The other day, I posted that Bill and I decided to subscribe to Hello Fresh.  We enjoyed our first “cooking box” and looked forward to expanding our culinary horizons.  I felt good about the decision until I went to order the subscription.  I tried to use my debit card first.  According to Hello Fresh’s system, the payment failed.  I tried again.  Again, I was met with failure.  Then I tried a credit card.  That, too, was supposedly unsuccessful.  We tried one of Bill’s credit cards.  That time, the system accepted the payment.

I immediately sent an email to Hello Fresh.  I also tried to call them, but for some reason, was unable to get through.  When I later checked on my email, it appeared to have been deleted from their system, so I sent another.  However, I did receive a response to the first email yesterday.  This is what it said.

Hi,

It’s very possible that the person who write this email is not fluent in English and something got lost in translation.  I didn’t think it was an appropriate response, though.  So I wrote back that I would be very happy not to let it happen again, but it was their system that caused the error.  Incidentally, the money for the extra boxes has not yet been refunded.  And as she cancelled the extra boxes, I got several poorly written guilt tripping automated emails from the company’s founder… (granted, this was originally in German)

my name is Dominik judge and I am the founder of Hello Fresh. I’ve noticed that you recently your Hello Fresh supplies of fruit box fruit box size S – have canceled 12 pieces. On behalf of my team, I would like to thank you for your continued trust. What is your delivery you will receive on 02.11.2015. Then you will not receive any further deliveries more. It always makes us a little sad when we have to accept cancellations of good customer counter. However, we are aware that there may be many reasons why one breaks the terms of the boxes or want to stop. Thanks again for your support! We would be glad to welcome you soon may return to the Hello Fresh family.

With fresh greetings

I called USAA about the debit card charges because they posted first.  I started the dispute process, but will have to call again to start one for the credit cards.  If the payments are not refunded, I will have to write letters to USAA explaining in detail what happened and then wait for them to either or accept or deny the dispute.  It’s inconvenient and annoying, but it’s also a sign that Hello Fresh may have customer service issues.

Also, someone from Hello Fresh was supposed to call me yesterday at 4:30pm.  I noticed that someone called at 9:00am yesterday, but I wasn’t near my phone.  They didn’t leave a message, either.

There was a time in my life when these extra charges would have been a real problem.  Fortunately, we can afford them right now.  In any case, after we get our two boxes, I will likely unsubscribe.  I like Hello Fresh’s concept and had no issues with most of the food, but I am really not impressed with their customer service.

Hopefully, I will be able to post a more positive report soon.

ETA:  I see I have two refunds in my checking account from Hello Fresh, but my credit card charge still stands.  I am now a bit confused, but glad to see the refunds are in the works.

ETA:  Now I get to call USAA again and cancel the dispute.  That’s a good thing.  Still, what a pain in the butt.