Remember how I said I didn't know anything about their customer service?
A bunch of people didn't get their May bags yet, even though they got tracking numbers two weeks ago. The tracking numbers are invalid. They're not getting help via email, and there's no customer service number to call. On Facebook they say they are "experiencing a high number of emails" and to be patient, but really, over a week's response time when they have already charged people for the bag is not cool. They should stop expanding if they can't handle the business they already have.
Anyway, I wanted to update you on that. I'm not canceling my account or anything, but I think that's pretty shameful behavior on their part. I hope they sort it all out.
Over the years, I've been subscribed to 5 different beauty boxes (Luxe, Glymm, Topbox, Glossybox and Ipsy), and in my experience Topbox has hands down the best customer service, followed by Luxebox (back in the day. I unsubscribed when they started seasonal boxes so I have no idea what it's like now), while Glossy is the most consistently bad (NEVER answering CS emails, forcing subscribers to communicate via Facebook, which I find extremely unprofessional, not being honest with subscribers, skirting around big issues, etc).
ReplyDeleteIpsy has always rated in the middle for me, as they're normally good at answering emails within a decent time frame (less than a week) and fixing bag issues. This latest issue is a little out of the ordinary for them, and seems more like something that Glossy would do (i.e the current debacle of nobody being charged for May, despite the charge usually coming out at the beginning of the month and no answers from Glossy in the last 2 weeks other than "we're looking into it"). Hopefully they figure out the problem and let us know what went wrong. That's all I would expect of them. However, when something like this happens and we're given NO information, it makes it seem like the company is trying to hide something.
It seems that, no matter how bad customer service gets with these boxes (lookin' at you, Glossy), people stay subscribed because they feel like they're getting a deal. Yes, the contents of your box are almost always worth more than they would cost to purchase , when you factor the value of the sample versus the cost of the full-size. However, many people forget that these samples are supposed to be free for these box companies. The brand PR and advertising people send them to the companies for free (or are supposed to) as a way to get word out about their product, that's why many of the products are similar or identical to testers, things you can get in gift-with-purchase perks, samples you could get if you bugged at a makeup counter, etc. For the company, they are seen as an advertising expense.
What the beauty box subscriber is paying for is A) Delivery/shipping/packing and not having to go out and track down these samples ourselves and
B) Customer service.
So, if the customer service sucks, are you really getting a deal? If half of what you're actually paying for with these subscriptions is terrible or non-existent, is it really worth the price of the bo, despite the value of the samples? I'm definitely one of these people. I dropped Glossy after I got fed up with their crap but, after the 2 boxes that would have been bmy last, there was such a drastic change in quality, I re-subscribed. However, with this latest debacle, and a pretty crappy CS experience last month, I'm once again questioning my decision to stay. If they change their ways and are actually honest (i.e sending out an email as to what went wrong with the payments and how they're going to fix it, not a tiny blurb on their facebook page in the hopes a bunch of customers won't see it) about the current payment problem, I will definitely stay subscribed. But if they keep screwing us without any explanation, I will definitely be leaving for good.
(I just realized the majority of my rant was about Glossy. I guess tl;dr version of this comment is Ipsy CS isn't normally bad, so don't worry xD)
Thanks, that's all very useful to know, since I haven't tried Glossy Box. It's too expensive for me to feel comfortable gambling with. One of the reasons I've liked Glam Bag better than, say, Birchbox is related to what you say about samples. Little vials of perfume and packets of moisturizer aren't worth anything. In Glam bag, I've got many more full-size products or minis, rather than single-use samples. As I say in my review, I suspect that a lot of the products are things that the company has overstock of and wants to clear out, but that's fine. It's still more value for my money in addition to the convenience.
DeleteAnyway, we'll see what happens with this mess! Sometimes I feel a little sorry for the poor Facebook minders, who seem like they have little-to-no authority to tell anyone anything useful but get stuck with the brunt of the complaints, since there's no other convenient outlet.
Yeah, I totally agree. People are going there because they're not getting replies from CS, but generally people who run the social media part of a company have little to nothing to do with the processing, billing, service, packing or shipping, so they can only relay what they've been told, or, direct people to email CS, which people have already done and which in turn makes people madder.
DeleteLike I mentioned, I find it EXTREMELY unprofessional to have to rely on facebook (or anything outside the product/company website) for vital information. I only started using facebook in the last year or so, so I'd imagine there's others who don't either. If a company is posting important information only on facebook, there's a huge possibility that a number of their customers won't receive it. The best way to handle something like the missing bag problem Ipsy is having is simply to send an email to all subscribers saying it's come to their attention some tracking numbers are not working, that some bags have not been delivered, and that they are looking into it. Even this little gesture would show that they're being proactive about the problem and they wanted to be as upfront with customers as possible, rather than customers having to chase down answers themselves. Just making the effort to acknowledge a problem, even if they can't fix it right at this moment, is better than trying to hide it.