Emergency Essentials

Order product — never get it — horrible management — if you can’t handle the demand then hire more people!

Do NOT buy food from Emergency Essentials. You might be OK with non-​perishables, but they are incredibly deceptive about their food. I ordered MREs from them (which they sell even in year-​supply case lots). Nowhere on their website does it say the MREs are military surplus received after 2.5 years in storage by the military. In other words, for a product with a short shelf-​life dependent on time and heat, the MREs you’re buying could very well be rotten. 2.5 years in some 110-​degree warehouse in Iraq or the Philippines or Texas? It’s incredibly deceptive not to disclose that. Competitors sell newly manufactured MREs with factory dates printed right on the box. Or competitors clearly advertise «military surplus.» Because competitors are honest, where Emergency Essentials chooses not to be. Like I said, if you’re buying a brand-​name pocketknife from them, you’re probably OK. But stay away from their food. Who knows if your food storage will be half-​rotten by the time it arrives at your house. At those prices, do you want to take the risk?
UPDATE 18DEC2015: Today Emergency Essentials complained about me to the Better Business Bureau, saying that I «placed a message on facebook discrediting us in his frustration for not understanding MREs.» Apparently me being told something by the company’s own customer service group and reporting that fact back to the company on Facebook is me «not understanding MREs.» So you can add «condescending» to the qualities you can expect from Emergency Essentials if you choose to do business with them. Good luck with that. Somebody please offer to sell them some service recovery training, pronto.

Horrible don’t waste your money here. I bought some items online just not what they advertised

I placed an order online. It has been almost a month and it is listed as «processing». They certainly took their money right away, but won’t send my products. I have waited on hold over 3 hours between several phone calls and never got through to anyone. I have sent 4 emails and have heard NOTHING! If they are having a problem filling my $ 600 order, they should let me know and I will be patient! If not, they are simply a garbage company not filling their orders!

I grew up in a house that relied on food storage. We used our food storage for regular meals and replenished the supply as needed. Recently my wife and I have been trying to «stock up» on our supply of food, and I suggested food storage. Luckily this store had recently opened.
The staff was not only extremely helpful and willing to offer samples, but very knowledgeable and able to answer questions about shelf life, recipes and quality of brands.
I am a huge fan, and I suggest to anyone to pick up the Taco TVP. You won’t know it’s vegetarian, and it is a low cal substitue for your your Taco Tuesday!

This store is pretty great, they let you try different samples it is pretty nice. The prices are decent, the employees are very knowledgeable and I love how clean the store is.

BUYER BEWARE!!!
We purchased two of the 2,000 calorie «Convenience Year Supply» products from Emergency Essentials in September 2011. In November 2013, we moved to a different state. As we were unpacking our food storage, we noticed that some of our cans were significantly bulging. When I called Emergency Essentials for guidance, I was told that they couldn’t help us as the product was more than a year old. I asked for a Supervisor as I fully expected that Emergency Essentials would live up to their reputation of being a Customer focused organization. None was available, so I left my cell number with a promise that someone would call me back. No one ever did.
After 12 phone calls to Emergency Essentials, I finally got through to a Supervisor today. She reinforced what I was told over a year ago … that they won’t replace any product that it is over a year old. The products in question are all labeled «Provident Pantry» of the following variety:
Almond Poppy Seed Mix
Honey Cornbread Mix
Six Grain Pancake Mix
She explained that these products contain a leavening agent and are highly sensitive to storage conditions and that the life expectancy is more in the «5 year range», if that. I was stunned by what I heard as the sales representative never mentioned this and, in fact, told us that everything should last «at least 25 years if store in a cool and dry place except for powdered milk which should last at least 20 years». I explained this to hear, but to no avail. I told her that we found the bulging cans roughly two years after purchase and that at least they should have made it to five years. Furthermore, we had purchased product from one of their competitors who issued a voluntary recall just after we found the bulging Emergency Essential cans.
I was extremely surprised when she reinforced that they would not work with us and that nothing would be replaced. She said that they would not guarantee anything with regard to their product beyond one year. I went back to the website and found no reference regarding the products named above. I did, however, find a webpage entitled «Shelf Life Article» which is well-​written and leads the reader to believe that everything has a shelf life of 25 to 30 years under the proper conditions, with the exception of powdered milk which has a shelf life of «20 years or more». What is clear now is that, unless it is specifically called out and tied to a prescribed life, you can’t assume that anything you buy will last more than a year, given the length of their guarantee.
Beyond the obvious failure to stand behind its products, I found the Emergency Essential Customer Team to be completely inconsistent. One representative told me that she would, «replace our food if it were up to her». Another told me that «bulging cans are not a concern» and another told us to «throw out any cans that are bulging». When I called back in AFTER talking to the Customer Service Supervisor, one of their Customer Services representatives told me that their food should all last «25 years or more» and when I pressed about products with leavening agents, he responded with «they should last at least five years if not seven».
I am highly disappointed with Emergency Essentials. I would suggest strongly that you think twice before buying from this company given the manner in which they are doing business.

After 3 months of testing their products and returning 4 of them I finally had to call my bank for a refund. I also had to fight for their price match guarantee

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I walked into the Emergency Essentials store, but I was overall fairly unimpressed. I guess that if people don’t know that they can lay in supplies of emergency food and water by shopping at Costco and saving a lot of money, then I reckon they will go to a place like this and spend far too much.
While they did have a nice assortment of a variety of water storage plastic containers and barrels, most of the store is filled with varieties of freeze dried food products, and let’s just say that I’m not a fan. I’m not a fan of how they taste, but most of all I’m not impressed with the prices that are charged for Mountain House and other varieties of camping style foods. Yes, if you are going backpacking for three weeks freeze-​dried dried food can be a lifesaver. But the cost for laying in emergency supplies in cans and other containers is far more inexpensive and it will still last few years so I don’t see the reason to spend that kind of money.
I guess that I just don’t get it. I have a fairly extensive emergency supply in my basement, and I add to it from time to time, and rotate out the canned items so things are always fresh. If I want additional food and water, I will go to Costco. If I need emergency supplies like stoves or fuel or other things, for them I will go to the REI store. Perhaps this store is more for the serious prepper, and when the zombie apocalypse comes perhaps I will be left out in the cold with no food and no water, and I will have to search out my neighbors who have a good supply of Mountain House freeze dried products. But in the meantime I think that I’ve done a good job and spent about 50 percent of what I would spend here.
But my gut feeling is that when the zombie apocalypse does happen, they will be seeking me out to trade their freeze dried stuff for my cans of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli and my endless supply of cans of albacore tuna. That actually sounds like a good plan to me!
I will say that I do covet those big blue rain barrels and perhaps a few of their 5 gallon plastic water jugs. So maybe I will be back.