Update (2:31pm): I received a call back regarding my call earlier this week. I spoke with the same CS rep that emailed me (see below) and essentially the reason they are waiting to send out replacement boxes to those of us that still don't have tracking info is because they won't have the inventory to do so until next week.
Does this make me feel better? No. Again, I still feel as though this could have been better anticipated or that a better solution could have been found (i.e. don't put that product in December's box and include another product or offer Birchbox points), but there's nothing that can be done at this point. So I guess I'll keep waiting and see what happens.
Original Post:I know I rarely do rant posts, but I am at my wit's end with this situation and think it's appropriate to share my experience with all of you given the fact that I've been a huge fan of Birchbox in the past and suggested it to many of you. I've seen many other bloggers give up on Birchbox recently. I was hopeful that if I gave my subscription until December, perhaps things would change for the better. I guess not.
If you've been following my blog you already know about my frustrating issue with the December Birchbox--this problem has hit a group of subscribers, not just me. I still have not received it and shipping info hasn't even loaded into the system because I'm one of the "lucky" ones that ended up with a new product in my box.
If you want to get up to speed you can read my post on what's in my box according to the site
HERE.
You can also read about the Birchbox delay
HERE.
This situation is getting more and more frustrating. I thought that my box would be a few days late. I wasn't thrilled, but it wasn't a huge deal. Then more time went by and I finally called Birchbox. Unfortunately, I was only able to leave a message--still haven't received a call back and I left the message Monday. I emailed as well because I assumed that if my box was delayed, customer service might be behind in responding to the flood of inquiries I'm sure they've received regarding this problem.
I just received a response via email, which said:
Thanks for writing in! I just took a look at your tracking number and see that the tracking information has not loaded yet. We've seen this for a number of customers - it just appears that the tracking updates are taking longer to load than usual. In addition, although we always try to ship the boxes out as early in the month as possible, unfortunately they did ship out closer to the 10th this month. And with yours in particular, we were waiting on a specific sample to send you, which is why we emailed you notification of the delay.
I've added you to the list to be sent a new December box, but we'll keep an eye on your tracking number to see if any updates load in the meantime! If they don't load, we will ship you the replacement December box next week!
Next week?! I honestly find this to be so incredibly frustrating. Not only has my box been delayed and the best Birchbox could offer was $20 off a purchase of $75 from their site, but by the time they send out a new one and I receive it, it will be almost January. I understand that a number of us are in this situation and that the costs of replacing the boxes that seem to evaporated must be high, but isn't that something a company that cares about their customers should accept without flinching to offer great service? I don't understand why Birchbox didn't offer something like points to those of us still waiting for our boxes in addition to a replacement box. Other than the first email I received regarding the fact that my box would be delayed, they have not sent anything else with updates. I feel as though the ball has been dropped. Given this experience in addition to the last few months, I think I've lost almost all of my faith in Birchbox. I loved them when I first signed up, but with so many new companies springing up, I can't help but think it's time to end my subscription and try something new.
Either way, I emailed back expressing my disappointment in how this has been handled, but haven't received a response yet. I'll update this post when I do.
Has your box been delayed? How do you feel Birchbox has handled this situation?