Southern Aminos - COA does NOT match vial content. Is this acceptable?
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I made a purchase this week for the first time from Southern Aminos for 15 vials of AOD-9604. I received 5 vials individually in their casing they provide that match their listing on their site and corresponds to the COA from Freedom Diagnostics (Red cap/Silver crimp and purity of 99.5% and mass of 6.14mg from March 2026) But I also received a kit of 10 vials that have a different purity of 99.1% and mass of 5.42mg but uses the same COA but also has a Red cap/Silver crimp. The label on these vials look much older as if they were sitting for some time and yellowed. If you look on their website they had a previous batch from July of 2025 that had 99.1% purity and 5.62mg (Yellow cap/Silver crimp) that was tested by Chromate and not tested for Endotoxins as they do with Freedom Diagnostics. My concern is since they have the same silver crimp, could they not just remove the yellow cap and put on a red cap to match this years batch?
I do not feel comfortable using these 10 vials as I am not sure they are from this years batch that was tested for endotoxins by Freedom Diagnostics. I asked Southern Aminos to replace these 10 vials with the same 5 vials I received and they stated they would not do that. Is it normal for all these vials to be in the same batch? How can I conclude that these 10 vials are from the same batch if the mass and purity do not match what the COA states?
Appreciate anyones thoughts if this is normal operations or not? Before this I was ordering from Skye peptides and I haven't encountered such an issue before. Thanks
Pictures of the different vials.
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They are a good vendor but their COA management and batch ID monitoring messy indeed.
I bought something a few months ago and when I tried to look up that COA it's not there at all and they can't locate it. It was there when I bought as I don't buy without checking COA.
When I reached out they gave some flimsy explanation, and sent me another COA with different batch ID claiming since the cap color matches, it's the same product.
I would think twice before ordering from them in the future.
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@denti Can't comment on your specific situation but I agree they are messy in COA management and I wouldn't use them again unless something I want desperately that only they carry.
On another forum I also read someone complaining that they recommended Southern Aminos to their relatives, relatives ran into some problem with the order and SA similarly refused to do it right, were rude and in fact blocked the relative from their site.
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@denti in your case though the batch ID is exactly the same. So why do you think they are different products? Where exactly did you see different purity and mass on the label?
UPDATE: saw the second pic and yes got your point.
Their labels do turn yellow and look crappy old. Agree.
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In my case the batch ID, purity, mass all are different from the COA they sent me.
They are messy. Their COA listing on product page is also messy. It feels like neither owner nor anyone else from their team have themselves looked at the website.
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@denti in your case though the batch ID is exactly the same. So why do you think they are different products? Where exactly did you see different purity and mass on the label?
UPDATE: saw the second pic and yes got your point.
Their labels do turn yellow and look crappy old. Agree.
Yes on the labels you can see completely different purity and mass. But using the same Batch #.
It seems to me that these older discolored yellow labeled vials are from last years batch that was tested by Chromate and didn't not test for endotoxins as the mass and purity is almost identical to the Chromate COA. Honestly seems like they took off the yellow cap and put on red caps to match this years batch and sent me old inventory that was sitting there and passing it off as if its part of this years batch that was tested thoroughly.
Chromate COA that seems to match the older yellowed vials:
Chromate COAFreedom Diagnostics COA that match the correct 5 vials I received. Even the label looks newer and correct on the good 5 vials I received.
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Yes on the labels you can see completely different purity and mass. But using the same Batch #.
It seems to me that these older discolored yellow labeled vials are from last years batch that was tested by Chromate and didn't not test for endotoxins as the mass and purity is almost identical to the Chromate COA. Honestly seems like they took off the yellow cap and put on red caps to match this years batch and sent me old inventory that was sitting there and passing it off as if its part of this years batch that was tested thoroughly.
Chromate COA that seems to match the older yellowed vials:
Chromate COAFreedom Diagnostics COA that match the correct 5 vials I received. Even the label looks newer and correct on the good 5 vials I received.
@denti they can't change cap colors like that because it's sealed on. They don't lyophilize themselves and doing this cap change will be a bigger headache.
Honestly what might have happened is they tested the batch again with different vials and put old purity and content on old vials and new on the new ones without changing batch ID. Although whatever it is they owe an explanation to you. Agree
and can't just shake off their responsibility -
Many of these vendors just escape their COA mess because very few buyers actually check COAs and batch IDs etc before and after purchasing.
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@denti they can't change cap colors like that because it's sealed on. They don't lyophilize themselves and doing this cap change will be a bigger headache.
Honestly what might have happened is they tested the batch again with different vials and put old purity and content on old vials and new on the new ones without changing batch ID. Although whatever it is they owe an explanation to you. Agree
and can't just shake off their responsibilityThat's a possible scenario. I found their reply surprising as I am a new customer and buy in bulk. I prefer to buy from US based vendors that include full test which is what I thought I was getting with this first purchase of 15 vials of AOD-9604 from them. It seems simple enough for them to make me happy as a customer and continue getting my business by just replacing the 10 vials with the same ones they shipped of the other 5 vials. I found them from using the link here on Peptide Critic. Hopefully Randy can weigh in what his thoughts are and what is acceptable in this situation.
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Vendors do retest their batches if they expand their testing or they split a big batch into smaller ones and release in selling.
My guess is that's what has happened in your vials case. I don't think they have changed vial caps, that's not possible and will be a bigger headache than just selling those old vials through specials for discount. Tons of people flock BOGO sales without caring for COAs.
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That's a possible scenario. I found their reply surprising as I am a new customer and buy in bulk. I prefer to buy from US based vendors that include full test which is what I thought I was getting with this first purchase of 15 vials of AOD-9604 from them. It seems simple enough for them to make me happy as a customer and continue getting my business by just replacing the 10 vials with the same ones they shipped of the other 5 vials. I found them from using the link here on Peptide Critic. Hopefully Randy can weigh in what his thoughts are and what is acceptable in this situation.
@denti Sweetness is not their quality. I decided to avoid them due to their COA mismanagement.
If you want perfect execution and transparent COAs, Mile High, Glacier, EZ etc are better options. EZ didn't do endotoxin testing though last I checked so I never used them. MHC and Glacier were perfect.
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They responded to my last email asking if there was a COA available for the 99.1% purity vial. They responded with this. I guess I will return the 10 vials to them unless Randy thinks these are fine to keep and their explanation makes sense.
"We run multiple batches of many products at one time, some small companies can go from one batch to another however larger business cannot do that and maintain an inventory without going out of stock. I'm sorry that you had that expectation, no where did we ever give any indications or guarantees of a single batch.
If you would like you are welcome to return the unused/unopened vials, once they are received we will issue a refund for those vials, however we cannot reship because again we do not make promises to specific batches, these ship from a large fulfillment center and they cannot do batch specific requests. Possibly Skye Peptides can help you with batches specific requests if they are a smaller company capable of those requests."
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They responded to my last email asking if there was a COA available for the 99.1% purity vial. They responded with this. I guess I will return the 10 vials to them unless Randy thinks these are fine to keep and their explanation makes sense.
"We run multiple batches of many products at one time, some small companies can go from one batch to another however larger business cannot do that and maintain an inventory without going out of stock. I'm sorry that you had that expectation, no where did we ever give any indications or guarantees of a single batch.
If you would like you are welcome to return the unused/unopened vials, once they are received we will issue a refund for those vials, however we cannot reship because again we do not make promises to specific batches, these ship from a large fulfillment center and they cannot do batch specific requests. Possibly Skye Peptides can help you with batches specific requests if they are a smaller company capable of those requests."
@denti TBH I think you are fine to use these vials.
FWIW, I usually communicate with a vendor to confirm batches before ordering and SA had given me exactly same reply months ago before ordering. So if it's any comfort for you they are not cooking up this reply for you. That's how they do their batch management.
But I will defer to Jeff/Randy for final verdict.
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A bit off topic, but I am not sure which makes me feel better: a single guy shipping product out of a U-Store unit or a vendor using third party logistics to ship leb chemicals I am injecting into my most treasured cat.
Every day that I wake up is further evidence of my immortality.
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A bit off topic, but I am not sure which makes me feel better: a single guy shipping product out of a U-Store unit or a vendor using third party logistics to ship leb chemicals I am injecting into my most treasured cat.
@ResearchCat id say a majority of the vendors probably ship out of non descript backwater warehouses. thats why we test and double check. lol
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@quicksilver80 yeah, I have mapped the shipping address of every peptide vendor I have bought from and without exception, the address is a storage unit or a mailbox etc or similar.
Like you said, as long as the tests are good and prices ok, I am fine with that.
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Offering a full refund is in my opinion A+ service recovery. Let me tell you about the vendor who told me to "shove my money up my ass" when I asked for a refund of undelivered product. Messy upfront, excellent business recovery in this case. You should be thrilled at the outcome
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FWIW SA is a vetted vendor on another forum I'm part of and that guy doesn't onboard anyone without talking to a real human owner and cross checking their COAs with labs independently.
I think you are fine. But if you still have doubts, just return and get refund.
