Teavana

I went into Teavana today to buy a tea strainer and possibly some tea even though its overpriced, I wanted to treat myself. I had a sales person by the name of Julie. (which I actually think she happens to be the manager as well) She was incredibly pushy and rude.
I told her I wanted to buy a tea strainer and she began to show me things that had nothing to do with that. She showed me products that were clearly out of the price range of a simply tea strainer. Once I finally found what I wanted, I decided I want to also buy the smallest amount of white chocolate peppermint tea as well. (2 ounces) I went to the counter and asked for 2 ounces and she tried to push me into buying 1lb which was on sale for $ 62. I politely declined and she still continued to push the 1lb of tea on me, telling me what a great deal it was. After that, I asked for the 2 ounces and she poured 3.5 ounces of tea. I’m assuming this is something she does with everyone to get them to buy more. She then tried to get me to buy a tin for the tea and again I politely declined. She looked at me as if I was an idiot for not purchasing this tin… she told me my tea wouldn’t last and wouldn’t be fresh if I didn’t buy the tin. At this point, I wanted to walk out. This lady had the most ridiculous pushy sales tactics I have ever seen. Once I finally purchased the tea and my strainer, she CONTINUED to try to sell to me by asking me about the tea lovers in my family, asking me if I had tried all the samples of tea when I came in, if I hadn’t, I should try them and perhaps buy more, asking me if I wanted to smell any of the teas behind the counter… She would not stop.
I have seriously never felt more harassed trying to purchase something in my life. I understand they are sales people and they want to sell their product… but this company and this lady in particular is doing a terrible job. I refuse to go back into Teavana. I will never again purchase their product because of my experience in their store today. People do NOT want to feel harassed or made to feel stupid because they aren’t buying a $ 20 tin for their tea. I am immensely disappointed in this company and in particular this store and this sales person. I truly hope she is not the manager. I imagine if she is, then she would be reading these reviews on here periodically and see her name in 3 of 9 reviews. That has to tell you something. This store is LOSING business because of their pushy sales tactics.

I simply have to echo the other reviews — I love tea and what Teavana has to offer, but their employees (ESPECIALLY Julie) are just horrifyingly rude, pushy, and thoroughly unpleasant. Last time I went in for a cup of tea, she sneered at me for wanting to get a cup of something other than what’s on the «quick» menu. She offered ten other products, and acted huffy when I showed no interest in them. I understand that it’s her job to sell things, but being a thoroughly unpleasant person isn’t going to achieve that.
I go here only when I notice Julie isn’t in the store (this isn’t my first unpleasant experience with her) — when she’s not there, I’d give the store four stars. But having such a rude and passive aggressively nasty person on your sales staff is a guaranteed way to lose sales.

Great products, WAY too many pushy employees with nothing to do.
Here’s an idea Teavana: get ONE PERSON to run the register and leave the customers alone when they come in, unless the customer asks for help.
Today for example: You’re paying an employee to make it unpleasant for me to enter your store, and you lost my purchase. With this kind of management style, I sure won’t be purchasing any Teavana stock anytime soon, much less cross your threshold.
And I LOVE TEA.

Teavana has great tea, EXTREMELY expensive great tea. With the present economic situation I’m not really looking to buy said expensive tea, but sometimes its nice to try things out or see what they have. Browsing is not a crime. Well, every time I go into Teavana I always regret it. The employees are so desperate to sell you the product that I feel harassed and completely uncomfortable. My last visit I went in to buy a gift certificate for my sister as a wedding gift because she LOVES this place. They gave me a horrible gilt trip for not buying any product with the gift card. Um, you’re still getting money so what was the problem? I was so frustrated with the experience and attitude I was getting during what seemed like a prolonged check out for just a gift card, I got to the point where I said, «based on this experience alone I will never be buying any of your products, ever.»
Maybe they should consider the fact that they are a luxury item (not a necessity) and a nasty attitude is not going to help their business. I would love to see Teavana on Undercover Boss.

I literally had the worst experience at Teavana. I simply came in to buy some Oprah Chai tea with a gift card I had received. I was ridiculed and hassled into buying about 15 – 20 products I didn’t want. My cashier’s name was Julie and she was awful. She made me feel like an idiot for not wanting to buy a stupid expensive tin, and she began to fill up a tin full of tea to then say 83 $! No lady! I want 2oz in a bag, how hard is that?! I had to keep telling her to pour some tea out. I want 2oz, not 20, not 10, not 5, 2! She frustrated me and gladly to say I won’t be coming back to that location. What a joke!

Love their products, but could do without the snobby attitude of their employees. I try and get in and out as quickly as possible so as not to have to deal with them very long. They are a little pushy — but that’s their job.

I have to agree with another reviewer. I came in to look for a special kind of tea. I just want to LOOK. You can ask, «Is there anything I can help you with?», but when I say NO, please, leave me ALONE. The saleswoman then proceeded to show me a bunch of teapots and other stuff I could care less about. I was so annoyed that I just walked out immediately and bought the tea elsewhere. There’s nothing that turns me off more than being nagged by sales people. Do you really think you’re going to convince me to buy something I don’t need? You won’t. Just leave me alone or I will buy nothing.
THE OWNER of all people should be reading this and fixing their strategy. Just stop having your employees nag. I see the teapots. If I wanted one, I’d buy one. LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

What a disaster. The saleswoman was so aggressive that it made me not want to come back, regardless of how much I like the tea. The lady probably went through AT LEAST 20 items before she actually pulled out what I came in for (some herbal tea and a strainer). I politely kept saying «No» but I really did not appreciate the woman playing me for a fool. She fails to mention that you can get a free bag for your tea, but instead implies that I need to buy a $ 7 tin. I knew that one can get a bag because a friend had previously bought me some tea from there, so I asked her for the bag and she looked so disappointed and basically implied that I am an idiot for not getting the tin. I asked for two ounces of tea and she pours four. This was surely NOT a coincidence, and she acted all innocent about it. I tell her «No, I want TWO ounces». So she pours out one ounce and asks me if that’s an okay amount. What about «TWO OUNCES» does she not understand??? This happened only after I already told her that I did not want a $ 170 teapot, nor a $ 100 one, nor a $ 40 one, nor did I want an entire tea set. She also tried to sell me a «special spoon» which was really just a glorified teaspoon, PLUS three additional teas that I did not request (which of course were VERY expensive). I will not be going back to any Teavana any time soon, and I would recommend the same for everyone else. What a horrible store.
If you want to buy high quality teas without the harassment, go to Upton Teas website, they have great stuff.

I love this tea store. Their teas are wonderful. They are a bit pricy, but you get very high quality tea, and products. While I did not have a rude sales person, I do agree with the other reviewers that the sales people are a little agressive with their upselling. Its a new store, so they may be trained to sell agresssively, but it’s a put off to have an associate on you the entire time in such a small store. If they give the customer some time to browse on their own they will have happier customers. That said, it’s a wonderful product for tea drinkers, and worth a visit. I hope they do well here.

I had an experience at a Teavana yesterday that left a very bad taste in my mouth. I sampled some kind of tea that I really liked, and went in to purchase some. The lady behind the counter pulled down the tea and started her sales pitch, asking if I had the strainer, the aluminum cans, the sugar, etc etc. I have a strainer, I have air tight and opaque tins, and I have rock sugar at home, but the lady insisted that I didn’t have the RIGHT kinds of all those things, and really pressured me into buying them all. I just wanted a damn bag of tea! Then when I asked just for a bag, she began to fill up the smaller tube container even though I told her I want the bag instead. She was then exasperated when I said I didn’t want the tube, and went back into her spiel about how this tube was «special» compared to my tube.
I ended up not purchasing anything that day because I felt like I was being conned into purchases I wasn’t comfortable making, and I was being ignored when I told her I didn’t want any of the add-​ons, just the tea. It was like going to a used car dealership, or a timeshare sales lunch! I had to ask her the price of the tea TWICE (once she straight up ignored me, the second time she again asked if I wanted to smell it again) before she would spin the tin around and show me. I was ready to go in and just buy my tea, but when I was met with the ridiculous infomercial-​esque sales pitch for all the crap I don’t need, I said I changed my mind and went to leave. Then she had the nerve to offer me a $ 5 cup of the tea I wanted to buy. Needless to say, I was very annoyed and will never try to buy tea from Teavana again!