33 replies to this topic

[mrak1979]

Hi. Has anybody ordered from Bad Monkey Botanicals? Any comments on the quality of their products? Purity?

 

Thanks

[ta5]

I've ordered from them. I can't really say anything about the purity. But, nothing has seemed bad either visibly or by taste.

 

It bothers me that they will usually not respond to emails.

 

Their estimates when something will be in stock has been off by weeks. For example, they say next week, and it's 2 months later. 

 

The info on their website is sketchy. It's sometimes unclear what % something has, or it will say a percent but not what it's standardized for. You just have to guess.

 

If it's something that you are concerned about the purity, maybe try somewhere else.

 

I use them as a last resort. If they are the only place I can get it, then I'll get it from them and take my chances.

[medicineman]

you can't check purity of a herb or extract. you can check for metals, content of a single ingredient, etc. but to check purity of gingko for example (hundreds of ingredients, etc) you need high tech stuff to do that. so basically, wherever you are buying extracts and herbs, you are taking a risk (unless it's from Swanson, Jarrow, etc)

[mrak1979]

My mistake. I meant to write 'content of advertised ingredient' instead of 'purity' in my post. Because a lot of Bad Monkey's herbal extracts are written with percentage for a single compound of interest, i.e. Boswellia Serrata Organic Extract 90% Boswellic Acid AKBA, 5-lox .

Edited by mrak1979, 24 September 2014 - 04:30 AM.

[morkfromork]

Hey this is Jaimye with Badmonkey Botanicals

 

I'm soo sorry you had a bad experience waiting for a product!  At times it has been hard to answer every email, and a while ago we were having stock issues that were compunded by the pesky USCBP rejecting perfectly good extracts calling them "drugs"

 

It's unfortunate the internet pretty much only gives those who are unhappy a voice.  We have sooooo many happy customers who are just too busy reordering to defend us (C'mon guys)

 

What I can say is that we've grown up quite a bit.  Stock issues are a bare minimum, and people are getting their products with lightning speed(that they deserve).  You'll never hear a complaint about our product quality because we're the best.  People are moving all their supplement purchases over to us, and we've responded by listening to their suggestions and being proactive to let the customers shape badmonkey botanicals into the store THEY want.

 

Our customers like the fact that our products are not the same as everyone else.  The only way you would get this high quality is if you bought a plane ticket and purchased it personally from the country of origin.  These product are not available to your normal international extract dealers.

 

Formulators who use badmonkey products have more effective formulas.  We've "reverse engineered" plenty of formulas(usually so people can enjoy them without stearates) and found that our version is better.

 

Over time you'll hear more about us, and some of the cutting edge stuff we're doing.  Contact me through the live chat on the site and we can have a conversation.

 

Thanks for letting everyone know about Badmonkey Botanicals!

[deeptrance]

I recently placed my first order with Bad Monkey. I received the order very promptly except for one item. On the packing slip they noted the missing item and told me they would ship it for free when they receive their next batch of it. I really appreciate this. 

 

My concern about Bad Monkey is with product quality. I've used several sources for a number of different herbal products, especially NutriCargo (formerly ForestRX), PureBulk, Hard Rhino, and Smart Powders. Having tasted the same herbs from various companies, along with having a botany degree and being an avid gardener, I have a fairly good sense of how an herb should taste, smell, and appear. In my latest round of orders I received questionable products from Bad Monkey, I Am Shaman, and Hard Rhino. In all 3 cases, there were herbal extracts that had gone from a very herbal intense and distinct smell and taste to one that resembles bland cake spices. I'm not even willing to use a couple of them as they don't seem to be botanicals at all.

 

Since this review is supposed to be limited to Bad Monkey, I'll just focus on the questionable extracts from them. The Damiana 100:1 extract doesn't taste or smell like Damiana, but I've never dealt with a 100x concentrated extract. However, I've made extracts of other herbs and they usually become more intensely pungent, astringent, and/or bitter. But this Damiana smells and tastes like a sweetened weak spice blend. I'm tempted to use it as cake batter! The color is very light, same as all the other questionable herbal extracts I've recently received, and it dissolves readily. 

 

Another concern is with their valerian 10:1 extract. It definitely seems to have some valerian in it, but not in a concentrated form. But the mere fact that it seems to have some valerian is better than what I recently experienced with PureBulk. I bought a valerian 5:1 from them a few months ago, which I only took a few times because it didn't work as valerian normally does for me, and it doesn't smell, look, or taste anything like valerian. When I wrote to them about my concerns I was treated to a dismissal of any possible issue, because "we test everything." I had bought the exact same product from them before, and it was so foul smelling (as valerian SHOULD be!) that it stank up the whole house every time I opened the bag. This time, it bears no resemblance to that. 

 

So I don't know what to think about ANY herb vendor right now. There isn't enough accountability for product quality and authenticity in this industry, and I'm all in favor of some type of consumer protection via the FDA overseeing testing of products. Until such time as there is better oversight and reliability, I'm going to take a long break from buying herbal extracts and stick to using only recognizable whole herbs from reliable vendors. The extracts are just too inconsistent and unverifiable.

 

 

[morkfromork]

Testing is king, and each of Badmonkey Botanicals' products are tested before they even leave the country of origin.  But we go a bit further, to pick the products that are a bit more expensive, of verified potency, from manufacturers who are exchange traded and only manufacture up to 3 different extracts.

 

That Damiana puts me out in 30 minutes, just like it's supposed to do at a 50mg dose.  The Valerian has the worst dirty socks smell ever and you say it's not valerian?  It's so sedating...  I just don't see your professional tasting skills being very accurate at this point, seeing as how you're complaining about the company with the most innovative and cleanest herbal products selection(Badmonkey Botanicals) and putting them in the same group with the "other guys" who can't even list that their products come from natural sources(because they're synthetic).

 

Maybe staying away from herbal extracts is a good idea for you.  The taste, smell, see test is really not a very reliable one, ask those guys with their 60 day money back guarantee.  What means more is a certificate of analysis or better yet an HPLC readout...

 

Sir, you're the first to complain about these products and we've been selling them from the same manufacturer, with no variation, for 2 years now at least.  Those 2 products were special orders for nutraceutical companies who used them in their formulas(after also testing) and we continued to make them available to our customers.  In those 2 years we've sold over 15kg of each product and have many repeat customers.

 

Contact me via badmonkey botanicals live chat and we'll see what can be done about an unhappy customer.  I'll be waiting for your contact.

 

I also welcome anyone else who wants to get in on this to request a sample of the damiana and valerian and see what you think.

 

Jaimye

Badmonkey Botanicals

[morkfromork]

The info on their website is sketchy. It's sometimes unclear what % something has, or it will say a percent but not what it's standardized for. You just have to guess.

 

Hey TA5 you must be thinking of another supplier because all of our products have been listed with concentration or standardized potency since day 1.

 

Attached is a list of the products we carry.

Attached Files

•  inventory-b.doc   91KB   30 downloads

[deeptrance]

Jaimye, thank you for your response. The valerian I purchased from PureBulk is the one that I said doesn't smell, taste, or look at all like valerian. What I received from you has a faint smell of valerian, but nothing remotely like what I'm accustomed to smelling in a valerian extract. However, it's also the first 10:1 concentrate I've ever encountered, so I don't know if there's something about the process of concentrating the extract that removes a lot of the color, odor, and flavor. But it's far from being "the worst dirty sock smell" which is how I'd describe other valerian products I've purchased.

 

I'd like to be clear about my remarks, I was commenting about product from 3 different companies in one post, and I'm confused about all of it for the reasons mentioned. Your strong assertion about testing and quality control are helpful, though I'd feel even better seeing evidence. I woke up this morning with a feeling of nervous system damage and it's still with me tonight, which is quite disturbing. I'm trying to figure out which new substance could have been contaminated and I'm leaning toward the mucuna pruriens which I purchased from someone else. I don't want to get into speculating more than that, as I don't want to harm anyone's business with incorrect information.

 

I'm laying off of all the new items and if these symptoms clear up then I'll re-test the damiana and valerian, since you find them so effective. I love valerian in particular, I used it for years until I got the bad batch from PureBulk, and now I'm feeling skeptical about all herbal products because there is no regulatory agency overseeing the industry to assure we're getting what companies say we're getting.

[cicada]

    Hello morkfromork, a.k.a. Jaimye with Badmonkey Botanicals, you have a product called Cannabis Patient Premium Nutritional Support Blend, can you post the ingredients here, or let us know where  you have them listed, online?  Also your site stats; "People who use this product on a regular basis to counteract the effects of  medical cannabis and other strong analgesic medications have reportedly noticed different effects including:... .What were some of the other strong analgesics mentioned?                                                                  Thank-you for your reply.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

[deeptrance]

Update on my satisfaction with Bad Monkey: I'm satisfied. I've been using the valerian and it actually knocks me out for a good 6 to 8 hours. I will never be able to review the damiana because I don't really experience any noticeable effects from any damiana product. The piperine is legit and cheap, and very useful. I'm sure I'll order from them again, and I apologize for lumping them together with other companies whose products I received on the same day.

 

As it turns out, the worst effects I was feeling after trying a number of the newly received products had nothing to do with these herbs whatsoever. In fact, what I was experiencing was etizolam withdrawal. It just took me a while to figure that out.

[ikaros]

Just letting any other potential supplement buyers to know that ordering from Badmonkey Botanicals seems to be a very risky business. One of my cycloastragenol orders appeared to be lost according to package tracking. I asked Badmonkey Botanicals to contact USPS to enquire why the package never left US (i ordered it to EU), however, the customer service appears to be nearly non-existant. They just don't reply to any emails, eventually they claimed that they have replied (although no replies in my inbox nor spam-folder) and promised to resend the order. Numerous times I asked for the new tracking number and again no replies and, you guessed it, to date I have not received the order either. All in all I lost over 100 USD and would never order from them again.

[ikaros]

Apparently there are numerous others that have complaints with this business and the story seems to be the same: no delivery and no replies from the seller:

 

http://www.bbb.org/a...aints#breakdown

[chemicalambrosia]

There is thread where someone from the company responded:

http://www.longecity...key-botanicals/

[ikaros]

The retailer finally resolved the problem 5 months later (I finally received the resent order) and claimed they had problems with certain workers not sending out packages.

[morkfromork]

Hi Ikaros!

 

So glad you FINALLY got your product!  And with a free package of our 20% a4 extract too.  How do you like it?

 

It's stories like this that absolutely break my heart, because we're here to help people not cause them undue stress.  Honestly if I were in your situation I would have done the exact same thing - or worse.  Thankfully you are more patient and understanding than I am and that's just one of the many reasons we think you're so great.

 

The original issue was that your country rejected the package as undeliverable, and that always takes a long time to get back and because there was no information on the scan we needed to wait and be sure the product did not actually arrive late.  at $100 a gram you can understand that we can't send out another until we know a new status.

 

BMB has grown so much in the last 2 years, more than our whole time in business combined, and continues to double in sales volume every few months.  I tried to offer my friends and family the first crack at this opportunity, not such a good idea and never again.

 

We're still serving over 300 new customers a month.  With the most extensive product line and the cleanest powders that are constantly being hailed as the best there ever was, we're quickly becoming an industry leader based on our integrity alone.

 

Ikaros, you're a very good guy and I hope at some point I can earn your trust again.  For you or anyone else here, come check us out and give BMB a chance to prove we can ship out in a timely fashion and if anyone else out there has an unresolved complaint and may have been discouraged by lack of communication I urge you to please contact via email or phone listed on the contact information page of the store.  You won't have that problem again I assure you.

 

I'd like to take this opportunity to share a coupon that I made for our longecity friends, in case you would like to check out our shipping times(currently same or next day processing and cheap or free priority mail 1-3 days shipping coast-to-coast)

 

This coupon code is 'longecity" for 5% off any size order

 

[morkfromork]

Hey again Ikaros

 

Did you get a chance to look at the products?  Any more concerns I can take care of for you?  You know I take great pride in the quality of our products, and woud REALLY appreciate any comment on the quality of the products you've received.  You know we do get quite a few customers from Longecity and we really enjoy any customer contact we get from them.

 

Hope you're doing well,

 

Jaimye(MorkFromOrk nanu nanu)

[morkfromork]

Hey this is Jaimye again.  I have an updated product listing for our friends here at Longecity

Attached Files

•  BMB PRODUCT LIST.pdf   85.78KB   28 downloads

[deeptrance]

I don't know if anyone will ever see this post, but in case anyone is looking for info about Bad Monkey then I want to make it known that this is one amazingly indifferent and unresponsive company. I've had problems with at least 3 orders from them, but I kept coming back for more because they have a lot of rare products. But I think I've had my fill of abuse. 

 

My last order was in early January. The shipped all but 2 products. One product was out of stock, so that's not a problem because they said it was out of stock. The other was just missing. So a few weeks later I received half of the quantity that I bought of the out-of-stock product, but I still didn't receive the missing product. I had contacted them twice before about the missing item and received no response, which is very typical of BMB. So I got on their chat system and chatted with Jaimye, I presume. He told me that I'm funny --- that's his response to my saying that I was dissatisfied with their customer service. Yeah, I get it, on one level none of this matters, so it's funny, but there are consequences for our actions and this post is a consequence for Jaimye. I'm warning people, don't expect to get what you purchase from BMB. But I digress...

 

Anyway, while I was chatting with him he said that the rest of my order would be shipped within a few days, and that was about 3 weeks ago. I still haven't received them, and I haven't had any further communication from BMB. 

 

So the bottom line is, I don't think this company deserves any customer support. I'm also highly skeptical about their claim that everything they carry is organic. It's hard enough to find sources for everything they carry, let alone assuring that they're all organic.

 

All in all, I think Bad Monkey Botanicals is a good name for this company --- they're up to a lot of monkey business and they're just plain bad at customer service. If anyone has a recommendation for an alternative source for hard-to-find herbal extracts then let me know. I should probably just stop buying extracts and trust my exceptionally good WFPB diet to do its thing.

[michaelpes]

Here is all you need to know about Bad Monkey Botanicals:

 

1) They copied the entire Beyond a Century catalogue for their website product descriptions, which has remained on their website for all these years. That right there is enough for me.

2) They have a history of making unprofessional forum posts full of lies (see examples above).

3) I once google mapped the address for their business and used imagery from above to see that they appear to be running their business out of a house with a connected shed in the back yard (presumably where they store the extracts).

4) They offer so many extracts (currently almost 250) and in so many sizes. The prices are extremely high for any of the common extracts that they must have product sitting around for years on end, with little regard for product shelf life. They apparently run no sales to clear old product. For some products they offer 8 different sizes, so you know they aren't prepacking like they should and instead just keep the extract around for years, opening the container every time someone orders (exposure of product to oxygen and moisture repeatedly). Green coffee bean chlorogenic acid 50% 1kg for $239 anyone? You shouldn't have to pay more than about $50-$60 for that. Given that the prices are so high for stuff that is selling elsewhere (where the prices can be compared), you know they are overpricing everything.

 

Stay away, folks.

 

[morkfromork]

Hi Michael Pesavento

 

We regularly get kudos for fielding these comments by unknown people like you with 2 total posts in the forum.....  It's obvious you are a competitor or just malicious and that's fine but it won't get you anywhere.

 

Kudos for your google image search, it seems so possible it must be true!

 

If your biggest concern is the price then you can go where your wallet takes you.  We get our products at a higher price, in small batches so they stay fresh, and do alot of testing on them to make sure they're not polluted.  Unfortunately that costs money and our customers are willing to pay it because they know the high level of quality all our products have.  If you don't like that then we invite you to take your chances and purchase elsewhere.

 

Correction:  We sell 325 herb extract powders, 395 products total.  All things you find out when you do research with tools other than google.

[morkfromork]

Hey Deeptrance,

 

I know we talked on or near when you posted this and you received your product.. Did you try the sample of the Pineal Decalcification formula I sent with it?

 

Jaimye

[Memma Almond]

I spend about $500 a month on supplements. Drives my wife crazy. I make this point only to signal BadMonkey that their practices would cost them over the long run, the occasional ingratiating posts by Jaimye notwithstanding. Those who spend time to post their experiences perform a useful service to our community if only to protect us from unscrupulous companies whose only concern is the mighty dollar. The fact is that more than one dissatisfied customer is one too many. Here, we have a whole gaggle of them. This is the first time I stumbled upon your BaMonkey website, and this will be the very last.

[morkfromork]

I'm sorry to hear that Memma, fact is you can't please EVERYONE(despite how hard we've tried) and some people don't value the hard work and effort that actually goes into making very clean and effective products available on a retail level.  If you think that's possible you have never worked in retail.  We continue to serve over 400 new customer a month and of those I don't see too many complaints comparatively(I count 3, far from a gaggle).  We value all constructive suggestions and continue to serve the community more than any other supplier of powders, that being said if you have any issues you should direct them to customer service who would be more than happy to take care of the issue.  cs@badmonkeybotanicals.com

[deeptrance]

Hey Deeptrance,

 

I know we talked on or near when you posted this and you received your product.. Did you try the sample of the Pineal Decalcification formula I sent with it?

 

Jaimye

 

Hello, Jaimye, my friend. This must be a tough comment thread to deal with.  Yes, I received and ingested the pineal decalcification formula capsules, but I need to make it clear that I'm a terrible test subject for anything subtle like that, because I take a ridiculous number of different herbs and supplements, and I dabble in research chemicals on top of all that. Honestly, I feel pretty certain that the neuroprotective qualities of my herbs and supplements have kept me in very good shape, in spire of the abuse I regularly inflict on my body. So, I have no idea what those capsules are intended to do, but I didn't notice anything positive or negative about them.

 

I've got more to say about Bad Monkey. First, you, Jaimye, are the most personally-available business owner I've ever dealt with online. You really put yourself into the business in a very direct way, so I get the impression that you're passionate about what you're doing, and you have very good intentions. A savvy business operator can jump into this business with slick websites and marketing and impersonal but professional service, and they might appear to be a better option than BMB just because they're totally on top of responding to customers and getting shipments out promptly and professionally. But that doesn't make them more trustworthy, it only makes them more efficient and "professional". 

 

I've dealt with many herb/supplement vendors over the last several years, and I have no reason at this time to say anything negative about BMB relative to any other vendor. This industry needs some kind of professional organization or even regulation, so that the rules and standards are clear and you're not all competing in a "wild west" free-for-all of capitalist hucksterism. You carry a phenomenal range of useful products, and I'd hate to think that my comments may have influenced people to not buy from you. 

 

My take on BMB, and on you personally, J, is that you're kind of unique in your approach to selling these products, and it's hurting you in some ways. I know that you're personally passionate about what you sell, you love what you do and you love to be able to interact with people who share your passion. But I don't think you're a business type of personality, so you run into a lot of trouble because you're not running the operation efficiently and effectively. Like I told you on the phone, I think you need a good business manager, someone who can free you from the hassles of dealing with customer inquiries, delivery complications, and all the technical aspects of being sure you're selling legitimate products and keeping your website updated with original content and real-time info about product availability and quality.

 

I'm still a BMB customer, and the reason I'm posting at this particular time is because I was just about to place a new order with you. My personal interactions with you have been delightful and I have no complaints about you at all. I do think that your operation could be run more smoothly and I'll be contacting you about that privately in the near future. You've got an awesome business and your product offerings are amazing, with very good prices on most items. Most of what I've purchased from BMB has been good enough to buy again, and I most certainly will do so. I want to see you succeed. The rest of what I have to say about that is best left to a private conversation, although I think all of your allegedly-dirty laundry has already been aired here in this thread so I'm not going to tell you anything you haven't already heard. I just want to chat with you about possible solutions going forward.

 

In closing, I want to sat to anyone who sees this that Jaimye, the owner of BMB, has a very good heart, and he's not just out to get people's money. He's a genuinely good guy whose passion is more in his interest in the products he sells, but he's apparently not a natural-born businessman or salesman. So let's cut him some slack and support him in partnering with people who can handle the mundane, annoying aspects of running an online business. Free Jaimye!!

 

All the best to you,

George in Austin

p.s. --- if you don't hear from me soon, feel free to call me any time

[Guilty Spark]

Hey guys I ordered some Bacopa 60% and Ashwagandha from BMB and I was just curious how the quality compared to name brands like KSM-66, Synapsa, Bacognize etc. From what I've read online those brands are top shelf due to the research behind them but I have no personal experience with any of them. Anyway, since it's a question that's relevant to BMB I figured it was best to keep it on this thread. Can anyone here weigh in with their personal experience with BMB's Bacopa/ Ashwagandha?

 

p.s.--- I have only ordered once but product delivery was fast and the questions I had about the bacopa extract were answered promptly  

[lumia]

I have previously ordered their Ashitaba 25% chalcones extract. The color doesn't even look remotely right--ashitaba extract comes from its sap and should be yellow, yet what they sell is more black. Eventually got Chalcurb from Swanson.

[morkfromork]

Actually what we sell is 10% chalcones, but it is a very potent 100:1 extract.  When you get that potent it will be darker because it's not just chalcones.  Other chalcone products are juice from the stalks, ours comes from the whole plant which also has chlorophyll extracted with the chalcones.  The 100:1 powder is very dark green, looks black - but does have a yellow tint.  We get our products from a completely different marketplace than any other vendor, and like the ashitaba some we produce from the whole raw material which we've physically identified and have identity verified by TLC.  In this case we did additional third party testing to verify identity and potency.  It does NOT come from Japan, which has been the main concerns about Chalcurb.  Can anyone verify if Chalcurb is radiation free?  All our products are verified radiation-free.  I would love if anyone has any other issue or concern with our product to please contact Jaimye at cs@badmonkeybotanicals.com

 

Jaimye

[BieraK]

I've ordered 50 grams of epilobium parviflorum 50:1 extract. 

No problems with the order, it reached to destiny in the regular amount of time that takes a typical USPS first class to arrive to my country. Product seems legit, and apparently is working well for the purposes of inhibiting aromatase and counteracting the side effects of finasteride.

[hav]

Wow, looks like they reduced the potency of their 98% Cycloastragenol to below 20%:

 

https://www.badmonke...ragenol-extract

 

The label on their product used to read the way it does on their web site with a suggested dosage of 5 mg containing 5 mg of cycloastragenol. But the package I just got says 5mg of this extract now contains only 1mg of Cycloastragenol. That would make it .20 * .98 = 19.6%.  That's a pretty big cut in potency with no drop in price!

 

 bad_monkey2.jpg   294.35KB   1 downloads

 

Edited by hav, 02 June 2017 - 08:06 PM.