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Didn't mean to stir the pot and run, but my internet is down, which is probably for the best as I'm supposed to be studying for finals.
So far no retribution.. we will see. I did cancel my account, I can no way support these people anymore.

 
aweheck said:
I went on their website to pick out my oil, I really appreciate how they had it listed in my account drop down shop listing..... So glad I didn't have to go searching all over! Also noticed the canvas link beside it! Great for when we finally get pictures set up. My Daughters the photographer (hobby) and has several expensive cameras and we have three of the canvas codes between us.....she just placed a bid on a house and is waiting for notification on whether they'll accept it. I'm going to let her choose pic's for the canvas's to put them in her House if she gets it. I think three of them on a wall taken from one shot with a panoramic shot would look awesome in that house.... (Keep your fingers crossed she gets the house!).
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Update: Samantha got the house! (Just waiting on the financing inspection) Everything in this month's box will go great in her new kitchen.
 
Good for Liz! I hope Darth Vader realizes the mistake he made. Liz was directly responsible for the success of this box - whether they want to admit it or not.

 
Wow, just Wow............I haven't been on here for a few days.....and just caught up with many pages of reading. Looks like there's been a firestorm in the hive and the Hornets are abandoning. LOL, I didn't realize the talent of stalker's who subscribe here.... well I guess I did, but thought that was honed for hunting out spoilers on SUB boxes, not the people who own/run them.

I just don't know, the Internet is an interesting place. You can read some helpful, interesting info, but frankly you don't know how valid it is. Is there a "Snopes" to refer to for SUB boxes?

To be a Customer service rep has to be a very difficult negative job, for even the most upbeat professional. I simply don't know, that "Darth

Vader", the business Bank/CEO of this budding business enjoys being a CS rep and jetting out "snarky" rude email responses and canceling women's subscriptions to the company product. Sounds like a "Lifetime" movie or a storyline off of one of those less than stellar books popsugar puts in their boxes a couple of times a year. Just say'n......

 
Wow! After reading all this it looks like I was LUCKY to get a one liner cancellation email after I made a negative LLB MuT comment! 

It's a definite pattern at this point. It's not a one time thing. This is months of poor customer service, highly unprofessional emails and downright rude behavior and it doesn't appear that anyone involved in the business has a desire to see it improve. 

It's disappointing, to be sure. If they want to succeed they have got to change. It doesn't sound like they want to and in the face of that, I just don't see success written in their future. It's too bad because they've got a great idea.

 
subbox said:
While that statement is misinformed, nothing Browning has said warrants that kind of a retort. Calling a customer "vile" is just unacceptable. 
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I agree.  I kept re-reading the posts because I thought I missed the part where Browning called the daughters tramps or bigots or something! 

And, to actually seek out a person who makes a comment on a board is just plain creepy. Maybe I missed it, but did someone from LLB post a reply on MSA?  If not, why not have engaged Browning's comments in a public forum rather than stalking her and attacking her privately?

Isn't this the same sub box that said something about older people (i.e. MY age) not being their demographic so perhaps they should shop somewhere else?

I am totally expecting a "our account got hacked" explanation getting posted soon!  Or wait, maybe a "Darth Vader has entered rehab."  Or even "Darth Vader was dehydrated and took too much cold medicine."  (Okay now I'm just amusing myself!)

 
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I came over to this thread because I was thinking about subbing when my Popsugar subscription runs out and I remember liking that Kate Spade water bottle. I find it very offensive that the company would seek out people who made unfavorable comments on social media sites and then harass them. They could have tactfully addressed the situation, but obviously this company does not know how to take the high road. I have no interest in supporting a business that clearly doesn't value its customers. Oh and LLB if you are reading this - Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

 
That email from Kevin aka Darth Vader was just beyond creepy! It just had so many levels to why it was wrong. Sure, they can be hurt or frustrated by a customer that doesn't like an item and voices that displeasure in an online review, that's probably normal. BUT to track her down and email her a nasty, rude and insulting message was just so weird, tacky and unprofessional. I personally read the part where he asked about the Britt McHenry award as an intentional and direct comparison to also calling Browning a vile human being. Too bad Kevin didn't put that time, effort and "passion" into making a better curated box or better customer service. As others have also mentioned, why not take this as an opportunity to understand and appreciate what your PAYING customer wants? Why not express that her comments did hurt them but that they want her to be happy and figure out a solution? He seems to think that this huge customer pool will never dry up and he can just toss any paying customer aside that in any way irritates him, "as easy as scrapping mud off my shoes". Kevin also tries to come off so superior but did anyone notice he wrote scrapping instead of scraping? I'm not trying to be petty or the "spelling police", I am sure I have several mistakes of my own, it just struck me funny because in the email from the daughter she insults people and their low IQ's.

I have never subscribed and never will now. Who wants to walk on eggshells, in fear of being cancelled, if you make a comment they don't like!? I wouldn't want that ever BUT certainly not at $60 a box! I appreciate and commend all of you that stood up to these people and their unprofessional ways by canceling. Thank you Browning for sharing & to Liz (MSA) for not giving them anymore free advertising. As another person commented, MSA was a huge part of their success. Hopefully Kevin or one of the "girls" will read all these comments and realize in the future he may need to take a breath before firing off an email in the heat of the moment.

 
JayneDoe13 said:
Isn't this the same sub box that said something about older people (i.e. MY age) not being their demographic so perhaps they should shop somewhere else?
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You're right, I'd forgotten about that -- that's what stopped me from subscribing earlier (whew). I remembered reading on MSA (and here on MUT, I think) comments from LLB which included the line, "Our biggest complaints come from people outside our target demo of 20 to 35." I realized then that they probably didn't want my business.

Oh! I just looked back through this thread and found this in a comment from Curator@LLB on Dec 18, 2014 (page 6 of this thread), discussing the "target demographic" thing:

 We don't take anyone's comments to be personal attacks on us.  This is business and we understand.  I hope that no one took our "disclaimer" as anything personal.  If so, we are truly sorry.  Losing a customer is something that happens, but hurting people’s feelings is unacceptable, and we are sorry if we did that to anyone.
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Looks as if something changed between then and now. Sadly. 

 
I have a degree in marketing and have watched the development of this sub with fascination. It started out very strong with a unique theme allegedly based around three sisters who wanted to create a "lifestyle" subscription box service.  Although December was not as strong as some of the prior boxes, customers complained (not too loudly) and decided to wait for January.  January appeared to be a recovery and most subscribers decided to stay as everything seemed to be back on track.  The company began seriously stumbling with the February box, with products that didn't really fit with the theme.  LLB blamed February on shipping issues due to the port strike.  Then came March with products that again did not fit the theme, no real new "up and coming" designer (Kate Spade doesn't count for that) and (yawn) shampoo and conditioner.

What's really fascinated me is that there are some die-hard LLB fans who will stick with them no matter what how much LLB diverts from its originally strong premise, and no matter how many horror stories were told by people who were suddenly cancelled because they had a complaint. The loyal LLB fan base seems to be in love with the fact that this venture is "run" by three sisters (which we now know it really isn't) and I think they enjoy the feeling of exclusivity that LLB built into its business model by only taking new subscribers at certain times (I don't think opening up new subscriptions for the next box will be a problem).  These die-hard fans won't cancel no matter WHAT goods LLB sends them and have attempted to justify LLB's obnoxious behavior to its customers in posts both here and on MSA.

Troubling signs have been lurking around the edges of the business. Take, for example, the retributive cancelling of customers that's been going on for months, erasure of negative posts on Facebook, and now more frequent instances of outright insulting behavior.  Then there's the fact that after the February and March boxes (which did not live up to the prior collections), LLB restructured their entire business model: fewer boxes, increased prices to new subscribers, and a new website. This was done, BTW, while bragging about their future appearance on GMA and a new business venture where LLB will be an exclusive gift with purchase somewhere for something. I would venture to say the cancelling of people who post negative comments and the removal of any negative statements from their Facebook page is an ill-advised attempt to control their public image so as to further these two other opportunities.  Of course, no one's really discussing the fact that this "awesome" sub service had to move to a bimonthly model with higher prices.  I would guess it's only a matter of time until current subscribers also see a significant price change, moving them more in line with new subscribers.

As discussed in other posts, the company's registered in Kevin Bryan's name, but the "mom," Kristin Bryan, actually seems to run the company.  The three "daughters" constantly referred to in marketing materials are Taylor, Brianna and Aubrey, and seem to have very little actual involvement in the running of the company (they are NOT the ones emailing customers from what I can ascertain).  They are pictured here (http://www.vraimagazine.com/three-accessories-keep-looking-cool-summer-heat/) in a press photo with momma Kristin.  Notice that LLB is so inauthentic it doesn't even use a picture  of the three sisters on its Facebook page.  Most of the emails I've received have come from Kristin, with a few from "Morgan Mayer" and "Kat Taylor," neither of which are the three named sisters.  Wait . . . Brianna designed the notepad worth $4.99 in the most recent box!  Maybe she's stepping up to the plate.

 
Browning said:
If they had just simply apologized, none of this would have ever gotten started. I gave them nearly a week to do so. They had their opportunity but didn't wish to take it.
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Not only that - they were the ones that started the witch hunt and tracked down people. I read other blogs where they were cancelled just because they voiced displeasure with that month's box.

There is a huge difference between finding out a company's profile and wanting to know if they are trustworthy.  We are the ones handing over money to an unknown entity. 

It is quite a different thing to go after paying customers and trying to find out who "slighted" them.  They are a public company.  You are a private customer.

 
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As far as the witch hunt comment goes, I can understand it seeming that way.  Interestingly enough, it seems the hunter (Darth) has become the hunted.  Since his customers don't amount to more than mud on his shoes, I doubt he minds that much.  

I do wonder how this will affect their upcoming segment on Good Morning America and their collaboration with the "large multi-national company" that they are curating a box for.  

 
I feel torn about this. Their response to Browning was out of line, and it’s not right that they cancel people’s accounts on a whim. Liz was right to stop reviewing the box when members of her community were being targeted. They’ve made rude remarks several times in the past, so it can’t simply be excused as one person having a bad day.

At the same time, I’ve really enjoyed the boxes, and my personal experience with their customer service was first rate. It’s a family business; I imagine the girls curate the boxes and the parents handle the company. Probably the girls are being groomed to take over their parents’ marketing business someday. It seems normal to me that they’d be the face of LLB. They bring something special to the world of subs, and I don’t want to see them fail.

I wish we could go back to just talking about the box, because I bet June’s will be great. But I also don’t want to be like those people who brush off injustice when it happens to others and not themselves. I haven’t decided yet whether to cancel or not; I guess there’s still time to think about it before June. 

 
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I feel torn as well. I wanted to give them the benefit of doubt since my interactions with them have all been positive, but with numerous stories out there of similar behavior, I'm really concerned. Also, I paid more than $300 for an annual sub. I don’t know what would happen to that if I cancel or get cancelled (which is why I created a new MUT identity for this thread) I’ve also really enjoyed all of the boxes. I don’t know what to do.

I guess just wait and see for now. Which appears to be exactly what they are doing.

Interesting that they say there are 157 million women in the US, yet their target demographic is only the women between 20-35.  Personally I don't know any women that age who could afford this sub. From what I've read in this thread, I think most of us are older than 35. If they only want women in their target age range that would buy a lifestyle sub and can afford one like this and then continue to cancel everyone that looks at them wrong, they'll be putting themselves out of business in no time.

 

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