ComplaintsforEpicured, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I have two issues with Epicured. First, while I am sure it is hidden somewhere in the ****************** (enclosed in a link out), without ever making it clear on the website when you order, they are signing you up for weekly recurring subscriptions. This is very misleading, and it was only when I logged in to check my order status that I saw they had scheduled me for future deliveries. I am sure this violates state rules depending on the state, but either way it is a misleading and abusive way to operate.Second, my meals arrived, but one of them was damaged, a Sunrise Fruit Bowl for $14.96. The packaging is of poor quality and the plastic chipped off due to their packing, leaving the Sunrise Fruit Bowl opened and unsafe and unsanitary for human consumption. No problem! Surely they would refund me for the Sunrise Fruit Bowl. Alas, Vellessa in customer service pointed to their "NO REFUND POLICY" (conveniently also not mentioned at checkout). It is absurd to construe it to include damaged and unsafe meals caused by their negligence and poor packaging. According to ********, they can only offer store credit. I don't plan to order from them again given that they just use it to sign you up for an unwanted subscription. When pressed, they said they could re-send the meal to me (costing them more than a refund, but I digress). I ordered meals for this particular date (and will be traveling during their next delivery period), and I would like a refund of $14.96 plus applicable tax to the original payment method.

  Customer response

  07/16/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Epicured Meal Delivery LLC regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  04/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Background: a friend who has severe food allergies was visiting me from Virginia. In order to accommodate her food issues, I let her select a meal delivery service and offered to pay for the charges. The order came and she enjoyed the food, however, I was not aware this is a recurring meal delivery subscription. On March 17, 2023 I was charged $324 for more meals. The same exact day these charges came through I called the business and explained that I am not gluten sensitive and do not want/need these meals. The business called me back the next day and would not offer me a refund, they added a credit to my account which I am unable to use and is of no value to me. I simply want my money back for goods that were not produced or delivered to me, not a refund (which, by the way, in the fine print EXPIRES in 30 days). Please kindly help me obtain reasonable relief from the business, a credit lasting 30 days is not useful because my friend isn't coming back to ******* for about a year which would be the next feasible time to reorder from the company, so a refund makes the most sense.

• Initial Complaint

  04/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I signed up for Epicured.com meal delivery service on Sunday, January 15, 2023. I placed an order in the amount of $233.65, including $20 off for signing up. The order number was: ##******. It was delivered the following week on January 24, 2023. I was disappointed. So, from that point on, I would "skip a week".On February 8, 2023, I received email about placing an order for the week. I skipped the week also and finally cancelled my account that day. Right after that, I received 2 email confirmations that my delivery was being skipped for that ********* account was being cancelled: Email response from Epicured.com::"YOUR ORDER: #****** Hi *****,Thanks for dining with Epicured! Sorry to see that youll be skipping a week of deliveries. This confirms that you will not receive Epicured meals for the week of Feb 13th, 2023. You will not be charged for these meals and we look forward to serving you the following week!Eat ********* Well.Did You Receive This by Accident?If you received this email and do not want to skip your upcoming order, we're here to help! Click here to contact us."On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, delivery for the skipped week arrived! Epicured.com charged my bank account for $253.65. When I skipped that week and cancelled my account on February 8, 2023, I revoked their permission to withdraw funds from my bank account. They took it anyway! Now they say they do not accept returns or give refunds. This does not apply here. I did not place this order with them. So, that policy does not apply to this situation. It applies to orders that have been placed and "confirmed" as placed with them. This order was confirmed as "skipped" and my account cancelled. They took that money even though they did not have my legal permission or authority to take it. I want it back! I want my money refunded. I have proof to email you. They need to be shut down. It appears that this is their common illegal business practice. Thanks for any help you can provide.

• Initial Complaint

  02/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  This is a food delivery service that I've been using for several years, they specialize in diets for people who have dietary restrictions due to disease or allergies. I have not needed the diet for several months, but maintain my subscription in case. They typically email several days prior to remind users to update their orders or skip as necessary. However, they apparently eliminated this email reminder without telling subscribers. So, at 11am CT on 2/24/23 I received an email saying that my order has been processed and the charge will finalize at 1pm ET. I saw the email at 2pm and immediately logged onto the system to try to cancel. When I couldn't, I initiated a chat with a representative and explained the issue. They informed me that they were able to cancel my order. Great! But that they would still process my payment and would not refund my money. Instead, it would be issued as a store credit. I pushed back at this ($123!) charge because I do not have use for their service right now. They said that per their policy, they do not issue refunds. I understand that they cannot accept food returns, but this was not a food return, it was simply not engaging in the transaction with them. They repeated that they will not refund my money. I asked if they had stopped sending reminder emails in the days prior to the order being placed, and they just repeating that I was emailed this morning.I find it highly unethical for companies to change practices surrounding auto-payment subscriptions without notifying users, and then not issuing refunds when no goods have changed hands. They have made it easier for people to purchase their product without intent. That company now has over $120 of my dollars that I did not intend to give them (which ALSO will apparently expire if I don't use it in 30 days). What's even worse is that many of their customers are ill, and many are already paying for high cost food to accommodate their restrictions!

  Customer response

  03/23/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Epicured Meal Delivery LLC regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Epicured is only available as a subscription - they do not allow a one-off order or to pause subscriptions, and will process an order every week. The only option if you don't want an order is to "skip," which can only be done a couple weeks in advance (and often can't be done through their website due to glitches). Per their terms of service, an email will be sent every week in advance to allow orders to be changed or skipped, as well as an email the day an order is processed. The week after Christmas, these emails were not sent out and I (and other customers) did not have the option to skip and were charged without authorization. Despite contacting customer service immediately and repeatedly, the company has refused to provide any reconciliation for these unauthorized credit card charges - not even an account credit. They violated their own terms of use and the most their customer service will offer is an 'I'm sorry you feel that way' and a coupon.

• Initial Complaint

  01/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Epicured charged my bank without sending an email notifying of an upcoming subscription, which would have been a typical practice. Without either the email reminder, sent out two-three days before a subscription order is processed, followed by what should have been an Friday noontime order confirmation email, my card was still charged $105.48 and an order processed on 12/30/22. I cancelled my subscription on 12/31/22 in order to avoid any future mishaps, and knowing that I did not intend to order from the company again in the future. Seeing the charge, and reaching out over the holiday weekend via email to cancel and request a refund, **************** notified me via phone 1/3/22 that she did not have the power to refund, and would have to escalate it to her team. On 1/4/23, ******** ***** from Epicured Service Team emailed me to state that they had reviewed my request but did not issue a refund, in favor of a credit, despite me sharing that I had cancelled my subscription, hadn't actually placed an order in several months, and never received the appropriate email communication to alter to an upcoming subscription the week prior. Issuing a credit for a service that was not appropriately managed, is not a remedy, given the circumstances. Customers with subscription services for food deliveries, such as Epicured, must be able to rely on service based communications sent in order to modify, skip, or otherwise cancel their subscription. Failing to acknowledge this obvious company misstep in neglecting to send out email communications, and instead, asserting that "I should know how it works" is blatantly offensive. No return to email has been received in the past 24 hours. A refund is logical, while a credit feels much like theft in this scenario, as I do not have use for their food services in the future. As a customer from approximately July 2020 until December 2022, I would expect more from a company's customer service department.

  Customer response

  01/30/2023

  At this time, I have been contacted directly by Epicured Meal Delivery LLC regarding complaint ID ********, however my complaint has NOT been resolved because: they said my request was reviewed but they will not issue a refund. No additional information was offered, just repeated that they do not issue refunds, in favor of credits, despite illustrating for them their lack of email notification which resulted in the unexpected charge.  

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• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I was automatically charged by this company for a delivery of meals that the company admitted would not be prepared until next week. I notified them within 2 hours of their window closing that I cant accept the order, as I am now disabled, have no income, and need the funds for healthcare and my mortgage. They refuse to issue a refund, stating that we are able to make little to no changes to the order as our team immediately starts preparing these meals. They later directly contradicted this statement, revealing that they have not begun preparing it and have incurred no loss that would justify keeping my money: We ensure that meals are prepared and delivered within a 48-hour window. We aim to deliver our meals fresh each time. Assuming their meals are as fresh as they state, nothing should be done with this order until next Tuesday, as the order was scheduled to be delivered on Thursday, 9/8/22. I need a refund to my debit card for the full amount I was charged, $69.77. Screenshots of the exchange are attached.

  Customer response

  10/01/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Epicured Meal Delivery LLC regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ***
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  This business either purposely designs their system to prevent you from skipping a particular week's delivery, or they have an issue with their system and refuse to investigate. On several occasions, I've attempted to skip upcoming deliveries but have been unable to do so due to their "calendar" not being updated and preventing you from skipping. Due to this issue, I've made a very specific point to make sure there is nothing in the cart so therefore, nothing to deliver. Again, this was done because their system didn't provide the option to skip the next delivery. Every time I've emptied the cart, they put items back in and charge you for a delivery you didn't want. This has happened several times. When I've made attempts to address the issue with them they just continue to tell you that you must have forgotten to "skip" a week and they will only provide a credit on your account....never once discussing the technical issues on their end. This only leads me to believe it's all intentional.

  Customer response

  09/17/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Epicured Meal Delivery LLC regarding complaint ID ********.

  While we liked the food, the system has some major flaws that customer service refuses to acknowledge or fix.  We had more than a few occasions where the system would not provide you the option to skip the next delivery.  We let it slide on a few occasions, but it seemed to become more common.  Due to this, we made sure to empty the cart so there were no unwanted deliveries/charges.  The company takes it upon themselves to put items back into your cart and charge the account.  When we called to address our concerns, they made no attempt to even acknowledge that the system has issues. The only repeated response (like a robot) was that they would credit the account but were "unable to give refunds".  Unable?  I'm pretty certain they are "able" to fix both their broken system that they know is unethically charging people, and refund the money they stole from us. 

  We requested to speak with a manager and were told that one would reach out to us via telephone, but that never happened.  We received an email stating the exact response that we already heard SEVERAL times.  We were long-term customers of Epicured and customer service used to be very effective at resolving issues, but it seems they've compromised on their morals and outsourced the most important part of the company.  For this reason, they've lost our business along with another friend that was also a long-term customer.  We strongly encourage anyone to proceed with caution in doing business with this company.  Or better yet, avoid them altogether. 

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Epicured Meal Delivery charged my card two $1 transactions. It was label as Epicured Meal Delivery (part of my card number) aml compliance. The aml compliance on the transaction description leads me to believe this isnt as simple as my card info being stolen by someone who wants meals delivered. I had never heard of this company and have never been a customer of this company. I contacted them via phone call and did not receive a call back after leaving a voice message. I then used the chat function on their website. I was told that they will reverse the transactions either late on 8/15/22 or early on 8/16/22. They also said they would send an email to the impacted people. I asked how they would have my emailthey then asked for it. One transaction has been removed, but the other is still there. I contacted again today and they said they are still looking into it. Ive included screenshots of my conversation. I had to pay $7.50 for my bank to issue a new card as well of having to go without being able to use my card for **** days. This is unacceptable. The company needs to be investigated on how this happened. To me this is clearly some sort of breach. Thank you for your time!***************************** ******************

  Customer response

  09/10/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Epicured Meal Delivery LLC regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩