Services that people rave about, turn out to be the pits

[Shanna-like-Banana]

What services have you tried, based on either rave reviews, personal references, etc, that you feel didn't "measure up ". Or that you tried and are glad you did ?

I've tried several services over the years, some were decent, some I tried for a while and cancelled, and some were just all around not good.

Ipsy/Birchbox/Beauty Army, type boxes.
For a little while I had several boxes going at once. Ispy, Birchbox, Beauty Army, the Target box and the WalMart box. I've kept Ipsy, because they send me the most relative products to my lifestyle. No matter how many boxes I rated or reviewed through Birchbox & Beauty Army, I just seemed to get stuff that I would never use, or the quality of the tiny little items were no more than the sampled glued into magazines. There were also several months were I would receive the exact same item in several of the boxes, such as one month I got the same mascara multiple times. I have kept with the WalMart box, since it's only $5 quarterly and the items seem pretty decent.

A second service I've tried is the WalMart grocery pick up. While the online shopping cart was pretty expansive and a good comprehensive range of products. I didn't really feel the pick up saved much on time. My first pick up service took over 35 mins. Call 10 mins away, call when you park, wait 10 mins for them to come out. It seemed like every single item had its own bag, the list was in no coherent order, just a complete mix-mash of various items. I had 3 items missing, 2 items substituted, and 1 item they completely didn't have. For my 20 item list, I felt like I could have gone in the store, shopped myself and paid quicker than waiting in the car. It was supposed to simplify the process. My second pick up was very similar to the first, where the clerk really didn't seem knowledgeable about the products or where they were in the store, to go get the forgotten items. I'm willing to give it another try though.

My last being Hello Fresh food service. I started my subscription via a Groupon. I had been curious about the service for some time, but couldn't justify the cost for the family box. At the time, it was approx $130 for 3 meals of 4 servings, I equated it to be about $40 per dinner, $10 per serving. The Groupon was approx half the cost for 2 boxes. I had problems with 4 of the 6 boxes. I spaced my boxes out, pausing the service to only get delivered 1 box every 2 or 3 weeks, so I had it going over a few months. I had several problems with delivery, once being delivered to the correct house #, but one street over, several times the boxes being either crushed, wet or leaking. I was able to reject one order where I watched the UPS driver drop the box down the stairs of his truck and it rolled out into the road. By the time he made it to the door, I was waiting and told him to take it back. I had several problems with broken meat packages, dripping all over the other items and would have to throw away the produce. I'd take pictures, send emails, phone calls. At first they gave me a credit for half the cost of my next box, over time it dwindled down to 20% off, then just no reply at all. Aside from that, some of their meals just took entirely too long to make. I know my way around the kitchen very well, and my daughter is a culinary student, even still, some of them were just too lengthy or complex for what directions gave a base time for. I gave it several tries over a period of time and just didn't see the value much anymore. Not that it's really a "value" box per say, but it didn't make sense to keep having so many problems.

 

[Alexle2007]

I am game. Friends had told me how great StitchFix was so I decided to give it a whirl. I went through Pinterest pinning outfits I particularly liked thinking they would refer to them for their selections. My first two boxes were total misses! I then requested a different stylist and tried to make it clear to refer to my pinned selections. Two boxes later I only had one item I sort of liked. I stopped the service and wasting $20 a month. I will say I now miss not receiving the "box" and they sent me something to not have to pay the fee for one box so I might give it one more try

 

[sunshine1178]

What services have you tried, based on either rave reviews, personal references, etc, that you feel didn't "measure up ". Or that you tried and are glad you did ?

I've tried several services over the years, some were decent, some I tried for a while and cancelled, and some were just all around not good.

Ipsy/Birchbox/Beauty Army, type boxes.
For a little while I had several boxes going at once. Ispy, Birchbox, Beauty Army, the Target box and the WalMart box. I've kept Ipsy, because they send me the most relative products to my lifestyle. No matter how many boxes I rated or reviewed through Birchbox & Beauty Army, I just seemed to get stuff that I would never use, or the quality of the tiny little items were no more than the sampled glued into magazines. There were also several months were I would receive the exact same item in several of the boxes, such as one month I got the same mascara multiple times. I have kept with the WalMart box, since it's only $5 quarterly and the items seem pretty decent.

A second service I've tried is the WalMart grocery pick up. While the online shopping cart was pretty expansive and a good comprehensive range of products. I didn't really feel the pick up saved much on time. My first pick up service took over 35 mins. Call 10 mins away, call when you park, wait 10 mins for them to come out. It seemed like every single item had its own bag, the list was in no coherent order, just a complete mix-mash of various items. I had 3 items missing, 2 items substituted, and 1 item they completely didn't have. For my 20 item list, I felt like I could have gone in the store, shopped myself and paid quicker than waiting in the car. It was supposed to simplify the process. My second pick up was very similar to the first, where the clerk really didn't seem knowledgeable about the products or where they were in the store, to go get the forgotten items. I'm willing to give it another try though.

My last being Hello Fresh food service. I started my subscription via a Groupon. I had been curious about the service for some time, but couldn't justify the cost for the family box. At the time, it was approx $130 for 3 meals of 4 servings, I equated it to be about $40 per dinner, $10 per serving. The Groupon was approx half the cost for 2 boxes. I had problems with 4 of the 6 boxes. I spaced my boxes out, pausing the service to only get delivered 1 box every 2 or 3 weeks, so I had it going over a few months. I had several problems with delivery, once being delivered to the correct house #, but one street over, several times the boxes being either crushed, wet or leaking. I was able to reject one order where I watched the UPS driver drop the box down the stairs of his truck and it rolled out into the road. By the time he made it to the door, I was waiting and told him to take it back. I had several problems with broken meat packages, dripping all over the other items and would have to throw away the produce. I'd take pictures, send emails, phone calls. At first they gave me a credit for half the cost of my next box, over time it dwindled down to 20% off, then just no reply at all. Aside from that, some of their meals just took entirely too long to make. I know my way around the kitchen very well, and my daughter is a culinary student, even still, some of them were just too lengthy or complex for what directions gave a base time for. I gave it several tries over a period of time and just didn't see the value much anymore. Not that it's really a "value" box per say, but it didn't make sense to keep having so many problems.

I'm so glad that you said that about Hello Fresh's prep time. I was in tears for two different meals because the chopping, etc. took forever, and we had places to be! It would have been faster and cheaper to get takeout. I hated it. Let me pick a recipe I feel confident cooking, and know my family will eat. I can get groceries delivered from other services, if I don't want to go to the store.

 

[perditax]

I live in a city with Amazon Prime Now and same-day delivery, but the local delivery drivers are clueless. They can't seem to find either my apartment or my office. I think they rely too much on random-brand phone GPS services and don't bother reading street signs or building numbers. Or they will mark deliveries to our office as "closed" even though it's open until midnight. It's easier to just use regular Amazon warehouse shipping.

I was so excited when we got it, but it's more hassle than just using the two-day shipping.

 

[xlsm]

I am game. Friends had told me how great StitchFix was so I decided to give it a whirl. I went through Pinterest pinning outfits I particularly liked thinking they would refer to them for their selections. My first two boxes were total misses! I then requested a different stylist and tried to make it clear to refer to my pinned selections. Two boxes later I only had one item I sort of liked. I stopped the service and wasting $20 a month. I will say I now miss not receiving the "box" and they sent me something to not have to pay the fee for one box so I might give it one more try

I love StitchFix! I've been lucky and had the same stylist for all of my boxes...I always ask for specific things in my note to the stylist like burgundy skinny jeans and a tops for layering, or a skirt to go with a specific top that I already have. I also try to be very specific when I leave feedback for the items I received and sent back. If you have a free styling fee credit, you should give it another shot.



I did Birchbox for a year. At first I loved it, but as time went on, I was increasingly disappointed with the things I'd receive. Lipstick colors I'd never wear, brands I wasn't interested in, way too many hair products...I was sad to give it up, because getting mail was fun, but it wasn't worth it anymore.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I have to say, I love Walmart pick-up! However, it seems to depend very much on the particular attendant (or whatever you want to call them). I check-in on the app, arrive, and usually have my groceries in less than 5 minutes. However, when I went yesterday, I arrived while the guy was loading up someone else. No biggie...I thought. Except then I waited another 10 minutes, called, and the guy said he didn't know I was there! Um, you were 10 feet away from me when I pulled in--and I checked in online, so you shouldn;t have been surprised to see me! But, he wasn't my regular guy, who's much faster and more efficient.

I will say, I'm not thrilled with beauty boxes generally, I seem to get make-up in weird colors and a lot of hair products. And creams, which I can't use due to eczema.

I would never try those food boxes--too pricey, even with a discount, and I have a family of six with different tastes (read: some are picky). I'm better off throwing on a pot of spaghetti and meatballs, and it would be quicker and cheaper to boot.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I did not know walmart had pickup. Do they bring out items to your car? Or do you have to go in? I usually don't recommend to many things.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I think Walmart pick-up is still in the test phase. I imagine it won't be easy to retrofit all stores--just thinking of the store I used to shop at, before we moved. But yes, they bring your stuff out to the car. You order online, pick a pick-up time (1-hour window). Then if you have the app, you can check-in when you're on your way. It pops up on their computer that you're 7 minutes out or whatever. As of right now, they don't take coupons, and some people have reported price differences between in-store and online. I use the service at least twice a week, my DD kids me about having an affair with the delivery guy! You never leave your car (unless you want to see how they load stuff). You have the right to refuse substitutions, and they typically hand you the fragile items. While it's supposed to be for groceries, I've gotten cleaning and laundry supplies, pet supplies, beauty products--basically, anything Walmart sells.

 

[hsmamato2]

Birchbox...... I had it for two months.... 10 bucks a month for some cheap samples? no thanks....I'll go to the store and choose my own makeup. My SIL tried one of those kitchen recipe diy companies, can't remember the name(something with an apron maybe?) anyway I was at her house when she got the box, it was such a complicated process.... and the portions were so tiny when we were done..... so that was a fail,it's easier to pick up what you need at the store for simple meals!

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

I finally canceled ipsy and Birchbox. Got some nice things to try, and really enjoyed the actual ipsy bag, but if I get a sample of something I like I prefer to have it be a brand I can access easily. The Sephora Play box is better for that.

 

[belle032]

My last being Hello Fresh food service. I started my subscription via a Groupon. I had been curious about the service for some time, but couldn't justify the cost for the family box. At the time, it was approx $130 for 3 meals of 4 servings, I equated it to be about $40 per dinner, $10 per serving. The Groupon was approx half the cost for 2 boxes. I had problems with 4 of the 6 boxes. I spaced my boxes out, pausing the service to only get delivered 1 box every 2 or 3 weeks, so I had it going over a few months. I had several problems with delivery, once being delivered to the correct house #, but one street over, several times the boxes being either crushed, wet or leaking. I was able to reject one order where I watched the UPS driver drop the box down the stairs of his truck and it rolled out into the road. By the time he made it to the door, I was waiting and told him to take it back. I had several problems with broken meat packages, dripping all over the other items and would have to throw away the produce. I'd take pictures, send emails, phone calls. At first they gave me a credit for half the cost of my next box, over time it dwindled down to 20% off, then just no reply at all. Aside from that, some of their meals just took entirely too long to make. I know my way around the kitchen very well, and my daughter is a culinary student, even still, some of them were just too lengthy or complex for what directions gave a base time for. I gave it several tries over a period of time and just didn't see the value much anymore. Not that it's really a "value" box per say, but it didn't make sense to keep having so many problems.

I was skeptical about food delivery services but we use Home Chef and LOVE it. It's just my fiance and I, we both work full time and I don't like to cook. We get 3 meals a week, the food has always been delivered on time and fresh, and all the recipes have been easy to make and great tasting. We've had steak, pork, chicken, salmon, shrimp, vegetarian, etc. and never a problem. I've kept all the recipe cards in a binder so we can go back and make our favorites. Maybe it only works for people who don't like to cook or have time too, but we definitely found we spend less money on groceries with it. It negates that "I'll just pick up something for dinner on my way home and spend $30" problem that we have!

I am game. Friends had told me how great StitchFix was so I decided to give it a whirl. I went through Pinterest pinning outfits I particularly liked thinking they would refer to them for their selections. My first two boxes were total misses! I then requested a different stylist and tried to make it clear to refer to my pinned selections. Two boxes later I only had one item I sort of liked. I stopped the service and wasting $20 a month. I will say I now miss not receiving the "box" and they sent me something to not have to pay the fee for one box so I might give it one more try

I've tried Stitch Fix multiple times and can't seem to justify it. I'll like the clothes but they fit horribly or they just aren't my style at all. I always requested something pretty specific that seems like a basic item piece (a sweater with elbow patches or a light army type jacket, both of which are very popular right now) and they say they never have it! I also think the price for the quality is ridiculous. MY last box I got a shirt that already had a hole in it and it was $54. Don't think the quality is up to far.

 

[ellie05]

I have used hello fresh an I thought the quality of the ingredients and recipes for the price was terrible, I never had a problem cooking the recipe though. We still use blue apron now and then. I love the recipes they ingredients are much better quality than hello fresh. I don't find that it takes me much more time than I usually spend cooking but it can be because I usually cook everything from scratch and try not to even use can stuff.

A few weeks ago we went on a trip to the smokeys and we took our blue apron stuff. I loved having a delicious meal and the convinince of not having to drive 20+ min to a restaurant. I usually don't like cooking on vacation but we like secluded cabins and cooking with an amazing view and the Mountain air was just perfect.

On the other hand stitch fix is a no for me paying someone to look at me Pinterest and send me similar clothes and charge me $20 I don't think so I can do that for free and find the pieces and quality I want.

 

[sunshine1178]

I've thought about StitchFix, but instead, I recently booked an appointment with a personal shopper at Nordstrom. The (2-hour) appointment was free, and I loved the instant feedback. When we found something that I looked good in, she brought me three more similar options. It was easy to try different sizes, different colors, etc. Plus, she was able to give constructive criticism, like, "you look great in close-fitting clothes," and tactful suggestions like, "Spanx are a great product -- would you like to try their bodysuit under that dress?" I left a list of things that I liked, but couldn't justify the price on, and she'll let me know if they get marked down. I did spend quite a bit, but now I have a work wardrobe of quality pieces that I feel confident wearing.

 

[dhardawa]

I tried Graze and hated it. I had a coupon for a box for free, so I signed up with that. As soon as I hit submit, I went in and changed the frequency from weekly to monthly. Within five minutes, I had the confirmation for both the free box and my first weekly box. When they arrived, I got four tiny little snacks in each box. I could easily hold a snack I the palm of my hand. I paid $14 for that. And, the snacks weren't great. I can buy a lot of snacks at the grocery store for $14.

Another thing I tried was Spotify. Then I realized any song I want to hear is on YouTube for free.

On the flip side, I got Nerd Block Jr. for my son and have been very pleased with it.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I tried Graze and hated it. I had a coupon for a box for free, so I signed up with that. As soon as I hit submit, I went in and changed the frequency from weekly to monthly. Within five minutes, I had the confirmation for both the free box and my first weekly box. When they arrived, I got four tiny little snacks in each box. I could easily hold a snack I the palm of my hand. I paid $14 for that. And, the snacks weren't great. I can buy a lot of snacks at the grocery store for $14.

I really love Graze. I got the free box through a Swagbucks deal and I thought every single snack was delicious. I love the portion control and the variety. It's nice not to eat the same snack in my lunch over and over again. And if there ever are any snacks I didn't really love, I can set it up so they never send that one again. I found that Costco sells 10 box gift cards for $89.99, so I bought 3 of them and have it set to one box every 2 weeks. I basically pre-paid an entire year of snacks.

I tried Birchbox and cancelled after 2 months. The products just didn't seem relevant.

I also tried Stitch Fix and I did receive some items that I really love and wear all the time, but I eventually cancelled. The price point was very high and the quality wasn't always that good. I got a shirt that I really liked but after just a single wear, it had threads pulling everywhere. Stitch Fix did take it back and gave me a full refund. I don't like the $20 styling fee because then I feel compelled to buy something, even if I don't really love anything. If they did away with the styling fee, I would totally continue the service each month. They sent me an email waiving the fee this month, so I might give it a go.

We tried Home Chef because it was very cheap through a Swagbucks deal. DH really liked it because we were trying new recipes. I was sort of lukewarm on it because it just costs so much money compared to what we would normally spend on groceries. The meals all tasted good and I liked the portion control, but I just can't justify it on the regular. I might consider it during times when we are really busy and it would save us from eating out each day though.

We tried a bunch of music services. Google, iTunes Music, Spotify and Amazon. We ended up liking Amazon the best because it integrates with our Echoes, we can download music to our phones so we don't have to use data, it pretty much has everything and it is very easy to use. After the free trial we decided to sign up for the annual subscription. It was cheaper than what DH used to spend on iTunes downloads.

 

[missnic]

I really like Graze. My 8 item box is only like $12, and you can customize what you like and don't like. I also like that they're just the right size. The lemon bars are soooooo good.

My sister got us a 3 month sub to LootCrate for xmas, and we're considering keeping it. There's a bunch of exclusive items, including a tshirt in each box. I have my exclusive TMNT tiki sitting on my desk right now, next to my Trader's Sam's mugs

 

[MSPeeler]

A second service I've tried is the WalMart grocery pick up. While the online shopping cart was pretty expansive and a good comprehensive range of products. I didn't really feel the pick up saved much on time. My first pick up service took over 35 mins. Call 10 mins away, call when you park, wait 10 mins for them to come out. It seemed like every single item had its own bag, the list was in no coherent order, just a complete mix-mash of various items. I had 3 items missing, 2 items substituted, and 1 item they completely didn't have. For my 20 item list, I felt like I could have gone in the store, shopped myself and paid quicker than waiting in the car. It was supposed to simplify the process. My second pick up was very similar to the first, where the clerk really didn't seem knowledgeable about the products or where they were in the store, to go get the forgotten items. I'm willing to give it another try though.

Maybe you just had a bad experience or that location is not trained properly? We use Walmart grocery pickup, and I put in my pickup time (usually 9am-10am), they call me around 8:45 to let me know my order is ready and ask me to call when I arrive, tell them which stall I am in and they are out and loaded in my car within 10 minutes. With a toddler in tow, it DEFINITELY saves more than time. LOL. Give it another try

 

[Shughart]

I did Ipsy for a while to try to get more into makeup and while I loved the bags (I still have them all lol) I didn't like the products. Too many shades I would never wear and they didn't listen to my profile at all. I have better luck with the girls at my sephora and dishing out the money for good full sized products that I will use all of it.

I have been trolling a lot of the cooking/food subscription sites because I LOVE cooking, but it's gotten boring and repetitive (kids will do that!) and I think it would be fun once a week to try it out.

I recently joined dollar shave club and I really like it. I get it every other month with a thing of shave butter. I spend way less than I did before on razors and shaving cream. I highly recommend that one.

 

[AZMermaid]

We have been doing Hello Fresh for over a year and a half and really like it. My main issue is with delivery times. It doesn't come to us until after 8PM often. Because of this, we stop it over the summer. When it is 115 out, I hate the idea of it sitting in the truck all day long. Also every once in a while, we get bumped to the next day (UPS issue) and in the summer, I don't feel safe eating it even though Hello Fresh says it is good for 72 hours. They have always refunded me when this happened in the summer (3-4 times) and finally I just stopped it and restarted when the temps got lower.

We use to get Snack Box but found we don't eat the snacks so we cancelled it.

 

[angierae]

I do the Kroger Clicklist curbside pickup and I love it. You show up during your 1 hour window, park, call, and someone is out in less than five minutes. One person runs your card, one person load the groceries into your car, and you're gone. My 90 minute weekend shopping trip has turned into a ten minute stop on the way home during the week. I will never go back.