Unfortunately, my experience with Alex was not as good as those above. Let me start out by saying that I've been fully reimbursed--nobody owes anyone any money. So I do think Barn is trying to establish itself as a reputable vendor.
Feb 25: I place an order for 5 kits (various peptides totaling $380) and pay immediately
Mar 4: receive a USPS tracking number from Alex
Mar 4: USPS status is "departed shipping partner" (UCTS TRADING INC in NYC). "USPS awaiting item". It sits in this status for 20 days. I think this "partner" is the company responsible for opening the large box containing individual packages and routing each package to each customer.
Mar 16: I receive an email from Alex telling me that one item was not included in my package and will be sent separately. She attached a photo of the kit (DSIP, $80) on top of a piece of paper bearing some other customer's name and address (ugh!). To avoid confusion, I don't mention the mix-up. But I ask if she can provide an update on my USPS package that has had no movement for 2 weeks. No response.
Mar 24: "arrived at USPS Regional facility" in Chicago. Finally the USPS package is on its way and I'll soon have my other 4 peptide kits, right?
Mar 26: "arrived at USPS Regional facility" in Opa Locka, FL. Now it's just a few miles from my home! Break out the needles!
Mar 29: "arrived at USPS facility" in Dallas, TX. WTF, is this a USPS mistake? Now the package is 1000 miles away.
Mar 31: FedEx package with my $80 DSIP kit arrives. Things are looking up, but I still don't have my main USPS package containing the other 4 kits. But theoretically I won't be losing any sleep over it because I have DSIP.
April 1: USPS package "departed USPS facility". Oh, good, must be on its way back to FL, right?
April 2: USPS "in transit to next facility"
April 6: USPS "tracking information will not be displayed because this package was shipped with counterfeit postage"
And that's the end of it. No further updates from USPS tracking.
At this point I contact Alex. She responds immediately and asks how much she should refund. I'm only out $300 at this point since I've received the $80 DSIP. She processes the refund immediately and we're square. No apology though. I'm glad she made good on her commitments, but I'm a little miffed that I lost 6 weeks. I wanted to start pinning some of these peptides much sooner.
Three things I've learned:
1) When a package from China says it's in NYC, it's not necessarily in NYC yet. It's in a status like "label created" and the shipping partner probably hasn't even received it yet.
2) There are some really dodgy "shipping partners" that essentially scam a Chinese vendor by seeing if they can get away with counterfeit postage, even after they've probably been paid by said Chinese vendor. The vendors should work to avoid doing business with these "partners". It seems like a losing proposition for everyone.
3) The USPS sucks (yes, we already knew this). They send packages to various facilities all around the country, costing more money than the original postage, only to ultimately determine that the postage was counterfeit. They probably could have saved the taxpayer money by just delivering the package to me, as ironic as that is.
