I'm Back!

Hi Folks!  I'm back!   After taking a year off & dealing with a few major life changes, things are slowly getting back to "normal".  Alot has happened over the past year....I suffered a stroke, Barker was diagnosed with Autism & our struggle with secondary infertility has been getting the best of me.  With our busy therapy schedule, I will make my best efforts to post every few months on here.  Thank you all for hanging in there with my blog while I was MIA.  :-)

Clean B

I have been putting off writing this review for some time because honestly, there's nothing more I hate than having to write a not-so-good review.  :-/  I guess it had to happen sometime, right?  I REALLY tried my hardest to be able to write a positive review on Clean B & Melissa the owner.  I gave her over 3 chances but with each order she messed them up & then continued to lie to me in her email responses.  I hope that I can save others the hassle, headache & stress of dealing with her by posting about my experience.

Here is my story: 

I had heard about Clean B last year through Facebook.  I decided to give it a try since all these people raved about how awesome the detergent & customer service was.  I ended up ordering some from a vendor on hyena cart.  Some time had passed & I still hadn't received my package. (Can you tell I'm used to dealing with Kim from Rockin' Green?  She ships your order immediately!)  I emailed the vendor & she apologized & stated that since she didn't have what I ordered (then why was it listed for sale????) that she spoke with Melissa & she would send it out directly from Clean B.  More time passed & still no detergent, mind you I paid immediately for the product.  Most places don't charge your credit card etc until the order ships, but not Clean B.  So then a little later the vendor replys to another of my emails & states that Melissa "forgot" about my order but was getting it ready to ship & would include some "freebies" for all my trouble.  Well, I finally got my package, but it was just the 1 bag of detergent I ordered, no freebies.  I was a little upset because I had been lied to not once but twice!  I didn't care about any freebies, but don't promise what you won't deliver.  The detergent smelled really good.  I had ordered Apple Mango Delight.  It seemed to clean my diapers pretty good at first.  So I placed another order directly from Clean B's website.  I decided to give her a "second" chance & since I was ordering & dealing directly with Melissa, I figured things would go smoothly.   Well, I was WRONG!  Her website states that there is a 3-4wk waiting list which is fine.  I originally placed my order on 1/13 & received a shipping notice on 2/10.  A wk later I emailed her to inquire about my package since I had yet to receive it & she said she hadn't started it yet but would "get on it" right away.  Yet another lie!  Why say you shipped it when you didn't?  It took MANY emails, a paypal dispute & 46 days later I finally received my package minus the scoops I ordered & paid for.  It was funny how quickly she shipped my order after I opened a dispute.  I must be a glutton for punishment because I placed yet another order with her.  I really wanted a positive experience.  Maybe the first two times she was having a "bad" day.  Third times a charm right?  WRONG!  I placed my third order on 3/2.  Waited patiently.....still no package so I emailed her on 4/19 inquiring about the items I had ordered & paid for back on March 2nd.  I received that order on 4/25.  Missing from my order was yet again 2 scoops that I had paid for.  I let it slide the first time but the second time-NO.  I wrote her back to let her know that I still needed them & she said that she would have them in the mail on 4/25.  So by now it is 5/13 & I still have yet to receive my 2 scoops.  So yet more emails.

Here is the email I sent :  Back on April 25th, you said that you would mail out the 2 scoops that I PAID for & I still have yet to receive them. Yet another lie! I am so over this & the UNPROFESSIONAL business that you are running & all the lies. I have ordered off of you 3 times & 3 times I have had ALOT of trouble with my orders & have been lied to. So I feel that I have given you more than a fair chance before I do my review of Clean B on my blog. Hopefully in the future you learn to run a professional business & appreciate your customers. 

 And here was her reply : Im very, VERY VERY sorry Leann.. My life has been turned upside down right now..

It bothers me more than you.. I wish I could express how much..
I know you already know I had 7 LO’s then my 8th baby was born early and we have been having issues.. dr app and such,
I also have a disk in my neck that is smashing my spinal cord.
It has affected my left arm much like a stroke victim .. It is numb and I have limited use with it..
Im in treatments/DR visits/therapy 3-4 days a week just for myself.. I have to get improvement or its surgery..
Im sure by now my word doesn’t mean much as so much has ended up coming up and it always effects your order..
I have started a new program to help me keep track of important orders and information.
I just wanted to try and let you know from my heart.. Im sorry.. I never intended to mess up your orders or the time it has taken..
I will add some extras for all your trouble and again, I AM SORRY>
I wish I could change a WHOLE lot about the last 6 months..
A lot..
I did check though and I have the extra scoops marked as shipped.. Im not sure what happened there..
I will include 2more of them with your order. You have my word, no matter what it takes I will ship this tomorrow.
Melissa C ~ Clean B
Pure & Natural Products
www.PureCleanB.com
Joshua 24:15b
but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD

If you are that bad off, shut your shop down temporarily & get better before taking more orders & more customer's money.  So when I finally got my scoops, guess what???  Just 2 scoops, nothing extra for my troubles like she told me.  ANOTHER LIE!

Unless you are looking to be lied to & put through an extreme hassle, I DON'T recommend ordering from her.  I ran my own cleaning business for years until I was unable to due to health issues with my back.  I would have never dreamed of treating my customers the way Melissa has treated me.  Her customer service leaves ALOT to be desired & is extremely lacking at times.  In fact when I shut my business down, I gave my customers over a mths notice.  Six mths after I stopped cleaning, they were still calling me & begging me to continue cleaning for them.  That says alot.  There is one thing I pride myself with & that is excellent customer service & being truthful & honest with my customers.  I guess I was naive to think that all people who work from home abide to that.  Another thing that bothered me was when anyone griped about their order on her FB wall, she either deleted the comment or stopped allowing others to post on her wall.  That right there is a bad sign.  I also have run into quite a few people who have also had negative experiences with her.

Here's what I thought of the products I tried from her.

Detergent : after using for a few months, Barker started breaking out really bad & we had build-up issues & it just didn't seem to clean as well as it did in beginning.

Dryer Balls : I will say that out of all my dryer balls, hers are my favorite.

Freshening Spray : it leaves an oily film over things when you spray it in your room.  My picture frames were covered with it & the smell didn't last real long like others have said it did.

Do any of you have any past experiences with Clean B?  Was it negative or positive?  I'd love to hear your stories.

Blueberry Trainers

So I did it, I broke down & splurged some on these awesome Blueberry Trainers.  I always said that I would NEVER pay that much for a pair of trainers, but I did.  :-/  Well, here's what happened.....I had entered a giveaway & won the yellow giraffe pair.  I was so excited when I found out I won!  I have been wanting to try them for some time but couldn't justify the purchase.  When we received it, I was instantly smitten & could definitely see why they cost so much ($15.95/pair).  They are extremly well made & are lined with this yummy velour that is so soft.  I wish I had gutchies this soft!  I also love the fact that sandwiched in between the print & velour is a layer of PUL & a layer of absorbant material.  Now while they don't contain a full pee, they do keep the floor dry if he starts to pee some on his way to the potty.  They come in a variety of prints & three sizes to choose from : small (22-30 lbs), medium (25-35 lbs) & large (32-42 lbs).  I bought all larges since Barker now weighs 35lbs.  I have washed them over a dozen times & they still look new & are as soft as ever on the inside.  My only complaint is that since they do have an absorbant layer, they tend to be a bit bulkier under clothes than our Gerber Trainers.  However, I can deal with this since they do absorb more than our other trainers & have a waterproof outer.  Overall, we love our Blueberry Trainers!!!

 Here's the inside of the trainer.

 Not sure if you can see it or not, but I tried to take a close-up pic to show the velour & stitch marks for the absorbant layer.

 I love the nice wide elastic bands.  They fit him nice & don't leave any red marks.

Country Save

We have been using Country Save laundry detergent exclusively for almost a year now on our clothes & I can't rave enough about it.  Our clothes have never felt cleaner or looked brighter.  We have well water & it is some pretty hard water.  While using commercial detergents, our whites always ended up looking dingy & grey no matter what I tried until I tried Country Save.  I have been purchasing it from Alice.com.  They sell a 40/80 load box for $9.99 & as long as you buy any 6 items, your order ships for FREE!  In my opinion, the free shipping is awesome & well worth ordering from them, not to mention that 2 boxes lasted us almost 10 months.  I usually use 1T per load in our front-loader.  When buying special cloth diaper safe detergent, I was paying around $5/bag for the shipping which ended up running me around $17-18 for a 45/90 load bag.  Although you can use Country Save on your cloth diapers, which I have.  I have a major weakness, I absolutely adore scented cloth diaper laundry detergent.  I also have a confession, I smell my clean diapers.  Yes I do & I have a feeling that I am not alone.  My sisters make fun of me for doing so, but how are you supposed to know if they are clean....right?

On my last order to Alice.com, I decided to purchase some Country Save liquid dish soap.  I had tried Bio-Kleen's liquid dish soap & don't really care for it.  It just didn't seem to cut through the grease.  I wanted to switch from the mainstream, chemical laiden dish soaps for some time & hate the "scent" that was being left behind on anything plastic I washed.  I'm not going to lie, I was a bit skeptical when I first tried Country Save's dish soap.  It worked amazingly!  All of our dishes were clean & no greasey residue was left on anything.  There also was no "scent" left behind on any of Barker's sippy cups or any of our other plastic food storage containers.  The dish detergent itself has a very faint, pleasant & mild baby shampoo~ish smell to it.

If you are looking to try a new "green" laundry detergent or dish soap, look no further.  Give Country Save a try.  I give it an A+++ in my book!  

MIA

I am so sorry that I have been MIA for quite some time.  I have been sick the last month with this retched chest cold & we have had some family issues to deal with too.  Things are slowly getting back to normal & I promise you a new post soon.  Hope you are all doing well.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.