Teavana

Knowledgeable and usually courteous teens working there
which I appreciate
they have changed their tea sipping policy to ONE sample per customer. Before you could test all teas that were brewed to sample (hot and cold). On average there were 6 to test. Now only one. Not conducive to business because why would I buy something that I can’t test?
The tea is very expensive.
The tea accessories are very expensive.
I bought a metal tea stirrer years back and it is not of good quality.
Oh well another business biting the DUST.
Adiós

After a 5 year hiatus I decided to give Teavana another try. FAILURE.
Nothing has changed in 5 years. The staff is still as rude as always. I’m sorry that I annoyed you by asking a question. The young woman rolling her eyes & turning away from me was the icing on the cake. I came in prepared to spend a good deal of money. We’ve become a caffeine free family & now drink tons of tea. They didn’t get one dime from me. I’m not sure how one location can constantly be so horrible. Maybe it’s something in the air or water.

I was surprised to see so many poor reviews of this store. Well, here goes. As I approached the store entrance, I was greeted by a very attentive and personable salesperson named, April. April offered me samples of tea and immediately wanted to know how she could help me find what I was looking for, which was a tea pot with a built-​in steeper. As a few more customers came in, April managed to take care of everyone before returning to assist me. April was in the store alone and handled everything perfectly. I left with a Breville Tea Maker (not cheap, but worth it), 8 ounces of tea and a perfect teaspoon — and none of it was pushed on me.
Store management should consider using April as a trainer for new employees. She knows how to treat customers without the heavy-​handed sales push. Yes, she asked me if I needed tins! But she stuck to the script without making me feel like I was dealing with a robotic, brainwashed salesperson. Nice balance.
All of this said, I can only recommend this store based on my experience with one salesperson. So take it for what its worth.

I don’t have a name but my salesperson this evening was terrible and left me wanting to never return to this particular store at least to never return without my guard up. We were under tornado warning and I had no cell left and just wanted to ask what time it was she could not be bothered to answer nicely or at all. She gave a vague answer like not 9 yet. It must have been 7 judging by the time I got back to my car. I asked for help choosing a cup of tea to drink at the mall. We were looking for fruity drinks and apparently that is really a vulgar thing for her refined palatte so she could not help because she «could not imagine drinking hot fruit.» OK that’s fine if you are so refined but seriously you must know that is a rude way to answer a customer. Never heard of hot delicious apple pie or warm fruit compote? I guess us unwashed masses are the reason every tea maker makes fruity teas but if you know better you would never be caught dead drinking such garbage. Staff are always better in Natick. Salem NH staff is friendly and kind too. There were no smiles at this store by anyone.

Whoa!!!
So, I am walking by Teavana the other day & the sales guy gives me a big smile. I was having a shitty day, so this little gesture lifted my spirits. I walked over to sample one of the teas. He was IN MY FACE in under 5 seconds shouting out a well-​rehearsed, robotic spiel all about Teavana & tea. It went on & on & on & on as I just stood there with this ‘you gotta be f***in’ kidding me look’ on my face. Clueless!

I, for years, have bought my teas at Teavana. I have always been impressed with the quality of their teas/​products and professionalism. Each visit was fun, informative and extremely enjoyable. In the past year I have been discouraged. Each time I have noted the high pressure sales pitch. Today was the worst experience I have ever had!!! I will NEVER return to Teavana. I felt totally ravaged by the time. Mentioned to the young man working in the doorway that I would never return .WAY TOO HIGH PRESSURE for me…

This could technically be a review for the entire Teavana company. I mean, yes it is a review for the actual company more so than the store maybe but every store I’ve been to has sort of been the same.
Staff is generally strange, helpful and eager to get you to smell/​try as much as you can stand. Maybe it’s until you buy something but hey. when I go into this store, I’m going in to drop a pretty penny to begin with so suggestions are welcomed.
They have a wonderful selection of teas behind the counter and they brew the tea right there for you if you want one. They also can create a mix-​mash creation of a few different teas. For example at the Cape Cod Mall location, the girl made me a ‘chocolate chip cookie dough’ tea. BOMB.
Price, yes it’s expensive. I put in an order online once a month for these teas, there are so many to choose from and I want them all.
The Peabody location is my go to store when I need to test something out, ask questions or get something right away.
I’d suggest bringing your own tea-​tin to have it filled if you’re going to buy something. I buy mine off Amazon. In store they charge $ 7 for the tin but its required to take home the tea.
Also if you’re worried on the prices, check online beforehand or just get the minimum you want, say you only want about 6 cups of tea and they can measure that out for you. You can get any ounce amount. When you’re online they go by 2oz increments. 2 oz of tea will brew a lot of cups. You generally use about 1 tsp per brew and you can re-​use it maybe 3x in a certain amount of time. Just watch your brew time, every tea is different.
Yes, there are local places but the flavor variety they have is fun and exciting. It’s almost like Jelly Belly VS plain old jelly beans. Which brand would you choose?

Extremely annoyed by the sales clerk at this store. Rushed at us the second we got in the store and gave us a ridiculous hard-​sell approach that wasn’t the least bit subtle. Obviously, their corporate masters must be breathing down their necks to make sure their stores are profitable, but that type of hard-​sell is the ultimate turn off.
What totally SUCKS is that the store has some very nice tea pots, and interesting teas to sample, and various wares, but they don’t give you time to look at a goddamn thing.
Pretty sure I figured out their entire sales approach based on this guy’s hard-​sell:
Everything that follows is MY opinion only. But I think my opinion is pretty damned accurate:
1. Push the most expensive tea in the store.
2. Bad-​mouth the tea ball infusers, in order to sell the customer some more expensive steeping method.
3. Explain how buying a large amount of tea (one pound, anyone?) saves money.
4. Try to make the customer buy tins to put the tea in, even though the tea is perfectly fine in a bag.
5. Explain how the insanely expensive tea you are about to buy should really be mixed with this other expensive tea as well, in order to sell the customer even MORE expensive tea.
6. Conveniently over-​pour the leaves beyond the 2 oz the customer is intending to buy, knowing full well that most people don’t mind going a little over. The stuff was $ 25/​oz., however, so going over isn’t like being a little over at a deli.

You know — it’s just G***D*** expensive.
(I suddenly became my mother — geez who even blanks that out anymore.)
And I can say that I’ve had teas from here that are exceptionally delicious, amazing and worth every penny.
Recently, I spend 30 bucks on some blueberry white tea that was tannic, bitter, and didn’t make me happy — even after brewing precisely as prescribed. So.. . hmm. The saleslady was enthusiastic, and showed me how beautiful the tea was and I said. OOO, I want.. .
meh
I dunno. It’s good, occasionally.
For the moment, with my current life, I’ll mostly be using tea bags and not worrying so much about brewing temperature and exact steeping time. But for those Sunday mornings when you want a really exceptional cup of tea.. .go for it.
(Don’t forget the pots, strainers, cozies, cups and travel carafes. it’s a rule, you must spend $ 50 every time you set foot in there)

The tea is way too pricy, the employees are rude and don’t know enough about the ingredients in their tea to warn people with allergies. There is no real return policy and customer is always wrong there. If you really want to stupidly spend $ 90-​$ 150 for a few lbs of tea be my guest. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Since boxed tea from Shaws was just as good or better. Oh, and if you shop there, make sure your carrying a bag from Nordstrom, or wearing expensive designer clothing. Because if you walk in with casual clothing, and maybe a JC Penny bag, your mistaken for poor, dirty or a thief. Screw you Teavana and your snobby attitudes.

Do I dare to agree with everyone else on this place? I can’t believe my experience… went there last month and purchased double-​walled glass tea set with a pitcher and four glasses. A sales clerk reassured me that the set is really sturdy and I can even pour hot water in it and nothing will happen. I was skeptical of course, but purchased it anyway because of its esthetic appeal. When I got home and I poured iced tea in one of the glasses and used a spoon to stir some sugar, my glass cracked. The funny part began when I tried to return those. The same woman who sold me the set told me that I wasn’t careful with them and they were too fragile and since I am not careful, I should be using an iron tea pot instead. I asked her why would she compare drinking glasses to a teapot, but heard the same answer again that I should be using cast iron. Now I get it!!! There is no refunds in the store, so I now use an iron teapot to drink out of in lieu of glasses.

Yowza! What an expensive place to buy some tea! Sold w/​the sample at the door and then whisked right up to the cash register. No clue as to how much this endeavor was about to cost. For 2 lbs. (what they suggested to buy) it was $ 150! Not including the travel infuser and the rock sugar which was an additional $ 90. $ 240 for some tea? Went to grocery store next day, bought Bigelow Pomegranite and Bigelow Peach. Blended the bags, added some honey, yum! I’ll get 16 cups of this wonderful brew for $ 5.

I have to agree with what others have said. I love Teavana products, but this was one of the most uncomfortable shopping experiences I’ve had ever. They’re much too pushy – trying to get me to buy more than I wanted (½ lb.), even after I specifically said I only wanted 2 ounces to TRY, and then urging me to buy all this other equipment I didn’t need. I’m really fed up with retailers of this type. No wonder online business is flourishing when this is the alternative. I never want to go back here again.

The earlier reviews are very true!
I do not usually review stores. Having worked in retail, I try to be a patient, understanding customer. But I have received such consistently terrible service at this location that I can’t help myself. Every time I have gone in here to buy tea, the clerks first try to upsell me on the tea I clearly want to purchase, then try to sell me equipment I ALREADY HAVE from them, then try to sell it to me in a size larger, then tell me that I should be buying tea in 4 oz instead of two if I really want it to stay fresh, then try to sell me their overpriced standard teaspoon, since it will «brew better tea.» –???
My most recent transaction involved trying to exchange some Christmas gifts. It was quite simple I told my dad that I would like some of their Earl Grey cream tea. He went to the store and, being virtually clueless about teas, asked for their basic Earl Grey. The clerk told him that «their Earl Grey white tea» was their most popular one — it being way more than their regular Earl Gray. My Dad, totally ignorant of teas, paid over $ 20 for a 4-​oz bag of white tea with bergamot that is nothing like their Earl Grey, because he was completely misled by the sales clerk. Additionally, he bought one of their boxed sets (only 8 oz of tea for 65 DOLLARS!!), but it was all herbal, which I don’t drink. I tried to go back to the store and exchange it for some tea I would drink. I was first told that they don’t take back open teas. I pointed out that the set was not open. She didn’t care. Then when I explained the situation with the mistaken Earl Grey they told me they could not take back the tea, because «it was against federal health code.» The sales clerk, usually so polite when trying to sell you things you don’t need, was quite rude and unhelpful. I walked out to prevent myself from losing my temper.
Several days later my mother called — wanting to exchange her teas as well — and they told her that they actually COULD take them back, but we were unable to find the receipt, which I lost track of since they told me it was «absolutely impossible» to return any tea there categorically. What was a waste of $ 130!
I am still furious about the rude and unethical business practice there and, no matter how quality their tea, won’t waste any more money at this place.

So, you know how there are the Rating quotes next to the stars when you rate a place here on Unilocal?For two stars, it says «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» And, it’s true. I really have.
For those who may not know, Teavana is a chain of «tea shops» that specialize in selling loose leaf tea and all kinds of tea paraphernalia. They have some really great products, like the Zojirushi hot water heater that my husband and I can’t live without.
As for their tea varieties, there really is a lot to be asked for. It seems that very few of their blends are «pure», in that they always have a gimmiky addition, like the Earl Grey Cream, where they add a «creamy» flavor with dry cream. Weird, right?
My husband is really getting into tea, and he has discovered Upton Tea Imports, which is far and away better than Teavana, and significantly cheaper. Granted, it’s all online (
), but you can get small sample packs, and the tea is phenomenal. Also, they sell accessories and such, and they have user ratings (which are verified by whether or not the user has actually purchased the product!) on their site.
Overall, if you’re looking for a tea gift (or a cup of tea while you’re shopping), you can check this place out, but otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Worst Teavana Ever. Granted, they’re new, but then it only makes it seem like they can’t hire good staff (minus two of the younger employees, who seemed sympathetic).
First time in, I was accosted by the most overbearing, up-​selling, pushy, in-​your-​face salesman I’ve ever met. Literally followed me around talking, despite my telling him that I knew exactly what I wanted, and no, I didn’t want to buy whatever that is. If I say I don’t need help, PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE.
I’ve also found their manager unaccommodating (Teavana never sent me the free 10 $ off coupon they promised for signing up for their email list… they have the same coupons IN THE STORE, right at the cash wrap, which she didn’t give me, despite me telling her that I had signed up a while back, etc. etc.)
So, I don’t go here anymore. If I get a craving I just put it off until I can get to Burlington where their employees are helpful and don’t harass people.