In July, I wrote this post partly about the fact that there seems to a wide variance in both the value from month to month but also from box to box in a given month. At the time, when boxes started to vary from person to person, many of us assumed that it was because GlossyBox was starting to tailor the contents depending on the answers given when a subscriber completed the mythical Beauty Profile.
This is what I received this month (September). Looks pretty good huh?
Or does it? Brunette????? Can you imagine that I, Beauty Blogging Blonde would have answered the question about my hair colour any other way than BLONDE?? Not to mention how many people on Twitter have been complaining about the shades they received & at the time of writing, 4 people had tweeted me to say their palette was smashed when they received it.
When I signed up in May, I did so with an understanding that the first couple of boxes wouldn't be tailored but they would start to do so within a couple of months. I didn't expect that GlossyBox would ignore people on Twitter or their emails, or they would speak to their customers like children, or treat us like idiots. I forgave the weird little note in July. I forgave the inclusion of Xen Tan in 'Dark' last month as a bit of a blooper. 5 months on, with no indication that my boxes will be tailored any time soon, I absolutely will not forgive being treated like a dunce or being taken for a ride.
This is a screen shot from their website as of today. The message I take from this is 'we might not always get it right, but we will do our best to tailor as far as possible' not what they are actually doing of 'We are currently not tailoring but we will in the future' meaning new subscribers are basically subscribing to a lie.
This screen shot is an excerpt from their Twitter account, on Friday confirming that currently, all products are sent out at random. The mythical beauty profile I mentioned at the start has now been unavailable for existing subscribers since May/June to access, update & check. Why? So far, GlossyBox have ignored tweets from myself & others asking, so we remain in the dark.
Since receiving this month's box, I have logged in to unsubscribe. But there isn't an unsubscribe button. There isn't even an available area to find out how to unsubscribe without searching in the FAQs, where you are told 'to send an email with your account information'. Sooo, what account information do they need? I've emailed to ask & so far haven't even received an auto-response confirming receipt of my email.
Reading this really just confirms for me that my decision not to subscribe was right, I loved the idea of glossybox but the money spent on it could buy me things that would be of actual use to me! x
ReplyDeleteI unsubscribed without any problems at all, but I've noticed others have had trouble. Very strange :/ x
ReplyDeleteI unsubscribed last month, I had nothing but awful customer service from day 1. My tweets were ignored and emails that I got back from them were so condisending.
ReplyDeleteIts a real shame it seemed like a great idea in theory but has been really poorly excecuted.
x
I just don't think sachets are an acceptable sample when some people got things like Strivectin - and then others got Dead Sea salt exfoliator sachets.
ReplyDeleteThere is genuinely no balance. If they're going to ask preferences, then they should have the integrity to implement them instead of just sending out random product selections. If they aren't going to implement them, then send everyone the same thing. It isn't difficult.
I know that Helen from Just Nice Things received a cream or something this month that isn't suitable for psoriasis sufferers - yet she has psoriasis - which shows just how flagrantly Glossy Box are ignoring our preferences.
Yet another review confirming what I had suspected, that it is a waste of £13. I have been tempted to suscribe in the past but after seeing so many reviews like this I figured I'd be better off spending the money on something I know I will like and use. I can also honestly say there has been nothing in any of the boxes I have seen over the months which I would geniunely be glad to receive. Plus if I did really like something I don't have £60+ to spend on the full sized version anyway!
ReplyDeleteThe small print at the bottom of the site still claims "The content of your GLOSSYBOX is tailored to your individual needs"... it's totally misleading.
ReplyDeleteWell said. Seems I've had the same issues as you have.
ReplyDeleteI have gel nails and yet still get nail polish very often - useless.
I'm pale but got "Xen Tan Dark" - useless.
I'm blonde but got an HD Brows kit for brunettes - useless.
The thing I find most frustrating is how the value of the products in the kits varies so much between boxes. I bought a subscription as a present for a friend and this month she got 3 full sized products. I got 1 (useless) full size product and 4 samples which I'll never use (one of which I already have the full size product). I think boxes should be of equivalent value even if the products are different.
I had issues when I initially bought the subscription for my friend. First of all they "lost" the order, then they sent her box to me, then I had to chase the third one for her.
I can't say as their customer service has been brilliant and ignoring questions via Twitter from their subscribers is very poor.
They can have one last chance next month. If its no better, I'll be cancelling my subscription and putting my £13 towards something that I actually want.
Bx
I originally didn't subscribe because there's no guarantee that the products included aren't tested on animals which is really important to me. The only product that seemed to get the most 'praise' was the Nars in the very first box! What bugs me the most is listening to people tweet constantly about how they're considering unsubscribing but they're 'scared' the following month will be amazing! From what I've seen it's safe to say that's not gonna happen any time soon. Total waste of money in my opinion that could be done so much better with a little time, consideration & customer care. Glossybox clearly lacks all 3. I'll never subscribe and uve confirmed what I thought all along
ReplyDeleteI unsubscribed last month and I'm quite glad. The ideas behind it are good but they've failed on the details. You can unsubscribe on the website but it took me quite a while. I got a ton of anti ageing product too -I'm only 18 I don't moisturisers for mature skin! x
ReplyDeleteI know when I first subscribed, I (like a lot of people) missed the questionnaire and there's no way to access it after subscription. Seems like it doesn't really matter either way.
ReplyDeletewhat a fab response - I'm glad I am not alone in my disappointment & frustration
ReplyDeleteI unsubbed just before the p&p hit tbh, glad I did.
ReplyDeleteIm Disappointed to My Box is emopty got the leftovers I think - Check out my Blog post on ithttp://love-leigh-leigh.blogspot.com/2011/09/glossy-box-september-disappointment.html
ReplyDeleteThe more luxe products should be shared out more equally
xx
Beth, how is nail polish useless if you have gel nails? Every one of my gel clients paints them! Also, that brow palette has a shade light enough for blondes, and Amanda, I've seen you do your brows darker plenty of times. The other shades are meant to be used in other ways too.
ReplyDeletei got this same box and i was really disappointed. its more than a coincidence that pretty much every box they sent to a blogger for review purposes had two full size items. yet we only get some piddly shampoo sachets. i too am a blonde (bleached but anyways) so would've preferred the blonde brows kit but the brunette one is alright because of my dark eyebrows. anyone who is naturally blonde & got the foxy one would probably have trouble getting a good colour. plus my box had someone elses address label stuck underneath mine so this box obviously wasn't tailored to my needs anyway. i'll still subscribe because when they do have full size items it is worth it but i remain unimpressed with their preference towards their handpicked bloggers xx
ReplyDelete@Andrea - the point is, they sent me a kit that states it's for brunettes. GlossyBox don't know I wear my eyebrows dark, you've totally missed the point & message of this post... i.e - they asked me what hair colour I have, I said Blonde & they sent me a kit for a brunette. Not right.
ReplyDeleteI unsubscribed after the Baptiste/ Bio-Effect sample (which I'd already received free from the company directly) month - very disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI was one of the people that tweeted you about my brow palette being broken earlier. I havent had a problem with glossybox until now. As well as my palette being broken it was for brunettes even though I have blonde hair and stated so in the "beauty profile". Also I feel as one of the last people to recieve the box I have been given all the rubbish left over samples. I have read so many blog posts where people have recieved full size eye creams or hair masks. I feel so disappointed with my sachets and very small samples that I could of easily pick up from a counter for free.
ReplyDeleteSo completely agree with everything your saying.
Thanks for your post it gave me somewhere to have a little rant. haha. xx
I completely agree with this! They just aren't a very professional company at all. My box this month had another woman's name and address on it next to mines! I see that as a complete breech of confidentiality, I mean what if some creep got a hold of someone else's details?
ReplyDeleteI tweeted Glossybox who apologised and cited "labelling issues", but I don't see what would be so difficult about scraping off the wrong label or even scribbling it out, not just leaving it on! x
You gave me some great advice about this scheme when I was considering subscribing and I'm so glad I listened to you, the samples and odds and ends looks good but as you're spending £10 a month, and they're not even getting simple things right about you after 5 months, (like your hair colour-how obvious!?) I don't think this would have been right for me at all. Hope you can unsubscribe soon! xxxx
ReplyDeleteI am one of the people who hasn't been able to ever fill out the beauty profile, and have emailed and tweeted several times about it, I even last month cancelled my subscription and re-subscribed and the beauty profile still didn't appear, it was just a blank screen.
ReplyDeleteI also got the box that seemed like it was just half empty. When I took the box from my postie after seeing the boxes that lots of bloggers got I was expecting it to be a bit heavy with it containing a bottle of hair product or something, but no it had a couple of sachets and the green balm and the moisturiser tube. Last month I got the ugliest nail wraps I have ever seen, they had skulls and things on them, and my accutane treated skin got a cleanser with salicylic acid in it.
Really what is the point in advertising a beauty questionnaire if it doesn't work, never mind actually referring to it, have it available for people to fill out i say!
Further, my friend ordered when it first came out, didn't get her box at all even though they took two amounts of money out of her account, was promised the may box which they had sold out of to make amends, which she didn't get, they then said that they would send her more for the next few months without taking any more money, of the 3 months she has paid for, she has received one box, the illamasqua one, and hasn't been refunded either, she gave up asking for it to be sorted out.
I am glad to see more people ranting about this, it is almost like they don't think we are smart enough to see that the PR boxes were a ploy, bad service all around!
xo
Take it off your credit card and that's a sure way to stop them. ;)
ReplyDeleteI received a blonde HD brows palette. I tried to make it work but meh. We could always swap? ;-)
ReplyDeleteAs you saw from my tweet, I'm massively unimpressed about their random selection process too and I can't believe that the free boxes sent for PR purposes are sent randomly! It's a huge business flaw and it's very clear that they just get a load of samples from various companies, what ever they have hanging around, and bung them in a box and send them out - I've hit un-subscribe. xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame. And how blimmin' annoying - I have had rahua sachets in with my recent Zuneta orders, and would agree that I would not expect a sachet really.
ReplyDeleteOUCH! Sachets? Not good. Ever! You could get those for FREE!
ReplyDeleteI really want to try this product! you have a great blog! please check out my blog and follow if you like, I promise to do the same for you! xx www.lovejoice.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI cancelled my subscription a couple of months ago, because of so many reasons I couldn't even begin to list them all. And I'm grateful for this post, purely because it backs up many of my reasoning's. Personally, I wonder if we could cite the Trades Descriptions Act?? They've certainly fallen behind on a lot of their promises.
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ReplyDeleteHere, here! I cancelled my subscription to "Crappy Box" after last month’s disappointment. As with everyone else, disappointed that having taken the time to complete the beauty questionnaire, the information was entirely ignored and primarily disappointed by the contents each month without exception. Particular low point was the god awful nail transfer for my toes in luminous green....very chic...and the numerous free sample size bottles of stinky granny perfume (sorry no offence granny...you have much better taste). Cheerio Glossybox!
ReplyDeleteim glad im not the only one disappointed with the contents of this months glossybox. i received the same items as you and probably would have been happy if i hadn't seen all these other boxes where people are getting 2 full size items and i only got 1. i think they made a big mistake doing that and have obviously lost subscribers and will surely continue to lose more if they carry on this way. they should take time to distribute the items fairly and someone already mentioned many bloggers who are sent boxes for review purposes get the better boxes as i have also noticed. i sent an email and was not impressed with the reply from glossybox who claim the boxes are sent randomly. I'm sure they are sent randomly to subscribers but they completely missed the point i was making about full sized product "samples" versus other peoples sachet samples even though we are all paying the same amount of money! i also said in my email to glossybox that i was unhappy about the price increase and change to the glossydots incentive, both of which i had not been informed of. i think they are misleading their customers by constantly changing their service for the worse and, unless november's box is amazing, i will most likely be cancelling my subscription in favour of a rival company who are willing to provide a better and fairer service for their customers at a lower price.
ReplyDelete