Teavana

After my visit to Teavana today I’m thinking I got lucky with both a different staff and level of service than had been seen previously. Not surprising since turnover at mall stores can be rather high. Teavana is a small shop tucked away inside Bridgewater Commons mall. It’s really quite different than most other stores. It’s not a Starbuck’s with tea, it has a very museum/​café style feel to it thanks to all the tea pots and tea making equipment laid out on shelves like artifacts. The main counter with the dozens (upon dozens) of tea flavors is in the back.
As you walk in, then get to the middle *then* get to the main counter there are free samples galore. I tried five in one visit, including hot and cold teas. This range of flavors told me they had something for everyone. Their chai was very spicy, their fruit based ones ranged from very smooth and sweet to tart. I opted to get a freshly brewed, iced Chai which was wonderfully spicy with sweetness added in by some honey. Absolutely refreshing and tasty!
Now, are teas here expensive? Yes, but you pay for quality. If your idea of tea is the filter bags you get at Target, then yeah, these are ultra expensive compared to those. Truly the type of tea here is meant for the true tea lover. If you’re a fan of places like Argo or Harney & Sons, the prices here won’t shock you at all. I found them not «low» but «right» for the type of tea place it is.
The service was good and friendly. I had no problems but admittedly most of my interaction was asking questions and ordering a tea, not really delving into the various tea making devices or pots.
I’d definitely go back to Teavana when I return to the mall.

The supervisor (a young woman with dark hair) in that store was rude to me. I will always go to a teavana in a different mall and avoid that location.

Tea here is great, ridiculously overpriced, but delicious. The one thing I like about this location is that they will brew you tea here, whereas the Rockaway location only sells the tea and associate products. What I really don’t like about this location is the hard sell on buying extra tea, more than you want. I’ve watched them oversell people who aren’t knowledgeable and it’s like watching a car salesman.
Again, love the tea… not the sales pitch or the pricing.

Staff is nice, but the tea is overpriced. What really bothered me is that they would not let us exchange a tea that gave my wife a headache. It’s no wonder they only have 20 locations and Starbucks has 5,000.

Horrible customer service, and improper packaging.
If you want something undamaged shipped to you, do not buy from Teavana. Jasmine, the sales woman, told me that broken tea pots happen all the time, and that the store even receives broken and damaged products from the corporate office. Apparently, Teavana does not properly package their products. If you like Teavana’s products, go to the store, and purchase it (and ship it yourself if you need to). I highly recommend that you do not have any fragile Teavana products shipped to you or anyone else.
I received a tea set from my sister as a gift. Unfortunately, it was improperly packaged that everything was broken.
They basically threw everything into a big box and added 5 pieces of tissue paper into the box. There was at least an inch of space surrounding the entire tea set, and about two inches above the tea set. As we all know, shipping carriers toss and throw boxes for faster service and convenience, therefore, porcelain will break without proper cushion.
I called the store and talked to Jasmine, she was not only unwilling to help me, but she told me that all I could do was call the corporate office, or go to a store near me and exchange it. The closest store near me is 40 miles away in Los Angeles. So I decided that I’ll call corporate and have them send me a new one. I asked for the corporate number, and she told me: 1877-​TEAVANA. On a blackberry pearl, I do not have the numbers that coincide with the letter, nor do I own a land line. So I asked what the numbers were. Hesitantly, she growled. SHE GROWLED! And reluctantly gave me the numbers that coincide with the letters. In response to her growl, I asked for her manager’s name and to speak to the manager. She said that I would have to hold since he was helping a customer. With her hesitancy, rudeness, and unprofessional manner, I decided that I did not want to wait-​with the way things were progressing, I would be on eternal hold.
I then asked for the regional managers name and number. Jasmine hesitated to give me the name, and kept repeating, «We cannot give out her number, we cannot give out her number.» Understandingly, I asked for her name, and asked how to reach her, and she said she didn’t know how to reach her, and gave me her name, but she will have her manager, Christian call me. (Jasmine gave me wrong name, according to Christian.)
In a timely manner (10 minutes) Christian did call me. Disappointingly, he kept interrupting me, would not listen to me, and kept excusing himself stating that he has been the manager for only 2 weeks. As soon as I told him that he was interrupting me and not listening, he stopped talking so he could understand the situation, and do what needed to be done.
After an hour of talking to him and his staff, he finally called the nearest store to me, and have them ship me a new one. I’ve been in customer service, and management for many years. I’m sorry Teavana, but it should not escalate to one hour of phone calls to finally ship an unbroken product to the customer.