Anyone Order SOSA Lately?

[Greyfeather]

Hey y'all.

SOSA Speciosa has always been one of my favorite vendors. I recall that he had illness in the fam and got thoroughly swamped during the winter/spring (?), but AFAIK got everyone's orders to them.

Has anyone ordered lately? I hope the pandemic is not affecting his business overly much. I'm never in a rush to get an order delivered, so that's no big deal. Just wondering if his service and leaf are still excellent.

[CatfatherB]

I did, got my order 3 days after I ordered, mostly ordered his string premiums and yes the leaf is still good and from the same Indo supplier (I can tell by the grind) it would make one wonder who is ordering from different suppliers because of the shipping issues though? Like the shipping issue of winter '18-'19? (Mystic Island)

[neuropathy1]

Ordered a few reds approximately 2-3 weeks ago. And quality was on par with peevious orders and shipping was without any delay. Love Sosa reds, however i have never ordered any other colors.

[CatfatherB]

Ordered a few reds approximately 2-3 weeks ago. And quality was on par with peevious orders and shipping was without any delay. Love Sosa reds, however i have never ordered any other colors.

Green Horn, Supergreen, Green Bone and Green Malay we're always good to me in the past but I've been sticking to whites and reds since last summer but I'd give his White Malay and White MD a blind shot because I haven't had a bad batch of those yet... Also, his Yellow MD is pretty popular but is sold out.

[K-Dawg]

Yes, 2 orders since the disappearing act. The White MD is stellar and green horn is good too. Red Sunda is consistent with past batches as well.

[AvonBarksdale]

Ordered some Baik Bali about 3 weeks ago and he got it out pretty quick but ive seen people saying theyre waiting on return emails recently as of earlier today

[Damen ck]

I'm still going to wait, after that last fiasco there's just too many other good vendors to even remotely gamble. Sorry Ben, do a giveaway or a contest or something.

[CatfatherB]

Ordered some Baik Bali about 3 weeks ago and he got it out pretty quick but ive seen people saying theyre waiting on return emails recently as of earlier today

Where exactly are you seeing this?

[Greyfeather]

THANK YOU for the responses!

I'm mostly interested in the Reds: I ordered a 9-oz. sampler once. I don't think I got the Red Sunda or the Baik Bali though. For those of you with pain issues who have tried it, would you rate it well for that?

@Catfather:

Like the shipping issue of winter '18-'19? (Mystic Island)

I had never even heard of kratom until July 2019. Now I'm curious. Considering what's going on now in the world, can you tell me more about this?

[CatfatherB]

THANK YOU for the responses!

I'm mostly interested in the Reds: I ordered a 9-oz. sampler once. I don't think I got the Red Sunda or the Baik Bali though. For those of you with pain issues who have tried it, would you rate it well for that?

@Catfather:

Like the shipping issue of winter '18-'19? (Mystic Island)

I had never even heard of kratom until July 2019. Now I'm curious. Considering what's going on now in the world, can you tell me more about this?

There was a shipping issue during that time, mystic Island used a different supplier to fill their orders and didn't tell anyone, it was bunk.
It's pretty well documented here on double M, if you search for it..they went from being highly praised to nothing but bunk overnight it seemed, they pretty much lost the business they had before that happened...

I've seen the kratom community isn't very forgiving when you pull that shit. They were removed from the vendor list to say the least.

[Greyfeather]

THANK YOU for the responses!

I'm mostly interested in the Reds: I ordered a 9-oz. sampler once. I don't think I got the Red Sunda or the Baik Bali though. For those of you with pain issues who have tried it, would you rate it well for that?

@Catfather:

Like the shipping issue of winter '18-'19? (Mystic Island)

I had never even heard of kratom until July 2019. Now I'm curious. Considering what's going on now in the world, can you tell me more about this?

There was a shipping issue during that time, mystic Island used a different supplier to fill their orders and didn't tell anyone, it was bunk.
It's pretty well documented here on double M, if you search for it..they went from being highly praised to nothing but bunk overnight it seemed, they pretty much lost the business they had before that happened...

I've seen the kratom community isn't very forgiving when you pull that shit. They were removed from the vendor list to say the least.

THANKS. Yes, thank goodness for Double M

[SimonBcv]

Speaking of Mystic Island, after reading all the not so good comments about them lately, I deciding to order some more Red Papua from them anyway to see if their quality really changed.
The shipment took less then a week to arrive and to my surprise, the texture, taste & color of it was the same as the one I received from them over a year ago.
I also wanted to place an order with Sosa Speciosa earlier today, submitted an order request via email but have not received a reply from them yet, perhaps they just take a bit longer to reply.

[mivanqua]

Speaking of Mystic Island, after reading all the not so good comments about them lately, I deciding to order some more Red Papua from them anyway to see if their quality really changed.
The shipment took less then a week to arrive and to my surprise, the texture, taste & color of it was the same as the one I received from them over a year ago.
I also wanted to place an order with Sosa Speciosa earlier today, submitted an order request via email but have not received a reply from them yet, perhaps they just take a bit longer to reply.

I've tried and tried. No response.

[Beastmode]

Same 5 or 6 days now no reply.

[Zeedra]

Speaking of Mystic Island, after reading all the not so good comments about them lately, I deciding to order some more Red Papua from them anyway to see if their quality really changed.
The shipment took less then a week to arrive and to my surprise, the texture, taste & color of it was the same as the one I received from them over a year ago.
I also wanted to place an order with Sosa Speciosa earlier today, submitted an order request via email but have not received a reply from them yet, perhaps they just take a bit longer to reply.

How were the effects? Been thinking of trying a couple ounces from them to see if the quality is as good as it was in 2018

[BobDylanKratom]

I got a small amount of some 2017 Mystic Island Vampire in a trade recently. First and only time with them. It was only 6g but I took it all and literally felt nothing. I don’t want to draw any conclusions based on a single experience, but I have no desire to seek out Mystic Island leaf again.

[SimonBcv]

Speaking of Mystic Island, after reading all the not so good comments about them lately, I deciding to order some more Red Papua from them anyway to see if their quality really changed.
The shipment took less then a week to arrive and to my surprise, the texture, taste & color of it was the same as the one I received from them over a year ago.
I also wanted to place an order with Sosa Speciosa earlier today, submitted an order request via email but have not received a reply from them yet, perhaps they just take a bit longer to reply.

How were the effects? Been thinking of trying a couple ounces from them to see if the quality is as good as it was in 2018

@Zeedra the effects were there similar to the previous order.

[Greyfeather]

Speaking of Mystic Island, after reading all the not so good comments about them lately, I deciding to order some more Red Papua from them anyway to see if their quality really changed.
The shipment took less then a week to arrive and to my surprise, the texture, taste & color of it was the same as the one I received from them over a year ago.
I also wanted to place an order with Sosa Speciosa earlier today, submitted an order request via email but have not received a reply from them yet, perhaps they just take a bit longer to reply.

I've tried and tried. No response.

Yeah, probably 4 or 5 months before he fell behind it took 3 or 4 days for them to reply to my request. After that things went smoothly enough. I guess I'll wait for a while too. I really appreciate the feedback. It's great that we can be open about this stuff without, you know, disrespecting the vendor

[Klyded]

I've placed 2 orders with Sosa within 2 weeks time, as I wanted to try something small then get a split kg because it was REALLY on point. Twas' 2 weeks ago and last week.

Emails were responded to within 48 hours at most (the 2nd round he got to me within 2 hours). Extremely helpful and prudent when it came to shipping - he even went so far as to wait 1 day on the shipping for very valid reasons and emailed to explain the whole thing over a matter of 1 business day. I cannot complain at all with either service nor leaf.

So far I only got to Red Sumatra and Red Bone f24 but they absolutely live up to hype around these part's- that is for sure!!

[Greyfeather]

I've placed 2 orders with Sosa within 2 weeks time, as I wanted to try something small then get a split kg because it was REALLY on point. Twas' 2 weeks ago and last week.

Emails were responded to within 48 hours at most (the 2nd round he got to me within 2 hours). Extremely helpful and prudent when it came to shipping - he even went so far as to wait 1 day on the shipping for very valid reasons and emailed to explain the whole thing over a matter of 1 business day. I cannot complain at all with either service nor leaf.

So far I only got to Red Sumatra and Red Bone f24 but they absolutely live up to hype around these part's- that is for sure!!

Excellent news. Thanks!

[Zeedra]

I emailed sosa a week or so ago inquiring about his 35 dollar sampler and got no response, after which a double m member told me to just try emailing him again as he was able to successfully order. So I did, asking If he was in business, and he got back to me in a couple hours saying everything was up and running smoothly again and asking what I wanted to order. I again said his 35 dollar sampler and listed the strains, to no response 4 days later. I dont know if he's just not doing samplers anymore or what's going on but the lack of communication is frustrating.

Anyone else been able to get through?

[Greyfeather]

Yeah, this is pretty much how things went when I ordered a sampler last winter. Ordering a split half-kilo, as I recall, went more smoothly and was quicker. I don't want to make any assumptions, but I guess it's likely that if you are willing to commit to a kilo you'll get more attention?

As vendors AND buyers have pointed out lately, putting together samples is labor intensive and not very cost effective, so maybe this slowed down our purchases? Most of our favorite vendors don't use assembly lines, yeah? We love their superior leaf and the good stuff takes time. SOSA's prices are really low too. If you have already paid for the sampler, keep e-mailing. If you have not paid, maybe just forget the sample deal for now. I don't know about you, but $35 is a big deal to a lot of us right now. You don't need any aggravation. I already know what I'd like to order, but I'm still gonna wait for more updates.

[Zeedra]

Yeah, this is pretty much how things went when I ordered a sampler last winter. Ordering a split half-kilo, as I recall, went more smoothly and was quicker. I don't want to make any assumptions, but I guess it's likely that if you are willing to commit to a kilo you'll get more attention?

As vendors AND buyers have pointed out lately, putting together samples is labor intensive and not very cost effective, so maybe this slowed down our purchases? Most of our favorite vendors don't use assembly lines, yeah? We love their superior leaf and the good stuff takes time. SOSA's prices are really low too. If you have already paid for the sampler, keep e-mailing. If you have not paid, maybe just forget the sample deal for now. I don't know about you, but $35 is a big deal to a lot of us right now. You don't need any aggravation. I already know what I'd like to order, but I'm still gonna wait for more updates.

Yeah, I suspected as much. I didnt realize this lack of communication had been going on for a while now. If he doesnt want to do samplers he should remove it from his website or at the very least respond to our emails with "hey I dont have time for that at the moment", which I'd totally understand as apparently he runs his whole operation himself. At this point though I think I'll move on to a diff vendor, I don't blind order kilos anymore.

Not to mention that the point of a sampler is to determine if you like a specific batch, if its potentially gonna take me weeks just to place an order, the batches may not even be the same between orders.

[Klyded]

I find all this in such contrast to my experience with SOSA. He has responded to all my e-mails within hours/same day... even the inquisitive one's that didn't directly pertain to the ordering process. I think the volume of correspondences could become staggering and some just erroneously fall through the cracks.

I mean, I get overwhelmed just dealing with a wide variety of folks simply for commissioned artwork. I can't imagine being a solo-operator and contending with the volumes that accompany being a vendor.

I'm not trying to argumentatively come to the defense of SOSA but if other people are consistently having solid lines of communication and ease of services rendered they should speak up. One DOES have to wonder in all fairness what the ratios are in such instances of e-mail volume vs. missed e-mails.

I always say it never hurts, being as polite as humanly possible, to be prudent and double/triple check on things with follow up e-mails. I do this because I suck so bad with e-mail/work/people volume so easily myself I actually appreciate when people do this.

[CatfatherB]

The site hasn't updated since February, that's when Ben fell ill and got behind on his orders, I know this because the last package I received had a batch of Supergold that has a batch date of 5-2020. Supergold on the site is sold out.. There aren't many vendors who offer sample packs as they take much longer to prepare. Maybe he is pushing those to the back of priority, idk? I haven't purchased a sample pack in a long time.

[CatfatherB]

Last time I ordered from Ben he said that he had been bombarded with wholesale orders from other vendors who were having shipping issues, I'm sure this hasn't let up being that pos Indo is still closed...

[Greyfeather]

I find all this in such contrast to my experience with SOSA. He has responded to all my e-mails within hours/same day... even the inquisitive one's that didn't directly pertain to the ordering process. I think the volume of correspondences could become staggering and some just erroneously fall through the cracks.

I mean, I get overwhelmed just dealing with a wide variety of folks simply for commissioned artwork. I can't imagine being a solo-operator and contending with the volumes that accompany being a vendor.

I'm not trying to argumentatively come to the defense of SOSA but if other people are consistently having solid lines of communication and ease of services rendered they should speak up. One DOES have to wonder in all fairness what the ratios are in such instances of e-mail volume vs. missed e-mails.

I always say it never hurts, being as polite as humanly possible, to be prudent and double/triple check on things with follow up e-mails. I do this because I suck so bad with e-mail/work/people volume so easily myself I actually appreciate when people do this.

I don't think you're being argumentative at all. And I hope no one harbors any bad feelings toward the vendor (I certainly don't) for any reason. As you have pointed out, he's probably dealing with some unique pressures right now. We all are .

I originally just wanted to get any feedback as to whether or not SOSA was keeping up because I like his product. We all knew he had to catch up a lot of orders. Then there was word that he was ready for more orders. I was just testing the waters, as it were. It sounds like you're having no problems at all. That's great! I certainly don't intend to discourage anyone from ordering from him. After a bit of dialogue here on this thread I have just made the personal decision to go with someone else who has been more predictable with me. I really hope that Ben is doing well. I'm concerned for Zeedra that she (?) isn't getting any responses to her inquiries. I don't think either of us are particularly demanding. All the same, if a potential customer isn't getting satisfaction, there are plenty of vendors out there more than eager to serve.

So if folks are having success getting orders through, processed and delivered, yeah, it would be great if they'd speak up In the meantime, please everyone stay safe and try to find some joy in this sadly un-summer like summer.

[Damen ck]

Maybe he should go members only. With the reviews on this thread I don't see why anyone would order other than a nostalgia factor. I wish he would have an inkling of communication to let us know what the deal is. I want to order too but it seems hit or miss with even successfully placing one. Not trying to bash, I hope I'm not giving off that impression, but this whole thing isn't helping the business. Hope he's doing okay.

[CatfatherB]

Maybe he should go members only. With the reviews on this thread I don't see why anyone would order other than a nostalgia factor. I wish he would have an inkling of communication to let us know what the deal is. I want to order too but it seems hit or miss with even successfully placing one. Not trying to bash, I hope I'm not giving off that impression, but this whole thing isn't helping the business. Hope he's doing okay.

He has posted to double M exactly 4 times in two years of this website when as far as I know opened for business, some vendors do not use this forum for seeking new customers or customer service complaints, the first letter in the business name s.o.s.a. does actually stand for "shipping" and the website http://www.sosaspeciosa.com does state that he also does wholesale and from my last interaction was informed he was helping other vendors with shipping issues right now. I have heard he even supply's some kava bars on the east coast.
My point is, if you are into a close relationship with a vendor, you should probably not start here?... Will I buy more from him? Got an order on the way..

[Damen ck]

All I'm saying is, an ounce of communication goes a long way. He could do that anywhere, I never specified it had to be here. His own website would be a good start. He used to be reliable for people buying smaller amounts, so what changed? 50% of his reviews are the complete opposite of yours. I'm not looking for a relationship with a vendor, I'm just looking for someone that will respond to emails and send me kratom in exchangefor. money. You know, like a business?

[CatfatherB]

All I'm saying is, an ounce of communication goes a long way. He could do that anywhere, I never specified it had to be here. His own website would be a good start. He used to be reliable for people buying smaller amounts, so what changed? 50% of his reviews are the complete opposite of yours. I'm not looking for a relationship with a vendor, I'm just looking for someone that will respond to emails and send me kratom in exchangefor. money. You know, like a business?

Just passing along what little information I have, sorry im not more knowledgeable on the matter.