Guest guest Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Howdy Penny, > This is Penny and my husband and I are the owners of Birch Hill > Happenings Aromatherapy, LLC. Glad to see you posting .. and don't blame you for doing it at this time. > And I do not want to be flamed by anyone on this site (group) but > felt I must respond about our company and us. Disagreement is not flaming .. but as I said .. you are correct to explain your position. > I have been a member of this group for over 2 years and contribute > occasionally (and I don't place ads - at this time). I contribute > only when I feel I can really help someone with information from > cases we have helped in the past as maybe it will help someone else > too. I used to lurk on the old IDMA list too, back when we were new > to aromatherapy. If you were on IDMA then you should know the correct definition of " flaming " .. it was a battleground and glad I am that it died a natural death. ;-) > Now, I'm NOT going to divulge all of our suppliers that we get our > oils from, but on occasion one of them is Butch!! I recall you bought some Rose Otto last year .. maybe other buys but I have lost some records to a crash .. but in any case any and all buys are appreciated. > We buy a majority of our essential oils wholesale from a very > reputable company and sell SMALL quantities to individuals - many of > them just starting out in aromatherapy. Good show. > And we try to EDUCATE. We are always available during the week via > phone and e-mail and answer personally. Not many companies out there > even return phone calls or answer e-mails. And the Personal touch? > We give a lot of hours of ourselves to every consult we conduct. > Whether it be in phone, email or in person we are very personal and > caring. Also good .. folks who do not respond to buyer inquiries soon get left behind. > We take aromatherapy VERY SERIOUSLY. We are aromatherapists that > truely do care. We sell the oils because our clients asked us where > to get therapeutic oils and well, since we couldn't tell them where > to get them we did two years of research to find the quality of oils > we sell before we even thought about selling them to anyone. Major point of disagreement here .. I will also ask you what criteria you use to determine what is and is not " Therapeutic " and how you have determined that you have " Medicinal Grade " oils? I ask this because .. (1) There are no such classifications .. and (2) If there were we would be playing with fire by advertising same unless we are a medical doctor. > Now to also let you know, I have taken Martin Watt's Course in > Advanced Clinical Aromatherapy and passed WITH DISTINCTION!!! Congratulations! I am sure that you know that Martin has always said the same thing I say about the classifications .. it is fictional and there is ABSOLUTELY no mention of those terms in his course. I have also taken his course .. and Sylla's course .. long ago. I can't say I graduated because it was not my intent .. I did not take them for a diploma .. I did it just to learn. I am NOT an Aromatherapist .. don't want to be known as one .. so that leaves all the AT business to you other folks. I deal in EO and truth .. there is much truth in dealing with EO .. little room for opinion. Not so with AT .. one can skin the cat in many ways in AT and not be wrong as long as they are practicing safe AT. > Martin's Course is not easy, it is very thorough and comprehesive. That is a fact .. and its the best around. Its the one that teaches the correct way the first time. > It takes many, many hours of study and reading and the final exam > took many hours to complete. It is a very good course but definitely > not for the beginner. Only a few have even finished his course. True again. I used to offer that course. And I know that every seller who has taken his course has also received some pretty clear and strict " recommendations " on what was contained on their web sites .. I am sure you are not an exception in this regard. > And back 15 years ago Al (hubby) studied with the Australasian > College of Herbal studies (now College of Herbal Sciences). But > after seeing Martin's course is now reading my course materials too. Though I didn't take their course I know a lot about it and I agree with your comment. ;-) > We never stop learning. I think that is correct .. and we must practice what we know is correct. > Mind you, we are not some FLY by Night company. We have very high > quality Therapeutic oils and very high standards. We have been in > business for over 11 years and are still growing. We treat people > how we expect to be treated. No question on how you treat folks .. but I still have a question on the term " Therapeutic " . Maybe you should ask Martin for an opinion. > WE ARE NOT an MLM. > It's just been Al and I for 11 years. Only recently did we hire > someone to help with order processing, etc. We do the work, all the > work and know many of our customers very personally. Good show. > We do not cater to those needing to buy wholesale. (We do offer a > business to business discount to legitimate businesses many of them > are fledglings and this is to help them get started but no wholesale > prices.) Good show. Helping folks get started is a way to have future customers. I have said this about the damn government for years .. train folks to earn a living and you generate tax payers. > Our prices are retail and very fair. We hear it constantly from our > customers. We offer a wide variety of sizes that most other > companies won't even consider. So why should people spend a fortune > on essential oils that might just sit on a shelf after only a few > drops taken out. Not a wise purchase the way I look at it. That's why > we offer the smaller sizes. Get to know the oils before you blindly > purchase larger ones. AND if you like them, you probably won't want > to go somewhere else when you know the quality is there - from us > too!! I would have no reason to question the purity or quality of your oils (purity and quality are two different animals) .. just the Therapeutic claim. And .. those who do sell wholesale .. like me .. sell the costly oils in 1/2 oz or 1 oz sizes .. but for oils like Sweet Orange I don't have a wholesale price for less than 8 oz because its cheap .. that price is $7.99. As I and many other folks have written on this group for years .. new buyers should also request samples of other oils .. that is the best way to determine what one likes without spending money. > If someone really needs 4 ounces or more then they really should be > looking to buy from a wholesale or distributor not a retail > aromatheripist store. We offer the 4 ounce sizes as a courtesy for > someone that MIGHT need it as a one time purchase. To be honest we > sell more 4ml, 10ml and 30ml bottle sizes than any other size. Good show .. end users should not purchase larger than those sizes. I too sell Retail sizes but its the sellers who keep us busy .. only the sellers can purchase wholesale from us anyway. > The last time I knew the average person has several 4ml and 10 ml > bottles of essential oils in their dark storage box, refrigerated > (yeah maybe?) that often times sits for years. (Don't you just want > to have them use those oils on you??) Bad it would be fer'shur. One problem we face in this industry is age of oils .. that problem is because most sellers don't know when their oils were produced. They don't know because the folks they get their oils from also don't know. When they were bottled is not important . . when they were produced is very important in most cases .. not in all .. but in most.. > Only the true enthusiast, candle maker and soap maker or true > practioner will be buying in the 4 ounce or larger sizes. And > everyone knows you usually do get a break when you buy in that large > of quantities. True .. though I wish more of my buyers would buy in 4 oz sizes .. my profit margin is higher than for the 8 oz, 16 oz and 1 kilo sizes . . and labor costs are the same to pour them. ;-) > My point being, buying in large quantities for less is great if you > are reselling them in smaller quanities - which is what we do from > Butch and our other suppliers since we are retailers - we do not sell > wholesale, so we don't have wholesale pricing either. That sounds fair .. and logical. > So to all on this list, please note, No, Butch doesn't know our > company, nor the quality of our oils, (except remember we do get a > few oils from his company on occasion). I didn't know who you were Penny .. too many customers I have .. but I would have made the same comments if I had known who you were. And true it is I know nothing of your quality .. that is why I didn't comment on it. > I do not take this as a personal slam from Butch, just the fact that > he doesn't know us, our company or any of the oils we sell. He is not > educated about us. Thanks .. and right you are. I could only read what was on the web site . . which I would expect is a subject you and Martin have already discussed. > BUT what he is just trying to do is to EDUCATE people that you need > to be careful where you buy from. That is a fact .. but I think it is a losing proposition. I will salute you for first being accepted to Martin's course .. he turns down as many folks as he accepts. And also for completing it .. it is NOT a piece of cake. And finally .. for having the interest in the first place. Odds are good that if you are willing to go that far to gain correct knowledge you will go just as far to do your best to ensure that the products you sell are pure and high in quality .. and you will ensure that you only make safe recommendations for use of same. > We do have Therpeutic Quality oils - tested with 6-8 tests to be sure > they are of the highest quality available. If not, we don't sell > them. And we sell in small enough quantities so you can use them up > within a few short months or within a year and always have the > freshest oils available for your use - not something that has been > sitting on the shelf for who knows how long!! Buy what you can use > and buy fresh often. GC/MS is the best one can get for EO today unless they want to pay thousands of bucks .. and GC/MS (which is not a 6-8 part test) tells us far less that we really would like to know but far more than no test will tell us. There is no test .. regardless of cost .. to determine what is or is not Therapeutic .. period! If your sources say otherwise then they speak with forked tongue! And I would not recommend that anyone always strive to offer " new " oils .. this is a good policy for most oils but some improve with age and some .. like Peppermint .. are far lower in quality when they are first produced. > AND last but not least, we are there for you or our customers. Good show .. its the way to ensure they will be there for you. :-) > Al and I answer a many, many questions about essential oils and > aromatherapy, every week, some become customers, many never. But we > are their to educate. Do we know everything? NO, but we are > constantly learning and updating and giving out the best information > available. Personally and confidentially to anyone that writes or > calls us, we are there. Good show .. I salute you. > So now you know a little bit more about us and our company Birch Hill > Happenings. We have a very large and informative website. I know as > I'm the webmaster and have created every one of our pages.(250 > plus). I'm updating old information with new daily and will address > Butch's comment about the Basil -(It is Basil ct methyl chavicol). I > will update our site concerning this too. Good show .. actually .. I was impressed that you mentioned CT Linalool .. might surprise some folks to learn how many sellers know crap about CT . . or what they sell. > That's my 2 cents worth. We are serious aromatherapists that also > sell therapeutic quality oils and are there for everyone to ask and > to educate. WE are NOT just " some uneducated essential oil dealers/ > sellers just out to make a buck " . Agree on all the above except the Therapeutic portion .. but since you completed Martin's tough course and are a serious seller of products I believe you might correct that little point in time. Folks will notice that the number of " Medicinal Claims " on my dinosaur web site is ZERO .. its always been so .. and always will be so. > We are much, much more than that, we are Aromatherapists. That's good .. I am NOT an Aromatherapist .. I deal in Essential Oils .. no time for AT. ;-) > Yours in Aromatherapy, > > Penny Keay > > PS. I'd would have responded earlier but we do take a little time off > on the weekends to do a few other things too. It was quick enough and you done gud. I hear you on the busy. I had to go to Hotlanta yesterday. Six + hours down and on the way back got stuck outside Monteagle, TN for 3 hours cause two trucks decided to occupy the same space at the same time .. and the time I took to respond to these posts today allowed more birds to be eating the cherries off'n the trees which I have not yet taken time to cover with a net. ;-) > Your One Stop Aromatherapy Shop! > Birch Hill Happenings Aromatherapy LLC > 100% Pure Essential oils and Supplies > http://birchhillhappenings.com/aroma1.htm > Why by a gallon when you only need a few drops! > Fast & Friendly Service for 12 years! Y'all have a good one .. and keep smiling. :-) Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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