(Hi! This is my first post on MUT, but I've been lurking for months. I've already learned so much from y'all: thanks! it was mostly this thread that led me to subscribe to Julep, last month, my first and only subscription thus far).
And, when did I subscribe? ON December 18th. I am really annoyed. I have been REALLY pleased with Julep so far: I had several issues with my first order (missing product, a bottle that literally broke apart in my hand as I opened it, and another that looks like it may do the same any day), and they have really gone above and beyond with rectifying the issues. But, I'm so disappointed with this decision.
I completely understand their choice to change the terms. I am not sure that the payoff will outweigh the hit it's going to cause them, but, if they can survive it, I do get it. I could even understand if--with better warning (funny how they can send 49 email msgs to announce anything they want to sell, but, this, they hide in a blog post that I'd have never seen, had it not been posted here, like, 23 minutes before it's to take place?!)--they chose to change it for everyone, or if they made the grand"mother"ed date something logical. But, the completely random date?
Yes, obviously I'd be a lot less bothered if it weren't the date that affected me, personally, and at such a "so close" frustration level, but, regardless, it makes no sense to me that they'd choose THAT date. Why wouldn't they, at least, choose a day that was a cutoff for people who were eligible to select their first box? (I.e., if you ordered your starter box on or after Dec. [whatever day it actually is], you then missed the window for the January selection window. (I still think it would have been a better move, customer-service-wise, for them to just suck up the extra month's worth of new subs, who surely were looking forward to their first selection period for February--having, afterall, subscribed under different terms--and just applied this to new subscribers--but at least there would have been some rhyme and reason to what they were doing).
I'm actually wondering if that WAS what they were intending, and they just screwed it up by a day or two? Because, I actually hadn't been sure whether I'd get the opportunity to select a January box, having ordered my starter box on the 18th, but, sure 'nough, they had no problem offering me the "opportunity" to spend 19.99 on another box two days later and taking my money; I would guess, though, that, had I signed up on the 19th or, at the latest, 20th, I'd have missed being "invited" for the January selection. Perhaps that was the intention of that cut-off for the grandfathering, and either they erred on the date (or erred in offering me the box?)?
Either way, I sure hope they will reconsider this cutoff date for me and others affected: I have already spent an embarrassing amount on them in the past month (!!!), and I have been pleasantly surprised by their CS so far (my original email to them re: problems with my products was sent during the time when they were completely overwhelmed with holiday stuff, and it took them well over a week to get back to me, but, after seeing how nasty people were on Facebook, I decided just to wait it out as I was in no rush for the holidays, and, if I didn't hear back within another week or so, try again. Once I finally got my first response, they not only were very helpful, immediately trying to correct everything with both replacements and refunds, but, when I missed seeing one of their messages--offering me a choice of some free polishes because some of those affected were no longer in stock--and didn't reply, they actually emailed me again to see what colors I wanted so they could send them out! Seriously, I was SO impressed.
And, right now, I'm new enough that I'll probably still want my monthly box, but I also likely wouldn't have subscribed without the reassurance that I have the option NOT to, if I don't want it, and I still would like to stick around long enough to try a mystery box, etc., and, simply from a reward-good-practices POV, I'd like to stay just because I'm impressed with how they handled their errors with my package. Otoh, I am NOT impressed with how THIS is being handled (hidden blog post with "oh, btw, we're making a massive change to our subscription policy, which you may pick up on if you read this post carefully, and we're applying it to those who subscribed after a totally random date), which I do NOT want to reward with my continued membership, ya know? I guess I'll see how they respond to my email... and, I'd imagine, many others. I hope they'll change it to only affect new subs, but, at the least, I hope they'll, at least, change the date to one that at least makes a modicum of sense.
/emoticons/
