Updating to help others avoid having the appalling, shameful, and health jeapodozing experience I've had dealing with this company over the past couple years. Worst decison ever!!!
To make a long story short, I enjoyed their product in the beginning and even (regrettably) raved about it and recommended it to others. But in recent months, the quality took a rapid and sharp turn for the worst. I noticed with at least my last few deliveries the water had a strange, semi-rancid odor, and on occasion, I also noticed what looked like crystals floating in the water. I didn't think too much of it, and just sort of pushed through. Concurrently during this time period, I began to experience a sudden and rapid decline in my health, mind you I am an extremely health conscious individual, which is why I pay this company a premium for my water to begin with. But I kept getting these recurring (non-covid) bacterial respiratory infections that landed me in the ER on two separate occasions. I went 10 years straight without a single cold or flu, and then had 3 respiratory colds back to back within 8 months of each other. Additionally, my childhood asthma returned after being gone for 20 years, the Dr told me that it's extremely rare for this to happen. With my lifestyle, I couldn't figure out what was wrong or why I was continuously getting sick.
Fast forward to last week, when my frustration with the smell and taste or my water coming to a head, and me deciding to post about it on yelp. Within 12 hours of that post I got a message from the business owner Chris, stating he'd be willing to compensate me for my past 3 orders if I took down the review, but also indicated that the issue was the bottling company needed to replace or change their bottle washing machines. (See attached screenshot). When I heard this I immediately began connecting the dots, poor bottle washing, rancid smelling water, and repeated bacterial throat infections. Needless to say I was livid! As the last few months my health has been so crappy that every day is a struggle, I've missed tons of work and generally still to this day have not recovered as I've been unknowingly drinking this tainted water every single day...clearly adding insult to injury.
As I had one or two bottles left and nothing to replace them with I thought to myself, well at least now you know and maybe you can just use some water purification drops on the last open and unopened bottle, until you find a suitable replacement. As I went today to try and salvage the last bottle I picked it up and was horrified at the amount of crystaline(bacteria) growth present in the unopened bottle (see attached video). There was a small amount present when I first received the delivery as mentioned above that I mistakenly assumed was light refacting off the unique geometric glass engravings in the (~35$) glass bottles they ship the water in. But there was MUCH more of it now present after a couple weeks of sitting on my hallway floor. The bacteria had grown to such an extent that it looked like lemon pulp floating in the water. I've attached video so anyone doubting the sincerity of my review as well as the company itself can see for themselves.
I am BEYOND upset thinking about my experience in retrospect as I have essentially been paying this company a premium to deliver a grossly inferior and downright dangerous product that has considerably comprismised my health. If you're thinking about alive water, think twice, as the water is truly alive !
I decided that refunding the last 3 deliveries was not enough compensation for all that I've been through, and I am requesting they refund all the money I've spend with them. While, I also feel like should go after them for the pain and suffering I've likely incurred due to their negligence, I haven't fully decided if I'm gonna go that route. How they handle things going forward will determine what I decide to do next. But the fact that they knew their bottler was poorly cleaning the bottles out and still continued to deliver tainted water to their customers is beyond appalling. After detailing my experience to them the only thing they had to say was, "we think it's soap residue". The vibe i got was one that reflected a lack of empathy and concern for my well being, especially to be coming from the business owner, insulting to say the least.
At any rate hopefully this review prevents others from having to go through the nightmarish he'll I've been through. I would suggest taking your money and spending it with a reputable water provider, it will cost a bit more, but you won't have to deal with soap and bacteria in the water, on top of lifeless, slow, and often unresponsive customer service. Sad part is I really believed in this company and wanted to see them win, but I take my health and quality of life way to serious to risk it with people who reply to your concerns with incomplete sentences. read more