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Irritating order received
I have a love/hate thing going with Adagio Teas. They have been very frustrating to deal with ordering online, and this time was no different. Their website shows your shopping cart tied to the right edge of the browser window- which puts it under the scrollbar, so you can't see the whole thing. They require you to go through the 'set up an account password' dance, there's no express 'guest order' possible. I recall the first time I ordered, I ended up with a password in all caps, all swear words, because it kept saying it wasn't sufficient. And, of course, they still use UPS (which is fine by me), but that means UPS tags my order with a $2 "rural surcharge" (which is ridiculous being a half hour from the capitol of Ohio, in a town that serves as a bedroom community for said capitol). But that last one is totally UPS, not on Adagio (though they don't warn you that their "Ground shipping is a flat $3.75" is a lie, it's still very reasonable shipping).
This time, after my order was placed, they had further offers- they wanted me to share on FB, and also offer $5 gift certificates to my friends. In exchange they would allow me to choose a sample from a big list of teas. I was happy to do that, except that there was no discernible way to link to my FB, or any sign of a code I could copy/paste for the gift certificate offer. OK. Typical of the ordering side of the company.
My order arrived today, a full two days earlier than expected. Which was awesome! What was less awesome? One of the items I ordered was ginseng green tea, because I have recently been reminded of how much I enjoy ginseng, and pairing it with green tea seemed a no-brainer. Guess what the ginseng green tea doesn't have? Any actual ginseng. Only the flavoring. I went back to the website to see if I could figure out how I missed that it didn't have ginseng. It only actually states, in so many words, that it is green tea with ginseng flavoring on the detailed entry in the "ingredients and lore" section. I'm sure it will be tasty, it just won't be imparting any of the health benefits of ginseng. Which is kind of the point of drinking it, you know?
They also apparently decided to give me a sample anyway- it's a bottle of unsweetened black tea. Now, I understand that many people enjoy drinking pre-made, preservative-laden bottles of tea. I am not one of them. But more to my point is the baffling decision of a company that makes its living selling full leaf teas, directly from the source, also offering pre-made, preservative-laden bottled tea.
As a bonus for their insanity, after the order shipped I got a promotional e-mail offering a free sample of one of their priciest green teas (specifically the green dragon pearls) based on my order history. But, of course, that free sample is only good for two weeks. Do people actually order tea-snob type tea every two weeks? I will still be enjoying my Irish Breakfast tea, and probably enjoying the ginseng green tea (I expect I will be feeling less cheated on it in two weeks), plus I got a rooibos sampler to try. But I don't believe I will be ordering again so soon. I'm more of a twice-yearly buyer of designer teas.
Still, I can't argue with the quality of the tea itself, Really spectacular, and a dizzying variety.
This time, after my order was placed, they had further offers- they wanted me to share on FB, and also offer $5 gift certificates to my friends. In exchange they would allow me to choose a sample from a big list of teas. I was happy to do that, except that there was no discernible way to link to my FB, or any sign of a code I could copy/paste for the gift certificate offer. OK. Typical of the ordering side of the company.
My order arrived today, a full two days earlier than expected. Which was awesome! What was less awesome? One of the items I ordered was ginseng green tea, because I have recently been reminded of how much I enjoy ginseng, and pairing it with green tea seemed a no-brainer. Guess what the ginseng green tea doesn't have? Any actual ginseng. Only the flavoring. I went back to the website to see if I could figure out how I missed that it didn't have ginseng. It only actually states, in so many words, that it is green tea with ginseng flavoring on the detailed entry in the "ingredients and lore" section. I'm sure it will be tasty, it just won't be imparting any of the health benefits of ginseng. Which is kind of the point of drinking it, you know?
They also apparently decided to give me a sample anyway- it's a bottle of unsweetened black tea. Now, I understand that many people enjoy drinking pre-made, preservative-laden bottles of tea. I am not one of them. But more to my point is the baffling decision of a company that makes its living selling full leaf teas, directly from the source, also offering pre-made, preservative-laden bottled tea.
As a bonus for their insanity, after the order shipped I got a promotional e-mail offering a free sample of one of their priciest green teas (specifically the green dragon pearls) based on my order history. But, of course, that free sample is only good for two weeks. Do people actually order tea-snob type tea every two weeks? I will still be enjoying my Irish Breakfast tea, and probably enjoying the ginseng green tea (I expect I will be feeling less cheated on it in two weeks), plus I got a rooibos sampler to try. But I don't believe I will be ordering again so soon. I'm more of a twice-yearly buyer of designer teas.
Still, I can't argue with the quality of the tea itself, Really spectacular, and a dizzying variety.