(Yet Another) Julep Maven Warning

  Hey all!  I had one thing planned for today but the course has changed a bit.  Lots of you have heard about Julep Maven, a nail polish subscription program in which you get two to three nail polishes, beauty products, or combination thereof, for $19.99 per month.  You've probably heard some nice things about this program, the company, and its products.  You might love them and never have any issues and not mind the increasing number of hoops they make their customers jump through (the latest being, new Mavens cannot skip for more than six months in a row; those with the program before a certain date, as I was, are grandfathered in).  Or, you might have had a completely awful experience and never want to use them again.

  This past Sunday, the 25th, I realized I'd not skipped my June box and that I had an inactive card on file.  I went into mild panic mode and immediately updated my card (my order status was "processing") so I wouldn't get any credit dings, pored through my recent emails, and realized I'd never been sent a notice for this month in the first place.  As it was the weekend, all service phone lines were closed; as it's been a holiday weekend, I called first thing this morning.  The first option I chose was the cancellation option, which sent me directly to voicemail, so I called back to chat with the billing department, instead, and got through very quickly.  I addressed my concerns over my bank card with the rep and said I don't want this month's box, is there anything she could do (knowing myself what the answer would be), even as I accepted full responsibility for not paying better attention to the dates on the calendar.  No, she said, if my order hadn't gone through, that would be one thing, but it did, it was processed at 6:30 this morning, so it couldn't be backed out.  Okay, fine, I said, so I guess my next option would be to return the box to them once I received it.  No, she said, Maven boxes are non refundable.  I had my window to skip and after that, I'm sheeeeooooot out of luck (my words, not hers).  So Julep would rather me hold on to $20 worth of product I don't want than allow a return and keep a customer happy.  How is this customer service?!  But I digress.  I mentioned then that I did not receive the June box notification email, again, my bad for not paying attention to the dates myself, but since I never got the email, is there anything she could do?  No, they ALWAYS send out emails and she didn't know if maybe it was filtered but they always send out emails.  It was not-- I received nothing from Julep this month, save for a sneak peek Julep blog email on the 19th.  There was nothing from Julep in my spam box, so where could it have gone?  It's the first month I had not received the box notification email.  So now, not only am I feeling had because I have to keep this box I don't want that hasn't even shipped yet, I'm being called, in a passive aggressive sort of way, a liar.

  I've worked retail in one form or another since I was able to start working and I know how it is when company policy binds you to say or do certain things but I also know there is a certain amount of flexibility and accountability that goes along with making sure your customer is satisfied.  Nevertheless, I let this one be, as I realized I wasn't going to get anywhere with this gal and just said that at this point, I'd like to cancel my membership.  I was met with silence, silence that went on long enough that I felt prompted to speak up again-- "Are you able to do that here, or should I speak to another department?"  I'm deactivating your account right now, the rep responded.  Thank you, I said, and went on to address a few concerns.  She spoke to me as if from a script, letting me know that I am no longer a Maven and that I could buy a la carte but I wouldn't get the Maven box anymore unless I called to reactivate my account.  I've heard that I should ask for my account to be deleted, I went on.  No, accounts can't ever be deleted, anywhere.  I'll get my email confirming my cancellation (which I have received).  But what if there's a glitch and I get charged and a box is sent to me? I asked, at which point she repeated to me her statement about me not getting a box unless I reactivate my account.  So none of my concerns were addressed, none of the bad reviews I've read explained; I got a bunch of canned responses, a touch of attitude, and a dripping with saccharine valediction.

  You'd better believe I'm holding on to that cancellation email.