FYI – Little Lace Box February 2017 Box Shipping Delay

Just got this! Yep they are going belly up on us!

Today at 10:30 PM
Little Lace Box
Dear LLB Subscribers,

For the past few years we’ve truly enjoyed having the opportunity to curate boxes for all of you. Few things came close to the rush we felt when we put out a box that seemed to find a place in your hearts. We received feedback almost immediately and it was like we had given a complete stranger a gift and that gift was returned in the form of a smile or kind word that totally made our day. The subscription box business is one that requires an immense amount of planning. In order to find the right new product and get it at the right price to make the bottom-line work, we had to be working on boxes eight to ten months out. With planning also came the capital investment to secure those contracts so far into the future. Venture capital would be essential to success, and as female founders, we knew securing venture capital would be difficult to do but we tried anyway because we believed in our business. But, unfortunately, as reported by Fortune.com, only just over 6% of all U.S. venture capital funding allocated in 2016 went to female founded companies (heavy sigh). Maybe our concept wasn’t unique enough, or maybe our consumers weren’t a desirable enough consumer segment (women are the most valuable consumers in the world), or maybe this female founded company was just, well, too female.

Ladies, we’re deeply saddened that we were unable to secure the capital needed to continue our mission to connect all of you with the wonderful women entrepreneurs who are building amazing businesses across the U.S. We held on to hope as long as we could, maybe too long, but at some point we had to ask ourselves if our tenacious desire to succeed was really sustaining life or just prolonging death. We knew the answer would guide our plan for the future. It is with that as our backdrop that we decided it was time to leave the subscription box business and wish for the other more capable business leaders in this category to win for all of us.

There is a reason why a woman wants a surprise gift every month, even if she purchases the gift for herself. And for one brief shinning moment, we were one of those monthly gifts, and I think we made a difference. I hope the others in this category go right on making a difference for women who love and need these little gifts. A small gesture can mean a lot to someone.

As of today, we have already begun to process refunds for subscribers and we will work to finish all of those in the coming weeks. We can’t leave without also saying thank you to the amazing women who have been kind enough to review our boxes on their websites and blogs. Without all of you providing the service that you provide, we would have gone nowhere. You told us what you liked about our products and called us out when we didn’t meet expectations. We’d like to say thank you to (in alphabetical order): HelloSubscription.com, MySubscriptionAddiction.com, Ramblingsofasuburbanmom.com, SubscriptionBoxMom.com and TheBoxQueen.com, just to name a few.

We feel so blessed to have developed relationships with many of you. You’ve inspired us in so many ways and we’ve loved your life stories, cried with some of you, laughed with some of you and celebrated with many of you. We’re emotionally invested in LLB so this is particularly difficult for us. And to borrow someone else’s quote and make it our own, “forgive me if I tend to romanticize our significance to some of our subscribers, not every one of our boxes was perfect, but I remember each of them that way because our heart was in them and that was LLB at its best.”

Hi –
has anybody heard anything from Little Lace Box? It is the 27th and I have not heard / nor received anything about the Feb. box or this month’s serendipity.

I looked at their facebook page and i did not see any posts since March 9.

WOW. Just WOW. I’m extremely sure that, although I love my subscribtion boxes bc they brighten my day and make me oh-so-happy that my life has in fact NEVER gone into a chatostrophic downward spiral from getting one late, having a broken item that I had to correspond about, or just plain wasn’t impressed with an item(s) in the curation. Geeeeez folks. I get the disapointment, but from some of the comments I’m reading I’m concerned that getting your boxes later than scheduled is causing a major wreckage in your quality of life. Bit dramatic?? Idol time is the devils workshop–for sure. These sub box companies are also at the mercy of the vendors from whom they acquire our “loot” from. They have been honest and pro-active with communication to us. They have not left anyone in the dark. What do you expect them to do if they are unable to receive the items they carefully curated due to ANOTHER VENDOR’s mishap? Sorry for laughing, but many of these comments are over the top dramatic and quite silly. Not trying to be mean, but WOW.

Liz–is it possible for you to get an update from them as to whether they are actually shipping out today?

I’m going to see if they shipped by the 15th.

And for the record? If it’s true that LLB deletes unfavorable comments, they’re not the only ones to do so. I have yet to see a comment of mine, supporting LLB, show up here. Just saying.

I’ve been trying to cancel since Feb. 12th but the Account section on their website does not seem to have a “cancel” option and emails to them have gone unanswered. I have to prepare for a move, as my Mom has recently passed away and would really like to get this matter over with.

Can anyone tell me if they see a “cancel” option on the website? I’ve tried both Safari and Chrome browsers but never see a spot to click on for cancelling. Thanks in advance!

I am so horrified by what I am reading about this company. It’s almost too terrible to believe, but I totally believe it.

wow, just wow. I have never been so happy that I didn’t buy something!!! I have looked at past boxes from this company and had not yet decided which I would subscribe to. And after reading all these reviews, I can say that I won’t be subscribing to either. And just in case they actually do stalk these comments I would send out a word of advice – bad reviews are bad for your business, and yes, these reviews ARE costing you customers!

Just as a recap, because I’m still offended to this day, this is the emails I received from LLB in 2015:

Hi Browning,

This was sent to me to handle. My kids call me the Darth Vader of subscription boxes, because I hate when people are uncivil in their communication with us. I cancel people like that every week, and it’s as easy as scrapping mud off my shoes. We live in a civil society and I’ve taught my children to act in a civil manner, and I expect nothing less from a customer. There are 157 million women in the US, canceling the rude ones still leaves plenty of good people. Why would anyone think that they can pay $45 for a subscription box, and that somehow gives them the right to deride people on a personal level. I completely understand if you don’t like the contents of a box, or you don’t like the girls taste. You have the right to express your opinion, but taking it to a personal level goes beyond the pale.

What if we posted a page on our site called the Britt McHenry award, and we awarded it to you this month? Do you know who McHenry is, she’s a vile human being, and although we aren’t a huge business, we get 60,000 visitors a month to our site. They would all see your name and we would explain why you won this month. Would you be embarrassed? How would it make you feel? When you say, “LLB is covering up something.” That isn’t just expressing your displeasure with our product (again, you have the right to do that), it’s an indicting comment against the very character of our company, and it is completely untrue. But you said it anyway. Is this a cry for attention or help? Actually I don’t care either way. I guess your comment, “my bad” is your way of saying you’re sorry for making untrue statements about our company.

From: Little Lace Box [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 5:20 PM
To: ‘Kevin Bryan’
Subject: FW: MSA

From: Browning Clark
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2015 2:34 PM
To: The Curator from LLB
Subject: Re: MSA

Hi there! As an artisan myself, I just found it hard to believe that the artist would put the design on the outside, leaving the exposed area of the tray completely design-free. So I assumed she had a helper or something that misunderstood the instructions and pressed the basket weave into the wrong side of the clay. And then their needed to be an explanation for the 2 versions and I didn’t really get what you were saying about the ancient olive jar and how that explained the design on 2 different sides. I didn’t think you were trying to cheat anyone…I was thinking the artist was pulling your leg. But, someone commented that both versions were for sale on your website and sure enough, they are. My bad. Like I also said in my comments, I still love LLB.

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 25, 2015, at 4:53 AM, The Curator from LLB wrote:

Browning,

Do you really believe we are covering something up? Are those your comments on MSA? We are concerned when one of our subscribers believes we are trying to cheat them. Please help us understand what is going on here, so we can get it resolved.

Thank you
LLB

I currently have 2 annual subscriptions with LLB (one for me, one for my mom). After the all the shipping delays + having to ask where my second box was in December, I’m fed up with this company. I wish I could just cancel and get my money back. This company seems very unprofessional and is definitely not worth the stress.

They already have their April box spoiler theme up on the site. “All My Sisters and Me”.

Last time this happened for LLB they offered a refund because of the delay and I asked for a refund. Now, I received this email and went to check to make sure I wasn’t signed up for the box and my account cannot even be found? I guess they deleted my account as well, all for choosing the refund option because of their shipping delay!

I was an annual subscriber with them. I had multiple problems (like only getting 1 glove in a box, missing and broken items). When they started Serendipity I signed up right away. During the fall of last year, when they were late shipping I never received the e-mail. I sent them an e-mail asking why I wasn’t notified of the late shipping / cancellation. They immediately sent me an e-mail saying they didn’t think I was happy and would be refunding my money for both subscriptions until my renewal. At first I was hurt, but since then I haven’t looked back. I would never subscribe to them again. Frankly I was relieved I didn’t get the last LLB as it was full of things I never would have used. So long LLB and Serendipity. Sounds like you are doing the same thing again. Thank goodness I am done with them.

LLB does seem to have more problems with shipping than any other subscription box I’ve ever received (and I receive alot!) And watching for negative comments and then closing the customer’s account because you disagree with them??? Very poor customer service in my opinion, not to mention childish.

Does PopSugar Must Have, GlossyBox, Boxycharm, etc. stalk comments and close accounts because of them? Highly doubtful because they’re busy shipping boxes out and trying to KEEP our business.
Now, I’ll just watch and see if they cancel my account like they did many many others in the past for not agreeing with them. It’s a shame because I really liked my boxes when I did receive them. And adding a great freebie to the box as an apology would really go a long way.

I would like to say as someone who subscribes to about 20 or so boxes and also runs my own small subscription box, the job is not easy. My box only maintains about 100 subscribers but it is a LOT of work, and it is only a part time thing for me. Vendors back out or do not fulfill orders and it can be really stressful. Or you get something fun like the P.O. failing to deliver packages promptly and that is completely out of your control. I don’t think the average subscriber really knows what its like. So in LLB’s defense, it is not an uncommon thing to experience.

HOWEVER, I learned after a few months of running a box by myself after my partner bailed the day after launch that there were ways I could fix things, such as ordering items for the next month super early. For my March box, I already have all of the items needed and won’t even be shipping until the 10th of March. I do think that that women who run LLB are very unprofessional with customers (aren’t they just three sisters who’s rich daddy pays for everything?) and have not found successful ways at managing their business. I think its insane that the community of MSA lives in a sort of quasi-fear that the LLB women will lash out against them, and the fact that they can’t even get the sub boxes they already have in place together before starting ANOTHER one makes no sense. So yes, I will still give LLB a thumbs down, but I do think people need to remember that this is a tough business to navigate. All that to be said, I will not be keeping my subscription with them after my annual term expires.

They issued me a gift card and closed my account. We will see is I get anything from the fraudsters! So glad to be done with this company. I have posted on Facebook, twitter and instagram and thinking about doing a YouTube video about this.

Sigh … the least they could do is throw in a little something extra into everyone’s orders to make up for all the delays. All they seem to do is apologize.

WOW. This would have been my first month of the subscription. I wish I had known they have so many problems I would never have signed up. And just like you guys I got no email at all

I’m disappointed, but I really do like this subscription box. I do appreciate that they are being honest with their customers.
I’m always surprised when I hear people complain about their customer service, because for me personally, they have taken care of issues right away.
But having said this, I hope they get these issues ironed out soon because people are obviously losing patience and I don’t want them to shut down.

Does anyone know if I purchased a year subscription (6 shipments), will it automatically renew? This will be my last box, my 6th, and I don’t plan to renew. Do I need to contact them?

I’ve emailed them three times since Feb. 12th trying to cancel my subscription.Trying to do so on their website seems impossible. Other than an initial automated email reply, I haven’t had any kind of response from them. Quite annoyed right now :/

I love LLB so much and I believe that they put a lot of thought and consideration into their curation. Out of the million subscription boxes that I receive, I truly believe LLB and Serendipity are consistently my favorite. They are sweet and delightful every month. I was so sad when they cancelled a month of the serendipity box a few months ago, and sad that they delayed the shipping this month of LLB, but I trust them and will love them forever. I know it is important to them that they deliver something that makes me feel special each time, so I appreciate their dedication to quality.

This is very irritating. I bought a 6 month subscription about 6 months ago and during that time I have only received one box. The company was more than happy to take my money immediately though. No delay there. Live and learn.

I’d be a little less irritated if they’d have given up a spoiler. We still don’t know a single item in this box, do we?