GlossyBox Flash Sale – 3 Months for $14.99 a Box!

I commented on a bunch of people’s GB FB posts to commiserate about our abysmal July boxes. For anyone not up to speed, everyone got the same exact items except for two. Some got the Nuxe oil and Too Faced melted lipstick (worth about $46-$48). Some got Treehut oil and a GLOW perfume solid. I’m not sure of the value of that combo. Some others and I got a $2 Sinful nail polish (second month in a row for me!) plus a horrible-smelling Sabon shower gel in the worst packaging short of a sandwich bag. The bottle was reminiscent of a bad hotel sample and is worth less than $2.50. My card said that I was supposed to get the matching lotion, too, but I didn’t. It sounds like they left that out of a lot of boxes. Personally, I already got the lotion a couple of months ago and hated it, but I find it a little amusing that they when they decided to give out worthless junk, they managed to cheap out on that, too.

I always fill out my Glossydots surveys, including a general survey last month where I told them that Sinful polish had no place in a Glossybox, so their response that these items were “curated” to my profile is absolute crap. Their response was otherwise that their boxes do have variations (yeah, I get that) but that they try to make the variations reasonably close in value and that value doesn’t always dictate quality. Did they even read my e-mail? How do they think $46 of awesome items compares to less than $5 of terrible items? My entire box wasn’t even worth the $46 that some people got in just two items. They also happened to mention that each GB is guaranteed to be worth at least $50 – and I think July ads said more than $60 – but mine wasn’t even worth $45.

The funny thing is, they defended the Sabon product: “Sabon is a brand that is loved by many of our customers who prefer SLS and paraben-free products and we have been receiving many positive reviews about this combo product, ​as well​.​” They were completely silent about Sinful, as if I’d never mentioned it. I don’t know if the rep glossed over that (no pun intended) or if she had no pre-prepared defense to a $2 drug store nail polish.

I’m pissed off about the guarantee of the Nuxe huile prodigieuse followed by its silent disappearance. I admit that I really wanted that item, but I can live without it. I’m more pissed that some others and I got total junk instead, not even close to comparable in value or quality. GB offered me a “replacement product” from a list of “meh” items, most of which I’ve already received in past boxes. (The only one I would have picked was the small Crabtree & Evelyn La Source, which sells full price for $9, though I got a few on sale for ~$3.50 apiece recently.) I replied that I’d prefer a proper explanation to a “replacement item” and that I’d like to see GB subscribers get an explanation and an apology for this debacle.

I was far more polite in my e-mail than I am being here, but their reply was so dismissive. I’m sure it was pretty much a canned response.

GB removed all my comments from others’ FB posts on their page (I got a notification that GB had commented, and my and others’ negative comments were gone), they turned off commenting, they removed some posts completely, and when I go to the GB FB page, it looks like they’ve completely disabled visitor posts. I can’t even view past visitor posts anymore.

I’ve heard they shut down online chat on their site. I have no idea what calling them is like and don’t care to speak to them live. My e-mail got a response in about 4 days.

It sounds like they are in panic mode. I feel bad for the employees who had nothing to do with this but are dealing with the fallout. I suspect they’re just going to let it die down and continue providing sub-par boxes to certain subscribers until they have to do another Gilt City deal, selling their subs for less than $9/month. Personally, this was the final nail in the coffin of my renewal unicorn. My last GB is in October, so we’ll see what comes after this. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone pooped in my next box.

Tl;dr Glossybox appears to be in panic mode after several missteps regarding July boxes. Subscribe with caution.

Sounds like the ship is sinking and they are trying to unload whatever they have in stock to make $$ then go out of business keeping everyone’s money.

This issue was addressed by a rep (Gabrielle, I think) from Glossybox in the comments of the post(s) about the Gilt City deal. They treat it like a gift subscription, so you can let it run out, and it will not auto-renew. That’s the only reason I was OK with doing a full year of GB, since I didn’t want to pay $21/box when my year was up if I didn’t cancel in time. GB doesn’t even have my card information, and there would be hell to pay if Gilt City gave them my card info without disclosing that. However, I’ve gotten new cards since then now that they all have the chip in them.

That’s the deal I have. You didn’t pay through Glossybox so they don’t have your credit card information.
From Glossybox:
This is a deal on our Gift plans and not our regular subscription, the subscription will not renew. Since our Gift plans are considered one-time purchases. No credit card information is needed.
Best,
Gabrielle from GLOSSYBOX

Yeah, I read the title of the post and thought it was $14.99 for three months (so $5/month). It wasn’t until I read the fine print that I noticed it was $14.99/box for three months.

The ad states it clearly – It was the heading of this post that threw me off. The word each after 14.99 in the heading would have been more clear to me:)

Their cancellation policy is HEINOUS and designed to make sure they get one last box payment out of everyone. Or plans that auto renew and they won’t refund portions of them just for people forgetting to cancel after a long membership.

For current subscribers you get a free box every time your glossydots accumulate to 1000 points and those points accumulate quickly, but i think you have to contact customer service to redeem it.

I thought the same thing!