Frontier Natural Products Avis 8

Great product but HORRIBLE seller. Tracking shows the package was delivered several days earlier than expected & when I was not home but there is no delivery confirmation picture like UPS always has. The package was not at my door, not at either door to my building, not in my mailbox, not in the package room and not with my neighbors. This package was never delivered however the seller has refused to do anything about it and has stolen my money.

So, I purchased the Chinese 5 spice powder from Frontier Co-op from Amazon, and neither Frontier, nor Amazon will refund or credit my purchase. It arrived with a label on the bubble wrap, with a “Best by Jul 2008” date on it. (That is 17 years for those trying to do the math) past the expiration date. The following is a screen shot of the email from Frontier.
Thank you for reaching out regarding a refund or replacement for a product you purchased on Amazon.com. As you purchased the product directly from Amazon or a 3rd party Amazon reseller and not Frontier, we are unable to offer you a refund, replacement or credit.

Amazon food listings state “Non-returnable due to Food safety reasons” but if the item is damaged or defective, you can request a refund or replacement through “Your Orders” on Amazon. Simply provide them an image of the item and its defect within 30 days of delivery.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have further questions.

I wish I could post the pictures, but this is all I can do

I found information their cinnamon contains lead. I emailed them, telling them about it and asked them for the report on organic crushed pepper I bought from them and I received the reply, that "they don't share this information". This is very suspicious, all the companies I asked for the reports like that, sent it to me with no problem. Regarding the cinnamon, they said "Frontier Co-op adheres to the New York State regulatory standards and the American Spice Trade Association's recommendations. The levels identified by Lead Safe Mama fall well below the industry's regulatory standards. ". Lead Safe Mama is a website that researches and checks on lead and other heavy metals present in different products.

This company sent a package of 5 items (all the same product), all 5 of which marked to expire about 1 week after I received them. Multiple attempts to reach out to customer service have yielded little more than pleasant telephone/email exchanges, although at one point someone asked for extensive photographic evidence (of a matter that was very straightforward to comprehend/verify), but I did comply immediately. I have yet to hear back after over 3 days. I was really reaching out to let them know that this was concerning to the point that it would affect how I would use their business in the future – but now that I see how their customer service works, I will not be a customer at all.
PS - It is interesting to me that this company does not provide any responses to these consistently terrible reviews. Really says it all. Wish I'd looked here before giving them a shot.

Hi,

Someone in charge of quality control needs to be aware of the following:

When I opened a 1lb pack of their raspberry leaf tea (bought on Amazon) I found a bird feather. This is a health hazard!

When I read other reviews there were additional horror stories such as a mouse tail, bugs, mold and garbage being found in the tea.

I am beyond disgusted and will never buy from this company again.

Hannah

The company isn't bad... it's just not as fair as I think it should be. I ordered seeds to sprout. The FAQs on the site do not tell you the seeds are distilled with heat. Basically the seeds are cooked to prevent mold and bacteria growth in their storage facility. I called to return the seeds. They charge a restocking fee and a return fee. Basically, you won't receive a refund for their lack of transparency. So... just because it states "organic" on their products doesn't mean their products have not been treated or processed.

Great products, incredibly disorganized.
I ordered three items. They sent the package to the wrong state. I contacted Brenna
Customer Service Representative
Frontier Co-op
800-669-3275
She sent a new shipment and said she would sent the tracking number to me.
Didn't sent the tracking number.
I received the package but it contained only 2 of the 3 items. I contacted her again and she said all items were sent. Not only did she not see the second shipment order she sent me, she read the order that went to the wrong state. I contacted her saying she was looking at the wrong order shipment and also sent her a photo of the enclosed shipping order showing 2, not 3 items.
From that point on she ignored me.
I petitioned to remove my account.

8/12/20--Email to Frontier Co-op' re Order #100073039:

I am FURIOUS! Because you sent my 1-lb. order of Ceylon cinnamon sticks in a 14" x 12" x 10" box, it cost me $28 to receive my order in Panama. And your "responsible to people and planet" claim? A big lie! The huge box is filled with non-biodegradable packing peanuts for me to dispose of.  See attached photos of the box and contents.

I live in Panama and my online orders are sent via my package forwarder in Florida, who then sends  my orders to me in Panama. Charges are $2.50 per lb. plus 50 cents handling charge per package for a "normal" sized package. But for an over-sized package, they charge not by weight, but by "volume weight" -- i.e. the dimensions of the package. A copy of the $28.00 charge is also attached.
In addition, when my package forwarder notified me of receipt of a package that cost $28.00, I did not recognize the tracking number. After a lot of confusion, we figured out that the post office in Florida had put their own tracking number on the package, with no reference to Frontier Co-op's tracking number.

If you had sent my 1-lb. order in a normal sized package, shipping weight would have been no more than 2 lbs., for a charge of $5.50. But with a cost of $28.00, you owe me a minimum of $22.50. Please refund to my credit card.

8/14/20--2nd email to Frontier: I have a serious issue with my order, but no one answers your emails and no one EVER answers your phone! I will do everything I can to publicize what a horrible company you are!
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8/19/20 - Finally from CustomerCare:
 
I have submitted the credit. It does take a few days to process here internally with the short staff, and volume of calls/emails we are receiving, and from there can take around 7 business days to reflect on your card. We will process this as soon as possible, and to confirm you will be receiving a credit of $22 back to your card. Please let us know if you have any further questions. Jess.

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9/13/20 to Frontier: Your email was on August 19th, when you said you had submitted credit to my credit card account. I reminded you again on September 5th. Today is September 13th, almost a month later, and I have received no credit from Frontier for costing me $22.50 extra because of your exorbitantly huge shipping box. So you evidently lied. In addition, the cinnamon sticks must be old because they have practically no smell of cinnamon AT ALL. A ripoff at $39.90 for one pound.
So in total Frontier Coop has screwed me out of $67.90. Rest assured that I will publicize this Frontier Coop ripoff at every place possible!
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I would return these obviously old cinnamon sticks, but to return them from Panama would cost a fortune.
And there is no way to contact Tony Bedard, CEO, or any of the other executives. When you get screwed by this company, they ultimately refuse to be responsible. And an email to "customer care" most often results in a canned response that accomplishes nothing!
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9/22/20- Email to Frontier:
On 8/19 "Jess" said he/she had submitted $22.00 credit to me. He/she obviously lied. So now, over a month later, you sent a refund confirmation. I will see if it shows up in my credit card statement.

In other reviews I published, I said I am due a full refund for the old Ceylon cinnamon stick which have no smell at all. If you'll pay for the shipping from Panama, I'll return them.Either way, I want a refund for them. Please advise.
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Dozens of emails back and forth. They finally (in two credits) refunded the cost of the OLD cinnamon sticks, $39.90.

Finally, Jess wrote that to refund the exorbitant shipping charges by my package forwarder to Panama (because of their sending a 1-lb. package in a HUGE box), I would have to call them and give my credit card number, not by email, and reference their internal number, which she gave.

My call on 10/1/20. I explained the situation to Jason. He could not find any information from the "internal number"apparently because there had been "changes." Well, after he consulted with Jess, he finally took my credit card information. He said Finance would refund my shipping charges.
Jess responded on 10/5/20: " I apologize for any confusion. Your details were provided to our finance team. They said that while we had thought his additional measure would work, our new system would also now allow this. This was escalated to our management team to see how we can best resolve this and get a credit to you.

On 10/5/20, Jess said they could try a wire transfer of the funds to my US bank.
At that point, I figured that wouldn't work either and I was fed up with wasting my time. Loss of $28 and a big waste of time were a good lesson to forever avoid Frontier Coop!