Remember last week’s maple syrup fun?!  I called and had a nice, long chat with a Vitacost manager earlier this week to try and clear up all the confusion.  He listened to everything I had to say, and answered all of my many questions.  Yes, it was a long conversation.  I appreciated that he didn’t get off the phone with me until all of my questions were answered.  He explained to me what happened, which is exactly what I had imagined had happened – with so many of us clicking over and purchasing an item that was priced incorrectly, a system error occurred, causing a big mess of a mess.  That’s not exactly how he said it because he was more professional about it, but you get the picture.

He then explained our situation to Customer Service, who then sent us the following apology.  Not that she was trying to be clever with her wording, but I kind of thought it was fun that Catherine called this a “sticky situation” since we are talking about maple syrup.   Yep, that would describe it all right!  :)

Hi there everyone! My name is Catherine and I am the Social Media Customer Service Rep with Vitacost.com. We wanted to take a second to again sincerely apologize for this sticky situation. The item was priced incorrectly and as a result, the system canceled it with an incorrect reason of “discontinued.” We’re working on an email now to let everyone who ordered know what’s going on and why this happened. I hope that you can forgive us for this honest mistake and continue allow us to take the cost out of healthy living for you! If you need specific customer service assistance about this situation or about anything in the future, please email me directly at customerservicevc@vitacost.com as I would be glad to help.

Thanks for choosing Vitacost.com,
Catherine C
Social Media CSR
Vitacost.com
1-800-793-2601

I appreciate that Vitacost did what I was hoping they would do, which is to own up to the mistake and to apologize.  And yes, after visiting with them, I do strongly feel that the mistake was an honest one.  In all my dealings with VitaCost, I have found them to always be willing to work with me as a customer to make sure I am satisfied with my order.  I will continue to be a VitaCost customer.

If you are still having any issues with your order, please don’t hesitate to give them a call or shoot them an email.

Thank you all for your patience.  I appreciate you!

~ This deal sounds a little bit too good to be true, but Tara from Life With Our Five Kids let me know about it…and she checked with Vitacost to be sure that the price was accurate – so here goes!  You can get a 32 ounce jug of Organic Maple Syrup at VitaCost for only $3.92. It looks like they’ve discontinued this item and that this offer is no longer available. :(  That is a crazy, amazingly good price and I don’t know how long it will last.  AND, if you are a new customer with VitaCost, follow this referral link before you place your order so that you can receive a $10 gift certificate to get you started.  With that price on maple syrup, and your $10 off code, you’re looking to get a steal of a deal.  (I trust Coombs brand of maple syrup to be very high in quality, by the way.)

~ Get two 15 ounce containers of Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil for only $15.30 at Amazon with subscribe and save.

~ Enjoy Life Soy Free Chocolate Chips are still available at Amazon for $21.65 for six packages.  The supply on these typically runs out quickly, so I was thrilled to see them still available, and for a great price!

Since we’ve been talking about the prices of healthy foods this week, I just wanted to remind you to watch for Healthy Online Deals posts like this one, which I try to share once a week if I can.  I always try to post special deals I’ve found around the web that include healthy foods that I like to have on hand.  It’s amazing what you can order for a great price online.  I keep the UPS man busy, that’s for sure!

~ Sweet!  Tropical Traditions is offering free shipping until January 30.  This is always a great time to take advantage of the sales they are offering.  Enter the code 123001 at check-out to have your order shipped for free.  You can see a list of all my favorite Tropical Traditions products here.  And,  if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for the Pampering Package Giveaway Tropical Traditions is offering.

~ I’m really learning to appreciate VitaCost as a great online resource for healthy foods.  Shipping is free on all orders over $49.  I noticed that they are offering several products at 66% off, until 1-31-12.  Some of the 66% off items that stood out to me were their Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta and Aluminum Free Baking Soda. A large selection of their Yogi Tea is also on sale for 47% off.  If you’re a new customer with VitaCost, be sure to get your $10 off code here.  Who doesn’t love ten free dollars to spend on healthy groceries?!

~ I shared this deal last week, and am excited to see that it’s still good this week too.  You can buy two 54 ounce tubs of Nutiva Coconut Oil at Amazon for only $37.35 with subscribe and save.  This is a great deal on coconut oil.  You can read about why I love coconut oil here.

~ Highland Sugarworks has their quart jug of maple syrup on sale again for only $15.62 at Amazon with Subscribe and Save.  It’s tough to beat that price!

~ Nature’s Path Organic Crispy Brown Rice Cereal is $19.07 for a case of six box if you use subscribe and save at Amazon.  I love having this cereal on hand for the occasional “Mom can’t make breakfast” mornings, or so that I can make a quick treat of Healthy(er) Rice Crispy Treats.  (Thanks, Expressions of Perceptions!)