Have you dropped your Birchbox subscription?

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I generally like the service, but my October box is showing as delivered but I didn't receive and BB's customer service won't do anything to compensate since it's a USPS issue.  Any other company would give me the benefit of the doubt and reship product.

 
After the steady decline in satisfaction in my boxes starting in August, I decided to go ahead and cancel after I received my October box, which was horrible, repeats in a supposed "high end" goop box, a LARA bar, come on. I went ahead and cashed out my points got a few things I had been wanting and then stepped away. I am still waiting on my purchases to get here.... I placed the order on October 17th, and didn't receive the shipping confirmation until the 22nd, their shipping is going downhill really quick along with the box satisfaction, customer service, etc. I guess money is more important than customers.

 
I cancelled after May or June because I didn't have money. The reviews for the recent boxes don't entice me to sign back up.

 
I put I'm stuck in a pre-paid.  I also dropped down to one from two after the razor month and am still thinking of trying to cancel the one prepaid one left, so I had a hard time picking one button to vote.

 
I did drop them after Octobers box. I have not gotten that "Woo hoo my BB is on the way!" feeling for the past couple of boxes. I feel like they are not listening to their loyal clients and are more focused on expanding and growing. It is only 10 dollars but like I said in my vlog, I feel underwhelmed by them and I feel the company is not fighting to keep the fan base that gave them the growth by purchasing products and subscribing. I think when I basically got what amounted to a Ziplock bag with pink print (the Tilly bags)  in my Sept box, I was just flat out disgusted and after Oct. I couldn't find a single reason to stay. A printed Ziploc is not fashion forward in my book and as a lifestyle extra is not economic at all...the price is just laughable.

Then they stopped offering the few things a lot of us liked, such as the sneak peaks and true deluxe size samples. Of course that goes right back to me saying that BB is not listening to it's client base and once a company stops listening to me I stop giving them my money. :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I do wish Birchbox success and I hope they return to doing some of the things their fans like. :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
You really think that BB is the holy grail?  I hate the fact that a) sometimes you get a great tube and others absolutely stink and B) most of what you do get is either really cheap or has NOTHING to do with beauty.  At the end of the day, for the money you spend, I think the TestTube is a better option.  Just my personal opinion.

 
I honestly think that BB at this point is a sheer waist of money.  I'm sorry but if I want to buy food or stationary, I can go to the store and purchase it myself.   The fact that half of what you get is a sheer waist as the other half is non-beauty related and/or cheap is a complete turn off to me.  I also gave the new sugar sampling program a chance and found the same thing.  However, with sugar at least you get one or two things that are useful.  For example, a beach bag or multiple nail polishes.   My person favorite is the TestTube but mostly because everything you receive is beauty related AND products that I wouldn't spend a fortune on before testing first.  It's trial and error in it's most afforable form.  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.  It ends up being around the same price as BB when you do the math which honestly was a no brainer for me.  If you're going to spend the money, you might as well spend it wisely and receive quality items in return.  Just my personal opinion. 

 
I'm sticking with them. I do think they need to come back strong but I haven't been completely horrified by any box. While the tiny speck of lip gloss with colossal air bubble in my last box made me weep, I have still been happy overall with the samples.

What I love:

MAKEUP! (that's what I signed up for) Nail polish is great, creams/cleansers/masks etc. are ok, hair products are ok

What I really dislike:

Food products, stuff that just looks *cheap* like the hair ties and zip lock bags, cheap tools like brushes.

 
My annual subscription ran out after October actually and I informed BB to cancel the auto-renew; I will go month to month now.  This November I'll have been subscribed for 2 years and I definitely see a downgrade since the beginning. 

I also pay for a second subscription for my sister.  Her's will expire in March.  I'll stay until March so we can still both get boxes but if I don't see improvements, I'm cancelling both.

I've enjoyed BB and found some great products that I use on a regular basis.  I wish their overall policies are more consistent (ie rewards/discounts to all instead of some of us getting none).  I wish they had better quality control (ie samples that really have no product in them).  I think a few tweaks here and there and BB would eliminate a lot of issues people have.  I think they are so concentrated on growing the company that they aren't concerned about quality.  I believe in the end that mindset will ultimately hurt them.  If you have a quality product, people will support you through thick and thin.

 
I've been pretty underwelmed for 6 months. I placed an order with my points and just cancelled.

 
I will most likely (finally) quit after November. That box will mark my 2 year anniversary with Birchbox, and sad to say, I've basically had enough. The quality has gone FAR downhill since the beginning. I would think that quality and service would improve as time went on, but that is definitely not the case. I can't help but compare my last few boxes with my first few...and there really is no comparison.

I fully understand that this is a sample service, and that is all that I expect, samples. The sample size has decreased along with the "highended-ness" of the brands. I see more and more drugstore and Target brands, and fewer high quality brands that I saw early on. 

Customer Service has also gone far downhill. I have emailed maybe 3 times in 2 years, and the first time I had a superior experience (sent to my old address after it had been changed). The 2nd time I felt that I was being outright lied to (Teen Vogue), and the last time my question was answered in a very vague way that didn't even really address my issue (shipping). Policies to not even seem to exist, as people with the same problem continually post differing solutions. 

Ten bucks a month isn't much, but it all adds up to $120 a year. I feel that money would be better spent on things that are not Luna Bars and perfume sample tubes and ugly shades of nail polish that I will never ever wear. 

I want to love Birchbox again, and feel the same excitement when I open mine each month, but I'm afraid those days are over. It's my one and only sample service, and I think it has run its course. Done. :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Originally Posted by Dr00py36 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I honestly think that BB at this point is a sheer waist of money.  I'm sorry but if I want to buy food or stationary, I can go to the store and purchase it myself.   The fact that half of what you get is a sheer waist as the other half is non-beauty related and/or cheap is a complete turn off to me.  I also gave the new sugar sampling program a chance and found the same thing.  However, with sugar at least you get one or two things that are useful.  For example, a beach bag or multiple nail polishes.   My person favorite is the TestTube but mostly because everything you receive is beauty related AND products that I wouldn't spend a fortune on before testing first.  It's trial and error in it's most afforable form.  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.  It ends up being around the same price as BB when you do the math which honestly was a no brainer for me.  If you're going to spend the money, you might as well spend it wisely and receive quality items in return.  Just my personal opinion. 
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To be fair to BB, does it market itself as a beauty-only subscription? I don't think it's your place to tell people how to best "wisely" spend their money either.

 
I decided to drop it after September. September's box was actually okay, I liked what I got but I've only liked maybe 3-4 boxes out of the almost year of being subscribed. I decided I didn't want to waste anymore money on it and was actually really glad I dropped when I did because it seems that the Octoberbox really sucked. I think that Birchbox did a little false advertising cause it advertises that makeup brands like Smashbox and Stila but rarely includes makeup products and sends foil hair/skincare samples that you could get for free at Sephora. Since dropping it, I signed up for MyGlam or Ipsy as its called now and so far I'm happy with it.
 

 
Originally Posted by gypsiemagic /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I bet you have heard this before, but the sun does not stop emitting UV rays just because the clouds are out. The supergoop serum is meant to be a light weight all weather sun protection product to be worn when it's not summer.

I feel sorry for your skin's future if you believe you don't need to wear sunscreen, it really helps combat signs of aging, discoloration, hyper pigmentation, not to mention all the cancers and illnesses associated with sun damage.

Putting it in your october box is like a friendly reminder to no forget about wearing sun protection all year round! 

:) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
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Thanks, but I should mention that I work nights and basically never leave the house when the sun is shining. And my skin's doing well - no one ever believes when I tell them my real age. Like I said, I don't consider sunscreen a "beauty" product. I was as annoyed with that as when GB sent us toothpaste. Boring...

 
Originally Posted by amygab1126 /img/forum/go_quote.gif


Thanks, but I should mention that I work nights and basically never leave the house when the sun is shining. And my skin's doing well - no one ever believes when I tell them my real age. Like I said, I don't consider sunscreen a "beauty" product. I was as annoyed with that as when GB sent us toothpaste. Boring...
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most of my foundations all have sunscreen in them so there is not point in putting it on seperate.... I'm a nursing student so in other words the only time I'm outside is to get from my car to my house to my car and to my school haha so I only ever put sunscreen on my face, I wouldn't want sunscreen if it wasn't summer either!

 
Originally Posted by Dr00py36 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I honestly think that BB at this point is a sheer waist of money.  I'm sorry but if I want to buy food or stationary, I can go to the store and purchase it myself.   The fact that half of what you get is a sheer waist as the other half is non-beauty related and/or cheap is a complete turn off to me.  I also gave the new sugar sampling program a chance and found the same thing.  However, with sugar at least you get one or two things that are useful.  For example, a beach bag or multiple nail polishes.   My person favorite is the TestTube but mostly because everything you receive is beauty related AND products that I wouldn't spend a fortune on before testing first.  It's trial and error in it's most afforable form.  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.  It ends up being around the same price as BB when you do the math which honestly was a no brainer for me.  If you're going to spend the money, you might as well spend it wisely and receive quality items in return.  Just my personal opinion. 
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Well, my husband's personal opinion is that any beauty sample service is waste of money.  But I take his opinion with a grain of salt, too...I think every one has a different idea of what is worth spending money on.  It's one thing to be informative about other services out there (which, Sugar?  Tell me more).  It's another to insult people (whether you meant to or not) by telling them they are not spending their money wisely.  In your case, maybe.  In mine?  Eh, I like the value that I'm getting out of BB.

 
Originally Posted by Leiakat /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I think what is killing them is the incongruent boxes.  Some boxes have tons of larger samples,  while other have mainly foil packets (which defeats the whole point of the service).  And since there seems no rhyme or reason to boxes choice,  many people get the dreg boxes for months on end.  I don't know if it is laziness or lack of caring that makes them fail to address this.
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THIS. When I inevitably didn't get the "hot" items, I felt like Birchbox was telling me I was a second-class customer and that they didn't value me. Yes, you can argue about customization and whatnot, but it doesn't change the visceral disappointment I felt every time I saw my box contents. It makes BB a negative experience -- why would I keep paying for something that makes me upset every month? 

The main reasons I cancelled were box inequity and change in the quality of the samples. 

 
Originally Posted by amblingalp /img/forum/go_quote.gif

To be fair to BB, does it market itself as a beauty-only subscription? I don't think it's your place to tell people how to best "wisely" spend their money either.
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See the reply just below yours, it's called "false advertising"- to show make up brands (and skincare brands) on front page and everywhere but actually send out unrelated items.

As for the later sentence, why so mean to a kind suggestion? Plus she said it was her personally opinion. 

 

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