ComplaintsforMarley Spoon Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We ordered a Marley Spoon meal subscription service. Our 1st delivery of 4 meals / 9 portions went well. We decided we liked it so much we would add an extra meal. Our order was 5 meals / 10 portions. You can look at my photo. The top 1/2 shows our cart with 5 meals. The bottom half shows our pricing breakdown where we are clearly being charged with 7 meals. We have been back and forth in an email chain as well as multiple phone calls with Marley Spoon where they keep saying "you ordered 5 meals", and completely refusing to even acknowledge we were charged for 7 meals. They are repeatedly just saying we have 5 meals and even went as far as to name each of the specific 5 miles. **** simultaneously refusing to tell me why we were charged for 7 meals. They refuse to refund the 2 meals we were charged for but never asked for, nor received. They basically took money straight from my account without permission and are refusing to return it. I've been asking for the 2 meals to be refunded. After the hassle with customer service and having to resort to a BBB report I believe they should just refund the entire $90 for our 2nd delivery, especially since they refuse to even give us a price break down.

  Business response

  06/13/2024

   Hi ***** and June. Thank you for providing your feedback and the photo. We are sorry for the experience you had but, upon verification, it seems that a customer communications expert already reached out and provided an invoice for the charge, showing that it was indeed correct. Although the 7 meals that were showing on the price breakdown in your phone were indeed an error, despite the correct number showing in the background, as seen in the photo you shared, our systems team will be looking into why it showed such visual error. As always, feel free to reach out if you need further assistance. All the best!

• Initial Complaint

  05/28/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had subscribed to ***************************** Marley spoon last fall and decided to cancel my subscription in December. Apparently it was only put on pause which I was unaware of. It reactivated May 20 while I was out of town and a box was delivered and left outside for 24 hours. When I came back home and found the box I called them to let them know this is not anything that I had ordered. They informed me that since the account was only put on pause & then reactivated on the selected date that there was nothing they could do. They then when on to state that they had sent me emails a few days prior. Unfortunately, I was out of town and so never had a chance to read these emails. But it should also be noted that I had been inundated by their emails since I canceled my account in December. I had to throw the box out since it had been sitting outside for 24 hours. I never confirmed this order and do not think I should be charged. But of even more concern is the fact that when I tried to talk to headquarters about this, I was informed that there is no phone number to reach headquarters. When I googled headquarters, the address came up in ********, ******** without a phone number. At that point, I did a reverse address look up and found out that it is a single occupancy residency that is currently vacant. I am wondering why a multinational corporation has a one bedroom address without a phone number in *************. And when you call customer service you are told that the case manager has the final say on any issue. These facts are more of a concern to me than getting my $63 back. I would like to get refunded because I cant afford to throw that money out, but I do want to make sure that this is an ethically run company that is not engaging in an illegal practices.I have included a screenshot of my attempt to find their phone number and the information stating that there was no owners associated with this address.

  Business response

  05/28/2024

  Hi ****, we're sorry for the issue you encountered with our service. As previously advised, and as stated in your review, your account was on hold from December 26th, 2023 until May 20th, 2024, when it automatically reactivated, as this was the date you chose when performing this change. Since we were never notified that you wanted to cancel the order in progress within the deadline for modifications, which in your case is 6 days before the delivery date, it is not possible to offer a refund for the amount paid for it. Our terms and conditions also state the following information: 
  
  Section 3.2: "You can skip or make changes to your order up until the cutoff time for that order. The cutoff time for your order is dependent on the zip code of your delivery address and it may be up to 6 or 7 days before the date of delivery. The hour of the cutoff time is 11:59 pm in the time zone in which you are located."
  
  Section 3.4: "Cancellation or pausing of your membership after the required cutoff time will result in a full charge for unskipped orders."
  
  We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you. If we can offer assistance in any other matter, please feel free to reach out to us directly by phone at ************, email *********************************** or through our chat function. We value your feedback and are committed to improving our services. All the best.

• Initial Complaint

  05/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ordered a food delivery box from Marley Spoon for $177 for 4 meals, for 4 people. Upon arrival, I discovered that 4 packages of marinara (from 2 meals) had exploded in the box. The box was a mess, with sauce covering everything and I had no marinara which was the main ingredient in 2 of my meals. I immediately contacted them and they offered me $5 compensation for the two meals I could no longer eat, and for the complete and utter mess of a box I received. This wasn't a shipping issue, the box was in perfect condition. This was a quality control issue as the marinara was in bags, which all busted at the seams. I followed up as I was not satisfied with the $5 credit and they offered no further compensation. I canceled my plan, but would like a full refund of my last box.

  Business response

  05/20/2024

  Hello ******, thank you for bringing this issue to our attention, and we apologize for the inconvenience you experienced with your recent order. Upon reviewing your account history, we verified that a customer service agent had already processed extra compensation for the inconvenience caused by the damaged marinara packages. We understand your frustration with the situation, and we genuinely regret that it affected your experience with our service. Our quality control team has been informed about this incident to prevent similar issues in the future. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us directly by phone at ************, email ********************************** or chat function. We value your feedback and are committed to improving our services. Best regards!

  Customer response

  05/22/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

  Five dollars is not appropriate compensation and your company should be ashamed of themselves for not having a quality product and quality packaging. I paid $177 dollars for a box covered in Marinara and two meals missing the main ingredient and your resolution is $5?? Make it make sense. 

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

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

  Business response

  06/12/2024

  Hi ******, thanks for your feedback. We're sorry that you were not content with the compensation provided for the marinara sauces that were damaged in your box. With further investigation, we can see that you were refunded for one of the meal's sauce, and we have issued an additional $5 refund, as all 4 packs of the marinara were damaged. Please allow up to 7 business days for the funds to be available in your payment source. Here at Marley Spoon, we compensate customers for mishaps with their boxes on an ingredient basis. This is because we are unable to send replacement ingredients, so the customer might have to acquire the ingredients affected. Please know that we do take into consideration the ingredients quantity and their average market value, plus the inconvenience of having to procure any ingredient oneself. We do understand your disappointment and we really appreciate your feedback. Rest assured, your comments have been passed on to our internal teams for evaluation, as we are always looking to improve our processes. Regarding further compensation, we can see that you were also credited a goodwill gesture further of $35. This will be available for you to discount off of your next order, should you decide to give us another chance in the future. If we can help with anything else, don't hesitate to reach out to our customer care team. Kind regards.

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  An automatic purchase was made on my Marley Spoon account. My payment did not go through. I continuously logged into the app approximately eery 4 weeks over the next year. There was never any notification in the app that my account was past due. Marley Spoon claimed they sent me emails stating my account was past due. I have no recollection of receiving these emails. Marley Spoon never notified me via postal mail, telephone, text messaging, or in app that my account was past due. I closed my Marley Spoon account without knowing the account was past due. Soon after I closed my account, I received notification from a collection agency on 4/23/24 my account had been sent to collections. I called Marley Spoon on 4/29/24 to discuss the case, explaining to the customer service rep I did not know my account was past due. I asked if I paid the account at this time could it be removed from my credit. I was denied. I asked to speak to a manager. A case mgr called the next day, leaving me a voicemail with no return number. **** mgr sent me an email stated my account was past due and sent to collections. I called Marley Spoon again on May 10, asking to speak with a case mgr. I was told I could not speak to anyone, they would call me Monday. I explained I will not be available on Monday. I was told the case mgr addressed my concern in the email. I explained my problem had not been resolved that I never spoke to anyone, that they only addressed what I already knew. I want to pay this bill but I do not want it on my credit. I want this issue resolved and am trying my best to pay my debt without damaging my credit. Marley Spoon is being difficult to work with and making it difficult to speak with someone who can resolve my issue. I have great credit and have never been sent to collections. This could easily be resolved.I am a student and work. If emails were sent they could have easily been lost. Other forms of notification would prevented this situation

  Business response

  05/10/2024

  Hi, thanks for reaching out! We're sorry to hear you experienced issues with an outstanding payment. Although the payment for your 04/11/2023 order failed, your box had entered the production process. This is because our system flagged you as a trusted customer. To clarify, our payments team has implemented a program of trusted payments for our customers, in order to give them a second chance. This means that if your payment fails during the first and second billing attempts, we will still proceed with the production of your box and attempt to bill you for this order at a later date. This was communicated through email at the time the payment failed. Because we have not been able to recover the owed amount for order, the case has been sent to InDebted, our 3rd party debt collector. We can confirm that a manager is assigned to your case and will reach out to you as promised. In the meantime, feel free to contact our customer care team if anything else is needed. Kind regards. 

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company is charging me for a box of food that I never received. I received a email from the collection agency. I spoke with Marley spoon and told them I never received the box. They told me they were going to call me back. No one called me back I spoke with the collection agency they were supposed to call me back. They did not call me back. I was in in ********* Kansas at the time that this box was supposedly delivered. I am requesting a refund because its a fraudulent charge and I do not feel I should have to pay for some thing I never got. In order for me to not get a bad credit rating. I went ahead and paid for it with the collection agency however, its an illegitimate charge and I would like my money back.

  Business response

  04/25/2024

  Hi *******, thanks for reaching out. We're really sorry to hear about this and we totally understand. We've just had a look at your account information, and we can see that you've been discussing this issue with our customer service team as you mentioned. According to what we can see, it seems like a colleague is in the process of clearing the debt on our end as a follow-up to your phone call. Once this is settled, our colleague will be contacting you back to ensure this is solved. In the meantime, if you need anything else, please feel free to contact us at any time.

• Initial Complaint

  03/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In order to see the menu of what they had they make you put in credit card information. Because this is not clear I put the credit card information and thinking I won't be charged for anything until I pick out the foods. I want they have it marked as if you don't pick any foods they'll send you the foods they want to send you and bill you within one to bill you. Even if I canceled it literally minutes after I put the credit card information in there. I would like a refund or at least acknowledgment that they are doing shady business

  Business response

  03/11/2024

  Hi *********, thank you for contacting us. By no means is it our mission to send out an unwanted box or to mislead our potential and existing customers. You can always keep up to date with our current and upcoming meals at www.marleyspoon.com/menu without signing up or providing any form of payment information. We only ask for the payment information if the customer decides to subscribe and clicks on "Start cooking now", or "Choose your meal kit". Even by clicking on those options, the payment is only taken if the user clicks on the "Pay" option and this amount is only charged on the billing day of your first order which in your case was DATE HERE. After reviewing your account details we can confirm that your account was cancelled on ***** but the order was not skipped manually; in fact, we could see the user picked the recipe on *****. If you need help with anything else, please don't hesitate to contact our customer support team. Kind regards.

  Customer response

  03/15/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because: 

  Never having used this website before how could I possibly know what your protocols are? For the regular person just looking to work through your website it is NOT layed out for an average person to use. EX: I order from a ******************* but did not click submit or I don't put in the foods I want then I won't get charged or sent foods any restaurant use. I know the regular response is what you sent me however no one expects a hidden surprise for your site. Reason why BBB needs to know how to protect those who are going through the same thing I am. Your site makes it too complicated,  I have to manually change the order when I did not even know that I had to do it.  Where is it the on the home page that my credit card would be charged even if I did not chose those meals? It's hidden in the small print to the point one would not expect it. That it was a trusted site and you won't get charged. So now I showed that I cancelled minutes after I looked at the meals but apparently that's something else that your company doesn't make clear. I'm willing to help anyone who wants to *** because of that is*** I'm on board. Dirty & Greedy company.

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

  Business response

  03/29/2024

   Hi ********. We are indeed very sorry for the experience you had. You have compared the situation to a delivery restaurant, but please remember that we are a weekly subscription. To better explain why a first order is charged, we allow our customers to go to the website and freely check all the current and upcoming recipes, as an active customer sees them. 
  So, if all stages of creating an account are completed, including adding the payment details, the first order is then set in place. At the step of adding those payment details, it is also explained that the charge does not get processed straight away (as it is at the processing of the order) and that you are required to click a box where it can be read - "By clicking "Place order & choose meals" or "PayPal Checkout", I agree to the Terms, the Privacy Policy ", which can be read at that point.
  As then explained in the terms and conditions, also mentioned in the help center, or even by asking our automated bot, "if you wish to cancel your first order, you must contact our **************** team. Simply canceling your membership will not result in the automatic cancellation of your first order.".
  I hope this better explains our processes and why that first order was charged. Feel free to reach out to our lovely customer care team if you wish for further clarification. Kind regards.

• Initial Complaint

  02/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I decided to subscribe to Marley spoon. An online food delivery. I was trying them because I had a discount for first timers. Box 1 I did pick these meals. When I opened the box there was quite a bit of blood which had leaked from the steak. I also had missing items for the meal making. I contacted and told them. They reimbursed $11 to use on next box. Box 2 missing items. I contacted them again. I was told it had been canceled the subscription. Then on feb 7 I was charged a large amount for next box. It was supposed to be cancelled. This is why I received meals I didnt order. I contacted them. They were unwilling to do any further. They made sure it was canceled. I did tell them their policy and procedure was not being followed by them, but they were attempting to hold me to it. 3 boxes and all had issues. I want my money back. Plz help

  Business response

  02/13/2024

   Hi *******, thanks for your feedback. We're sorry for the experience that you have had with our service, this is not what we strive to provide. On our end, we can see that your case has already been handled by one of our case managers. Don't hesitate to reach out, should you have any other questions in the meantime. Kind regards,

  Customer response

  02/29/2024

  I am rejecting this response because:   

  They closed the case without taking care of the issue because they were unwilling. It just again proves as customers we must abide by policy and procedures, but as the company, do we say not as we do. Its a shame. Mo ey was taken from account and bad food sent. It happened 3 times. Thats it in a nut shell. They will never stay in business like this. 

  Business response

  03/01/2024

  Hi *******,

  Thanks for reaching out.

  Marley Spoon is a weekly subscription-based service, which is communicated on our website and in our correspondence.
   
  When you first sign up with Marley Spoon, the first order is placed and billed immediately. This is done, so that your payment details can be saved and used for every following box. Following on from this, we bill each order on a weekly basis, 7 days before your delivery date.
   
  When we process the payments, not only do we issue a manifest to our food suppliers with the precise number of ingredients to source for thousands of boxes but we also pay them to ensure they will source your items in a timely manner.
   
  Our procurement deadline is in the terms and conditions of our service. Once this date has passed we purchase the ingredients from our suppliers and pay for shipping, which is the reason we give out the deadline to our customers. Once this date has passed we can no longer cancel or process a refund for an order.
   
  When you entered your personal information and payment details, you enrolled in the subscription and signed up for weekly deliveries.
   
  Please keep in mind that the cut-off for your future orders is 7 days before your delivery day.
   
  My sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.
   
  All my best,

• Initial Complaint

  01/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello,I'm being charged on my credit card for a service called marley spoon. I've never signed up for any service on my credit card and I'm very disappointed and I want my money refunded immediately to my credit card since I never signed up for this service nor did I give you my credit card to charge. I don't know how you got my credit card information to start charging it They claim I signed ** in early 2021 and then paused my subscription for 3 years. The credit card of mine they are charging is expired, so how are they charging an expired credit card. No service lets you stop charging for 3 years. I asked them for proof that they claim I paused my subscription for 3 years and they are unable to provide any. It's against FTC rules to charge a credit card that is expired. I don't know how they are doing this though

  Business response

  01/25/2024

  Hi ******, thanks for reaching out. We totally understand your point and apologize for the experience. After having a look at your account, we can definitely see why this happened. Back in August 4th 2021, your account was paused until December 1st 2023. While we totally understand that this might have been a mistake, when pausing your account, the account will automatically resume once this period is over, which is why this happened. While the card may have expired, we would advise you to reach out to your bank on how the payment went through regardless. Nevertheless, after discussing with our legal team, we are aware that a case manager has already reached out to you, on January 12th and has already resolved this issue, by refunding you for these boxes as an exception. Since this issue has already been handled, please feel free to reach out if there's anything else we can do to help. All our best.

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I canceled my Marley Spoon subscription on or around January 1, 2023. At the time of cancelation, one box was en route to me, and I had one day remaining to edit the next box. The cancelation prompt led me through several questions. I did not feel the need to provide additional information regarding my desire to cancel. I clicked "ignore." There was no indication or information that failing to answer questions would not cancel the subscription. I checked my bank account this morning, and Marley Spoon charged me $77.93 on January 3, 2023. I am requesting a full refund of the $77.93.

  Business response

  01/18/2024

  Hi *******, thanks for the feedback. I have looked into your account and I can see you canceled your subscription on 1/4, which was after the cutoff for the 1/9 order (which was until 2/1 at 11:59 pm). The cancelation confirmation email explains that the last order will be on 1/9. 
  
  As explained in the terms, 
  3.2 You can skip or make changes to your order up until the cutoff time for that order. The cutoff time for your order is dependent on the zip code of your delivery address, and it may be up to 6 or 7 days before the date of delivery. The hour of the cutoff time is 11:59pm in the time zone in which you are located.
  3.4 Cancellation or pausing of your membership after the required cutoff time will result in a full charge for unskipped orders.
  
  However, I can see that you reached out to us on 1/4 requesting to cancel the order for 1/9, to which we already responded via email by canceling the order for 1/9 as an exception and refunding $77.93. Please feel free to contact our customer service team if we can help with anything else. Kind regards,

• Initial Complaint

  12/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I never received my delivery. **************** stopped replying.

  Business response

  12/16/2023

  Thank you for reaching out.
  
  After looking into this, we can confirm we received your complaint regarding the box not being delivered as well as the request for the account to be stopped. 
  
  Both requests were complied with and on Thursday, we sent an email advising a complaint has been registered with our logistics team. A refund of $64.74 was issued at the time and it should take no longer than 7 business days to show on your statement.
  
  On Friday a contact was made via chat, where the customer care representative also advised on the complaint, refund, and cancelation of the account.
  
  We have attached screenshots confirming the replies in which the refund and cancellation are confirmed.
  
  All the best,

*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. ↩