Kombucha America Reviews 

Reply from Kombucha America

Apr 19, 2014

Most people are intelligent enough to know that there is a difference between a culture and a so-called Kombucha mushroom or SCOBY. This person ordered six cultures, the only thing we advertise for sale on our web site. She received the cultures on a timely basis and most likely sold or shared the extra cultures she ordered with friends. With the cultures came a detailed set of directions that specifically stated that she could return the cultures for a full refund (before using them) if she mistakenly thought she was ordering Kombucha mushrooms. The customer kept the cultures and used them or gave them to others, there were no hoops to jump through, just return the cultures unopened, get an immediate refund.

In the directions it was also expressly stated that if a customers has any concerns what-so-ever just give me a call and I personally would be happy to assist. This customer, if she had any concerns, never bothered to call for assistance.

It needs to be pointed out that Kombucha Tea can be made either using a Kombucha mushroom/SCOBY or a Kombucha culture. Both do exactly the same thing. Both a Kombucha mushroom and a culture contain millions of Kombucha bacteria and yeasts cells and it these that ferment the tea and cause additional mushrooms to grow. The misnamed mushroom (it is not a mushroom, only called one) does not grow the bacteria and yeasts, the bacteria and yeast grow the mushroom. Any high school biology student or micro-biologist would verify this, and this information was carefully detailed in the directions this customer received.

Kombucha Tea is fermented basically in the same way as wine or beer, by introducing bacteria and yeasts to a liquid containing some form of sugary substance. The quality of the Kombucha tea produced is the same whether you start the process by introducing the bacteria and yeast using a primary culture or you drop in a secondary growth mushroom. If anyone cares to dispute this they can accept the $10,000.00 challenge advertised on my web site.

I supply my customers with primary Kombucha cultures grown in standard medical transport this prevents any possibility of contamination either while growing or during shipment. Some others who instead sell Kombucha mushroom to the public, which are exposed to the environment in which they are being grown, often do not take the proper care to prevent the possibility of a contamination and are more perishable.

Many who sell Kombucha mushroom often use the size of the mushroom as a selling point but this is just a tactic to allow them to charge the customer more. The size of a mushroom does not matter, it is not what is fermenting the tea. Any size culture or mushroom will ferment any size batch of tea, in exactly the same way, because each contain millions of bacteria and yeasts cells, much more than the small amount that is actually needed to begin the fermentation.

I have been selling Kombucha cultues for over 20 years, I have sold to over 34,000 customers, including medical professions, health practitioners, research firms and universities. I have more positive testimonials than most anyone would care to read published on my web-site. I also have a 5 star rating with Google based on the reviews they obtained from my customers. If you do a search on the Internet the only two negative reviews I am aware of are the two on this Danish web-site.

This customer is in my opinion, among other things, a liar! In her initial complaint with Paypal, in attempt to get a refund that she is not entitled to, she first complains the cultures did not ferment the tea, then later complains the mushrooms did not grow to her satisfaction. A mushroom will not grow if the tea does not ferment. But... in this complaint makes no mention of any difficulty in fermenting the tea. It was made very clear to her in earlier messages and in the directions she received that it was her responsibility to ferment the tea properly, hopefully following our directions, and to contact me for support if needed at any time. She was informed when she initially received her order that she was not entitled to a refund if she uses the cultures and fails in her first novice attempt at fermenting the tea but that I would provide her with free replacement cultures, and personal support, if she wished to try again. She ignored the offer and never asked for any support.

This customer is attempting to extort money from me, she has foolishly stated in text messages that if I did not pay her she would begin a campaign to defame me and my company and she has begun to do so. This is something I will not stand for and I am in the process of filing a civil lawsuit. To publicly defame anyone as a means to extort money from them, no matter the amount, is against the law and anyone doing so can be held liable.

I do not need bad customers. Most people know that if you buy something, use it, and can't return it, you are not entitled to a refund. If you as a customer are not willing to accept the responsibility for the outcome of whatever task you are undertaking, not bothering to follow directions, and not willing to accept help as a novice when you are failing at that task then please do not buy from me.

Kombucha tea is easy to make, millions do it daily.

Reply from Kombucha America

Aug 13, 2012

On our web site we advertised only that we sell Kombucha bacterial and yeast cultures and not already fully grown Kombucha mushrooms. These lab cultures produce Kombucha Tea and grow Kombucha mushrooms just as advertised and just as the person who wrote this review has acknowledged. Kombucha mushrooms just did not pop into existence, and just as a tree grows from a seed, so Kombucha mushrooms were originally grown from cultures. His complaint seems to be based mainly on the fact that later he found out he may have been able to do the same thing haphazardly from a bottle of commercially brewed tea sold in health food stores and would have saved some money if he had known that, and was successful in doing so. Customer is confused by terminology, A Kombucha Mushroom is not the same thing as a Kombucha culture, no more that a corn plant can be called a corn seed. In the end the customer seems to have been satisfied with the mushroom he grew and the tea he fermented.