Cultures for Health Tracking Order Status

Package is clearly lost in the mail (no updates for 2 weeks) and ordered three week ago. They are refusing to do anything about it until it has been lost for 30 days citing a nonsense "definition" of lost as more than 30 days. I checked DHL and USPS definitions of "lost" and they are both 7 days without scans. It seems very much like Cultures for Health is banking on me forgetting so they don't have to replace the order.

AWFUL customer service! I ordered a fresh sourdough starter, which their website says will ship express shipping (obviously since it needs to be fed every 1-2 days). Well they admitted there was an error on their website and it shipped ground, spending 6 days in a box unfed. I ordered FRESH starter specifically because I wanted it to be ready to bake with by Thanksgiving week and because I didn’t want to fuss with weeks of trying to revive a dried or sick starter. When I asked for a replacement to be sent with proper shipping, I was told I had to wait the entire week for the one they shipped to arrive, begin using it, and then troubleshoot with them if it has any problems. That defeats the entire purpose or ordering a fresh starter. They have no telephone number. Their email support sucks and is unhelpful. And they clearly don’t care about customer service over wanting to save themselves money even when they are the ones who made a mistake. STAY AWAY!

Cultures for Health used to be a reliable go-to for me whenever I needed any kind of culture. However, I recently purchased their $35 inactive kit for brewing Kombucha, assuming it would work like sourdough, only to discover that dehydrated scoby is unsuitable for Kombucha brewing and that starting with vinegar, which was included in the kit with instructions to use, is not advisable. Despite explaining my issue and concerns to their customer service via email, including that I had followed the instructions for a month, instead of the advised 3 weeks, I received a curt reply apologizing and offering only a half-cost gift card, which I found insulting. When I followed up, they refunded me the full amount, but my trust and loyalty in the company has vanished. The company no longer meets the high standards it once did, and I can no longer recommend using them. If you do choose to use them, I strongly advise against trusting their instructions and instead conducting your research to determine what is appropriate for your needs.

They have good product, but they skimped on customer service--and with a dynamic product that beginners might be using, and have questions about, and need help with, that was not a good decision. Their site claims to have "live chat"... oops, it's never available. Their site has a phone number for customer support... oops, you have to leave a message--and you don't get a call back! You resort to their form, but they don't address your questions sufficiently. They just don't care--and again with a thing like culturing food that's not a good recipe.

Have been brewing kefir for years and am very happy with this company.