“I knew it was a scam”: More former workers come forward to say The Rounds’ sustainability claims don’t add up.

Buying new jars instead of cleaning old ones. Driving personal vehicles for drop-offs. These former employees joined the startup for its green mission, but left disillusioned.

Weekly deliveries from Amazon, Costco, and Walmart. Compost bins tossed in the dumpster. Plastic, cardboard, and dirty mason jars piled up in a warehouse.

Following Green Philly’s investigation into The Rounds’ sustainability practices — or lack thereof — three additional former employees have come forward to share their experiences working for the startup delivery service in Philadelphia between 2022 and 2024.

They each described a disorganized company, seemingly overwhelmed by demand and unable to keep up with its promise to source locally and reduce waste.

“Part of my job was to open, like, all of the toothpaste. They were in boxes and boxes — and boxes inside of the boxes. You’re paying a subscription price for someone to open boxes for you,” said Leah*, who worked in the Rounds’ Northern Liberties warehouse in 2022. “I knew it was a scam, but I loved my coworkers. They’re the reason I stayed.”

Editor’s note: Two names* have been changed at the request of those sharing their stories.

Behind the scenes: Big-box brands

As consumers seek to ditch Amazon and other major retailers, The Rounds markets itself as an eco-friendly alternative that buys in bulk primarily from local partners – going as far as selling “Bye Bye, Bezos” hats (until the item was quietly removed from its online store last week).

While The Rounds has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Green Philly, a representative provided a statement to one customer who inquired about greenwashing claims made in our April 8 article:

“We source high-quality products in the most sustainable ways available, prioritizing direct relationships with local vendors, preferred partners, such as Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-Op and bulk suppliers,” said the message, which the customer forwarded to Green Philly. “On very rare occasions when an item is out of stock, we may order from a larger conventional retailer… but this is not our standard practice and only impacts a small fraction of orders.”

However, every former employee interviewed for this story confirmed that The Rounds’ Philadelphia warehouse received regular deliveries from major retailers — including Amazon, Costco, Walmart, and pet supplier Chewy – on a weekly basis. Photos and videos shared with Green Philly show stacks of boxes from big-box brands piled inside the warehouse. Individually packaged items like toilet paper and paper towels arrived on large pallets, wrapped in additional plastic.

On occasion, The Rounds even ordered last-minute items from competing delivery services like Instacart and Gopuff, according to Ron Nwumeh, who worked for the company from 2022 until 2024.

“A Gopuff person would pull up to the warehouse and drop off items for us to deliver. How crazy is that?“ said Nwumeh, who delivered to customers via e-bike as a so-called “Rounder.”

Dirty jars and compost fails

Jonah*, who worked at The Rounds from 2022 until 2023 in a hybrid role, said the company also did not always make good on its promise to reuse, recycle, or refill.

Rounders were instructed to collect empty jars and dispensers from customers’ doorsteps and deposit them into large bins, which were then transported to a community kitchen in West Philadelphia for washing and refilling. But the volume of dirty containers quickly overwhelmed the small staff.

“They were constantly buying new containers instead of washing the used ones,” Jonah said. “We kept all the jars, but we didn’t have any space for them. So they would just stack up in the corners of the warehouse. It was a mess.”

Each night, the company also dealt with a surplus of day-old bread from Philly-based Lost Bread Co., which employees would take home – or toss in the trash – according to Jonah, Nwumeh, and Leah.

The Rounds’ compost pick-up plan also did not always operate as advertised. The company offers to “route your compost, donations, and recycling to our vetted partners,” but Nwumeh said he would occasionally find customers’ compost bins in the dumpster.

Even though deliveries were typically made by e-bike, employees said that when bikes were out of commission, they were asked to use their own personal vehicles to drop off items.

“My manager would tell me to park down the block, so customers wouldn’t see my car,” Nwumeh said.

Burnout and mismanagement

All three former employees said they joined The Rounds because they believed in its mission of growth and sustainability — and each was quickly disillusioned.

“There was so much turnover, that at one point, only three e-bike couriers were delivering to the entire city,” said Nwumeh, who joined The Rounds after dropping out of medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and was paid $18 per hour. “We were working 10- to 12-hour days. It was hard.”

Jonah started at The Rounds as an e-bike courier and then transitioned into an assistant manager position (without the title, he said) in which he made trips back and forth between The Rounds’ three Philadelphia warehouses.

He and Nwumeh both described working with unkind, ineffective managers. Jonah said he was forced out of his role after a manager accused him of stealing inventory.

“During my last week, I sent [Rounds CEO Alexander Torrey] a long, professional email to see if he could just talk to me. I had only met him twice, and I don’t know if he was aware of everything that was going on,” Jonah said. “I never got a response.”