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Swanson

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LAST UPDATED: March 26th, 2024

Swanson Health Products has been in business since 1969. It was founded by Leland Swanson — a man who was always striving to find help for his arthritis. He ended up starting Swanson Health Products, a small family-run business that sold vitamins. 

The company grew very rapidly and was recently bought by a private equity firm, Swander Pace Capital. It has grown to become one of the largest online retailers in the world, offering its services not only to the United States but also to many other countries.

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The Good

  • Large Selection on Health Products
  • Compare Box Tool
  • Customer Service
  • Promotions and Discounts
  • Giving Back

Large Selection on Health Products

Swanson Health Products offers a wide selection of vitamins and supplements in the following categories: Food and Beverage, Beauty, CoQ10, Heart, Sports Nutrition, Joint, Herbs, Digestive, EFAs, Bone, and Immune. Each section is then broken down into subcategories for easy browsing. 

Being one of the leaders in the industry, Swanson Health Products has what most people are looking for with vitamins, supplements, and minerals. Since all of its items come from good manufacturing companies, all of its products are known to be safe and well tested. 

Among its products, you will find almost anything you're looking for: natural health products, dietary supplements, organic foods, health and wellness products, nutritional supplements, and women's health products, as well as hundreds of other products that are all available through its online store. Among the most popular are its new weight loss products such as keto-related products, apple cider vinegar, weight loss teas and coffees, etc.

The products that this company offers range from the very best and most expensive to the cheap but useful. This company wants all of its customers to have access to all of its products; it does this by offering high-quality products to those looking to have the best name-brand vitamins. It also offers thousands of products that promote wellness and health at a price that almost anyone can afford.

Compare Box Tool

When looking at hundreds of products, you can often forget about some or not know what to compare them to. To simplify your shopping experience, take advantage of the product comparison feature. Just click the Compare box next to the desired items and view their details side-by-side. 

For example, if you are comparing different digestive health supplements, you can click on the compare button next to the item you are looking at, and it is saved at the bottom of the screen. Then, you can leave the page and continue looking at its hundreds of digestive health products. When you find another one you like, click the same compare button and review the two items selected. 

This is a great tool to help you compare many items at the same time. You can compare price, quality, quantity, how natural the product is, and the ingredients, allowing you to understand and decide clearly which product you will use. 

Customer Service

Swanson offers thorough information about each product, including dosages, ingredients, suggestions for use, warnings, and a description of how the product works in your body. Each product page also includes an image of the full product label, so you have as much information as possible before purchasing. 

If you need assistance while shopping, Swanson's customer service phone number is featured prominently in the site header — or you can choose a live chat option. This company's personal care of its products and customers throughout the process of ordering their vitamins is among the best in the industry.

Swanson ships both domestically and internationally. Domestic shipping starts at $4.99 and will arrive 7–10 business days from the ship date. International shipping also starts at $4.99 but will incur an additional freight cost based upon the weight of the order and the destination, which will be calculated during your checkout process. The average shipping time for international orders is 15 business days.

Promotions and Discounts

The homepage features several current promotions on customer favorites, which helps to streamline the shopping experience by making it easy to find discounted and popular items. 

In addition to its regular promotions, Swanson offers a one-time, 20 percent off deal to new customers who sign up for the mailing list. This discount can only be used the first order but is a great deal for all of its products. Swanson Health Products also will offer Swanson Vitamins coupons and other coupons as a promotion to provide lower prices on its products.

Giving Back

Swanson is committed to supporting charitable organizations and has donated time and funds to Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Special Olympics, Roger Maris Cancer Center, United Way, United Blood Services, Holiday Clearing Bureau, Fargo Senior Commission Meals on Wheels, Cass County Health and more. You can find this throughout its social media pages and can stay updated on events that it is helping out at near you.

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The Bad

  • Shipping Cost
  • Pop-up Issues

Shipping Cost

Swanson Health Products offers only one free shipping deal, and you have to spend at least $50 in order to take advantage of it. The company doesn't offer any flat-rate shipping deals like many of the other online vitamin stores we reviewed. 

In addition, the shipping rates are slightly higher and the delivery timelines are slightly slower. Swanson also doesn't ship to specified international locations, including Iran, Nigeria, Ghan, North Korea, Russia, and Cuba, among others.

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The Bottom Line

Swanson Health Products is among the leaders in the industry and it is clear why. Although Swanson Health Products’ shipping options could use some improvement, its customer service is unmatched in the industry. Not only that, but this company has an easy-to-navigate website design, a huge variety of products in its online store, and it runs hundreds of different promotions and discounts.

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Star Rating

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2.3

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81 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

23%

4 grade

4%

3 grade

9%

2 grade

6%

1 grade

58%

Sentiment Criteria

Value

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Quality

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Service

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Trustworthiness

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Dissapointed Woodstock, CT

I love the selection of vitamins they have to offer but I do not line the customer service. I recently had my swanson account hacked and whoever hacked it put in several addresses. I noticed I had 2 charges on my bank account and for 2 pending orders. I went into my Swanson account and found there were 2 items ordered that I had not placed and that they had not shipped. I immediately called the customer service and they told me that they could not do anything I had to work it out with my bank. So now Swanson now allows criminals to get things and the consumer have to work to get their money back, I am very disappointed in Swanson. The products had not even shipped, they could have stopped it right there. Make sure you check your accounts for fake addresses and orders...

1 year ago

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James Reed San Leandro, CA

I've purchased from Swanson for almost 3 decades. Due to some analytical reviews by Consumers Union, I thought it best to do a few tests to determine if the compound was in the pill/capsule/tablet and (if so) what was its amount. I neglected to mention that I happen to be a retired biochemist. I couldn't do this with some "pills" due to the presence of several nutrients/binders/fillers but of the 8 different items I did test - they were spot on, though some were a bit shy in milligram dosage (which could have been my separation technique (solvent used), or a manufacturing variation (common with capsules). I have had a few issues with their website and the odd discount codes that occur and give conflicting results (catalog code is different from online code which is different from some special one-time code (for some holiday)). No matter what, the vitamins are good quality, very rarely any quality storage or humidity glitches. As a chemist, if I moved to that part of the country - I'd like to work for them.

2 years ago

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Ken Kaplan Hatboro, PA

I have no idea where all the negativity is coming from. They have thousands of customers and somehow the worst percent show up? I have been with Swanson for 25 years. That you would rate CVS over them is a joke. Swanson's combination of quality and price is unsurpassed. I find their customer service reps courteous, I was gifted a bottle of Adrenal when I complained, I have never had a problem with return or dissatisfaction. Their product specialists are invaluable. No one, no one beats their value. The one thing is going to Fed EX seems to have slowed shipping. I always wait until I get a $50 order. In emergency I buy on Ebay.. Almost all companies offer free shipping with a minimum, (Vitamin Shoppe, Puritan's Pride, I herb, you name it.) Piping Rock will not offer any discount. It's a bogus complaint. If you want the new 10%, just call them., My God. Is two minutes a problem? Certain big retail chains, (CVS, Walmart, Vitamin Shoppe) offer site to store or some variation because they have retail outlets which Swanson does not have. Their products have literally saved my life and their prices are WAAAAY below anyone else, especially their sales. What galaxy are you in that you think CVS's vitamins are a better value than Swanson or have as much in their catalog? I can get national brands through Swanson at prices no one else could match. This site here is nonsense.

5 years ago

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Karen Plymouth, WI

Swanson has been our supplement company of choice for the past 5+ years. The quality of their products is high. The price is very competitive. They also sell gluten free grocery items for a better price than our local grocery store. They have a wide selection of natural foods as well. Their customer service was quick to ship out a new item when something was sent in error. Shipping is free if you spend $50.

1 year ago

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dean knobel Janesville, WI

I've been a Swanson customer for over two decades, mostly purchasing their brand of products. It can be hard to tell sometimes with supplements whether or not they're having the desired effect, but I've experienced notable results with their brand, esp. much more energy from their Whole Food vitamins for men, and their dual acting melatonin improved my sleep greatly. That does give me confidence their other supplements are what they claim and of good quality. Why take a chance with other questionable brands when I know and trust Swanson.

2 years ago

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Claudella Jones Ann Arbor, MI

A friend & her sister have been using Swansons for many years & highly recommended it to me... my first order seemed like an orderly transaction & i greatly benefited by the product i ordered & used yo my great benefit! ... but at a second order it seemed much if the efficiency of the process had been bloated with useless interventions... i imagined that Swansons had been sold to a purely mediocre investment company hoping to capitalize on Swansons hard-earned reputation but tampering w the efficiency of the operation to put their own management in place. I am only praying these pencil pushers do not tamper w the product quality ....Time will tell .. the recent batch of product purchased after waiting gor it to come back in stock has seemed to be almost similar to the effect of that original product i purchased... sadly not w the excellent results If Management happens to read these reviews i hope they will not substitute cheap dangerous filler or make other half-baked mercenary decisions based solely on an effort to improve their bottom line. If they do i hope they personally are afflicted & will suffer from ailments their so called improvement tampering can no longer remedy!

3 years ago

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Scott A. Johnson Orem, UT

I have been a Swanson customer for over 10 years. They have very good pricing on name-brand supplements and even better pricing on their own brand. Sales occur frequently that make the costs even better and often include free shipping. This is a great place to shop for natural health supplements. I usually compare their pricing versus Amazon and Iherb before purchasing. They can be out of stock on popular items regularly though.

4 years ago

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Reply from Swanson

Appreciate you taking the time to write a review, Scott! We try our best to be your go-to supplement company. Thanks for the feedback.

Sep. 25th, 2020

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Mia Somerset, CA

Ive ordered for at least 10 yrs and not one problem. I think one time they sent incorrect garlic and let me keep and shipped correct one. Always knowledgable courteous staff. WHO are these reviews from?? Wow. I didnt know swansons sold company. I also want to know if actual swanson label is high quality.. ive taken for yrs and always told good quality but online others rate higher.. Has anyone seen research on swansons brand??

5 years ago

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Ed Lulevitch Covina, CA

I'm male 81 years old. Been using your products for well over 10 years and have never been dissatified. Service, shipping and quality are always above average. I believe the company is extremely trustworthy. I never write product reviews. But today an email asked for a review of several CBD items recently purchased. I did write a review of CBD because it has been it of great benefit to me. Received an email that my review did meet the standard of your staff. I was ticked off and wrote a stinging reply. Your staff published my response. It had spelling and grammar error.

5 years ago

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ADK Orlando, FL

I have ordered about 45 items regularly from Swanson Health Products which I actually try to take daily with a protein drink. I have been a steady and pleased customer for 15 years if not more. Always had courteous customer service and nice chats with real live North Dakota people, offers of free shipping for orders over $50 dollars, fast shipping, well described catalog and online items. Aside from a couple products that have been affected by availability or popularity, pricing has remained reasonably consistent. No hesitation in giving them 5 stars in every category.

5 years ago

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Jenelle M

Swansons has a REALLY WEIRD WAY of processing orders. Meaning they don't even put a hold on the money for 24-48 hours THEN they charge shipping SEPARATELY 2-3 days later when they finally ship the order. Oh and good luck getting the order refunded after they've overdrafted your account by charging at weird times, they'll 100% blame the banks and you'll be lucky you get anything back at all. Still waiting on what I thought would be a FULL refund but customer service says is only ten bucks (not my whole purchase) and swears they've already issued despite it not being in my bank. 100% sure they're crooks and I'll be telling everyone I know not to trust them.

7 months ago

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Amy Pagnozzi Brewster, MA

I used to give it five stars when Lee Swanson owned it (I was a customer for 30 years) but I no longer trust the Swanson's brand products since they were taken over by a capital investment fund. I received turkey tail extract that wasn't turkey tail extract (I wasn't expecting it to be the quality it claimed since the price was many 1/4 of their next highest comprtitor. But my dog has cancer and I couldn't get two other brands with verified test results because they were out of stock. The product was useless. It was the wrong color and taste for turkey tail (coriolus) extract. Even then I wouldn't have been upset: mushroom supplements have one of the highest rates for fraud. But when I asked Swanson's to investigate (I sent them photos of their brand beside the others) they did absolutely nothing! I spoke to two different phone agents and wrote long emails with attachments. I was refunded, but that isn't the point -- this is a supplement primarily bought by people trying to survive cancer. In my correspondence I let them know that I believed the product was counterfeit and that I had a background running clinical trials and doing FDA submissions. They should have queried their supply chain and sent me copies of third party lab results. Worst of all, they deleted my one star product review on their site warning customers to find a better turkey tail source! Previously, I had another issue where Swanson brand magnesium citrate wasn't fully reacted (to make it you combine magnesium oxide with citric acid -- it wasn't fully combined). It was one of my regular purchases. I didn't want a refund -- I was just letting them know as a courtesy there was a quality control issue. They were very nice but the product was neither re-sourced or reformulated so clearly no one followed up. All that said, there are still some products my household needs that we continue to buy from Swansons -- their price for 400mg coQ10 has gone up by 40% sadly, but we need a lot of it and it is still slightly cheaper than elsewhere. Basically, I still trust them on products we take for non-life threatening health issues that are symptomatic. (If the coq10 is fake I will feel it -- so far that one is still legit). But I no longer fill up a big cart with hundreds of dollars worth of stuff like I did when I knew for sure it was solid quality at the fairest price. The quality isn't uniformly reliable and the price can often be beat elsewhere.

2 years ago

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Nelly Rivera

I have been a customer for many years. I almost always try to After reading in this website, now I understand why the quality of a shampoo was not the same as the previous one. I don't like that the return policy has changed to only 30 days. I think the prices for other well known brands are not as good as they used to be. It seems they try to induce buyers to but only their brand. I think Swanson should inform who manufactures every Swanson brand. Now I don't feel as confident to buy there as I was.

2 years ago

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Ted Pass Needham Heights, MA

swanson products are fine, but their website routinely cheats customers who order on it. Yesterday Aug 25 I clicked on an email from Swanson offering 25% off all products with the Swanson brand. I ordered 5 items and each time it showed me the price after 25% off. When finished I confirmed my credit card and address and clicked to place the order. I receipt appeared showing higher prices than I had been quoted for each item. I called Swanson the next day and was told that I had requested the 15% off price and received that. At no time did I say I wanted 15% off since the price that day was 25% off. The website does the conversion for you when you place the order, raising the price on each item. I have had this happen several times and each time have been told that I had bought on a 15% promotion. This may be just incompetent web development, but it has happened over many months, and it is clear Swanson has no interest in fixing it. Why should they? They make more money and most customers don't notice they have been overcharged.

5 years ago

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Madam Spencer Center Ossipee, NH

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY! I received an email saying 'thank you for your order' confirmation for almost $65. worth of items. I had not ordered anything. The order was placed by someone in Georgia, and was to be sent to someone with my name in Texas. I live in New Hampshire. The customer's name and address were clearly stated on the order and it was not me. Someone there was too stupid or lazy to make sure the order went to the correct account, and just picked the first person in their files with my name (evidently). This was the beginning of a nightmare. I immediately called them trying to correct the situation promptly. I got nowhere on the phone, with the foreign person telling me they would 'talk to the supervisor' and get back to me. They never did. Instead they sent another email saying "MY" order had been cancelled! (It wasn't my order, you idiots!) They also said my account was "flagged" and I should change my email address and my password. Are you kidding??? UM, NO! They actually tried to punish me for their stupidity. (I have lived at my address in NH for over 25 years, and had my email address for almost 20. The person who actually ordered has the same name, but lives in TEXAS. I have never lived in TX). In addition. the person who actually ordered this merchandise has still not been informed that their order was cancelled because they emailed me instead of to the email address of the 'orderer'! All this has just happened this week. In addition to trying to resolve this by phone and getting nowhere, I emailed them multiple times, also to no avail. I found the email address of their LEGAL DEPT. and I have just emailed not only customer care but also the legal dept. and demanded that they completely DELETE MY ACCOUNT, AND ALL MY INFORMATION from their site. If I don't receive confirmation of this, we will have our attorney contact them. I WILL NEVER ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN, and want everything deleted from their site, and to be taken off their mailing list. STRONGLY ADVISE that you buy elsewhere. I have now found very good deals on what I need on Amazon, and it's not Swanson brand.

8 months ago

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Margie Dupuis La Crosse, WI

Been a customer several years, with no complaints. Easy to order on line. Taught my 83 year mother how to navigate the site. Never had an issue, yet. Thanks for keeping it uncomplicated!

2 years ago

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Matt Binghamton, NY

EDIT: They sent me a replacement Bought a four month supply of a vitamin, third bottle’s contents were covered in a brown powder. Turns out the container was cracked and the contents are covered in tiny shards of glass. Being that I bought four months worth and I didn’t open the bottles until needed all customer service told me was it’s past the 30 day refund period, and that I should just throw away the damaged item....

4 years ago

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Eileen Colorado Springs, CO

Although I like their products, thus purchasing them, their delivery time is horrible. I used to get free shipping and have my order within five days. Looks like my most recent order will be about 11 days. With all the competition out there, you'd think they'd want to rethink this very poor aspect of their company. I can get some of their products on Amazon, but the ship time is still slow. They are a bit more expensive through Amazon, but the arrival time is half of what it is from the company. I have purchased from one of their competitors and the products have arrived in two days with free shipping. I think they need to step up their game considerably, or just not offer free shipping at all.

6 years ago

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Gary Naalehu, HI

I am on order number 2 from Swanson. I live in Hswaii and shipping time on both orders was ok. On the second order I received a product, flax seed oil capsules, that I don’t recall ordering. Upon opening the capsules were all coagulated at the top of the container and could not be separated. I called customer service and got someone in the Phillipines who spoke very good English. He apologized for the problem and said they would reship at no charge. Today, I opened my new bottle of COQ10 200 mg and the capsules were only half full or less. I called CS got some nice lady and said they would reship at no charge. She made an interesting comment , you are the second person that I have talked to in the last week that had received a product only half full. Sorry but I am looking for a new source

6 years ago

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Penny Tilton Topeka, KS

Great vitamins, horrible shipping. Their shipping is expensive and it takes WAY to long. You can pay more than the cost of the vitamins you ordered to get them faster. I hate over paying for shipping the vitamins I order but it is the only place to get them at this time. When I find a comparable item from another company I will switch in a heart beat, Swansons shipping is that bad!!

6 years ago

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Donna Lee Gallo Cedar Crest, NM

My "awesome" review is based on the following: shipping is free with $50.00 or more purchase, good customer service, great promotions, quality products, and web site is easy to navigate.

7 years ago

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W. H. Longview, TX

Severe allergic skin reactions causing burning, itching and swelling. The vitamin could be a potentially life threatening danger in someone. My wife and I both had severe reactions and their website reviews indicate that others have experienced the same. Customer service does not want to help and shows no concern for the dangerously defective product. They do their best to get you off the phone. We have used Swansons for many years and are just now finding out that they are totally untrustworthy. Who knows what is in their products???

11 months ago

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Reply from Swanson

Oh goodness, W.H! We want to clear this up and I am sorry if our customer service team was not helpful regarding your concern. I am curious what product you are mentioning caused the adverse reactions noted in your review? It is typical of Niacin to cause temporary flushing which sounds like what you may be describing, however, I am unsure considering there is no mention of the specific product. We take these concerns very seriously and I would invite you to send a private message so that I can help clear up this situation to your satisfaction. Appreciate your time!

Dec. 2nd, 2023

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sabundy99 Seattle, WA

Several orders contained a fine white powder in the bags and boxes. When removing the bottles it got on my hands and produced a very itchy red rash. I contacted the company but got no response about it. I'm assuming it was some sort of pesticide. If they have that in the warehouse, do they also have contamination in the product? I don't have much confidence in their quality. Some products were stuck together from heat exposure. Some bottles were cracked or broken. They almost ALWAYS cheat you on price as others have documented, plus the shipping charges when they say it is free. Ordering is a huge hassle. If they do all these things that are actually illegal why support them? Now I read the reviews about fraud and wonder if their site is safe to order from. Am I setting myself up for financial fraud, poisoning, or just worthless products?

1 year ago

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Reply from Swanson

Hello - Oh goodness! I have never heard of a fine white powder in any of our customers packages in the 2 decades I have worked for the company. This is very concerning, so please reach out to me here if you still have not gotten in touch with an agent.
We hold very high and strict standards when it comes to our Quality Control methods, as you can see here https://www.swansonvitamins.com/help/guarantees/guarantees-faqs/quality-control.html.
As you noted, products can tend to stick together depending on how long they are exposed to heat, however, this does not affect the efficacy of the product itself. If items had arrived damaged, we would also want to know so we can resolve for you.
Please message your order details privately so that I can look into this matter personally.
Thank you!

Nov. 21st, 2023

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Nevaeh Tampa, FL

I’ve been a customer for years & always place large $100 orders every 2 to 3 months. Today I decided to use a free shipping offer from some problem in the past. Normally I automatically get free shipping due to the large orders but I had a small order today and wanted to use that free shipping offer. I don’t remember when I was given it exactly it must be over a year, since they couldn’t find any notes in the last 12 months. I called to have them find it in my account. They didn’t bother to look past 1 year and I was told that it’s no longer valid anyway. I was unaware that there was a time limit. Anyway, no one would honor it because it couldn’t be found in the last 12 mon. I did get a discount on the shipping ...but when you’re offered something for FREE and somebody yanks it away from you, it doesn’t make you very happy. The supervisor told me that he wouldn’t mind it at all, if he got something for free and it was taken away from him. Really? I find that hard to believe. Normally I am a very happy customer but this has left a bad taste in my mouth. I even told the rep and the supervisor that I was in the middle of moving and would be placing my normal $100 order in the next week or 2, at the new address out of state. Didn’t matter! It felt like a “screw you”

1 year ago

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Noah Riverhead, NY

Swanson seems to be, for the most part, rather awful in many respects. There are frequent problems with their website and they often bill your account twice. This practice results in double the amount of the order being held from your account for several days. When swanson is called about it, you are told to wait for one charge to fall off. I do not know of any other company that has this practice and it is very concerning. They also have told me, days after I placed an order, my payment did not "go through" and they wanted to charge me again. I immediately provided transaction numbers and offered to have the bank representative on a three-way call to directly verify the transaction, which swanson refused. They wanted faxed copies of my account - I don't think so - even after they were e-mailed the information provided directly from my bank. It was only when I planned to file a complaint with my state's A.G. did they "find" my payment. Shipping is painfully slow unless you pay additional fees. I now only purchase items I absolutely cannot get elsewhere or are unusually inexpensive. It is a good idea to use a gift card for purchases so your bank account or credit card does not wind up with double charges for a period of time. Something is just not right.

3 years ago

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GEM Milwaukee, WI

I wanted to order Swanson brand zinc picolinate 22 mg 60 capsules. The price was $1.94!!!!! When I googled Swanson again, the price on this same item was $2.46! Either way, even with this price difference -- they should be identical -- the price for these is insanely low. The lowest price I could find on a different was Solgar brand -- exactly the same product -- for $8.24. I'd LOVE to get Swanson's low price, but as they say -- "if it's too good to be true . . . " I read the reviews and decided NOT to get this "deal." Swanson Premium Zinc Picolinate - Body Preferred Form ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.8 (91) write a review Item | SW1113 22 mg Per Serving 60 Servings Per Container $1.94 25% OFF $2.59 Deliver one-time only NEW! Subscribe now to unlock 15% off Swanson Brand and free shipping on

4 years ago

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jay Buena Park, CA

We have used Swanson for over 25 years. Long ago I actually used several of their brand products. Many years later I saw testing on most all supplements and vitamins from a few different legitimate research labs and found Swanson at or near the rock bottom. Talk about money down the drain, and how about the false sense of getting the quality products? Then you had to sweat shipping cost and wait to order large amounts so it became challenging . But the shipping was pretty fast, the CS pretty doggone good and ordering other reliable brands made it all work out. Oh, and they had a ONE YEAR SATISFACTION GUARANTEE. Guarantee is now 30 days!!!!! Idiotic. You cannot even try the products within this time normally. And the shipping? Forget about it. You spend over $50 its free and also takes weeks and weeks to get to CA. Its a hook to get you to pay more. So, ultimately their products are junk, place and service has gone to spit, guarantee is garbage, a ton of fake sales and customer service is atrocious. You automatically get shipped to the Philippines or use the VIP line and still its crap. Spending hundreds of dollars monthly for all this? Try other places and you may be surprised. Maybe not for much longer since big boys are buying them up.

5 years ago

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Zelda Columbia, MD

Do yourself a big favor and spend your money elsewhere. My last order went to the wrong address in another state and it was like pulling teeth to even get a customer service response (problem is still not fully resolved). There are numerous better online retailers that will not only ship your order in an expedient manner, but they will also make every attempt to TIMELY correct an error in order to satisfy and keep the customer! To add injury to insult, the recording on their phone line while waiting says that they have "award winning customer service"....hilarious. From where did the award come? The circus?

5 years ago

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JC

I too would give zero stars if I could. I ordered 40 of a particular product. I buy in bulk so it makes the most of the shipping fee. However, only 7 were delivered. When chatting with them they told me that 7 was my country's customs policy and it was clearly stated on the website. So they expect you to wade through pages of small text to read up on the customs procedure. I live in Canada and have ordered tons of stuff that has had to clear customs and it has NEVER been an issue. Surely it would make more sense to have a limit flash up before you check out or to send the customer an e-mail to see if they would like to proceed with just 7? They take no responsibility for not making this clear. They claim their service is great, but it the worst I have ever experienced in a very long time.

5 years ago

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Stormee A Druschel Scottsdale, AZ

I bought vitamins from this company 3 years ago and they came almost overnight. I was so happy with my service. Recently I decided to stock up and bought 150.00 of products. DON'T EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS SITE. Their customer service is in Asia or somewhere the hassle that i had micromanaging this order was not worth it. I cancelled it after they took so long to send it that the authorized funds went back into my bank account. They lied and said they were sorry and then left my order sit. We got tired of the dissapointment. They say a lot of good things and at one time were a great company. I suggest they bring their customer care back to the USA along with their level of affectiveness in order to protect their 70 year reputation. Right now my opinion is "not worth my time to order".

5 years ago

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Angela Lipton Danbury, CT

The reason I gave a 1 star rating is because I saw an item on their website I wanted to purchase for $6.45. A window popped up asking me to s ign up for their emails and in return I would get a 15% off coupon and free shipping. So I signed up and received my coupon. As soon as I went back to the website by clicking the link in the email, the item was now $8.07. So they raised the prince went you went into their website through the link you were forced to click on to recieve the 15% discount. PLUS, when you take 15% off $8.07 it comes to $6.83 and the price on the website said $6.45! So they scam you into giving them your email hoping you are too stupid to figure out what they are doing. To make matters worse, they dont give free shipping like they told me. When you go into the website through the link you are told you get free shipping on orders $50 and over. I don't like compainies like this that play games and try to screw you.

5 years ago

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Steve Millbrae, CA

I ordered vitamins and soap for the first time in a long time so I had to update my address. I did so when I finalized the order. I received a notice a week later telling me that the order was delivered. It turns out it was delivered to my old address. I contacted an agent via chat and explained the situation. The person took down my new address and assured me that it would be re-sent the next business day. I received a message a week later telling me that my package was delivered. I checked and discovered that it had - once again - been delivered to the same old address. I chatted with an agent again and was told that I have to change my address in their system (as if I had not done so - twice). I was so mad that I cancelled the order. I only hope that they actually refund my money.

5 years ago

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S.J. Webster Allen, TX

Now I remember why I order from VitaCost instead of Swanson's. Tonight their website would not let me put some of my checkout information in. Of course there is no phone number and the chat didn't work. What a shame this company is now such a dud.

5 years ago

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Amui Uniondale, NY

They had my order on hold because they claim the shipping and the billing address does not match. But they are the same. They did not contact me either. I have to call after three days when I checked on line and order still was not processed. They then said they will prioritize it. And there was a coupon that was not applied when they finally processed the order. I have to call to have them manually refund me the coupon amount. When I see the email that is was send via Fedex Smart post I called to complain again because that is not prioritize shipping. They then sent a reshipment overnight so it will arrive sooner, minus one item due to not able to be sent it overnight. After a week, I call to check for the tracking. Guess what they did not sent the reshipment of the last item. It was ridiculous. Swanson tried to rectify their wrong but they kept doing wrong. Expedited the shimpent in a slow shipping method. Holding off one item in the reshipment. What kind of customer service is this? I have to call like 5 times.

6 years ago

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amelia San Bernardino, CA

Unreliable and rude customer appreciation with shipping being free depending on their own feelings and prices on their website differs from the ones they give you over the telephone. For repeated orders, the customer service is strict in demanding that you spell out your name as well as address, alphabet by alphabet to him or her despite having the information already keyed into the system. Despite being a paying customer for years, they carry on as if each order is a new order and do not bother in extending any customer courtesy for bulk items ordered to which did not turn out well. If you were to request for a refund after the 30 day money back guarantee, they do not want to give out an actual physical address leaving you to use the return label enclosed with the order. However, they go beyond rudeness by challenging you to mail the items back to them at your own expense. As if you could?

6 years ago

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Elizabeth Newport, RI

AVOID THIS COMPANY. Swanson sold out to a leveraged buyout group about two years ago. Since then, customer service has become non-existent (rude, nasty), cheap fillers, cheap slow shipping, expired products shipped, sleazy promos included with shipments ++. I am a former customer of 35 years. Placed an order to be sent to my home. My billing address is a PO Box. Packages had been sent to my home for DECADES. The Swanson website defaulted shipping to the PO Box - which I go to once a month (if that). I called Swanson and asked them to right this error. SWANSON ERROR. They refused. I told them that Fedex notified me of a 'shipment exception' because package was going to PO Box. SWANSON ERROR. Swanson attitude: Tough - deal with it. That package was going to sit there for a month! Absolutely appalling and obnoxious. I told them I would not spend another nickel with Swanson. I called my post office and told them to refuse the package. The package was sent back. Swanson can shove it. I love the Vitacost and iHerb websites - go there. Both have awesome product selection, prices and CUSTOMER SERVICE.

6 years ago

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SM

Due to privacy issue, I am not providing my email while used to sign up with this company. I am based in Canada and order for delivery here. Putting things in perspective to give honest assessment: (1) The link below says, estimated delivery in 3-10 business days (Landmark Global Canadian delivery option) . The company does not start counting these days until order has left their warehouse Catch here is: Found them taking 2-5 days for shipments after the date of orders. So goods arrive past this period. For my recent order (Placed on February 16th, 2015), I am still waiting for the delivery. So far 12 business days have passed from the date of shipment (21 calender days) Link (referred above): https://www.swansonvitamins.com/help/international-information/top-searched-countries/canada.html (2) This period of 3-10 business days includes time taken for customs. (As confirmed by CSR: Molly B. during online chat on March 4, 2015 between 10:50am and 11:15am (EST) In my case, customs took 2 business days for the clearance, so standard excuse of "delays in customs clearance does not apply. (3) Personal experience on shipping: I have ordered over 15 parcels over the last 3 years (might have accounted for over $3000 purchase), in almost all cases after ordering, the shipment has happened after 2-5 business days. Usual response of CSR due to high volumes of orders, there is delay in shipment, we are sorry. Guys, hire more people instead of standard excuses? How does your apology solve any health problem? (4) Now, if ordered, and there is delay in shipment after ordering. The company policy is: Order can not be cancelled if the order processing has started So you get stuck! Solution: Call up their CSR, who if kind enough can take you out of this mess and might cancel the order. If it does not work, dispute the payment with credit card company and cancel the payment. (5) If order has passed 3-10 business days limit, then as per the policy of the company, the customer must wait 15 business days to receive refunds/replace the package by sending another parcel. So in such cases, after adding there is further time-lag to receive the shipment. So minimum 20 business days (or maybe over 26 calender days if count 2 days of weekends). And remember that this is from the day of shipmen. So hopefully in a month such orders might be received! (6) So what should a customer do if such goods are not received on time and have passed 3-10 business days from the date of shipment. The solution I found, dispute the payment and cancel the payment from your credit card company; instead of dealing with their hopeless customer service. (7) Now, god forbid if you have to deal with their CSR. If calling them, there is no record of that conversation. If chatting, (based on personal experience), if there is serious complaint and try to resolve that matter, less probability to receive the copy of that chat by email (their default option is to send the transcript of the chat by email), maybe the CSR does some magic! (8) If email them, then absolute useless responses: From my recent interaction: My email (Dated March 3, 2015 EST): "I have checked in your online tracking system of both service providers (which are Landmark and Canada Post), then called up Canada Post, the order status has not been updated for the last many days. Could you please investigate so I receive my order as it it urgent. CSR response (responded on March 4, 2015 by Courtney B., Email Specialist): We are sorry. You could check the tracking status at Canadapost.ca. We advise you to have patience. Guys: Did you read the email? How the hell patience would solve the health problem? Perhaps you should also go through the same problem to have the right experience. (9) Follow up email: My email (March 6, 2015): the order status has not been updated. These products are urgent due to my health issue, could you please investigate or reship the goods; CSR response (March 7, 2015 by Kellie B., Email Specialist): We are sorry. If you do not receive your goods by March 12, 2015, then contact us for further assistance. Also, can you verify your address with us? Now, I pray that you have similar health issues so that you learn to deal with the real issue rather than doing smart talk. Verify your address: Guys, how many orders have you shipped so far and for how many years? You can not do this earlier? Long-live smart talk! So after pleading and waiting for 21 calender days, the order status has changed (so that gives everyone the solution that one should wait to be harassed by their CSR, and if you are alive by that time due to them being sorry/having patience, then perhaps order status change would be granted to you. In my case, unfortunately it is a weekend, so might have to wait another 2-3 days! (10) Found other options: (a) eVitamins.com (b) iHerb.com (c) VitaminLife.com (d) LuckyVitamin.com (e) Vitacost.com Canadians beware, 12-months refund option only applies to the orders within the US. Pardon my grammar and spelling mistakes if any.

9 years ago

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Don M Tucson, AZ

Shipping is horrendous. I made a purchase on Nov 21 that was shipped on the 21st and now they tell me it won't be delivered until the 30th. It's sitting in a FedEX depot in Olathe, Kansas for the last 3 days and hasn't moved.

11 months ago

Swanson Logo

Reply from Swanson

So sorry to hear that your package has yet to deliver. With the Thanksgiving holiday in the mix and our standard shipping arrival in 6 business days, you can expect delivery by this weeks end. If you do not see any updates to your shipment tracking, I encourage you to reach out to our Customer Support Team for assistance so that we can resolve.

Nov. 29th, 2023

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Steve Odom Sun City, CA

Swanson's delivery is extremely slow, and they give the customer very misleading information about delivery times. After getting the customer's delivery address, Swanson gives an estimated delivery date which is off by weeks! This is not a matter of a few days, but weeks! As an individual I get FedEx delivery in just a few days. Why can't a volume shipper like Swanson get delivery within the estimated delivery time, or at least very close to the estimated delivery date. From now on I will buy from VitaCost, because they deliver within a week.

1 year ago

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Doris Suzi Maystrom-Gay Crescent, OK

I love all swanson brands but I wanted to suggest ground clover for parasites and it does take using it for 10 days or more to make a difference.

1 year ago

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Sophie Weston Portland, OR

I have shopped Swanson Vitamins for over 26 years. I will never use their "store" again. After Swanson Vitamins acquisition by Swander Pace Capital the entire purpose of helping people with health and wellness has gone up in smoke. I am so disappointed to lose the honesty that Swanson Vitamins brought to me. Profit is all that Swander Pace Capital brings here. It seems very disingenuous that there is a preprinted word here that says amazing-- what a horrible disappointment.

2 years ago

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Barbara Frances Salt Lake City, UT

First complaint - I ordered Salonpas patches for which the description states “large” patches but when they arrived they were very small. I assumed it was an oversight or I might have misread it but the description still says “large”. The 2nd complaint, Swanson made an unauthorized charge to my checking account for $58.10 on 12/23/2020.. I have no idea what this is or what it’s for but this charge needs to be reversed or refunded back to my account. I KNOW this is fraudulent because I wasn’t even on my phone yesterday!!

3 years ago

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Boxer Mom Redwood Falls, MN

My orders have always been handled with great care and if anything happened it has always been replaced with in a timely manner.

5 years ago

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Tim Jensen Beach, FL

TOTAL JOKE!!, spent 5 days and as many phone calls to place order during last BIG sale. No answer on phone orders after hours on hold!! Now, after the BIG sale they are MAGICALLY ANSWERING THE PHONES AGAIN. This is truly a giant bait and switch,with some lame clown responding to my last review in which they informed they were training new operators. A far better approach would be to ADMIT you did not anticipate huge response to the BIG SALE, AND ARE TAKING CORRECTIVE MEASURES TO DO BETTER. Unfortunately their customer service also needs help.

5 years ago

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Pat Macon, GA

Their capsules smell like it has been gassed like produce at the grocery store. They don't work like other name brand supplements. They send you twice a day harrassing frequent emails. If you go to decrease the frequency of the emails. The choice to completely stop the emails... States a nasty "I don't want any specials, I am going to pay full price". I am blackballing the company as one I no longer do any business with. I haven't been buying in a long time as they don't have but 1 supplement that works and I only need it once a year. I will be buying elsewhere for it.

5 years ago

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Sandra Collins Louisville, TN

I have ordered from Swanson for years. Now all of a sudden customer service is answered by people who sound like they are from India and cannot spell or understand how many numbers are in your zip code. Then they tell yu the price is already marked down and refuse to give the 30% off. Today they tried to tell me they already gave me the 20% off. I was on hold for 1 hour and 15 minutes before they even picked up the phone call. Terrible customer service!

5 years ago

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Becca Vancouver, WA

Call center must be in India. Their promotions are not available for everything on the website so I had to call in. Took 30 minutes to even get ahold of anyone. Guy could not for the life of him speak well enough to take my order. I think I repeated myself at least ten times. Got no confirmation number, no estimated date, nothing. Seems kinda fishy. So hopefully I’ll actually get vitamins and not scammed.

5 years ago

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Amy S Tyler, TX

I ordered 40,000 volts electrolytes and paid 9.99 extra for the expedited shipping. It didn't arrive for several days later because they didn't initially ship it out for a few days. It arrived with the box wet and dripping, so i had to refuse the package. I notified swanson and asked that another package be expedited. They got back with me 3 days later that they would expedite the package and sorry for the issue. I look at tracking and it won't arrive for another week. What a disappointment! I needed the product. I won't be using this company again!

5 years ago

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Alex

Very disappointed with swansonvitamins. After receiving plenty of e-mail, I decided to place an order. Then, swansonvitamins do not send the order arguing something wrong about the address and the credit card. There is nothing wrong neither with the credit card, nor the shipping address. I placed orders at iherb, betterlife, lukcyvitaming, amazon, ebay, fastech… with no problems. They make me waste my time. I cancelled the order.

5 years ago

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DJ

They cancelled my first order because my billing address did not match my shipping address, and claim they sent me an email informing me, but I received nothing. They cancelled the second order a week later, also without informing me. The chat service (LiveHelpNow) says "the order was flagged for suspected fraud and cancelled." I have had problems with this company in the past, too. Their online interface is simply too dinosaur-era to trust. Do not do business with them. If you MUST do business with them (they DO have good prices and selection), CALL them, do NOT order online.

6 years ago