This is definitely a rant. An uncharacteristically long ranty tanty rant.
I found out last night that my BellaBox membership was cancelled by the company because I have cancelled the next cycle of payments – without warning or reason. In January this year, I paid for 1 full year’s subscription (that’s 12 + 1 free box) upfront. I have previously written briefly about both my beauty subscription boxes – BellaBox and Glamabox, both of which I find have good and bad months. These boxes sometimes arrive later than the 15th of the month and you know, that takes the fun out of it. I subscribe to the Rough Trade Album of the Month Club and they send me CDs on time from half-way round the world!
Out of the supposed 13 boxes I paid for, I have so far received 6. When I realised that my friend whom I introduced to BellaBox had received hers a few days earlier, I wrote to ask why mine was delayed. I was told that my membership was canceled. This is odd and somewhat unfair because whilst I’m not planning to renew my subscription in 2013, they still have to cater to the 7 boxes I have already paid for. Maybe some administrative screw-up because of scalability issues, I don’t know. But that was the only reply I got.
This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I have received my refund via PayPal. And I also noticed that the comments that I (and another frustrated former subscriber, a Miss Foo, whom I don’t personally know) made have been deleted. I can now no longer post on their page. I have since unLIKED the page (not that it would be detrimental to their count or profits).
I’m sure I wasn’t posting explicit or nasty things and I haven’t had any of these issues addressed. In the 3 posts I made, I asked a) why my box was delayed again and what the issue was this time? b) Why my box membership was cancelled even though I paid 1 year upfront and only cancelled the NEXT cycle that was due only in February 2013? I also commented that c) it’s unfair to not take care of existing customers just because they have canceled future business d) I’d rather seek a full refund now than go through the same grief for another 7x (after another user said she was billed again after she cancelled).
What prompted me to cancel the next cycle in the first place, was that BellaBox had increased their prices (by a measly S$5) but I felt it didn’t improve in tandem with the quality of the products received nor their service. I am paying for the service, right?
Oh well, I got my refund – almost S$90. That, I really appreciate. And I think I’ll use it to offset the cost for a brand new subscription with VanityTrove. Because I’m a sucker for surprises and I love getting parcels in the mail – and even though it costs more than BellaBox, they appear to have nicer stuff and fewer complaints. Fingers crossed that I’ll have a better experience!
An Exercise In Trivial Pursuits 
That’s not very nice of them! Oh well, their loss. These beauty boxes are taking the world by storm, here in South Africa we’ve got quite a few of them such as Glossybox, Glambox , Rubybox and then even a box for teens, men, babies and pregnant women. I love these boxes. I plan on subscribing next year, I’m first testing all the boxes to see which one I like most. My only problem is that one month I’m happy with a box then the next month I’m not and I find one of the other boxes better. Looking forward to reading your future posts about your beauty box!
http://www.citygirlvibe.com
Yeah! It’s really odd. I think they’re expanding too quickly without a good business plan.
But you know it’s been really helpful trying out different stuff and I know now that I prefer serums to creams or gels! The other little stuff that I can’t use, I can pack and regift to others!
You should monitor the boxes you like and then read reviews from other subscribers. I think that really helps. BellaBox wasn’t that bad when it started. It’s unfortunate that they’re unable to cope and have become a little too ambitious.
I saw your comment on their page and was about the add when I realised it was deleted. I cannot believe that Bellabox deleted your comment. Why don’t you ask a friend to post in your behalf- I feel other subscribers should know about this. Bellabox should not ramp up and increase subscriptions until they are equipped to handle the same.
I wouldn’t want to trouble my friends that way. Also, creating a new profile just to troll them is too much of a hassle. I did get my refund back. Needless to say, I won’t be recommending anyone else for the time-being. Are you a BellaBox subscriber? Did you encounter any problems?
Yes, I guess you are right- always better to take the high road. I started my subscription this month and still have not received my August bellabox. I was checking their page for updates on the same when I ended up seeing your post. I guess there are a lot of complaints this month from subscribers not receiving their box on time to subscribers getting lesser stuff than advertorial bloggers.
I hope your box arrives soon. And that you won’t have as much problems as I did! Enjoy your box when it arrives! I’ve just paid for my Vanity Trove subscription and I can’t wait to get my first box next month!
Websites deleting unfavorable comments never ceases to amaze me, don’t they know it’s a bad PR move? Anyway, I just cancelled my Bellabox subscription after subscribing for almost a year. At first the idea seemed fun, then month after month I found myself opening Bellabox to find the featured products less-than-exciting but I carried on anyway, thinking spending $15 (and later $19.95) was not that big a deal.
But in the end, wasted money is still wasted. I am also left with so many boxes and samples of stuff I don’t want, creating chaos in my drawers and cabinets.
But the final nail in the coffin was when I discovered a suspicious transaction under Bellabox name in my bank account. I emailed Bellabox to inquire and received an auto-generated reply promising they’d reply within 3 business days. After 3 days had passed with no news, I called them up. The girl answering my phone was helpful but she was flustered when I inquired her about my email, it was clear she wasn’t aware of it. It was as good as just sending my email that day! Not professional and very disorganized, especially when you’ve made a promise to a customer.