Teavana

Oh my god. Their tea cups and tea pots are very nice, but they do not leave you alone. EVER! I didn’t want to sample their teas (because of the rumored pesticide use) as I entered the store but they just kept on offering it to me. They just can’t take no for an answer. I just wanted to look for the tea cup I saw on my last visit but did not purchase. As I looked for it a salesman started asking if I needed any help (ok normal). I said no just looking and he started telling me about the tea pots I was near (ok I can understand why he would tell me that). Then he asked if I already had a way of brewing tea. (he’s obviously trying to get me to buy like a whole tea set at this point). Then he said he would leave me to it. (Finally!) I went over to look at the glass cups and he comes over by me again and tells me about them and asks me AGAIN if I had a way to brew tea. (ugh stop pushing things on me!). Then I went to buy my cup and he asked me three times if I was sure I didn’t want to buy any tea.
TL;DR: I am pretty sure these people lose their jobs if they don’t sell you entire tea sets and a pound of tea each time you enter the store. Their website is nice and doesn’t push you to buy up their whole store. I would go with that instead.

VERY good collection of teas. Ask for Kyle Y for help– he really knows his teas. So much that he is an awesome sales man and we spent a ton there :). My husband loves teas, so it was worth it– but be warned, not cheap.

I was offered a sample of one of their iced teas while shopping. I was then of course sold a 15 minute long sales pitch of how I should be drinking tea and spending money. Yeah, I ended up leaving with close to $ 50 in goods which left me thinking «Why did I just do that?».
I have to say the tea is quite delicious and I also enjoy the German rock sugar that they sell. This is my first real exposure to brewing loose leaf tea. Being a coffee enthusiast, tea has never really been on my radar. This place has put a bug in my ear about giving this whole tea thing a try.
Even though I was sold a sales pitch, the staff was quite friendly and made certain I understood the appropriate steps for preparing my tea.

It is a bit pricey, but they have very high quality teas and products. A lot of variety in the tea selections also. The service is a bit overwhelming sometimes, but the staff is at least very well informed and know their products well. Also, you get free samples :)

What a shame!
I do like their tea, I have six (six!) little tins on my counter this very moment. But I got those through their lovely, hassle-​free website. I stopped into their Bayshore location to pick up a few small bags for a gift, and that was my first and last visit, ever.
The staff working were extremely pushy, trying to get me to try samples when I already knew what I wanted, it was 10 degrees out, and I just wanted to get through the door. Then when I explained I was getting a gift for someone, I was directed to their non-​customizable eighty-​dollar boxes of four little tins. Not exactly the amount of money or types of tea I had in mind. So I was handed off to the tea counter, and the woman working there was not helpful in the least. She didn’t explain how the teas were organized or the differences between the varieties. I said I wanted one kind of green tea, and of course she brings out the $ 160/​lb variety. Clearly I wasn’t going to get any help from her, so I picked out my own green tea. Then I wanted a fruity herbal, and she just stared at me and said a lot of them have fruit. Well thank you so very much for that observation, I hadn’t noticed. Then, she seemed almost disgusted when I didn’t want one of their damn tins. God, just get me out of here!
I am so put-​off by the whole experience, I honestly don’t know if I’ll even continue to use their website to get teas. It might be time to just move on to a company that listens to and cares about their customers, which is not the impression I got here in the least.

Love the teas, dislike the employees (or rather the way they are forced to sell). If you all don’t start listening to what the customers want and stop trying to force sales, you are going to lose us. Terrible service and very annoying.

Started with some free samples, tasted really good. Went inside the store, tasted some more and decided to buy some. The store woman was so pushy that she wanted me to buy everything that she liked. she goes like «if you don’t buy that you are not going to get what you tasted»!!! shut up!!! I know what I want… She was pushing hard to sell me a metal tin to store the tea for 10 bucks!!! really!!! and she went like «if you don’t buy this you tea is going to go bad, its up to you» … then she kept a long horse face as she billed my purchase as I did not buy $ 1000 worth of tea. Maybe I’ll buy online, but I am never ever going to this store again EVER… No wonder the store is always empty. Idiots!

For years, I have been a regular customer of Teavana at Mayfair. I admit, sometimes the sales people were a bit pushy, but nothing that I couldn’t deal with.
I was so excited when they opened Teavana at Bayshore. It was closer to home and so much more convenient for me. My first few times visiting the Bayshore location was a MUCH different experience than shopping the Teavana at Mayfair. Immediately upon walking in the door, a sales person will always come up to you and ask you if you need help finding anything. My response is ALWAYS, «no thank you, I am just browsing.» Then the sales person will tell you about the sales going on. Even though I said I was just browsing, it doesn’t bother me, they are just doing their job.
After being left alone for about one to two minutes, I am visited by the same sales person AGAIN. No matter what I’m looking at– whether it’s tea pots, cups, or honey– they will approach you yet again, and ask if you are looking to buy this item. Again, even if you say you are just browsing, the Teavana staff will try for a good five minutes to talk you into buying something. This happens over and over again until you leave the store.
The Teavana staff at Bayshore might actually be more pushy than car sales people. Every time I walk in this store, I am bombarded with sales people telling me about their merchandise. Even though I have heard the same speech recited over a dozen times.
My experience at Christmas was by far my worst experience ever at any store I have even been to. I walked in the door, got the usual run-​around. I said I was looking to buy a small amount of tea as a Christmas gift for my mom. She asked what kind of tea I liked and I told her anything but fruity. My mom loves tea and there is not many favors that she does not have. She then proceeded to pick out about 6 teas from the wall of tea. I told her my mom had all but one of them. The sales person became noticeably frustrated. She then proceeded to grab more. I told her i would rather just stare at the wall for a minute or two, since I feel I know what my mom liked better than she does. She then handed me the pamphlet of teas. Why would I need a pamphlet if the wall of tea was right in front of me? Anyways, I found a few I liked and asked to smell them. She started showing me a bunch of other teas. Of course, all the teas she picked out were priced significantly higher than the teas that I had picked out. I told her once again that I would rather stick with the tea that I picked out, since I knew it was one of my moms favorites. She then actually got an attitude and asked me why I would think about buying a tea as a gift when my mom has already tried the tea before. I told her again that it was my moms favorite. She clearly looked upset that I did not take her recommendation. I then told her I wanted to pick out a pretty canister, since it was a Christmas gift, and that I might want one more tea. When I came back to the wall of teas, she had already bagged up the tea that SHE recommended before! I told her again, I didn’t want that tea. She started to get snippy and told me that I told her that I wanted another tea. I said I did but I expected to pick it out. I told her I wasn’t going to do the second tea anymore. This is what set her off. She then grabbed the canister out of my hand, and filled it to the top. I told her again, I wanted a small amount of tea. She then took about half a scoop out. I told her again, I only want two ounces… A small amount. She took a little bit more out, weighed it, and said, «how about three ounces?» This time I just said whatever so I could just get out of the store as quick as possible. At the checkout, I had a different sales person ask if I wanted some honey or rock sugar. They honestly just don’t know when to stop. I was rung up, and afterwards, the sales person turned around and walked away. Never said thank you, never said goodbye.
My experience at Bayshore’s Teavana was enough to convince me to never go back to that location ever again.

I stopped into the new Tevana store at Bayshore Town Center. I asked the sales clerk if they made Tevana peach tea freezes. They used to make them at the store at Mayfair, but apparently they stopped a while back. It took too much time. She looked at me like I had 3 heads… and told me matter-​of-​factly that «Teavana has never made frozen drinks… ever.» I went on to tell her that I used to frequent Teavana at the mall and would ALWAYS order a peach tea freeze. She didn’t believe me. Nice. I knew this was going to be a hassle.
She told me she could make me something «peachy» and it could be iced. I agreed. While she made it, I shopped around. I decided to get some tea for a friend of mine since her birthday was coming up and we used to frequent the other Teavana together. After I picked out the EXACT tea that I wanted, the sales clerk tried talking me into several other teas. Not sure why she thought grabbing random canisters and wafting tea smells at me would get me to buy more, but I politely smiled, said «thanks» and told her that I only wanted a LITTLE BIT of tea for my friend. She insisted that I buy a canister full. And for only $ 1.00 more, I could get the BIGGER canister. I again thanked her, but said I didn’t need a canister. She told me that without the canister, the tea would «go bad» in 5 days. She then directed me to the decorated canisters on the shelf that would make a nice gift. They were more expensive than the regular Tevana canisters ($ 10.25). I said, no… I really just need a little bit of tea. I don’t want a canister. I know my friend has PLENTY of Teavana canisters and besides, she will probably drink the tea right when she gets it.
So. The sales clerk grabs a Teavana BAG and fills it up. She says «will $ 25.00 worth be enough?» I was like WHAT?! NO. I just want a LITTLE BIT of tea for my friend. Not enough to last until December. Just something that she could make a pitcher or two of iced tea with. She dumped it out and said how about $ 9.18? I was like «fine»… whatever. At that point I just wanted to get out of the store. I ended up paying $ 14.50 total for the tea and my drink.
The sales clerk was overly confident in her tea knowledge and yet obnoxious at the same time. She didn’t listen to ANYTHING that I wanted. And she didn’t believe me when I told her about previous tea experience at Teavana. She was actually pretty rude and condescending. I’m pretty sure I will NOT be going back to that Teavana again. It’s not worth the hassle to get what I want.