Vendor Complaints
Descriptions of Complaints submitted about Various Vendors
Erowid occasionally receives complaints about vendors of plants, chemicals, and related products. We have set up this page as a place to track those complaints. Before submitting such a complaint, make sure that you have made a good faith effort to work out the problem with the vendor. This would include the following steps:
- Allow ample time for orders to arrive before complaining.
- Don't assume that you are being ripped off before talking to the vendor. Honest mistakes happen.
- Contact the vendor to explain that there is a problem.
- Document the problem clearly so the vendor understands what the issue is.
- Be sure to include your name, address, order number, order details and payment method so the vendor can find the transaction in their records
- Don't be too impatient. Many ethnobotanical vendors are extremely small organizations operating on the edge of their capabilities. It may take a little while for them to reply.
- Attempt contact both by email and by phone if possible.
- If you attempted to pay by credit card, keep an eye on your bank/credit card records to see whether you are actually charged for the transaction. Online ordering systems are notoriously unreliable and sometimes a vendor may never have seen the order. If you haven't been charged, the order may never have gone through.
- Followup with additional contact, whether or not you have received a reply.
- If you receive no reply, make sure to check the vendor's website for announcements or notices of delay, vacation, etc.
- Keep a record of: the emails you send, the dates you send them, phone calls you make, who you talk to, and whatever replies you receive to these contact attempts.
Erowid has received five complaints about Peruvian Journey. These complains vary from no product received and no response to emails or phone calls to substandard products and extremely slow shipping. We have attempted to contact Peruvian Journey by email (4/26/02) to ask about their complaint resolution process, but have received no response.
Complaint added May 7, 2002.
Erowid received a complaint from a visitor who claims to have ordered and paid for Jack Herer seeds from A1 Seedbank and neither received the seeds nor any response to their order. The visitor gave us a list of several emails over the course of 2 weeks to which they received no replies. Erowid sent a note to A1 Seedbank, located in the UK, describing the complaint and our plans to add this to our complaints page on Saturday March 31, 2001 and have not received a reply.
Complaint added April 7, 2002.
We received the following message about the "International Pharmacy Guide" sold by International PhamacyGuide.com.
Just a warning. Do Not order any of the so called "guides to International Pharmacies".
I did and it is a total rip-off!! Specifically- InternationalPharmacyGuide.com
Complaint added Spring, 2002.
In August 2003 we received an email from an individual who stated the following:
They placed an order for products from LER in October 2002 and never received their shipment. Attempts to resolve the issue by phone were re-directed to email. Attempts to resolve the issue through email were either ignored or the claim was made that not enough information was sent to resolve the problem. As a last resort, a complaint was filed against LER with the Better Business Bureau.
Erowid attempted to contact LER to provide them the opportunity to dispute this complaint, but we received no reply.
Complaint added Sep 2003.
In the spring of 2001, MBEtech.net, based in the United States, closed down their business and let their domain name expire. In the fall of 2001 the domain name was purchased by someone in Wales who put up a catalog containing nearly identical items to those previously carried by the company. They failed to reply to email inquiries from several people asking whether it was the same company. Speculation is that this is NOT the same company and that the new owner bought the domain name in order to get people to send them money in the mail. They take only cash or money orders. We received a specific complaint in July 2002 from an individual who placed an order, sent payment, and has received no response from the company (to either emails or physical letters) in 6 weeks.
Complaint added July 12, 2002.
2003
Status: No Complaints. Management of Shaman's Garden changed in 2001.
As of early 2002, we believe that all outstanding complaints had been resolved by the new management. We have received no
complaints since the new management took over in 2001. (archived complaints)
Erowid has received more than 5 complaints about Timberwolf not shipping ordered products. The first complaint was received in fall of 2001 and the second in January 2002, from different individuals. Since then we have received several additional complaints all along the lines the Timberwolf gardens is extremely difficult to communicate with (emails go unanswered), products are not shipped, and promised refunds are not given. Erowid tried to contact timberwolf at the email addresses listed on their site, requesting information about their complaint resolution policy, and received mail server bounces and no response.
Complaint added Feb 10, 2002.
Timberwolf eventually returned an email to us saying they would refund money for unfilled orders, but have continued to fail to respond to emails from customers making complaints or requesting refunds.