Hurricane Sandy Update Email from Birchbox

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Birchbox main offices are located at 230 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003 and within a few blocks of Gramercy Park. That whole area went without power and I haven't seen the news to see if they have power or not yet but the subway system was also flooded. Most of the employees don't live in Manhattan and must take the train into work. There were no bus services for a couple of days but even if there WAS a way to get into Manhattan over flooded bridges and streets exactly how are the folks at Birchbox suppose to work without power? There is an evac center just a few blocks from Birchbox's offices for goodness sake!  

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Dotcom Distribution who were or are Birchbox's fulfillment center are located at 300 Nixon Lane in Edison, NJ 08837. While they didn't experience flood damage there is no power and it's the same with the other fulfillment center they located in Edgewood, NY.   Edison, NJ http://www.pseg.com/home/customer_service/outage_info/outagemap.jsp Edgewood. NY http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/outagemap.html   On top of all that there is no mail right now going into the NY/NJ area and none coming out.   http://about.usps.com/news/service-alerts/welcome.htm   I have several packages coming from the NY area including an order from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, Sephora and other items I've ordered and I know that I'm not going to get those items any time soon so if they cancel my order and refund me the money I'm fine with that as I'm with waiting. All these companies and businesses are going to lose millions if not billions of dollars in lost product.   I can only imagine what's going on at Manic Panic because they're located in Long Island City in Zone A (which is in the flood zone). I'm hoping that Tish and Snooky are okay along with their employees. Zone A had a mandatory evac implemented and I don't know if people were allowed back there or not.   My point is this. The NY and NJ areas were affected badly. People in those areas rarely experience hurricanes (though it can happen as it did happen). This storm was beyond Birchbox or any other company in NYC control and so it WILL take some time for some businesses to recover especially if there is damage to their businesses and or products.   http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/nycsevereweather/weather_home.shtml
 
Having weathered a few big storms myself here in coastal Texas, I definitely won't mind any shipping issues or if they decide to skip November and do a combo month in December instead. Whatever works for them while they try to get back on track.

Originally Posted by serendipity720 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

well I would be upset.... I didn't get my october box because they ran out of inventory.... AFTER they gave me a tracking number, it didn't work for a week, I emailed them. then they told me, oh yea we never shipped it and don't have inventory, sorry for not telling u. good thing you emailed. November will be free. I just want to get my freaking november box so I will never have to worry about birchbox again, I am cancelled. FOREVER. I will never sub with them again. Can't deal with the drama anymore. I don't care if there isn't power because of stupid hurricane sandy, I want my dang box and I want it on time. or else I think  I should get even further points added to my account for having to wait even longer for my box after I have already been waiting this whole time. 
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You definitely have a right to be upset about October's mess but it's frankly a bit ridiculous to think that they should drop their lives and cater to you after a massive storm. Hurricanes don't just knock out power. They destroy buildings, rip trees out by the roots (which then take down power lines), can cause fires that firefighters can't easily get to, and cause massive flooding. For example, Hurricane Ike in 2008 dumped 2.5 feet of water into our condo down on the island and ripped an entire wall off, while roads were blocked in Houston from fallen trees/signs and the majority of the city had no power or water pressure for 2+ weeks.. At that time, sending packages out would have been the LAST thing on my mind and I am honestly quite impressed that BB actually has staffers that are already working from home, even if it's just mainly CS since I doubt their employees are able to pack boxes at home.

 
Originally Posted by yanelib27 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
If they will delay the shipment they should also delay the charge
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Easier said than done. Because they're working from home rather than the offices they can't just remote into their servers and change things - power is down at the main offices.

I've emailed Katia to check up on them and she said everyone at BB is fine and while they're able to work from home but having to walk long distances in some cases to get from Point A to Point B. In her case she had to walk 40 blocks to get where she was going.

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

Living in a hurricane zone as I do (although I guess the entire eastern seaboard is now a hurricane zone, jeez!),
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I read up on hurricanes hitting the east coast last year because we were overdue for one. The first half or so of the last century, there was a bunch of destructive hurricanes that hit the new jersey/new york area including one that swept entire towns out to sea. If this was a 3-5 catagory storm, it would have been much worse( but that goes without saying ). There's just a lull in storms headed this way the last 50 years that made people feel a little too secure.

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

did anyone else see this pic?

this is in the front yard of a house in new jersey

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Nope its a hoax. There are a ton of pictures that are fakes going around from this storm.

 
Living in a Katrina ravaged state - though we don't live on the coast, my husband did spend 8 months on the coast after Katrina with the military - my heart goes out to everyone who sustained damage and loss of loved ones in this storm.    This is bigger than BB and beyond their control.  I have no problems waiting for my shipment - they need to help make sure their families and friends are safe and help rebuild their areas.  Those are the biggest priorities right now...not $10 worth of samples.   

 
I hope everyone is okay! Thinking of every team member of all our beloved cosmetics companies and everyone who posts on MuT that lives in the northeast! 

Lets be honest here guys... shipments from the northeast are going to be screwed up for weeks! I work in the receiving department of a mid-sized company and we have all sorts of incoming components flagged now because who knows when they will show up and what condition they will be in. (Which is of course COMPLETELY understandable!!) 

I just hope everyone is okay. I would not mind a combo box for Nov/Dec at all, from BB or any of the subscription companies! They should take this time to be with their community and pick up the pieces.

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

Having weathered a few big storms myself here in coastal Texas, I definitely won't mind any shipping issues or if they decide to skip November and do a combo month in December instead. Whatever works for them while they try to get back on track.

You definitely have a right to be upset about October's mess but it's frankly a bit ridiculous to think that they should drop their lives and cater to you after a massive storm. Hurricanes don't just knock out power. They destroy buildings, rip trees out by the roots (which then take down power lines), can cause fires that firefighters can't easily get to, and cause massive flooding. For example, Hurricane Ike in 2008 dumped 2.5 feet of water into our condo down on the island and ripped an entire wall off, while roads were blocked in Houston from fallen trees/signs and the majority of the city had no power or water pressure for 2+ weeks.. At that time, sending packages out would have been the LAST thing on my mind and I am honestly quite impressed that BB actually has staffers that are already working from home, even if it's just mainly CS since I doubt their employees are able to pack boxes at home.
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I understand they are going through this but still they created the october fiasco themselves. if they postpone november I will email and just request my money back. I would rather have my money then deal with this. Yeah its only 10 dollars, but that isn't the point. I'm a college student also, so ten dollars is still something I could use! and 100 people dead is practically nothing when you take into account how many lives could have been lost honestly. It affected a lot of people, so 100 really is not a lot. I am just honked at bb for telling me they "shipped" my box when it never even shipped because in fact they never shipped it because they did not have any inventory to do so. I think I have little to no respect for them at this point as a business and not their personal lives either. I just want compensated in money or another box before the end of november. thats all. 

 
Originally Posted by serendipity720 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I understand they are going through this but still they created the october fiasco themselves. if they postpone november I will email and just request my money back. I would rather have my money then deal with this. Yeah its only 10 dollars, but that isn't the point. I'm a college student also, so ten dollars is still something I could use! and 100 people dead is practically nothing when you take into account how many lives could have been lost honestly. It affected a lot of people, so 100 really is not a lot. I am just honked at bb for telling me they "shipped" my box when it never even shipped because in fact they never shipped it because they did not have any inventory to do so. I think I have little to no respect for them at this point as a business and not their personal lives either. I just want compensated in money or another box before the end of november. thats all. 
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I imagine the families of those 100 feel quite different. 

It's not all about you, you know.  Or maybe you don't.

 
Hey from New York!

I can confirm it's really bad down there (meaning below 39th street in Manhattan). Not only are they not going to get power back until Friday/Saturday, most people don't have heat and hot water and some people don't have water period. There are lines in front of fire hydrants so people can get buckets of water to use. Five hospitals in NYC have been evacuated.

I'm lucky because I live further uptown and my area wasn't damaged by the storm, but even if you live in a unaffected area, travel anywhere is a pain with very limited public transportation, traffic from buses and driving restrictions (only cars with three or more people can come into the city). The subway tunnels are still not functional so there's no way to get from Brooklyn (where a lot of people live) to Manhattan without taking a crowded bus (and I mean crowded -- http://gothamist.com/2012/11/01/photos_as_expected_really_long_line.php#photo-1) or cab (many of which are refusing to drive to Brooklyn). It's even worst for the people who live upstate (mostly families) since they won't get power for until the 10th or 11th and many of them have young kids. Luckily the train started running last night, so a lot of people who got stuck in the city during the storm could finally see their families for the first time since Monday.

Plus, there's tons of reports of looting and break ins. There's even a group of people dressing up as ConEd (electricians) saying that they're coming to restore electricity and robbing apartments. Ugh.

So, even if the power goes back -- that's assuming there's no flooding damage in their basements where most of the generators are -- it's still hard for people to come to work. So give them a break :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
That's totally understandable.

Side note: Most of you know I have contacts at Birchbox ranging from Katia to Paulina to several others who work for different departments at Birchbox. I sent out emails to a Paulina and Katia the other day and heard back. Heard back today from another one of the ladies I know. She said that she doesn't live in NY (I won't say where exactly for her privacy sake) but her town is among those that were washed out. She said she's lucky her home is on a hill so it wasn't affected by water but her town is currently flooded and that the other day her neighbor's tree came crashing down on next to her home. I believe she's working from home right now since it's hard to get into the city right now from where's located at.

I also heard back from Snooky (of Manic Panic fame not the NJ girl who copied her name from the original Snooky). Manic Panic's offices are in Zone A which is a flood zone and Snooky said that the offices are fine but they are without elevators, phones and no heat.

 
Originally Posted by serendipity720 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I understand they are going through this but still they created the october fiasco themselves. if they postpone november I will email and just request my money back. I would rather have my money then deal with this. Yeah its only 10 dollars, but that isn't the point. I'm a college student also, so ten dollars is still something I could use! and 100 people dead is practically nothing when you take into account how many lives could have been lost honestly. It affected a lot of people, so 100 really is not a lot. I am just honked at bb for telling me they "shipped" my box when it never even shipped because in fact they never shipped it because they did not have any inventory to do so. I think I have little to no respect for them at this point as a business and not their personal lives either. I just want compensated in money or another box before the end of november. thats all. 
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You sound really self centered. If 10 dollars means that much to you, maybe you shouldn't sub to sample programs. Imagine if you knew one of those 100+ people. I think it'd mean something to you. Thousands of people are affected by these deaths. And hey, just to drill it in for you, the world doesn't revolve around you and your ten dollars. Ask for a refund, I'm sure they'd be glad to be rid of you and your callousness.

 
Originally Posted by serendipity720 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah its only 10 dollars, but that isn't the point. I'm a college student also, so ten dollars is still something I could use! 
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There's a lot of people that probably need that ten bucks more than you do right now considering they've lost everything...

 
Originally Posted by serendipity720 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I understand they are going through this but still they created the october fiasco themselves. if they postpone november I will email and just request my money back. I would rather have my money then deal with this. Yeah its only 10 dollars, but that isn't the point. I'm a college student also, so ten dollars is still something I could use! and 100 people dead is practically nothing when you take into account how many lives could have been lost honestly. It affected a lot of people, so 100 really is not a lot. I am just honked at bb for telling me they "shipped" my box when it never even shipped because in fact they never shipped it because they did not have any inventory to do so. I think I have little to no respect for them at this point as a business and not their personal lives either. I just want compensated in money or another box before the end of november. thats all. 
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You need to look into a college course in compassion.  100 people is a devastating tragedy.  These people have families, put yourself in their position.  Would you say it's no big deal if your mom lost her life in the storm?  The fact that you say you have no respect for their personal lives just makes you sound like a spoiled brat, because yes, your $10 is more important that peoples' lives being displaced for who knows how long due to something completely out of their control.

 
Originally Posted by serendipity720 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I understand they are going through this but still they created the october fiasco themselves. if they postpone november I will email and just request my money back. I would rather have my money then deal with this. Yeah its only 10 dollars, but that isn't the point. I'm a college student also, so ten dollars is still something I could use! and 100 people dead is practically nothing when you take into account how many lives could have been lost honestly. It affected a lot of people, so 100 really is not a lot. I am just honked at bb for telling me they "shipped" my box when it never even shipped because in fact they never shipped it because they did not have any inventory to do so. I think I have little to no respect for them at this point as a business and not their personal lives either. I just want compensated in money or another box before the end of november. thats all. 
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You did not really say 100 people dead is practically nothing did you?  I mean really.  If your $10 means that much to you that you would prefer the staff of Birchbox risk their lives to get you a box of samples, send me your address and I will send you $10.  I personally would prefer to do business with a company that puts their employees safety above all else.  So my box of samples could be delayed a week.  Woe is me.  This is a first world problem if I have ever heard one.

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

You did not really say 100 people dead is practically nothing did you?  I mean really.  If your $10 means that much to you that you would prefer the staff of Birchbox risk their lives to get you a box of samples, send me your address and I will send you $10.  I personally would prefer to do business with a company that puts their employees safety above all else.  So my box of samples could be delayed a week.  Woe is me.  This is a first world problem if I have ever heard one.
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It seems like even more than a first world problem....more like an entitled bratty never been told no first world problem. I am so peeved about this I feel sick.

 

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