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My October box was 5 items, the value was $85 but for this $20 was Michael Marcus eyeliner.  ($20 for a worse than drugstore eyeliner!?!?  I really can't impress enough how awful his cosmetics are.)  November was $70.50, for 4 items.  However, $64 of all that total was Michael Marcus.  This means of $155 stated value, I only got $91 in other brands for $72.  The eyeshadow isn't bad this month but it is a big compact with only a tiny bit of eyeshadow in it so $18 is almost laughable.  It's about a nickle sized circle in a very shallow pan.

The September box had a great Lise compact (though I can't imagine I'd pay $36 retail for it ever) so I kept the whole box.  This is where I got the hideous Merlot Besame - which does NOT fit with my profile.  It's insanely dark for a super light complexion especially.  This is a color that only looks good on very, very dark skin tones with dark hair.  But the whole of the box was $83 for 4 items.  I kept it for that compact though.  Without it, that box surely would have went back for anything else.  It just happened to be perfect colors for me.

This leaves me to August which was the last box I was wholly happy with as far as items/value ratio, which means my increasing disappointment was coinciding with the slowly disappearing info from the site.

I always knew when I'd come after that I was getting lower valued boxes after the first few.  It was still a deal but it was pushing it close.  I've been between $80 and $95 more recently even as my first two boxes topped $115.  What is interesting in this is that Wantable's decision to try and sneak this in has made more people than just me re-evaluate my entire subscription.  I've looked back at history, what the value is of what I got and so on.  I've been one of the unlucky that doesn't get the "exciting" brands but the brand items worked for me so I cared less.  In all the things people have listed they got or that Wantable touts they send, I haven't gotten them.

That said, I'll be stalking the December box like a hawk.  Wantable has responded fairly forcefully they will make it right.  I've also emailed at Jaclyn's suggestion and will share that here as I get it.  If nothing else, this will certainly be a lesson in business in both the power of social media and forums where we can tell others how awful some of the brands that were slipped in are... and how the changes happened.  They've promised better upfront communication about any changes to the sub so I'll see how it is.

(Edited to fix my typo.)

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Heather Hicks /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  But is it just me, or is that a bad business plan from the start? What I mean is, customers are savvy enough to notice things like this and rebel, which is what many of us have done. I don't think it is a good idea to offer more in the beginning and plan on cutting back later on. You mess up your existing, loyal customer base. Or, did they know they'd do that, but hope that existing social media would pull in new customers, so they wouldn't worry about the old ones? I'm just curious what people think about their plan if indeed it was their plan to offer more up front then cut back. Hmm?

The cynic in me is thinking that they depended on great blog reviews, word of mouth and then they cut back after they got people to subscribe.   When I read the early reviews on Wantable this year, they gave away a lot of free boxes to beauty bloggers.   I mean, when you look at the early blogs for November, there was some comments about this isn't the best box I got, but they didn't get up in arms.  I don't think they even KNEW what was going on as they didn't look (like I didn't until I read those reviews) to see the changes and the dropped promises (I call those a guarantee, not a "promise") of the box contents and value.

It is awful to offer more up front and then cut back, stating the excuse that they are a new company and they needed to change their business plan.  To use the excuse that their members wanted LESS items but more expensive products - I called BS on that one.  People didn't want the value to drop down, they just wanted quality items as they were promised.

I hope that is not the case, but since they dropped their guarantee on the value of the box, I just have that feeling...

 
Essentially, I was merely offered to be able to return my box.  Which I already knew.

Quote: Thank you for reaching out! I am so sorry that you were unhappy with your November Box. If you would like, please send your box back and I will be sure to issue you a refund as soon as I receive your box. We do guarantee returns and refunds within six months of the purchase date.    Also, we do have a system in place that allows customers to send back a partial return. If you decide to keep the Darla eyeshadow which retails at $18, you would receive $18 back ($36 box cost-$18 shadow= $18 refunded).   Please let me know if you have any further questions as I am happy to assist. We try our best to put together the perfect boxes for our customers, but do not always get it 100%. Thanks for being a fantastic customer and we appreciate all the feedback you have given us!    Best, Amanda

So really, no point in reaching out.  As they don't intend on doing anything.  I will be doing a full refund certainly but this has really soured me.  Why plaster everywhere that we can contact for people who think they got screwed in November... only to offer us to do what their policy has always been and we already knew about?


 
Quote: Originally Posted by biancardi /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
The cynic in me is thinking that they depended on great blog reviews, word of mouth and then they cut back after they got people to subscribe.   When I read the early reviews on Wantable this year, they gave away a lot of free boxes to beauty bloggers.   I mean, when you look at the early blogs for November, there was some comments about this isn't the best box I got, but they didn't get up in arms.  I don't think they even KNEW what was going on as they didn't look (like I didn't until I read those reviews) to see the changes and the dropped promises (I call those a guarantee, not a "promise") of the box contents and value.

It is awful to offer more up front and then cut back, stating the excuse that they are a new company and they needed to change their business plan.  To use the excuse that their members wanted LESS items but more expensive products - I called BS on that one.  People didn't want the value to drop down, they just wanted quality items as they were promised.

I hope that is not the case, but since they dropped their guarantee on the value of the box, I just have that feeling...
I think you are absolutely right at this point, see how all this has been handled and then the now further almost insult.  "Sorry 'bout that, return if you want!".  Ooookay - but that doesn't assail the problem I had getting less, crappy makeup at an inflated price, while being charged automatically...

I officially canceled.

 
Seola, that really was horrible.  To do a one-to-one price comparison and let you "have" it at full retail price (cause you know they didn't pay full retail) is just lousy customer service at this point.

I don't know what to say.  My november will be shipping out the end of this week - I will review it here. I am nervous now about what they will ship out.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by biancardi /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Seola, that really was horrible.  To do a one-to-one price comparison and let you "have" it at full retail price (cause you know they didn't pay full retail) is just lousy customer service at this point.

I don't know what to say.  My november will be shipping out the end of this week - I will review it here. I am nervous now about what they will ship out.
Especially since they are basically offering me to let them profit a retail price item!

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Seola /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Especially since they are basically offering me to let them profit a retail price item!
That is frustrating; I think they should issue a blanket $10 credit to everyone who got one of the 3-4 item boxes. (Since they offer returns at any point they can't easily filter it out and exclude people who have/intend on returning, so the credit would be more of an apology than anything else, plus we'd have to order another box from them anyway to use it.)

I looked into the partial refund option when I was returning my box. I liked the blush but certainly didn't value it at $19, so I ended up returning the whole box. 

Edit to add: I think issuing a universal apology will also be better PR instead of just letting MUT know. I'm sure lots of people subscribe that aren't on MUT.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by biancardi /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
The cynic in me is thinking that they depended on great blog reviews, word of mouth and then they cut back after they got people to subscribe.   When I read the early reviews on Wantable this year, they gave away a lot of free boxes to beauty bloggers.   I mean, when you look at the early blogs for November, there was some comments about this isn't the best box I got, but they didn't get up in arms.  I don't think they even KNEW what was going on as they didn't look (like I didn't until I read those reviews) to see the changes and the dropped promises (I call those a guarantee, not a "promise") of the box contents and value.

It is awful to offer more up front and then cut back, stating the excuse that they are a new company and they needed to change their business plan.  To use the excuse that their members wanted LESS items but more expensive products - I called BS on that one.  People didn't want the value to drop down, they just wanted quality items as they were promised.

I hope that is not the case, but since they dropped their guarantee on the value of the box, I just have that feeling...
Yeah, I was spoiled in always getting 5 items. After my first box, which was kind of so so, I started getting better boxes. Then one month, I ordered 2 boxes. Since that time I had gotten good to great boxes until this month. For me, the 5 items and a value of at least $80 was pretty key to me keeping the box. It was soooo much easier to overlook 1 or 2 items you didn't want at all if you got 3 you liked. But with the 4 I got, it just didn't seem worth my money to keep it when they sent a color I never, ever would've chosen for myself. I guess I wouldn't mind if they lowered the value guarantee *a little*. Like, instead of $80-100 they went to $75-90 or so. But having absolutely no guarantee on value makes me a touch nervous as to what they might send out. I guess it is these 2 issues combined which makes it even worse. Looks like they're going back to a higher number of items (but not the 5-6 it was when I first signed up). That's good (not great like before, but good). But even 4-5 items isn't impressive if they collectively cost about $60 (so an average of $12-15 each) and then you don't like 1 or 2 of them. I'm glad they improved their quiz, but to do something like this, they need to improve it even more. For example, ask not only if you liked colored eyeshadow or neutrals, but go on to ask exactly which colors you like, love, or hate. That was why I sent my box back--the blue shadow. Oh well. Here's hoping they figure things out so I can resub next year.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by CuriouslyAmanda /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  That is frustrating; I think they should issue a blanket $10 credit to everyone who got one of the 3-4 item boxes. (Since they offer returns at any point they can't easily filter it out and exclude people who have/intend on returning, so the credit would be more of an apology than anything else, plus we'd have to order another box from them anyway to use it.)

I looked into the partial refund option when I was returning my box. I liked the blush but certainly didn't value it at $19, so I ended up returning the whole box. 

Edit to add: I think issuing a universal apology will also be better PR instead of just letting MUT know. I'm sure lots of people subscribe that aren't on MUT.
I would have certainly taken advantage of that $10 credit offer if it had been made. I really, really wanted to keep the Cailyn pink kabuki brush and the rose Girlactik cream blush. But since the value was around $33 (slightly less than the box itself) I decided to send the box back. Dropped it off in the mail today. But had they offered the $10 credit, I would have gladly kept it. Plus, it would have been a very, very, very smart PR move on their part. If you know you've got $10 coming to you, you are going to be more likely to give them another try and order another box. Sure, you might skip December just to see what everyone else got on youtube vids or on here, but you wouldn't want to let the opportunity to get a box for $26 pass you by. It would've given them a positive second chance to keep customers. Now, even for customers who hang around to see what happens, I don't think the feelings are going to be quite so positive. You should work for them Amanda!

 
On a side note, does anyone know how they do their selections for each box/customer? I know it is supposed to be 'hand picked' but wouldn't it make sense to use a computer program to narrow down the options ahead of time. What I mean is, have the computer match your answers to the quiz with the actual inventory they have on hand. So it could print out a list of love and like items. Then, the person who puts the box together could start out with a love item from the list and find other items that go well with the love item, checking to make sure they are ok and not a dislike. Personally, I don't think I've ever gotten an item that was a dislike--mascara, for example--but I've heard of people who have gotten a dislike item on here. It seems like if they went to a semi-automated, semi-personalized system, it would prevent those issues. So that's why I'm assuming they aren't doing that right now.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Heather Hicks /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I would have certainly taken advantage of that $10 credit offer if it had been made. I really, really wanted to keep the Cailyn pink kabuki brush and the rose Girlactik cream blush. But since the value was around $33 (slightly less than the box itself) I decided to send the box back. Dropped it off in the mail today. But had they offered the $10 credit, I would have gladly kept it. Plus, it would have been a very, very, very smart PR move on their part. If you know you've got $10 coming to you, you are going to be more likely to give them another try and order another box. Sure, you might skip December just to see what everyone else got on youtube vids or on here, but you wouldn't want to let the opportunity to get a box for $26 pass you by. It would've given them a positive second chance to keep customers. Now, even for customers who hang around to see what happens, I don't think the feelings are going to be quite so positive. You should work for them Amanda!
Aww, thanks Heather! 
smile.gif


 
Quote: Originally Posted by CuriouslyAmanda /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  That is frustrating; I think they should issue a blanket $10 credit to everyone who got one of the 3-4 item boxes. (Since they offer returns at any point they can't easily filter it out and exclude people who have/intend on returning, so the credit would be more of an apology than anything else, plus we'd have to order another box from them anyway to use it.)

I looked into the partial refund option when I was returning my box. I liked the blush but certainly didn't value it at $19, so I ended up returning the whole box. 

Edit to add: I think issuing a universal apology will also be better PR instead of just letting MUT know. I'm sure lots of people subscribe that aren't on MUT.
Honestly, you would think they'd do something to make sure we subbed for another box and made that box make us want to stick a little longer.  I also would have been just fine even if they'd offered $5 off the next box.  Something, anything but a horrible standard form response.  So to go with the awful change in subs and it's timeline, the rep who told me to contact customer service sent me a copied/pasted form that is already part of the service I had subbed to.

Then offered to let me buy an item that is insanely overpriced, from a newer line who isn't even in stores.  The Darla line - the chick had a blog as a "beauty expert", it was a freaking personal blog that had 3 comments over 6 posts.  I get that some want in on the box to get started - but charging outrageous prices for unknown brands that have no retail outlet other than a DIY store and a whole 400 FB fans?  Then pass that off to me as a "deal" for screwing everything up?  Not to mention, if I wait, every few months that Darla line has a code for 50% off of 2 eyeshadows.  Even had a 3pk offer for $42.  Not only does it tell me these items HAVE to be incredibly and amazingly overpriced but the fact the manufacturer offers them at as low as $9 a piece just chaps my rear.

Ugh.  The more I think about this, the more jaded I feel about the "value" of these items.  At least I can thank them for one thing - doing this opened my eyes to both what junk they consider "real" makeup is and looked into the background of the cosmetics I got instead if just sticking with Wantable's word.  I first posted I was a Beauty Birdbrain who needed full size cosmetics.  The more I research my boxes, the more ripped off I feel.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Seola /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Honestly, you would think they'd do something to make sure we subbed for another box and made that box make us want to stick a little longer.  I also would have been just fine even if they'd offered $5 off the next box.  Something, anything but a horrible standard form response.  So to go with the awful change in subs and it's timeline, the rep who told me to contact customer service sent me a copied/pasted form that is already part of the service I had subbed to.

Then offered to let me buy an item that is insanely overpriced, from a newer line who isn't even in stores.  The Darla line - the chick had a blog as a "beauty expert", it was a freaking personal blog that had 3 comments over 6 posts.  I get that some want in on the box to get started - but charging outrageous prices for unknown brands that have no retail outlet other than a DIY store and a whole 400 FB fans?  Then pass that off to me as a "deal" for screwing everything up?  Not to mention, if I wait, every few months that Darla line has a code for 50% off of 2 eyeshadows.  Even had a 3pk offer for $42.  Not only does it tell me these items HAVE to be incredibly and amazingly overpriced but the fact the manufacturer offers them at as low as $9 a piece just chaps my rear.

Ugh.  The more I think about this, the more jaded I feel about the "value" of these items.  At least I can thank them for one thing - doing this opened my eyes to both what junk they consider "real" makeup is and looked into the background of the cosmetics I got instead if just sticking with Wantable's word.  I first posted I was a Beauty Birdbrain who needed full size cosmetics.  The more I research my boxes, the more ripped off I feel.
I think the Lise Watier is the best brand I've gotten from them. Well, that and 3 cosmetics for the cream blushes. I loved the Besame, but moreso for the packaging, even though the lip pot gloss is pretty good. Cailyn is ok, but Ipsy gives them out along with discount codes every now and then. All the other brands, I'm not so sure about either. The Girlactik looked nice, but I think I'll look into them as you did.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by zadidoll /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I love Lise Waiter products. Beautiful products.
oh yes I agree.  I had to request a Lise eyeshadow, as they messed up my first box - I don't know whose profile they used, but it wasn't mine!!   I also swapped for one here and I did purchase the tartan lipstick on my own.

Lise Waiter also has some great sales too - when I purchased the tartan lippie, they were having a 60% off sale on selected items.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by zadidoll /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I love Lise Waiter products. Beautiful products.
I REALLY love the compact I got in tartan and I love the card that came with it that shows me two ways to wear the colors for two drastic different looks from the same colors.  But alas, just one.

Quote: Originally Posted by biancardi /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  oh yes I agree.  I had to request a Lise eyeshadow, as they messed up my first box - I don't know whose profile they used, but it wasn't mine!!   I also swapped for one here and I did purchase the tartan lipstick on my own.

Lise Waiter also has some great sales too - when I purchased the tartan lippie, they were having a 60% off sale on selected items.

Lise has less sales so I do think the value is a bit higher.  I think her brand is part of that "bait and switch".  Toss one out once in a while, so you can say that's the brand you have, and you'll perceive the other items to be of that quality and value.  I'm also finding it interesting just how different our box values have been over time.  Seeing others getting boxes worth 15-30% more than my boxes seems like a bit of a rip off since we are all paying the same.  I know there needs to be slight variations of course, *but if I get an $83 box for the month and someone else is getting $109...

 
I have never gotten a 100+ box from them.  Mine have been in the 90 dollar range.

at any rate, before I joined wantable, I read the reviews and bought a couple of the brands on my own, such as besame and lise.  I have yet to get a face stockholm product :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

If I do dump wantable, I at least can still read other blogger reviews and see the product line there.

 
btw - just got the notice that they are putting together my box.  oh boy.  Let's see what I get!!

 
Quote: Originally Posted by biancardi /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  btw - just got the notice that they are putting together my box.  oh boy.  Let's see what I get!!
Yes! I noticed that too. They sent an email and suggested I update my quiz. (I'm getting the intimates box but assume they do the same for makeup.) 

 

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