Meal delivery kits are frequently advertised as a money-saving option that takes grocery shopping out of preparing healthful meals at home. However, one former Hello Fresh customer who canceled her subscription because she found the pricing model too expensive says she could not prepare her last box because it was delivered late.
TikTok user Hazel (@hazel_gm) says her box was set to be delivered the Friday before Memorial Day, though it was delayed until the following Tuesday. As HelloFresh packages its deliveries to be fresh up to 48 hours after the set delivery date, Hazel says she knew the box would not be so fresh when she received it. When she arrived home on Tuesday, the box had been sitting on her porch, “in the hot sun” for several hours.
@hazel_gm #thetruth #storytime #hellofresh #hellofreshmeal #mybadexperience #customerservice #mealservicereview #review #myopinion #isitworhthemoney #notsponsored #influencer #refundme ♬ original sound – Hazel
“I get it, I open it up, everything has gone bad,” she says. “Everything. It smells disgusting. The meat is warm.”
Hazel calls out HelloFresh for failing to address the issue before it reached her doorstep.
“They had all this tracking information,” she says. “They knew that it was supposed to get there Friday, and the estimated delivery was Tuesday. They couldn’t have planned ahead? They couldn’t have shipped me a new box that they knew was going to be fresh when I received it?”
When she reached out to the HelloFresh customer service team, she was asked if there were any way she could salvage part of her order.
“I paid $11 for me to get it four days late, rotten,” she explains. “So they were like, ‘here’s what we’re going to do.’ My box was $61. We’re going to give you a $70 credit. I was like, but I already canceled my account.”
She says customer service told her that if she reactivated her account, the credit would be there and it would never expire, though it could only be used on her next undiscounted box.
“I would probably have to pay for five more boxes before I could even use that $70 credit they gave me,” she says. “And at that point, $70 is going to cover maybe two meals. I’m not happy with this.”
After expressing that she would rather have a refund, she was told she could only be refunded $28 for the order, per their system. When she pressed again, she was able to pressure them into a full refund.
“As convenient as it is, because HelloFresh really is convenient, and I really do like their meals, their whole system is just icky,” she says. “I think it’s really crappy of them to say, ‘oh I’m so sorry let me fix this problem for you,’ and then ‘fix the problem’ in a way that they make more money.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Hazel and to HelloFresh via email regarding the video.
Several viewers shared that they had similar experiences using HelloFresh or other meal delivery providers.
“There’s also been times I got spoiled produce or the box didn’t get to my house on time so basically was all bad,” one commenter wrote. “Will never go back.”
“A similar thing happened to me with them! I accepted the sunk cost and did not sign back up [again],” another said.
“I had the trial and 1 box got delivered to the wrong address, they wouldnt ship me a new one (fair ig) but then they also wouldnt refund me!” a third claimed.
