Know Better Reviews 6

I was one of Know Better’s first orders in July of last year. My order number is 1001, so I may have been THE first order.
I received my kit at the start of January, 6 months later. The owner repeatedly told me that my kit would be shipped tomorrow, first thing Monday, next week, etc. It took 6 months of me being told that it would be shipped “in a few days” for my kit to show up.
Every other customer I’ve spoken to has reported a similar story.

My kit didn’t just show up 6 months late. It arrived with some of the reagents unlabelled and the Hoffman was discoloured to the point that the owner was unsure if he accidentally sent me Mandelin instead.

The owner confessed to me that his “manufacturing facility” where the reagents are mixed and assembled is a motel room, and on a couple of occasions a motel bathroom.
There are also some safety concerns presented with providing him with your address, though to avoid sharing his personal misconduct and his legal issues I will not detail those further.

Overall, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you do not order from Know Better. When they take 2-6 months to ship you a kit that you were promised would arrive within a week and mix their chemicals in motel rooms while the competition ships out on time and use professional laboratories, it’s pretty clear that you are getting what you pay for. It’s only $20-40 more to actually have your kit show up.

EDIT: Rather than responding to my review, the owner elected to attempt to have it removed. Trustpilot thankfully did not comply with this request. I can now understand why I am the only negative review on here despite the near-universal negative reviews of Know Better on Reddit and other platforms.

Date of experience: July 05, 2023

Was delayed a while, but they kept in contact and did pull through for me in the end. Everything is there and it is packaged professionally, would not think they are a small business at first glance. Impressive presentation for only $40. Website is not online right now, seemed like the person running this is going through it which caused kind of long delays, but I certainly got my money's worth in the end. Wanted to share my experience just in case they do open up again, good company in heart & I bet they will be big as long as they keep at it. Thank you for the great service! Highly recommend this brand, especially if you are not in a hurry.

Date of experience: December 31, 2023

Really happy I came across this company. Full sets of reagents from other companies tend to be double or even triple the price. I've purchased full sets before and am much happier with my purchase from Know Better! The packaging is great and I love the container to keep all the reagents in. It also came with a cool test tray that's labeled for your reagents.

I wasn't sure how to use the Morris reagent and got a quick response and troubleshooting. 10/10 this is the company I will use for all my reagent needs.

Date of experience: November 01, 2023

Due to some unfortunate miscommunications between myself and Mr. Know Better, I initially had doubts about the legitimacy of the whole thing and kind of wrote it off.

After voicing these concerns, Mr. Know Better reached out to me personally, explaining that because the original order was a gift, his system glitched and didn’t show any electronic record of the order; he’s currently running every facet of the service single-handedly, so I’m sure it was just an honest to goodness mistake.

Mr. Know profusely apologized for the error and assured me that he was expediting the order to next day delivery. Sure enough, the next day I had a discrete white box on my doorstep.

Upon opening the package I was legitimately impressed by the amount of effort and attention to detail Mr. Know’s kit had. The reagents are snugly packaged in a plastic container that lists them all and are protected by a custom black and white insert.
The reagents themselves are individually packaged in amber glass vials with color coded labels, each tightly sealed and shrink wrapped.
Also included was a plastic mixing dish (similar to an acrylic paint pot) with labels so that you’re not forgetting what reagents have been where. As well as a brush and tiny pipettes and a link to a guide for interpreting your results.

I’ve so far tested 9 different substances, five were substances that I already knew the makeup of as to test the accuracy and effectiveness; and it accurately identified all five. One of the other four came out as testing as something completely different than what it was sold as, something that could’ve been very harmful. So in my opinion this kit has already proven it’s worth and potentially saved lives.

I apologize for the lengthy response. I’d thought I’d been scammed or bamboozled, when the fact of the matter is this is just one guy putting these kits together and legitimately trying and giving it his all. I am extremely satisfied with the product and genuinely wish Mr. Know Better all the best, as I will be recommending his product to friends and colleagues.

Date of experience: October 12, 2023

the product itself are great, although there is not enough instructions such as a color-code for which is which based on the colors on the top. i recommend adding a label to the top to be able to easily distinguish between them all.
packaging was quite sturdy and very low chance of breakage during shipping, also very fun packaging inside.
also it DOES look like a painting kit, and even someone highly intelligent wouldn't be able to distinguish the two without looking into it more.
staff has been extremely kind though and helped me all along the way with whatever questions i might have.
so far all the reagents are producing reactions as they should.
overall a great experience, and i am pleased with the product i recieved.

Date of experience: September 29, 2023

I have bought or otherwise owned kits from most major vendors and a few small ones too, and none of them made me "excited" to own a jar of chemical reagents before this order came. I only have had the kit for one week, but over the weekend was able to verify that no reagents arrived expired, the volume is as advertised, and everything tested reacts the same as my Bunk Police and DanceSafe reagents did.

Service was accommodating. There was a somewhat long delay, but they ultimately came through for me. My order was part of their opening sale and the reasons they gave for the delays made sense as a company just starting out. They upgraded me to overnight shipping and made sure I had the kit before the weekend when I said I had a show. They tried to offer more to make up for the delay but honestly at the current price, I feel bad that I took them up on just overnight shipping because I don't see how they would be turning a profit at all off this order. The guy who helped me was really courteous and helpful the whole time.

The only other thing I would say is that if you need the stuff fast then make sure ahead of time that they can honor the shipping guarantees because it was clear they were struggling to keep up with demand a little bit. Great transparent company, hope to see them grow and maybe raise their prices a little to avoid delays and stay in business... :) 5/5 overall, keep it up!

Date of experience: August 26, 2023