What Is Justfab.com You Ask?
I am sure many by now have seen the commercials and/or banners for Justfab.com . If you are not familiar with the advertisements they show that you can purchase designer shoes, purses and accessories at a low price of $39.95 each. A personalized boutique is compiled to show you the items that are closest to your preferences.Their website at a first look shows:
- "All Styles $39.95"
- "Get 20% Off Your First Item"
The one thing they failed to mention at first was that you need to be a V.I.P. Member to quality for any of these promotions. Now, when a person finally discovers this they are told:
- Every JustFab style is only $39.95 (save up to 50%)
- No obligation to buy. Skip any month & cancel any time.
- FREE shipping & easy exchanges
- Access to special collections, private sales & exclusive promotions.
- Earn points toward FREE shoes!
My Experience:
Now at a first glance I should have known it was too good to be true. A free membership that gave me discounts like this?
Now at a first glance I should have known it was too good to be true. A free membership that gave me discounts like this?
After making my first purchase I finally started digging into the FAQ and Policies. I learned that their system works like this: Every month you are sent an email for your boutique, by the 5th of the month if you don't purchase something you are charged $39.95 and given a member credit worth that value, but if you go online and skip the month you don't get charged this.
The reason this concerned me : what if I didn't get on until the 6th of the month and couldn't afford that $39.95 charge? I remembered reading that I could cancel anytime so I looked for the cancel button in my account, when I clicked on it I was told that it was only for free members and V.I.P.'s had to call the hotline to cancel.
Cancelled Account:
So when I made the long distance call to cancel my account I was found waiting for almost half an hour to speak to some one. When I did get in touch they gave me a hard sell to cancel, throwing offers in my face and making my reasons for quitting sounding petty. Eventually I asked them to just switch it to the no fee membership and I would change it to V.I.P. at a future date. Immediately after the call I logged on and deleted my account, later when I tried logging in again all my information was still there, even my credit card.
Additional Fees When Delivered:
When I made my $60 for some purses I was told they'd be delivered by July 30th. On August 1st I received an email saying the item had just been shipped. I did not receive the order until August 7th. Now when I placed my order I was not aware I would be charged any additional fees, since of course I had to pay the $9 shipping to send to Canada. To my surprise there was a "Charge on Delivery" with my package for a grand total of $54.03... It turns out they gave customs their "value" not the price paid, so I had to pay 13% taxes on about $150 of merchandise plus almost $40 in various handling fees. That alone was almost the entire cost of my order so I basically did not save anything with the V.I.P. Membership.
Damaged Products:
When I opened the package I had mixed feelings. I found it a nice touch that the paperwork was in a black fancy envelope and all of my purses were not only in plastic coverings but in the company's black bags with the logo. So my first 2 purses exceeded my expectations, they were bigger than I had thought based on reviews and looked amazing. The third purse was damaged, the edge of the material had ripped away from the metal frame along the top and caused difficulty to open.
So I called the hotline again hoping for some help. I was told I could easily return the item for free online. I soon discovered that I'd basically be paying for the shipping back plus a $6 restocking fee (even though it should not be resold, I assume it is broken because it was a previous return!) and shipping + taxes and customs for a replacement purse. I was not willing to drop that much money for a purse so I just glued it to the frame.
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT JUSTFAB.COM
Additional Fees When Delivered:
When I made my $60 for some purses I was told they'd be delivered by July 30th. On August 1st I received an email saying the item had just been shipped. I did not receive the order until August 7th. Now when I placed my order I was not aware I would be charged any additional fees, since of course I had to pay the $9 shipping to send to Canada. To my surprise there was a "Charge on Delivery" with my package for a grand total of $54.03... It turns out they gave customs their "value" not the price paid, so I had to pay 13% taxes on about $150 of merchandise plus almost $40 in various handling fees. That alone was almost the entire cost of my order so I basically did not save anything with the V.I.P. Membership.
Damaged Products:
When I opened the package I had mixed feelings. I found it a nice touch that the paperwork was in a black fancy envelope and all of my purses were not only in plastic coverings but in the company's black bags with the logo. So my first 2 purses exceeded my expectations, they were bigger than I had thought based on reviews and looked amazing. The third purse was damaged, the edge of the material had ripped away from the metal frame along the top and caused difficulty to open.
So I called the hotline again hoping for some help. I was told I could easily return the item for free online. I soon discovered that I'd basically be paying for the shipping back plus a $6 restocking fee (even though it should not be resold, I assume it is broken because it was a previous return!) and shipping + taxes and customs for a replacement purse. I was not willing to drop that much money for a purse so I just glued it to the frame.
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT JUSTFAB.COM
- Prices and discounts available to customers
- Excellent online customer service
- Helpful product reviews
- Professional looking packing
- Points rewards system
- When account is charged monthly you accumulate credits
WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT JUSTFAB.COM
- Information not provided upfront at checkout, pressured to enrol then to save
- Return simplicity is extremely exaggerated
- Returned damaged products are resold at full price and with no warning, even charge returner $6
- Phone customer service too difficult to get through to and very rude
- Credit card information is kept on file after account is deleted
- Account can never actually be deleted, is always available
WHO I RECOMMEND JUSTFAB.COM TO:
- I would recommend justfab.com to women (who live in the US) who enjoy buying one or two items per month due to the lack of selection and potential monthly charges without purchase.
- I do not recommend this to anyone who is not willing to take the risk of faulty products and long shipping times. Anyone outside of the United States should beware of this website because of the additional shipping charge which does not include any taxes or customs charges.
Word of caution I have picked up from many other reviews: Check your credit card statements regularly in event they do charge you for a month you skipped or after you cancelled your membership. The charges cannot be reversed but they can be stopped asap.
