Legitimate company with skeptical business practices
The company is based in Brazil, but ships from Ogden, Utah, apparently, which should have been my first red flag. They seem legitimate on the surface, but the subscription tactics are very revealing as to what kind of company you are dealing with.
Signing up to receive mushroom coffee requires a subscription, as most of these companies do. This was not a surprise to me. The company did send the coffee fairly quickly. It cost nearly 1/3 more than other mushroom coffee suppliers I have tried. Upon trying it, the coffee has a very heavy wood or tannin flavor to it, not as bad as R*ze but near the same woody flavor. Some residue is also left in the bottom of your cup when you finish, but not quite the mud.
I have tried many mushroom coffee brands, but this one was very hard to cancel my subscription. When I tried to cancel via the website, the cancellation webpage didn't work -second red flag- so I had to reach out through the support link. I was contacted immediately, urging me not to cancel and to suspend my subscription, which I agreed to, thinking I wouldn't receive any further charges or shipments, since I had other coffees to get through and it was part of my search for healthy coffee alternatives.
Boy was I wrong; a couple of months went by, and lo and behold, another shipment notification came in with a complimentary charge to my card for more coffee I didn't want. I immediately contacted the company to cancel my subscription, halt any shipments, and reverse or refund the charge... I was finally able to cancel my subscription, but I was told the shipment had already been processed, my card had already been charged, and there was nothing they could do about it. I was also told I would need to ship the coffee back at my expense, and they would not pay for a return shipping label. Once they received the coffee, they would then refund my money. What a load of crap.
I am very skeptical and wary now about businesses like BallsNBrains. I find it hard to believe all of the website testimonials and 5-star reviews they have posted...I rarely, if ever, write crummy reviews, but this company deserves the one-star rating given. All they needed to do was provide a return shipping label, and none of this would have taken place...