HelloFresh scam?

[Lsbcal]

DW got a "free" offer from the meal in a box company HelloFresh courtesy of her lady friends. They give you the ingredients for 2 meals in a box. She prepared the meals and we kind of liked them but it was a lot of work and dishes.

Then we went on a short vacation and our neighbor picked up an unexpected box from the door step. It turned out to be a HelloFresh box. They had signed DW up for the weekly renewal plan. She had given them the credit card number because they required it for the $9 delivery charge on the 1st "free" box. Of course, everything was spoiled in that box so it went in the dump.

The same day a Hello Fresh truck appeared in our driveway and dropped off another box. We finally figured out what was happening. There were 2 weekly $58.95 charges on the CC. Ugh. So we canceled the plan. Apparently they just automatically start billing the next week without notifying the customer on charges. Meanwhile you get a blizzard of their emails with questions and surveys and ... junk.

I have read that customer service kind of sucks. Some reviews here: https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/hellofresh.com.

So I am planning on disputing these charges with our Chase Visa company. Does this sound like the right way to go? I could call HelloFresh customer service but it may result in a run around.

 

[njhowie]

All of these outfits work the same. You should go back and read the terms of the free offer you received as it may have very well said something to the effect that they are going to start you on a subscription service unless you cancel.

We did these a few years back with Hello Fresh and Blue Apron. We canceled immediately when we received the free delivery - no additional charges.

Sure, file the dispute with Chase - it's no skin off your back. Merchant will get hit with chargeback fees, will have to prove to Chase that you authorized them to do what they did, and if enough customers do the same, it will make them rethink their approach instead of using fine print to blind side customers.

 

[RobbieB]

There is no free lunch

 

[Aerides]

It's not a scam. Basically any time you are asked for your CC, it means you are signing up for something. Those Free offers are "free with a plan" not just here, free dinner, sign up if you like it.

But you also give them your email, and get notices telling you that your shipment is on the way and when to expect it. At least I did. I tried them for a few weeks but found their meals too multi-step.

 

[Lsbcal]

All of these outfits work the same. You should go back and read the terms of the free offer you received as it may have very well said something to the effect that they are going to start you on a subscription service unless you cancel.

We did these a few years back with Hello Fresh and Blue Apron. We canceled immediately when we received the free delivery - no additional charges.

Sure, file the dispute with Chase - it's no skin off your back. Merchant will get hit with chargeback fees, will have to prove to Chase that you authorized them to do what they did, and if enough customers do the same, it will make them rethink their approach instead of using fine print to blind side customers.

DW is a trusting soul and the internet is not her strength. This is a good lesson for her I think. We looked at this together and she became convinced they were into poor business practices. How could they!

She is a very good artist and quite a decent lady cook. We feel getting takeout is preferable to this food service idea.

Thanks for the vote for going the dispute route.

 

[Dalmore]

DW and I did Blue Apron for a while. It was fun and it taught us to enjoy cooking together. What we didn't like was that the meals were often overly complicated and forced us to cook long meals during the week while we were still working. After several meals when in the trash because we didn't have time, we cancelled it. We enjoyed cooking together and continued to do it at least once a week, often with more simple recipes. And now that we are retired, we do it even more.

 

[Lsbcal]

It's not a scam. Basically any time you are asked for your CC, it means you are signing up for something. Those Free offers are "free with a plan" not just here, free dinner, sign up if you like it.

But you also give them your email, and get notices telling you that your shipment is on the way and when to expect it. At least I did. I tried them for a few weeks but found their meals too multi-step.

DW feels the same way. OK meals but too much real work. When she gave them the CC she thought it was for the shipping fee.

Yes I know this is not the strict definition of scam. But really, should we all just expect to have to read the fine print and don't businesses have a duty to give a clear picture of their intentions? So this is loosely a scam in my opinion.

 

[NW-Bound]

If you read the fine print, all of these "free" offers come with a stipulation that unless you contact them to cancel, you agree to a continual subscription service.

The 2 charges of $58.95 each seem high to me for 2 meals each, compared to what we pay for grocery ourselves, but I guess a business has to make money, including the delivery service.

This is not really outrageous, compared to a political organization that automatically debits thousands of dollars each month from bank accounts of donors who thought they were making a one-time donation. Now, that really hurts. Eh, that's in the fine print.

And the media that reported this did not have a follow-up to say if there was a dispute and whether it was successful.

 

[RobbieB]

Yes, everyone is expected to observe and abide the contract. That's what contract law is all about.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

We do EveryPlate. We enjoy the variety. Will prob cancel once we've tried most things we are 8ntetested in.

Yes pretty sure your spouse agreed to the signup etc when she paid them shipping.

 

[Aerides]

The 2 charges of $58.95 each seem high to me for 2 meals each, compared to what we pay for grocery ourselves, but I guess a business has to make money, including the delivery service.

I think the minimum you can order for your weekly sub is 2 meals x 2 people, might even be 3 meals. You can't just get an order of 1 meal for 2, unless they did that as a starter single-night box. The meals usually run about $12-$13 apiece, x2 ppl, x number of days in the week, + shipping. They ship you one box for the week.

They aren't a bad deal cost wise, but they do have a lot of prep and lots of packaging. Lots of little packets for seasonings and things, and then the chill packs. A lot of it is recyclable but it's a lot of waste no matter how you slice it.

 

[Scrapr]

Lots of little packets for seasonings and things, and then the chill packs. A lot of it is recyclable but it's a lot of waste no matter how you slice it.

I love the cold packs. We did Hello Fresh for a few weeks. I saved the gel packs & the lined bag. I'm going to give my boy one for his lunches as he works out of a company car on overnights. I used one when we had a trip of a few days. It was cold for at least 2 days

 

[NW-Bound]

I think the minimum you can order for your weekly sub is 2 meals x 2 people, might even be 3 meals. You can't just get an order of 1 meal for 2, unless they did that as a starter single-night box. The meals usually run about $12-$13 apiece, x2 ppl, x number of days in the week, + shipping. They ship you one box for the week.

They aren't a bad deal cost wise, but they do have a lot of prep and lots of packaging. Lots of little packets for seasonings and things, and then the chill packs. A lot of it is recyclable but it's a lot of waste no matter how you slice it.

Yes, I forgot that was for 2 people. So, it's not as bad as I thought.

I think the service has more utility for working people who do not have time to shop. As for us, if we did not leave home to get groceries, we would hardly go out.

 

[Lsbcal]

DW does not want to dispute the charges. I don't want to upset her any futher. So we will just go with canceling the service.

 

[scrabbler1]

All of these outfits work the same. You should go back and read the terms of the free offer you received as it may have very well said something to the effect that they are going to start you on a subscription service unless you cancel.

Some of these outfits can make it difficult to cancel. I remember back in the early 1990s I signed up for some service I doubted I would want beyond the 30-day free trial period. Signing up for the service included getting some free gift which I was rather interested in. So, I signed up, planning to cancel the service before the end of the 30-day free trial period (and, hopefully, after I got the free gift, just in case they tried to reneg on the gift).

What I noticed, before I sent back the coupon to sign up, was that the phone number to call to cancel was shown only on the coupon, not in the letter which came with it. I carefully wrote the number onto the letter, along with the date I sent the coupon back (as a reminder to when the 30-day free trial period would end). Some time in the 4th week, after I had received the free gift, I called them to cancel. They didn't give me a hard time, and that was the end of it. Still, it was tricky to be able to cancel the service because of the absence of the phone number on the letter.

 

[Aerides]

I think the service has more utility for working people who do not have time to shop. As for us, if we did not leave home to get groceries, we would hardly go out.

That's the idea, but the time spent in the kitchen is nuts with most of their recipes. I think it's good for jump-starting boredom of recipes, moreso that say browsing online, since most of us just gravitate towards the familiar.

You might never try a Korean style bulgogi beef recipe until it was in your kitchen ready to go (that was one of the better ones we had from HF).

 

[Sunset]

OP - Be careful not to sign up for the free trial of Amazon Prime..... it's the same scam

We Used HelloFresh for a while, I learned a couple of cooking techniques I've used since.
It was interesting, but I did get tired of my forced 4 nights of cooking their meals, and some things were very repetitive.

I found it easy to skip deliveries and to cancel.

Also did Freshly for a relative, also easy to skip/cancel but had to be done within 3 days of last delivery. This one seemed like expensive tv-dinners. I didn't taste these so maybe they are better than tv dinners.

 

[travelover]

This would be a good business model to sell music on cassette tapes. Give a few free, then never allow anyone to cancel.

 

[Walt34]

----When she gave them the CC she thought it was for the shipping fee.

Yes I know this is not the strict definition of scam. But really, should we all just expect to have to read the fine print and don't businesses have a duty to give a clear picture of their intentions? So this is loosely a scam in my opinion.

Perhaps a scam in your opinion, but not in law. You are an adult and are expected to read the contract. All of it. Not just the big print that jumps out at the reader.

So it seems a bit disingenuous to agree to terms w/o reading said terms, then complain that you didn't like the result.

BTW, when I see one of those "agreements" that runs four+ pages in four-point type, this is a strong clue that this agreement is probably not something I will be happy with.

 

[Lsbcal]

Perhaps a scam in your opinion, but not in law. You are an adult and are expected to read the contract. All of it. Not just the big print that jumps out at the reader.

So it seems a bit disingenuous to agree to terms w/o reading said terms, then complain that you didn't like the result.

BTW, when I see one of those "agreements" that runs four+ pages in four-point type, this is a strong clue that this agreement is probably not something I will be happy with.

Gee, thanks Walt for reminding me I am an adult.

 

[24601NoMore]

DW feels the same way. OK meals but too much real work. When she gave them the CC she thought it was for the shipping fee.

Yes I know this is not the strict definition of scam. But really, should we all just expect to have to read the fine print and don't businesses have a duty to give a clear picture of their intentions? So this is loosely a scam in my opinion.

My Mom uses both Hello Fresh and Factor so sent us and a few of her friends a "free" box from both.

Being a bit cynical by nature, I suspected neither was "free" but out of courtesy to Mom decided I'd at least check out both offers.

Both websites were really upfront that you would receive a "free" box (for the cost of shipping) only when you signed up for the recurring delivery - although you could "cancel at any time". That was right on the main page of the website and hard to miss. No reading through multiple pages of sneaky terms in super small print required. (Note that I did wonder how hard it would be to "cancel at any time" as I've had services in the past that were super hard to cancel, like Angie's List and Audible - each of which we had to cancel literally multiple times to quit getting charged..)

It wasn't worth the bother of ordering the free boxes and then immediately cancelling, so I didn't go ahead with either.

Sorry to hear you guys had an issue, but both services in my experience were super up-front about the offers (vs, say, burying things in small print that few people read).

ETA - I'm wondering if when you get sent an offer for a "free" box from someone if maybe that takes you to a different web page. So maybe it isn't as clear if you're on the main website vs the one you get sent by a friend?

 

[NW-Bound]

That's the idea, but the time spent in the kitchen is nuts with most of their recipes. I think it's good for jump-starting boredom of recipes, moreso that say browsing online, since most of us just gravitate towards the familiar...

That makes me curious, because we are so used to spending a lot of time when cooking from scratch, and that does not include the time we shop for ingredients.

I would try an order to see what it's about, but I know my wife would say. "Are you nuts? Can't we buy these ingredients ourselves?"

 

[Lsbcal]

My Mom uses both Hello Fresh and Factor so sent us and a few of her friends a "free" box from both.

Being a bit cynical by nature, I suspected neither was "free" but out of courtesy to Mom decided I'd at least check out both offers.

Both websites were really upfront that you would receive a "free" box (for the cost of shipping) only when you signed up for the recurring delivery - although you could "cancel at any time". That was right on the main page of the website and hard to miss. No reading through multiple pages of sneaky terms in super small print required. (Note that I did wonder how hard it would be to "cancel at any time" as I've had services in the past that were super hard to cancel, like Angie's List and Audible - each of which we had to cancel literally multiple times to quit getting charged..)

It wasn't worth the bother of ordering the free boxes and then immediately cancelling, so I didn't go ahead with either.

Sorry to hear you guys had an issue, but both services in my experience were super up-front about the offers (vs, say, burying things in small print that few people read).

ETA - I'm wondering if when you get sent an offer for a "free" box from someone if maybe that takes you to a different web page. So maybe it isn't as clear if you're on the main website vs the one you get sent by a friend?

I don't know what DW saw. The little intro card from the friend did read that this offer was for a subscription service. But that was in the small font at the bottom of that card. I would not have neglected to read this but she did. As I mentioned above, I think it was a good lesson for her. She needs a refresher course in American slick business practices. Yes not really a scam but not really up front either.

We both agree that getting take out food is far easier and pleasurable.

 

[RobbieB]

The friend probably gets kickbacks for spreading the word.

 

[Luvdogs]

I did it for about six weeks. You can skip weeks also. While I was cooking and opening the umpteen little packets, i would think, "never again!" But the meals tasted good.

I had to do a minimum of two meals per week which was one too many for me.

I kept the recipes and several I do on my own with tweaking, much easier. And I compared the cost of a meal for two--about $25 from Hello Fresh and about $12 or less on my own.

I got the initial offer from a coupon from my daughter. She tried to send me another one after I cancelled and it didn't work (surprise!)