Re: My experience at Teavana.
Scupper, I was just in Orange County last week! Definitely gotta go there the next time I'm visiting family. Now I'm sad I spent all that time in Little Saigon while I was in school and never knew about it!
Re: My experience at Teavana.
Victoria wrote:It's a small family owned Taiwanese tea store in a strip mall. The owner Ms. Chen is very nice, and she brings a great selection of tea back from various trips to Taiwan. Also they are packed with fabulous teaware, for such a tiny shop. They have a boba bar, which probably helps keep the business going. If you arrange with her a time she will give you a gongfu tasting session at her hand carved tea table in the back. Here's a little blurb:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/tea-1228 ... -chen.html
I got a little excited when I saw orange county and good tea shop in the same paragraph. Darn it, wrong orange county, wrong state.
Re: My experience at Teavana.
I am sorry you had to go through all that and I definitely will not shop at Teavana again. However, I was getting really frustrated reading your story. It looked like you were letting everyone walk all over you. Next time you see those people, you should let them realize they do not intimidate you!
Re: My experience at Teavana.
I made my first trip to Teavana today. Though I told them I was looking for a small one cup teapot in the 4-6oz range, I was assured that a 20oz cast iron pot would work better for me. That way I could make alot of tea at one time then the pot would keep it warm all day. When I told the person working there that I enjoyed making tea several times a day and only made 4oz at a time in my Gaiwan, she looked at me like I was stupid and made a comment about me not liking tea that much. Then she showed me another another cast iron pot.
That place made me feel sad.
That place made me feel sad.
Re: My experience at Teavana.
I am new to Teavana, not new to tea.
I recently got a job there, and I have yet to find out what's so 'horrid'.
I'm sorry your experience has been bad, mate. And to everyone else who's been having bad impressions from Teavana. I've been working there for two months now, and I've been really happy to work there. All of the prices are really nice for the teas; 2oz. of Silver needle everywhere else costs 22-28 dollars, and even then you aren't guaranteed to avoid broken grade teas. The 10% discount gets you a lot, I mean a LOT, of free tea, and it scales up from there. two pounds is 15%, and five gets you 20% off. 2oz is hardly enough to begin noticing health benefits, anyway. Sure, it makes you twenty to thirty cups, but for the long-term health benefits, you need to drink tea long-term. Not just for a week.
I know quite a bit about how herbs and natural medicine works, I spent five years teaching herbal medicine. You will not notice your skin clear up after three days of drinking white tea. It's not magic, it's herbs. Herbs also work better the fresher they are; hence the tins. Teavana has built a personal relationship with the farmers, and participation in the Equatrade system encourages farmers to sell first flush, higher grade teas. The earlier you harvest any herb, (With respect to it's most potent medicinal effect) the more potent and effective the benefits will be.
The reason we are hell-bent on giving everyone a pound of tea, and getting the biggest cast iron pot, and using the german rock cane sugar, is because that's the best way to do it. I've been harvesting my own herbs and plants for medicinal use for many years, and airtight, lightight containers that keeps things fresh (For years!) are difficult to come by. I like having a supply of nettle keep year-round, for those tummy aches, and previous to working for teavana, I've purchased several empty tins for just that purpose. The fact that my tea has begun to noticeably taste better is really making me happy with my 45oz. Tatara cast iron pot. My cookies and other confections taste wonderful because I've been using german rock sugar in my recipes. The sugar has such a negligable effect on health benefits, My cat-tail diarrhea hardening tea tastes wonderful!
Perhaps I crossed the line with that little bit of personal information, but it should put things in perspective for you.
Speaking of perspective, I will reflect on some of the negatives of Teavana. It is retail, and it IS sales-driven. Verbatim, one of the company's goals is "To provide the highest quality loose-leaf teas in the world". This cannot have been done without the Equatrade program, but in order for that program to work, Teavana has to sell tea to make money that pays for the nicer stuff. Teavana also wants to "Build and maintain Teavana as THE premier tea retailer in the world." This means they want to climb to the top, and be recognized as the best. unfortunately, this is also a numbers-driven goal... this is the mindset of 'if we can't sell, we can't expand'. My last quote from the company's goals will be to "educate our guests in the health benefits of drinking tea and the intriguing global culture of tea". This raises the problem: we have the best tea, we're encouraged to demonstrate the best way to brew tea. And now we're supposed to tell everyone. Unfortunately, nowhere were we instructed to ask the customer if they care. That falls into the 'common sense, moron. If they aren't interested, they won't pay attention' category, and too many Teavana employees forget to keep in check to whom they address. While OP is the lowest grade, and we do not accept broken grades, very few employees explicitly are instructed on teas from outside the store, and are thus woefully ignorant, and can be given to create stories about how broken grades aren't accepted because they are no good. I'm drinking a broken grade Oolong right now from a tea shop in Ann Arbor that I find rather delicious.
Yes. I own around 31 different teas and herbal blends. 16 of those are 'teas', and nine of those teas I purchased elsewhere, before and after my employment began. Of the herbals, a scant three were purchased, and only one of those have the distinction of coming from Teavana. (the others, of course, were harvested by yours truly.) Just to give you further perspective, I do hold most of them in Teavana 1lb airtight light-tight tea tins, twenty of them, to be precise. There are other tins, much smaller ones that I use for strictly-medicinal herbs that are off-limits (easily marked) to anyone else in my household, due to their danger of improper use.
I'm sorry, again, that you've had very little pleasant encounters with Teavana employees. I do hope that the fact that I work for them does not hinder my reputation in this new-to-me community of Teachat. Tea is something I am very passionate about, and learning more, improving myself, and maybe accidentally educating others are my three goals here.
I look forward to reading more of the message boards tomorrow morning over a cup of earl grey white. For now... It is time to rest.
I recently got a job there, and I have yet to find out what's so 'horrid'.
I'm sorry your experience has been bad, mate. And to everyone else who's been having bad impressions from Teavana. I've been working there for two months now, and I've been really happy to work there. All of the prices are really nice for the teas; 2oz. of Silver needle everywhere else costs 22-28 dollars, and even then you aren't guaranteed to avoid broken grade teas. The 10% discount gets you a lot, I mean a LOT, of free tea, and it scales up from there. two pounds is 15%, and five gets you 20% off. 2oz is hardly enough to begin noticing health benefits, anyway. Sure, it makes you twenty to thirty cups, but for the long-term health benefits, you need to drink tea long-term. Not just for a week.
I know quite a bit about how herbs and natural medicine works, I spent five years teaching herbal medicine. You will not notice your skin clear up after three days of drinking white tea. It's not magic, it's herbs. Herbs also work better the fresher they are; hence the tins. Teavana has built a personal relationship with the farmers, and participation in the Equatrade system encourages farmers to sell first flush, higher grade teas. The earlier you harvest any herb, (With respect to it's most potent medicinal effect) the more potent and effective the benefits will be.
The reason we are hell-bent on giving everyone a pound of tea, and getting the biggest cast iron pot, and using the german rock cane sugar, is because that's the best way to do it. I've been harvesting my own herbs and plants for medicinal use for many years, and airtight, lightight containers that keeps things fresh (For years!) are difficult to come by. I like having a supply of nettle keep year-round, for those tummy aches, and previous to working for teavana, I've purchased several empty tins for just that purpose. The fact that my tea has begun to noticeably taste better is really making me happy with my 45oz. Tatara cast iron pot. My cookies and other confections taste wonderful because I've been using german rock sugar in my recipes. The sugar has such a negligable effect on health benefits, My cat-tail diarrhea hardening tea tastes wonderful!
Perhaps I crossed the line with that little bit of personal information, but it should put things in perspective for you.
Speaking of perspective, I will reflect on some of the negatives of Teavana. It is retail, and it IS sales-driven. Verbatim, one of the company's goals is "To provide the highest quality loose-leaf teas in the world". This cannot have been done without the Equatrade program, but in order for that program to work, Teavana has to sell tea to make money that pays for the nicer stuff. Teavana also wants to "Build and maintain Teavana as THE premier tea retailer in the world." This means they want to climb to the top, and be recognized as the best. unfortunately, this is also a numbers-driven goal... this is the mindset of 'if we can't sell, we can't expand'. My last quote from the company's goals will be to "educate our guests in the health benefits of drinking tea and the intriguing global culture of tea". This raises the problem: we have the best tea, we're encouraged to demonstrate the best way to brew tea. And now we're supposed to tell everyone. Unfortunately, nowhere were we instructed to ask the customer if they care. That falls into the 'common sense, moron. If they aren't interested, they won't pay attention' category, and too many Teavana employees forget to keep in check to whom they address. While OP is the lowest grade, and we do not accept broken grades, very few employees explicitly are instructed on teas from outside the store, and are thus woefully ignorant, and can be given to create stories about how broken grades aren't accepted because they are no good. I'm drinking a broken grade Oolong right now from a tea shop in Ann Arbor that I find rather delicious.
Yes. I own around 31 different teas and herbal blends. 16 of those are 'teas', and nine of those teas I purchased elsewhere, before and after my employment began. Of the herbals, a scant three were purchased, and only one of those have the distinction of coming from Teavana. (the others, of course, were harvested by yours truly.) Just to give you further perspective, I do hold most of them in Teavana 1lb airtight light-tight tea tins, twenty of them, to be precise. There are other tins, much smaller ones that I use for strictly-medicinal herbs that are off-limits (easily marked) to anyone else in my household, due to their danger of improper use.
I'm sorry, again, that you've had very little pleasant encounters with Teavana employees. I do hope that the fact that I work for them does not hinder my reputation in this new-to-me community of Teachat. Tea is something I am very passionate about, and learning more, improving myself, and maybe accidentally educating others are my three goals here.
I look forward to reading more of the message boards tomorrow morning over a cup of earl grey white. For now... It is time to rest.
Sep 7th, '10, 01:48
Posts: 2625
Joined: May 31st, '08, 02:44
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:
Geekgirl
Re: My experience at Teavana.
Stick around. You might learn something... I mean something other than the party-line tripe they "teach" you at Teavana.
Your post sounds good, but honestly, if this were a wine forum, it's virtually akin to going there and doing a whole long post about how E&J Gallo Blush in the gallon jug offers the highest quality wine in the pinnacle of cutting edge bottles to the most discerning clientele.
Your post sounds good, but honestly, if this were a wine forum, it's virtually akin to going there and doing a whole long post about how E&J Gallo Blush in the gallon jug offers the highest quality wine in the pinnacle of cutting edge bottles to the most discerning clientele.
Re: My experience at Teavana.
and a +1 here.Geekgirl wrote: Your post sounds good, but honestly, if this were a wine forum, it's virtually akin to going there and doing a whole long post about how E&J Gallo Blush in the gallon jug offers the highest quality wine in the pinnacle of cutting edge bottles to the most discerning clientele.
Sep 7th, '10, 15:00
Posts: 1574
Joined: Dec 30th, '08, 21:16
Location: The foot of the great Smoky Mountains
Re: My experience at Teavana.
..and another big +1 from me.nickE wrote:and a +1 here.Geekgirl wrote: Your post sounds good, but honestly, if this were a wine forum, it's virtually akin to going there and doing a whole long post about how E&J Gallo Blush in the gallon jug offers the highest quality wine in the pinnacle of cutting edge bottles to the most discerning clientele.
I wouldnt dream of storing my japanese greens for years in anything really. or steep them in (most likely lined) 45 oz cast iron pots. egads!
Re: My experience at Teavana.
I love first time posters who defend the store. And the poster is an admitted novice to tea. How could anyone take her seriously?
I do have to admit that the guerrilla selling has been down at my local shop lately. They have kept their distance, and not tried to sell me anything I wasn't already looking at. But none of that changes the poor price to quality ratio they use.
I do have to admit that the guerrilla selling has been down at my local shop lately. They have kept their distance, and not tried to sell me anything I wasn't already looking at. But none of that changes the poor price to quality ratio they use.
Sep 7th, '10, 17:15
Posts: 1574
Joined: Dec 30th, '08, 21:16
Location: The foot of the great Smoky Mountains
Re: My experience at Teavana.
ya but come on, get with the program, ..the price is much better when you buy 2 pounds....spot52 wrote:I love first time posters who defend the store. And the poster is an admitted novice to tea. How could anyone take her seriously?
I do have to admit that the guerrilla selling has been down at my local shop lately. They have kept their distance, and not tried to sell me anything I wasn't already looking at. But none of that changes the poor price to quality ratio they use.
Sep 7th, '10, 17:24
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Re: My experience at Teavana.
Teavana has turned over a new leaf!!! Truth in advertising, they have changed some of their tea names.
Unscrupulous
Not Really Good For You
Overpriced
Not So RariTea
Not the Best Tea
This One is a Rip-Off
Bababad to the Bone
Ooops Forgot to Tare
Low Qualitea
Cheaper by the Pound
... to name a few!
Feel free to add some of your newly named Teavana teas to the list.
Unscrupulous
Not Really Good For You
Overpriced
Not So RariTea
Not the Best Tea
This One is a Rip-Off
Bababad to the Bone
Ooops Forgot to Tare
Low Qualitea
Cheaper by the Pound
... to name a few!
Feel free to add some of your newly named Teavana teas to the list.
Sep 7th, '10, 18:12
Posts: 1574
Joined: Dec 30th, '08, 21:16
Location: The foot of the great Smoky Mountains
Re: My experience at Teavana.
Strawberry short-u-on-the-scaleitea
Too much greenbackitea
Mucho Moola Oolong
Too much greenbackitea
Mucho Moola Oolong
Sep 7th, '10, 19:09
Posts: 158
Joined: Sep 5th, '10, 01:30
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Re: My experience at Teavana.
What an incredible story. I have always felt that Teavana is just a cheap corporate and sales driven company. I shop there, but only because I live in South Florida and we have NO tea bar/shop whatsoever other than Teavana. I used to live in Portland, Oregon and the tea shops there were quaint, friendly, and really allowed me to enjoy tea as a whole experience. I was upset to find out that Teavana also discontinues blends and teas without any reason...they just "stop" making things for no reason.
I must say, your story has prompted me to never shop there again. I also have experienced the sales tactics used by the employees and it's true, it happens a lot. For instance, the overage in weight on loose leaf tea and having them ask "it's over is that ok?" I've been guilty of saying yes to that, simply because I know what it's like to be a sales employee and really don't want them to have to scoop the tea back out to make it exactly the weight I asked. When asked one time "what a good gift for my girlfriend" would be, they first pointed me to the cast iron pots, DESPITE me telling them that she already has a really nice teapot that she likes very much. lol.
Absolutely incredible. Maybe I'll go in one last time to buy out their supply of the Utopian Jewel that's apparently being discontinued and then I'll never see them again.
What a horrible experience you must've endured. I must say though 9/10 times corporate based companies are never friendly.
I must say, your story has prompted me to never shop there again. I also have experienced the sales tactics used by the employees and it's true, it happens a lot. For instance, the overage in weight on loose leaf tea and having them ask "it's over is that ok?" I've been guilty of saying yes to that, simply because I know what it's like to be a sales employee and really don't want them to have to scoop the tea back out to make it exactly the weight I asked. When asked one time "what a good gift for my girlfriend" would be, they first pointed me to the cast iron pots, DESPITE me telling them that she already has a really nice teapot that she likes very much. lol.
Absolutely incredible. Maybe I'll go in one last time to buy out their supply of the Utopian Jewel that's apparently being discontinued and then I'll never see them again.
What a horrible experience you must've endured. I must say though 9/10 times corporate based companies are never friendly.
Re: My experience at Teavana.
I went to a Canadian corporate tea chain called David´s Tea last week with my Mom...
We bought a small bag of matcha only 24g...there was absolutely no attempt to sell us more than we asked for and we were left in peace to explore the teaware until we were ready to order the tea. When the girl working there weighed out the tea I noticed the scale was tared perfectly and she automatically went back and forth a bit to get exactly 24g of tea...no asking if a bit more was ok. The scale had a large digital readout facing the customer side so it was easy to see exactly what she was doing.
After that experience...I think really no excuse for what Teavanna does.
We bought a small bag of matcha only 24g...there was absolutely no attempt to sell us more than we asked for and we were left in peace to explore the teaware until we were ready to order the tea. When the girl working there weighed out the tea I noticed the scale was tared perfectly and she automatically went back and forth a bit to get exactly 24g of tea...no asking if a bit more was ok. The scale had a large digital readout facing the customer side so it was easy to see exactly what she was doing.
After that experience...I think really no excuse for what Teavanna does.
Re: My experience at Teavana.
iannon wrote: ya but come on, get with the program, ..the price is much better when you buy 2 pounds....
