“I like a lot of people on here, I finally used them to fulfill some fragrance I needed for my projects. I ordered on Sunday 1/19, Hoping that having a full work week it would see shipping before the end of the week. I sent 2 emails requesting information about the order. No response at all still to this day, a week later. I did finally get a shipment notification but it just says delayed due to weather. I did a search on the current and past weather conditions of Akron, OH. and there is NOTHING that would delay it. Their shipping email also says, ‘Shipped’ means the order is packed, labeled and ready for the carrier to pick up. Pick-up times vary due to driver schedules, traffic, weather and other factors. So Im guessing they only have pickups scheduled once a week on Fridays, which delays the package even more over the weekend sitting and doing nothing. As a first time customer, the lack of response killed me. Ill be looking for somewhere else do fill me fragrances moving forward. This put me too far behind to constantly wait for a company that doesn't even care to respond back to a first time customer.”
“I have never purchased from Bulk Apothecary before, but finally decided to try. On December 28, 2024, I purchase Star Anise Essential oil. I was really hesitant to purchase as they do not provide a GC/MS report. However, they have been around for quite some time. I know what Star Anise should smell like, as I have a small amount of Star Anise Essential oil from another seller. When I opened the Bulk Apothecary bottle, I do not know what I am smelling, but the Star Anise smell is very hidden by what ever else is in this bottle. I decided to do a paper test and it has failed. After 2 hours, there is a residue left on the paper. I put a few drops in alcohol (I planned on diluting it to use like an extract), and it stays floating. Tried to stir it, and continues to float on top. I will not be purchasing any more of their essential oils and will not recommend them to anyone.”
“I bought a gallon of Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil thinking it was for cooking, but it was not. I had already used some to cook something. I had to sent an email for questions customer service to find out. It says it was only for cosmetic purposes. The gallon does not have a label to say for consumption nor their website say that either. I also noticed the gallon does not have manufacture date nor expiration date. I told them I will return the gallon a get my money back. They said once is open they will not accept it. When I called customer service I spoke with Shariah and ask all these questions. She says she did not have answer and just contact via email address. So, I did not get my money back.”
“I purchased a pound of profoundly falsely advertised "organic" Fo-ti Root Powder. The package I received from Bulk Apothecary literally states "WARNING: Contraindicated with diarrhea" and an additional warning that consuming this product causes lead exposure. The website does not contain these disclosures. I was under the impression that I was purchasing an organic product that is safe for consumption. The return policy states that the cost of shipping is deducted from the refund. I requested a shipping label in which the product may be distributed back to Bulk Apothecary without a shipping cost deduction due to the aforementioned warnings being completely unbeknownst to me when making the purchase.
Customer services representative "Jessica" responded as follows:
"Thanks for the follow up. We apologize for your dissatisfaction. As with many products, there are contraindications or risk factors. We do sell our products primarily for cosmetic purposes only. We are not a food- grade facility. As stated in our return policy, if you are unsatisfied in any way with your purchase, you may return any unused items within 30 days for a full product refund. Unfortunately, we will need to stick to our policy. You may use the pre-paid return label to return the Fo-ti Root Powder as previously provided. Again, our apologies for any inconvenience."
I asked Jessica for an explanation as to why I am being charged shipping for a product that is labeled as toxic, harmful and detrimental if consumed. The disclaimer was not disclosed on the website. It is unfair that I have to pay for shipping for a product that never would've been purchased.
Jessica stated the following:
"As with many products, there are contraindications or risk factors. We do sell our products primarily for cosmetic purposes only. We are not a food- grade facility. As stated in our return policy, if you are unsatisfied in any way with your purchase, you may return any unused items within 30 days for a full product refund. Unfortunately, we will need to stick to our policy. You may use the pre-paid return label to return the Fo-ti Root Powder as previously provided. Again, our apologies for any inconvenience."
I responded that you ingest anything that you place on your body. A product that specifies that it contains lead, causes birth defects and reproductive harm should not have kosher and organic labels on it. If you are not a food grade facility why isn't this information included?
Jessica places the blame on me by responding in the following manner:
"Unfortunately, the return policy is not negotiable. In the future, you may want to contact our technical data department to obtain more product specific information."
The image of the product on the Bulk Apothecary website only shows a picture of the product. No mention is made of the toxicity of this product. Why isn't the warning included in the description of their products. How are consumer's supposed to know that they need to contact their technical data department? What you see isn't what you get. Proceed with extreme caution while purchasing products online with disingenuous vendors.”
“Ordered oil that I needed for a specific date, after 0 order updates for over a week I inquired with their support. At that time they told me I opted for store pick up, which I absolutely did not and my order confirmation even has my home address as the shipping address! So now I’ve missed my deadline to make products and still have no resolve on this.”
“Worst experience, bad c.s rancid Shea butter and rancid organic rose hip oil which was expensive.
If you place an order and get rancid products like I did, you get screwed and have to eat the shipping costs, not only that but you have to make it a part time job going back and forth with customer service to get a refund!
I just received a “partial” refund today in the form of a check which I can not deposit because it’s not signed!
So back to square one with customer service again!
I had to overnight non rancid Shea butter from another vendor in order to fulfill my customers orders.
What a nightmare of a company, never again!
I wasn’t gonna write a bad review because I understand that things happen but this has really made me angry hence this review.”
“Restocks inconsistently, lies about the timelines of restocks, offers absolutely no help to their customers and they're pretty rude. Highly recommend you look for another supplier.”
“Ordered $500 worth of soap fast bombs sugar scrubs and oils the only thing that arrived and was accurate to this description was the oils which thankfully were sealed and properly wrapped the rest of the products didn't smell as they claim they did the grit soap didn't have any actual grits it was badly processed flaxseed that I'm guessing has already gone bad as it smelt horrible the exfoliating scrub that we bought 12 containers of damaged my wife's skin cause scratches red irritations and now a minor skin infection when I contacted customer service all they first asked for was my order number which I gladly gave and then it was met with the response that if I wanted to ship it back to them at my expense including International costs and fees which was about $250 and that was ridiculous as my order already had cost me $750 in total now they wanted me to pay to send the stuff back to them without even explaining what they were going to do to fix the problem so I I create this message here and hopes that anybody that reads it and finds it helpful we'll look into the idea of us creating a class action lawsuit against Bulk Apothecary and their customer service and product representation so that we all can get our money back and this company can stop ripping people off with their garbage products that aren't safe to”
“My issue is that my oils arrived leaking. I took photos of the obvious leaks and they told me to return them before they’d issue me new items. Who’s going to put leaky items back in the mail? It was also cedar oil and really irritated my skin when I touched all the mess.
My other option was to weigh them and photo that, I guess they were going to send me the little bit that did spill ? I have never heard of this poor of CS. I explained I don’t have a way to weigh, and they said take it to a ups store. I live on an island nowhere near a ups store.
I explained I needed to move horses to a new property and needed the cedar oil asap to spray for ticks, so I didn’t want to wait around for a new shipment.
Their containers failed. It was not my fault it leaked but I was going to be disadvantaged by choosing either of their scenarios. I did pay with PayPal so I am going to see if there’s any buyer protection bc bottom line they sold me defective items and will not stand by offering any customer service.”
“Awful service! Buy from anyone else, anyone. Order 3 things that took forever to arrive. Damaged during shipment as was taken back to UPS center before delivery. 3 days later the package finally arrived sans 2 large items. 1 1/2 hours on the phone and the hold cue placed be back at the end of the cue after that time. 2 emails and no response yet. I have orders waiting for which this product is necessary. Now Bulk Apothecary is screwing with my business! Not acceptable.”
“Shipping is a joke. The only thing consistent is that you receive the wrong product or no product at all, and they don’t do a thing to get you your products in a time manner. They make you send pictures of everything before they do anything. The pictures literally do NOTHING to help correct the issue.”
“I would give zero stars if I could.
This Company has horrible customer service .
Besides taking a month to receive an order, they send me a rancid, chemical smelling perfumed oil, when I ordered a vanilla flavor oil.
Certainly glad I tested it before I made the lip balms.
I’m sure, I would have Gott in trouble with my customers over it.
It was so strong, it gave me a headache..not sure what it actually was.
When I called to report this problem, they took the lot number and said they would check the rest of them.
Customer service wants to dispute any problems and keep your money.
Been a customer on and off for 8 yrs,
Keep giving them a chance after many issues.
Never again..
The oils they sell can be found on Amazon and you’ll get it quicker.
Never again!”
“These gloves are horrible quality. I am in the foodservice industry and my wife is a nurse so we have used multiple disposable gloves over the years. The first one I tried on ripped, it is definitely not a nitrile glove whatsoever. I called to see about returning or some sort of compensation and they said they couldn’t do either. I had a $350 order and said I would never deal with their company again, the lady I spoke with just said thank you for your time sorry about that!”
“I ordered disposal gloves from this website and we couldn't even get them on our hands without the gloves tearing. Absolutely useless products. they will NOT stand by their products and refuse to accept a return. Pitiful”
“Ordered 55 pounds of white beeswax beads and when I opened the box I was hit by a VERY strong chemical odor - not the usual pure sweetness scent of beeswax. I've never experienced this smell in beeswax in my 30+ years of making bath and body products. Definitely won't be ordering Beeswax from them again. When I inquired about the smell, they send me a CoA that doesn't help me in the least. It doesn't state what other ingredients are in the beeswax, or anything about chemical residue. Staff had already been using it for body butters, and it behaved the same as it normally would, so that was a relief!”
“ZERO stars, unfortunately I am forced to leave at least one! Liers, horrid customer service and diluted oils that smell rancid. They shipped my $500+ order. It arrived and it was obvious one or more oil spilled. I opened the box and the oils looked like they had been thrown in. They were every which way. The oil that was not screwed down tightly to begin with had spilled all over all the other oils. It was a huge mess and the oil from the box also leached out onto my carpet and left an oil stain on my carpet.
I contact BA (bulk apothecary) and was told to take pictures of the bottle, so I did.
Then I was told they BA they saw NOTHING wrong even though you could CLEARLY see the oil spill marks on the inside and outside of the box. I had also told them that their shipping was much later than what my check-out shipping date stated it would be.
I opened a few bottles of oils to smell, to see the color and consistency of the oils and I was more disappointing. The oils did not smell fresh, they smelled rancid, the colors of the oils I opened were not correct to the oils name, the consistency was off too. These oils were all diluted and most smelled rancid.
I also told BA, that the oils did NOT arrive in glass bottles as stated in your description and told to me when I called BA with questions on some of the oils.
I told them I was completely disappointed with EVERYTHING and wanted a refund.
I had just traveled back to my main home. When I talked to customer service for the 6th time on the phone.
I told the BA I would not be back to the home they shipped the oil too for 20 to 30 days.
I was lied to Again and was told that this was OK.
BA said they would accept my return and give me a FULL refund once they received the oils back. LIE
When I got back to my 2nd home I shipped my oils to BA. I had been calling several time to make sure the company was still honoring there promise to me. I was told with EVERY call that YES I would receive a full refund once the oils are received.
What BA did was to lie to me AGAIN.
They received the oils and refused to refund me my money.
Then I find out by their customer DISservice that they are not going to honor their promise to me.
They said they would credit my account but NO refund. I told them no because I do NOT like the poor quality of their oils, that their oils are rancid and diluted.
When I saw the refund abount in my account, I saw that they deducted the amount of the oil that spilled all over.
That was the reason I was returning the oil in the first place. Because it spilled all over! BA deducted $62.03 for the oil that was not properly tightened down and that leaked all over the inside of the box.
They steal my money for their incompetence and spilled oil, for selling me their rancid smelling oils, with the wrong color and consistency.
SCAM alert!
Read their reviews first. They have 72.1% One star rating.
It is to bad you are forced to leave at least a one star rating when they deserve ZERO.”
“Their prices are excellent. Their products seem to be as good as other companies. It's the processing time. This is the slowest company I have ever seen when it comes to shipping. Most small companies that order from them need quick turn around of their order. My latest order is going on 10 days from the date I ordered. I don't want to hear about Covid either. I placed orders for my business on the same day with 6 other Companies as Bulk Apothecary and have received all 6 orders days ago. One Company I ordered twice and received both orders already ( bulk product in 5 gal containers). I stopped buying from them over two years ago because of the same thing so this is an on going problem. There are other Companies out there that do care how fast they ship and understand what it means as a small business to get your order quickly. You've cotton to big and have forgotten what it means to be a small business.”
“Today at 12:34 PM
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#1
I placed an order on July 17th and received part of my order on August 4th. I've asked them numerous times to update that their orders are taking this long to process as reputable wholesale supply companies are doing to no avail. After inquiring about where the remainder of my order was in the process, I was notified that the rest of the order had been cancelled due to being out of stock. We are a small company and are able to keep up with our stock by hand and I'm positive that a company the size of Bulk Apothecary has an automated system. Then, they refunded me for the jars minus the over 250 discount but did not include any of the $48.00 of shipping I paid. The customer service agent was advised to tell me that shipping 50 8 oz jars with lids and packaging would not have changed the shipping amount and that is why we weren't refunded a portion of the shipping. This is a complete lie. They probably looked at if they had to ship the jars to me after the initial order that the costs would outweigh the benefit. But guess what, we take losses as business owners all the time! Please avoid this company at all costs. We are a long time customer and are looking for alternatives even if it means paying more.
I say all that to say, they operate their business like a pop up instagram shop with no capital. It's so strange to me. I usually take Better Business Bureau scores with a grain of salt, but JEEZ Louise. I went and searched under indeed to look at prior employees' complaints and the biggest complaint was them selling stock they did not have. I think the thing that is most alarming for me is them being more than willing to pull funds from my credit card without knowing they have items in stock. Their model is successful but strange nonetheless. I'm thankful that we share a supplier of jars and I was just buying them as an add on just in case.”
“If you want a response from them call your bank and dispute the transaction they send out fake delivery from UPS I was on it I was on the one with trying to find my soap box I ordered Ylang, Rosemary, Sandalwood oh my goodness all of it stinks I paid $51 for two loads of soap and one bar and it stinks it was smelling through the box of steaks my box was not professionally packed I feel disrespected the way everything was thrown in open and it stinks these a leftovers they're not preparing the soap as what you see like the girl on royalty soaps on YouTube know by far they're not doing that at all I would never order from them again the process of hunting high and low to find my box at the post office in the post office it this happens all time you get approved delivery and the merchant did not send it so once I stop the transaction I dispute the transaction then here comes the stinky so you know everything that everyone is saying about this company is true so now I have stinky soap that we're going to trash because I wouldn't dare bathe with it smells horrible in his crummy yes the soap is Kwame”
