another order.

Also, SteaP stuff is coming. Committing to it and then having the holiday season? I couldn’t do both. I’m sorry. I’m working tea vids already - should have something uploaded on Monday. :)

Summer Plum

I feel a bit better. Clearly, the package was lost and I was just stupid not to say something much sooner or I might have had my tea prior to Christmas.

January 15th - Summer emails:

Tea will reship tomorrow.
:)
Summer Plum

So, even though I’m a bit confused about why she’s mailing it out a week after I alert her to the fact that it never arrived, I eagerly await my tea, but…

January 25th - My tea has not arrived, and while I’m doing a test call for STeaP Live and testing out TalkShoe, Summer pops in the test call and we chat for quite a while. At one point, she mentions that my tea is “right by the door” and is going out the next day. I say something along the lines of “Oh, good. My dad is coming in to town next week, so I should be able to give him some while he’s here.” Summer also mentions that she will be on STeaP Live for the episode coming up that will involve a review of one of her teas and I excitedly say that I will be interviewing her.

January 31st through February 3rd - I spend time with Dad while he’s in from Texas, and at no point does any tea arrive on my doorstep.

February 10th - STeaP Live reviews Felicitea Day Dream tea, and I (the host) awkwardly try to cover for the fact that Summer never shows up as previously stated. Instead of spending most of the episode interviewing her, I record one of the worst episodes I’ve done, video or audio, because I was completely unprepared to compensate for her absence. Also, the one person in the chat who had ordered a sample of Day Dream to try with me on the show stated that he never received it and seemed a bit peeved about that.

February 19th - I post the following on Twitter:

Trying not to get outright angry at a tea vendor I’ve backed publicly that seems to have screwed me out of some tea at this point.

Shortly after twittering this, I receive a call on my cell phone from Summer, who leaves a voicemail apologizing, saying that perhaps my box of tea was mixed up among her moving boxes and she will find it and she will overnight me the tea and I will have it by tomorrow.

February 20th - I did not receive any tea.

And… here we are on the 21st, which is now officially three MONTHS after I ordered the tea. There is no excuse, NOT ONE, which would allow for a shipment of tea to take three months, and no amount of fondness for the company owner or the tea itself will excuse bad business or this many broken promises.

At this point, I have no faith that the original package was even lost in transit, I feel foolish for the support (and money) I’ve given, and I feel let down to an extent that I just can’t let it go anymore, especially if it means that others could be treated this way during a business transaction. I tried filing a dispute of the transaction on PayPal, but you only have 45 days to do that, so I sent the following email:

Hi Summer,

I really would just like a refund at this point. The tea (which did not in fact arrive Friday) would be nearly two months old in the package you were going to send, and it’s three months overdue as of tomorrow. There is no excuse at this point that would make up for tea that I should’ve had in November (December at the latest), and I would rather just have the amount of $68.99 refunded.

Thank you,
Brandice

So, there you have it. STeaP will unfortunately no longer be reviewing Felicitea’s line of teas, especially in light of the fact that there is a likelihood that any samples ordered by my audience will not be received in time for recording.

I have unfortunately learned a very disappointing (and financially costly) lesson, but my hope in publicly describing this interaction in detail is that I will prevent this from happening to anyone else. A company may offer the best tea blends on the market, but business practices as poor as the ones I’ve experienced in recent months are simply a deal breaker.


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  • Amazed that a company would be so lackadaisical in an economy such as these.... Thanks for the heads up!!

    BTW--- Thanks Brandice!! You have inspired me to explore the word of teas. It might me a coincidence (or the economy) but after I switched to teas, Starbucks stock went down the toilet. :-)
  • I'm really psyched to have inspired you into the tea world! :) Woo hoo! :) I think I'm taking the world over, one tea drinker at a time. :)
  • Brandice,

    I absolutely agree. There is no excuse. I personally apologize and except responsibility.

    I am sorry, I will do my best to make it right to you personally, as well as to the tea community at large. This was completely and utterly my fault due to negligence here at Felicitea. You're $$ will be refunded asap and, as fresh tea was made and repacked and prepped for shipment, it will still be delivered to you. Do with it whatever you like.

    I completely respect and understand your decision, and as a tea customer, would completely agree with your decision.

    You have my sincere and complete apology. I recognize that I have damaged our personal, as well as business, relationship, and it makes me sincerely sad. I appreciate your patience and eagerness to work with me. I am deeply regretful I let you down.

    Sincerely,
    Summer Plum
    Felicitea
  • This is a big, steaming pile of bullshit, Summer. I shut my mouth about this blog comment when you initially left it in order to see if you might make good on anything said in the comment about refunding my money or sending the tea that has supposedly been lost then repackaged in January and then repackaged fresh to be re-sent to me this time, and there is not only NO TEA in my mailbox, but there has been no refund.

    Don't bullshit me, and give your customers a little credit, because we are not flaming morons. The more I am open about my frustration with you, the more often I am sought out by other Felicitea customers who have never receive THEIR tea, and it's becoming clear that you have been very poorly running your business for quite some time now, which is inexcusable, regardless of what's going on in your life right now (this has been months of bad business).

    I am FED UP, pissed off, wondering if you were ever someone to be trusted, professionally or personally, and now that you've posted this comment and then FAILED TO FOLLOW THROUGH yet again, I would like nothing from you other than the ~$70 I wasted on your tea, or I am going to become publicly vocal about my customer experience on a level you are NOT prepared to deal with professionally.

    ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

    Brandice
  • thanks for the heads up. But I don't think I'm allowed to buy any tea until we finish the huge collection we have in the kitchen
  • You can never have too much tea! :)
  • I know I'm late to comment, but thank you for this post. I was actually going to buy tea from Summer, Earl Grey Brandice specifically. Now I'm glad I didn't! That is a horrible way to run a business, and the fact that she has lied to you repeatedly is just disgusting.

    Since I AM late to commenting, I really hope by now you have received a refund. I will definitely pass your blog entry on to other tea lovers, though.

    Thanks again, and take care!
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