French Box Update for Annual Subscribers

I received my replacement products today – I see that the shower gel is made in the USA…

While I appreciate products made in the USA, the idea of a FRENCH BOX is to sample products made in FRANCE.

Honestly, the way this all sounds to me is they have fallen hard. They tried to over do it in the beginning and now they have spent all of their available funds. In my opinion it seems like they have spent all their yearly and monthly subscribers money and really don’t know what to do. Nowhere in the email did they offer to refund their money. It sounds really odd to me, if it were me I would be demanding my money back, but to each their own. At least they are making up for last months horror box.

Here is the email I received, which was slightly different:

Dear Crystal,

We wanted to reach out to you without further delay to share an important update about your recent subscription with FrenchBox.

You are among the people who signed up after we sold out the February Box and you are currently scheduled to receive our next box.

We have been busy dealing with issues with our February box. Issues that have forced us to re-think the way we operate and assemble the box. We have decided to delay our next box. We expect to ship it in about 6 weeks.

We will communicate more details in the coming weeks about the changes that we are implementing. Among other things, we will now provide detailed information about the products that the we send: production date, shelf life and list of ingredients. We will no longer guarantee a set schedule for our box and we will change its price.

Please note that we have suspended all subscriptions at this time:
* You will not be charged a second time with this subscription;
* You will need to sign up again and agree to new terms and conditions if you wish to continue your subscription with us. We will give you advanced access to our new registration system so you do not miss out.

We disappointed a lot of people in February and this next box is a very important one for us… We hope that you will agree to this delay which is necessary for us while we reorganize FrenchBox.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any question about your subscription.

We thank you for you patience and understanding.

Looking at some of the other boxes, like Yogi surprise, little lace box and some of the others that have recently come out, I think that it is likely that the cost of this box will be between 34.99 and 49.99 and that they will probably do a bi-monthly box in order to be able to source the products. I would think that we are probably not looking at at boxes at 3 times or 4 times the cost, but probably 2 to 2 1/2 times cost. Prior to February’s box, I was always happy with my box (I did not get the cell phone charm and magnet) and always thought the $24 price was low for what you got. I think Yogi surprise has figured out the secret (there box usually doubles the cost and always has interesting items) while Little lace box appears to make it up through their store (has anyone who got a box not ordered something through their store) as I expect is the plan with Oui Please. Based on the et voila publication, It looks like Oui Please will be adding a lot of new items from this last box and I know I will be ordering some things. French box is probably going to need to use one of these two models to pull themselves out of their current situation. I also wrote them and suggested they should focus less on all makeup and include a diverse group of items. I’m going to be cancelling my two makeup subs because I get so much of this stuff in my other boxes.

What I take is that they misjudged their price point, and could not continuously offer the same quality at that price point (hence bargain bin beauty products) they will need to raise the price to up the quality. I agree that those who paid in advance should not be hit by this increase, however FB does not have the revenue to offer all these users the original price. The solution is to give you a 30% boost in credit, so that they can raise the price. I think it’s a decent solution that can potentially keep them afloat until they get more users. They are being honest and fair about it, some companies would have just folded and left all pre-paid subscribers out in the cold.

I have just signed up for the annual sub and Feb. was my first box… LE SIGH! It looks like they are communicating earlier annual sub customers as I haven’t received this email yet. At this point, all we know is that they will ship 2 replacement items by the end of next week; the next box will ship in about 5 weeks from today; and they are changing pricing and terms for annual subscribers. That means they are skipping March box to push back annual sub holders by a month for now?

The annual price Liz paid seemed to be a promotional price which ended while ago. I paid $228 ($19/month). I guess I will contact customer service when I get this email and see what it really means. I really hope they give us the option of refund or guarantee the remaining # of boxes at no further cost.

From what I see, the important parts of the letter are these:

We are planning some changes in the way we offer our box. Changes that are necessary for us in order to produce boxes at the quality level we had originally set for. (Using the word necessary here implies to me that they are going under, and also cannot afford to get decent products at the price they started with, especially now that their shady practices have been outed)

How will we fulfill your subscription ? (This implies they will not be sending the remaining number of boxes that have been paid for)

We are going to add 30% to your balance…and ship you our upcoming boxes until this balance is depleted. (At our increased rate, whatever number of boxes this amount covers. We’ve added 30% to try to make up for he fact at you won’t be getting all the boxes you’ve paid for.

We hope that you will find these changes acceptable and give us a chance to exceed the expectations you have put for us. (Give us a chance basically sounds like if you decide to demand the boxes you paid for, or a refund, we are going under.)

I don’t think anyone commenting is saying they are charging you 30%,people just word things differently. I also think that everyone should decide on their own whether they want to dispute charges, demand refunds, demand their remaining boxes, or accept this plan. I don’t think anyone here should try to make someone feel guilty for disputing charges or demanding refunds, it is not the subscribers responsibility to “save” this company. It is the company’s responsibility to save their subscribers.

Soooo… I guess French Box has never heard of the term “grandfather clause.” Because that’s what annual subscribers should fall under. They paid their total annual amount; they should receive their remaining annual boxes for no additional charge–may that be only 1 more box or 11 more boxes.

I mean, that’s how companies do things. I’m not sure why that’s a difficult concept? If French Box can’t AFFORD that, I fully understand that. They’ve taken quite a hit. However, if that’s the case, they should refund the remaining balance to annual subscribers–again, may that be $17 or $187. Theoretically, they should be able to afford to do that because they haven’t bought products for those boxes yet, thereby not needing that money yet. Unless they’re using all of y’all’s annual money to buy those two replacement products. Which is probable.

They need to clarify the email. Are they adding the 30% on as a bonus for being a yearly subscriber? In other words, they will fulfill the remainder of the yearly sub leaving you with the bonus money to put toward a box or a store item? That’s the only thing that makes sense to me because of what is bolded in the post.

Has anyone contact them to find out what exactly that means?

This is why I stay away from subscribing for 6 or 12 months. I never thought the FB that I loved last year would be in this spot this year. You never know. Too many subs come and go.

From what I’ve been reading while following the situation they aren’t allowing yearly subscribers to cancel and get the remainder of their money back. If they are breaking their side of the contract and raising the price/not giving the remaining 6 boxes, I really feel subscribers should be allowed to refuse the new contract and cancel for a refund of $130, or at least the $102. People signed up for the year to get $17/mo boxes… Even if they raise the price I think yearly subscribers (who choose not to cancel) should still get a significant discount off of the new price. I’m really glad I decided not to sign up for this box. I don’t think they even have 6 months left at this rate.

I guess I read this completely differently than everyone else. I read it as they were crediting your account with 30%, probably to offset the price increase they will soon announce.

Wow
how can they possibly think this is fair? increasing the price sounds like a giant rip off
and no mention of replacements for those of us who threw out most of the last box and cancelled at the same time

I agree with everyone here that it doesn’t seem legal (or fair for that matter) to add 30% to everyone who signed up for a year’s subscription. That should be their loss. Also, even with the up-charge, it still doesn’t mean they will get the remaining 6 boxes. That’s breaking a prepaid contract they had with their subscribers. I’m really glad I cancelled this one early; I would hate to be stuck with this mess to clean up.

I feel that they are trying to make this right but this email was a little confusing. I still have 6 boxes left so expect 6 boxes more. The 30% adjustment would make sense as someone mentioned on the accounting side but then they mention towards the end there may not be enough for the full box. I feel with a price increase and all of the recent issues they may not get subscribers due to the trust issue. They really need the remaining annual subscribers to review upcoming boxes to rebuild the trust. Anxious to see what 2 items we will be receiving. I would feel better if they were upfront about this last box and not that they were not aware. This still makes no sense to me. Where is the quality control? I just returned from Paris and there are so many items from just the pharmacies that could make a fun great box. I am supportive of FrenchBox and want them to succeed. I appreciate the sincere effort to make this right as obviously they believe in their subscription service. I think others may have simply given up and thrown in the towel. Yikes! I am sorry this is so long.

I don’t have a years subscription, so I’m just commenting lol. But I don’t like hee fact they they haven’t said they will fulfill the remaining number of boxes due to customers with yearly subs, but rather say they will send boxes “until the money runs out”. They aren’t fulfilling their end of the agreement, in my opinion. And that just mean that financially they are in mess. Yikes.

This just doesn’t seem right to me. The reason people contract for annual subscriptions is to get the boxes at a discount. Annual subscribers contracted to 12 boxes for a certain cost. Now FrenchBox is changing that contract. If they keep the box price the same (unlikely) you will get an extra box. If they raise it to say $50 you get two boxes instead of six. Fixing this issue should not fall on the shoulders of current subscribers.

I do not have an annual subscription but I’m doubting I’ll like my two replacement items. I think they are not releasing what they are because they will get another surge of people unsubscribing.

Looks like all future boxes are going to be a different price with no set time intervals. I cancelled my monthly after the 6 boxes. I do not need anymore made in China items. A friend of a friend just signed up an annual and Feb was her first box. How awful. She said that frenchbox would not let her cancel and she is disputing the charge with her cc.

I think they are suffering from yet another communications issue…
(I also suspect that they were trying to save costs and outsourced the box last time and it failed miserably)

I’m reading this as:
—–
We realized we screwed up. We are going to make this right by sending you new products to compensate for the poor quality products we sent you in February. Our current business model is not sustainable, thus we are going to raise the price for new subscribers by 30%. However, we made a deal with you already and we intend to keep it. Our tracking system does not recognize subscriptions as a number of boxes, but instead as a monetary balance and each box shipped is deducted as a prorated amount. Thus, for the purposes of our accounting system, the easiest way to rectify this situation is to add 30% to your account balance. This should not at all affect how you receive your boxes, but we wanted to proactively point this out to avoid confusion.
——–
I could be wrong in how I’ve interpreted it, but it’s pretty obvious to me they don’t have a communications professional on staff. They have been correctly apologetic, but the information they provide is confusing. I’m glad I didn’t sign up in January.

Well, here it comes from one of the attorneys. I don’t know the language of the agreement when you signed up for the annual subscription, but unless it said they could raise prices or give you fewer boxes (pretty unlikely), I think they have to give you all remaining boxes- you paid a discounted price for 12 boxes and they have to live up to their end of the contract and give you 12 boxes for that price.

The more important question might be whether they can stay in business, particularly if everyone who has an annual subscription asks for a refund or all 12 boxes at the agree price. They may not have the cash to be able to refund everyone their remainder, and it is clear they can’t fill boxes for this price. If they go under, you are left with an annual subscription to nothing.

So, legally, I don’t think they can do it. Practically, they best option might be to let them reduce the number of boxes so you get SOMETHING. I am concerned, however, that they have no details about how often they will ship boxes, nor how much they will cost. They also haven’t been able to get the two new products out to anyone yet. So, it appears the “something” you will get might be very little.

Everyone will have to choose what they want to do. It could be the first to request a refund from their credit card companies or French Box itself might be the ones to get money back. But it looks like there’s not much money there.

I have to be honest and say this is why I don’t get annual subscriptions, particularly to new boxes. There are too many variables, and too many of them appear to go under. These guys seem to be trying to keep their head above water, but so far all they’ve been able to show is good intentions.

I am thinking they will announce an approximately 30% price increase next.

I’m hoping the attorneys who commented last time can jump in on this, but I’d think if you bought an annual subscription, they’re obligated to fulfill whatever quantity of boxes they said you’d be getting.

I dunno, I feel like this is still a shady move – “we screwed up royally, so we’re raising our prices – which may or may not retroactively retract your pre-paidsubscription length” ? Glad I don’t get this box!

I’m concerned that my 30% bonus will not be enough to cover the remaining 6 boxes on my subscription. The idea of buying the annual sub is to lock in the price for 12 shipments. I won’t know until they make further announcements.

Frankly, I have loved most of the items in these boxes and purchased 3 items after sampling them. I wish French Box would sell some of the items in their shop section but so far that hasn’t been the case.

I was hoping to subscribe to this box as an affordable alternative to the Oui Please box but after February’s flub and now mention of changing the way they offer their box, not having a set schedule, and changing the price… I think I’ll wait a couple of months to see how this plays out before I commit to a subscription.