Escape Monthly Subscription Box Review – September 2014

This month sucked – I liked the Paris box and some of the past boxes were pretty good. I am not sure what to do with this sub because I like the concept. I also like the guidebooks.

I think I will wait for London and then decide about cancelling, but this is really on the line for me.

I cancelled this sub due to upcoming expenses. I don’t know if that removed me from their email list. I’m curious if there are spoilers for the London box. The box should be shipping soon. It’s quiet on their Facebook page with no spoilers or much promotion of the London box.

I was really not pleased with this box. I wish I would have saved my Living Social voucher for London this month! 🙁

This box is just horrible. This is the first, last and probably only Escape Monthly box I’ll ever get. My husband and I went to PR for our honeymoon and stayed in San Juan and on the insland of Vieques. Our anniversary is coming up, so when I learned of this box & found out it was going to be Puerto Rico, I was so excited. After receiving it I am just so disapointed. I urge everyone to not judge the beautiful islands of Puerto Rico and Vieques on the contents of this box. It is such a magical place with amazing food, cocktails, beaches, music, people and culture. This box had so much potential.

Yes, the value of this box was a bit off but I love the coconut candies, the candle and the frog pin is adorable….BUT….that hot sauce….that is ridiculously hot! I know they warn it should be used in a blend but you’d think they could have opted for one that was a bit more palatable by most people.

I’m from Puerto Rico. We don’t really have beauty items.. all our stuff is exactly what you’d buy in the US. Our things are the food and the snacks. Souvenirs are expensive depending if they’re handmade or not. This box made me happy because it’s home. No one else would understand it…

Even with the Rue La La voucher, this was WAY overpriced. I’d bought it for a gift, but I’m glad it came to me – I would be embarrassed to give someone this crap. On the plus size, at least I didn’t get the little hat from the mini rum bottles. I did get the lavender eye pillow, which was a nice plus, I assume because I was a new member. I’m staying on only because the next month is London, but then I’m gone.

I’ve really liked Escape Monthly. I enjoyed the anniversary box, and the Paris box! This one was a little on the let down side for me. One thing I wish they would quit doing is sending the travel books. Maybe include a voucher for you to buy one if you want but for it to be counted in the weight and value of the box is a waste. I’ve suggested they include a movie that takes place there or a cd of popular local music. I don’t care as much for the little souvenir trinkets but prefer the food items (not expired though) and items for your house or body. Their customer service has always been super friendly to me though. I do suggest you write them and offer specific feedback and suggestions. Maybe if enough of us reach out to them (ex. Ditch the book and give us something else!!), maybe they’ll listen. This box has great potential and could be totally awesome. They just need to work on it! So please write them!!

I was SO disappointed in this box. The value was too low, the plantain chips expired 9/28/14 (two days after I got my box!). Cancelling.

I was very disappointed with the items and value of the box, I cancelled my subscription.

I signed up with Living Social too when it was supposed to be the Paris box, and I verified that was the box that would be shipped. When it didn’t arrive and I contacted them, I was given the run-around also, told I signed up too late… that Puerto Rico was clearly stated on the website, etc. No, it wasn’t. It all gave me a bad feeling, and I cancelled it through Living Social. I’m really glad now that I did. I wish someone would put together a truly great travel/destination box… it seems like a lot of us would LOVE it!

I was googling subscription boxes that shipped to Puerto Rico and this came up as a result. I’m from PR and this makes me angry and embarrassed. I worked a lot with tourists when I lived in the island and I always told them to steer clear of cheap souvenirs that said Puerto Rico on the top and “Made in China” on the bottom and directed them to real artisans. It’s incredibly disappointing seeing that is what you guys got. If you want information on where to get real Puerto Rican coffee of great quality, look up small haciendas that do it. This is just bumming me out.

I came this close to ordering this back when they had that deal. After seeing the contents In this latest box and reading the remarks (Erin, that is so horrible) I find their conduct is outrageous. I seriously think they should be reported to the Better Business Bureau.

Liz, thanks for mentioning the low value. I’m guessing most of us hope to at least break even when it comes to the cost versus value of the box. I can’t believe they ascribed a value of $10 to the tiny bag of coffee or $7 to the small and completely random souvenir. In my case they also sent me a lavender eye pillow . I got the impression that they had sent them to everyone to make up for this junk box, but I guess I’m wrong. Also, I hate the new system for winning the vacation. Making it a popularity contest is just gross 🙁

This box was horrible. It also arrived extremely late. Even worse than it being late is that while the people there are polite, they purposefully told us bad ship dates to keep people from complaining. I was told on two separate occasions untrue things. This was my first box with Escape. I sent another as a gift. Turns out I am embarrassed that this is the gift she received. I have a three month subscription. : (

I am and live in Puerto Rico. So I was really looking fwd to this post. What a letdown and what a bad marketing for us. Also you are absolutely right! the prices are heavily taken out of proportion. Also we have so much better local brands. Those chips are from the cheapest brand and you can find them for .75 cents to 1.00. Yaucono coffee for 8oz is around $5.00 so the 4oz version equally out of proportion. The souvenirs, that hat is used to “top” rum bottles so I wonder were the rum went. Im so sad that neither of the persons who received this box got sent a box truly representative of our Island. At least the books shows Culebra which has some of the top 10 beaches of the World.

I knew this box would be a disappointment. I enjoyed the Paris box. I am hopeful for the London box to be pretty good. But I requested for a cancellation. I know some boxes are about curation not value. But it feels a little like both are lacking.

Ugh, so glad I canceled this way overpriced sub. Had 2 awful customer service experiences with them and was just DONE. I have seen them flat out lie and condescend to their customers on their FB page. I’m also having a hard time believing they actually give away a vacation, I have yet to see or hear anything posted on their FB (or anywhere else) about any winners … Has anyone ever seen or heard from a winner? Just feels shady all around …

Worst box ever. Can’t even give this crap away. Or swap? HA! I didn’t like anything in the box! If this were indicative of Puerto Rico I will never go. I can’t believe they actually sent this box to paying customers.
Horrible.

I enjoyed all my boxes until this one. My 6 year old likes the frog pin. The boys ate the chips that day with no complaints so I can’t comment on the expiration date. I cancelled Escape Monthly for now due to unexpected expenses and hope that when I am ready to resubscribe that the comments are reading much better. I love the concept and received some great products in the past.

I’ve been to PR (going again in Feb), and this box was a huge letdown (especially considering the wait). This box did nothing to illustrate the colorful people and architecture, the tasty food and beautiful landscape. Essentially got a $40 travel book. Will stick it out for London, since that book will be used too. Gettin’ to be quite the expensive book sub 😉

I wouldn’t get another Escape box if they gave it away for free. It’s a complete ripoff, generally filled with off-lot junk, and has multiple times included expired (and stale) food products. And for me the clincher is the dishonest, defensive “customer service.” I too have gotten items that had covered up retail price stickers and had them argue and condescend to me in response when I questioned it. They know they’re sending third rate crap and marking up values sometimes more than 300%. Having visited Puerto Rico many times, along with lots of their other destinations, I know what items and brands are really local. The things they send rarely are. I especially enjoyed getting a USED lollipop in the anniversary box, that had teeth marks in it (it had been slipped back into the wrapper, just beyond disgusting). They don’t abide by their own terms of sale and service. The anniversary box took 6 weeks to ship after payment and even then it only arrived after I threatened (and meant it) a credit card chargeback. The real value of the products I got in that one? Far from the claimed $100+. When I added it all up and was very generous in giving them credit for higher values than reality dictated, it came to a whopping $31. And I paid $50. The only things I discovered in that box were (1) check all food for prior signs of sampling (ew), (2) look for signs of mold in bags of loose leaf tea and (3) don’t subscribe to this service!

beware those of you with “non auto-renewing vouchers” from Living Social. Mine renewed, I complained to Escape Monthly, and they wanted proof that I’d refused shipment (like I can keep track)! It was only when writing my review that I’d realized that I had received an extra box. I am disputing with Amex, and need to follow up with Living Social as well.

Thank goodness I had a LivingSocial deal. This was my first box, and I hated it. Aside from the book, the value of this box is awful. It is just a bunch of touristy junk. The coffee is one of the cheapest you can find. Check the expiration dates. My plantain chips expired two days after I received the box, and the candy expires soon. I was hoping this subscription would introduce me to interesting places and things– there was nothing unique or interesting about this curation.

Been getting Escape Monthly since Dec. but cancelled when I saw PR as the destination–just had a bad feeling… SO GLAD I DID! I agree that the value wasn’t there. I would not necessarily want more bath and body products but those are really inexpensive souvenirs…

BTW I’ve seen others comment that the best by date on one of the snacks was two days after their box arrived!