My experience at Teavana.

For general/other topics related to tea.


Sep 6th, '11, 10:09
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by am2040am » Sep 6th, '11, 10:09

Earthprince, I tried to send you a private message but I am not sure that it went out - did you receive it? I would like to speak to you further about your experience at Teavana. Thanks! And nice post!

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Sep 6th, '11, 10:32
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by Herb_Master » Sep 6th, '11, 10:32

Earthprince has not visited the forum since June 2010 :|

Sep 7th, '11, 11:52
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by CoffeeTeaorMe » Sep 7th, '11, 11:52

Well, I hate being lied to and the employee who said that other employees actually told customers that some caffeine or sugar was better than others like mate or rock sugar because they didn't know any better was just sad. I have recently found that I am quite sensitive to caffeine and reducing gradually I need accurate and honest information to a be able to still use a litte while going down slowly. If misinformation led to my drinking even one cup of coffee's of caffeine more than usual I'd have to be in bed for 3 days with a migraine. Imagine if a salesperson told me Mate was okay and I got the big to go cup (against "Nancy"'s will?). Dishonesty in any practice is wrong wether it be sales, your marriage, telling your Dr. about your lifestyle etc.. because it leads to problems. Being in business to make money is no excuse and just because we are all savvy enough to know this does not mean we should wear our cynical armor and just accept it. If you can't make money at your business while being honest and not harrassing people with the same repeated question thinly veiled then you don't have a good enough or useful enough product and you should just accept your fate and fall by the wayside. Move onto something else at that point and save your dignity and your soul. Now I gotta go so I can research whether Oolong tea really does help you lose weight before I go purchase some as my next step down the ladder to eliminating caffeine. Thanks a lot dishonest Teavana for the next hour or two I'll spend researching this topic since I can't trust you as you have been exposed by your sales people. Alienating your own staff during the information age...dumb move. I like the previous post about ordering online for 11 bux. Unless Teavana hires a business ethics consultant (if such a thing exists) and does better research and training for their employees they may have relegated themselves to being an online retailer. The only thing worse than being lied to and knowing it, is discovering one day that you've been the liar all along. Lies, Lies, Lies yeah...they're gonna get you. I think the writer of this article has achieved absolution by it, but really there is a rule in the bible that when you are following your Cesar (ruler) the sin is his not yours. So if any of you Teavana employees are feeling a little queasy that you were unknowingly spreading lies, relax. Now that you know better, you do better.

Sep 7th, '11, 22:33
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by goodtexn » Sep 7th, '11, 22:33

We recently got a Teavana store in our local mall. I visited the store yesterday with my 3-year-old son in tow. I was quickly approached by an employee who said that she had the perfect tea for my son to try. It was a mixture of blueberry rooibos and strawberry herbal. She was right, he loved it. I told her that I would like to purchase some to take home. That was when the marketing machine that is Teavana kicked in. The sales rep talked about their unique tins and how well they sealed. I told her I had many similar tins and that the ones from Teavana were too large to fit in my tea cabinet. She told me to buy at least a pound of tea to get a discount. I told her that a pound was too much and again referred to my limited storage space. She told me that I would need to purchase their German Rock Sugar to get the perfect sweetness that we tasted in their samples. I bit on this and purchased a bag. The prices at Teavana are very hefty, the tea I purchased was good, the sugar really was a nice addition to all of my teas, however the sales tactics are deplorable. I might source their products online in the future, but I doubt that I will ever set foot in one of their retail locations again. BTW... Anyone know where I can source the German rock sugar for less?

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Sep 8th, '11, 01:46
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by SlientSipper » Sep 8th, '11, 01:46

goodtexn wrote:We recently got a Teavana store in our local mall. I visited the store yesterday with my 3-year-old son in tow. I was quickly approached by an employee who said that she had the perfect tea for my son to try. It was a mixture of blueberry rooibos and strawberry herbal. She was right, he loved it. I told her that I would like to purchase some to take home. That was when the marketing machine that is Teavana kicked in. The sales rep talked about their unique tins and how well they sealed. I told her I had many similar tins and that the ones from Teavana were too large to fit in my tea cabinet. She told me to buy at least a pound of tea to get a discount. I told her that a pound was too much and again referred to my limited storage space. She told me that I would need to purchase their German Rock Sugar to get the perfect sweetness that we tasted in their samples. I bit on this and purchased a bag. The prices at Teavana are very hefty, the tea I purchased was good, the sugar really was a nice addition to all of my teas, however the sales tactics are deplorable. I might source their products online in the future, but I doubt that I will ever set foot in one of their retail locations again. BTW... Anyone know where I can source the German rock sugar for less?

Have you tried Whole foods?
Or looked at those diabetic places?
I think I seen one at a European online market.
Teavana is an evil evil company.

Sep 8th, '11, 22:08
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by CasualConnoisseur » Sep 8th, '11, 22:08

After my first nerve-wracking visit to Teavana, I went back some months later just to browse, but found that I was too on-edge to actually look at anything. I ended up hurrying out-- the memories of last time were what made me leave rather than the salespeople (who seemed to me in a kinder mood that day).

Oh well. I guess I'll have to content myself with online shopping until I find another tea shop (even farther away, ugh).

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Sep 9th, '11, 20:10
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by iannon » Sep 9th, '11, 20:10

goodtexn wrote:We recently got a Teavana store in our local mall. I visited the store yesterday with my 3-year-old son in tow. I was quickly approached by an employee who said that she had the perfect tea for my son to try. It was a mixture of blueberry rooibos and strawberry herbal. She was right, he loved it. I told her that I would like to purchase some to take home. That was when the marketing machine that is Teavana kicked in. The sales rep talked about their unique tins and how well they sealed. I told her I had many similar tins and that the ones from Teavana were too large to fit in my tea cabinet. She told me to buy at least a pound of tea to get a discount. I told her that a pound was too much and again referred to my limited storage space. She told me that I would need to purchase their German Rock Sugar to get the perfect sweetness that we tasted in their samples. I bit on this and purchased a bag. The prices at Teavana are very hefty, the tea I purchased was good, the sugar really was a nice addition to all of my teas, however the sales tactics are deplorable. I might source their products online in the future, but I doubt that I will ever set foot in one of their retail locations again. BTW... Anyone know where I can source the German rock sugar for less?
thats funny..that sorta happened to me when we got a teavana in our mall My daughter loved some blend they had..some ayurvedic chai something or or other. I didnt bite myself though..what i did was looked at their blend ingredients and made my own using stuff from adagio ;)

Sep 10th, '11, 23:45
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by fasn8ya » Sep 10th, '11, 23:45

sales people very pushy and need to take a basic chemistry class . the week before i had already spent 50.00 in the store and was just strolling by this week while in the mall and stopped to test a sample. i made the mistake of asking "what is the difference between a tea pot and a tea kettle. during the explanation (which had me more confused) she said "stay with me!" and made the hand gester pointing to her eyes and mine. like i was an idiot. while listening to another full sales pitch the girl mentioned how they sell a microwavable tea kettle that i might be interested in but she doesn't recommend microwaving. when i asked "why?" she said because when you microwave the water it takes the oxygen out of it. I'm like what? well then its not water anymore its hydrogen. H2O - if its still liquid then the oxygen has to be there or else its not water. she was like "trust me i know!' then she changed it to "well it flattens it" i kindly told her i didn't want to buy anything else tonight .

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Sep 11th, '11, 22:35
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by beachape » Sep 11th, '11, 22:35

Microwaving water for tea isn't ideal IMO. Of course microwaving water does not cause your cup to emit hydrogen gas, or else we'd all have exploded a long time ago. There is dissolved oxygen in water (02 sprinkled in amongst the H20)...this is how fish survive, and likely microwaving causes more release of dissolved oxygen. Either way I agree that microwaving makes water taste flat.

I've only had negative experiences with Teavana, but I agree that microwaving is less than ideal, but works in a pinch.

Sep 14th, '11, 22:32
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by earthernchild » Sep 14th, '11, 22:32

First off, I find this post very well written, and took the time to appreciate it. I haven't looked at Teavana since I heard about this post. I like to keep my shelf decorative, and I for one find the prices of the tins absurdly high for what you can get. That's a little off topic though...

Sep 22nd, '11, 12:42
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Location: Switzerland

Re: My experience at Teavana.

by Ludwig-1954 » Sep 22nd, '11, 12:42

Good evening, Goodtexn

German/Austrian Rock sugar is available from:

www.austriangrocery.com

They sell the original "Kandiszucker" used in Austria and Northern Germany (Friesland). The latter have a tea culture quite comparable
to British tea culture.

Do not expect the Sugar to be on a stick, as it often is found in the US.

Regards
Patrick B. Ludwig

Oct 2nd, '11, 11:03
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by Fulanadoe » Oct 2nd, '11, 11:03

Wow wow wow, so sorry to hear that. I only joined to make this reply bc as a one time customer I felt like I was being harassed to buy the tea and all I wanted was to try it but need up leaving $45 later with 2 tins and teas that I wasn't sure I would drink within the year. Although the sales woman was very nice. You could tell she was trying to make a sale and tried to get me to buy the most expensive pot there. I looked at her like she was from mars bc I just told her I wanted to just try it out. She made it seem like the tea would not taste good if I just "boiled hot water in a cup". Again I looked at her like she was insane and said isn't that how tea is made. She was pushy and very good at upselling the tea bc I too was conned into a " mixer" type. My experience there when I left was " I'm never coming back in this store again". Which is too bad bc I'm crossing over from coffee to teas and thought this would b a great place to start. I did not feel relaxed at all and needed time to process how pushy she was.

Oct 10th, '11, 17:22
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by soundandvisiion » Oct 10th, '11, 17:22

Well, after 8 months of working at this unethical company, I quit today. I'm pretty sure I'm the 28th person to quit in 8 months. We've opened in February.

I could never, ever, recommend anyone coming to this store to spend money. I'd feel too bad because I know how pushy the process is, and I know they would take advantage of my friends and family. Stay away from this place, their are so many better alternatives than Teavana.

Not only does this company treat their employees like shit, they do not care about the customer. At one point, I remember my manager taking advantage of this customer and when she closed the sale, which was a few hundred, and the customer had already left, my manager said "Well, at least she can't return the tea!" and kind of snickered about it. It's really disgusting how this company is run.

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Oct 14th, '11, 20:28
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by needaTEAcher » Oct 14th, '11, 20:28

First: I loved SpecialTeas.com, and I am so sad that Teavana ate (drank?) them.

Second: Atlanta rocks. Please don't judge us by Teavana. :lol:

Third: Just a thought. The world could use more compassion, even for the S.O.B.s out there. Let's all think happy thoughts towards Teavana and wish them well on their merry way (just don't buy from them!).

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Oct 14th, '11, 23:03
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Re: My experience at Teavana.

by SlientSipper » Oct 14th, '11, 23:03

needaTEAcher wrote:First: I loved SpecialTeas.com, and I am so sad that Teavana ate (drank?) them.

Second: Atlanta rocks. Please don't judge us by Teavana. :lol:

Third: Just a thought. The world could use more compassion, even for the S.O.B.s out there. Let's all think happy thoughts towards Teavana and wish them well on their merry way (just don't buy from them!).

All it takes for evil people to succeed is for good people to do nothing.

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