Kara B.

Summary:
Adore Me takes advantage of customers not noticing their pre-selected VIP membership, then makes it extremely difficult for them to unsubscribe without paying. They lie to their customers, hide pertinent details in the fine print, and design their website with the goal of getting people to sign up for a monthly subscription without realizing it.

Purchase:
After hearing a recommendation from a friend, I went to the Adore Me website and took advantage of a deal they were offering at the time ($24.95 for your first item). When it came to the checkout, I went through the familiar process entering in my information and I unknowingly signed up for their VIP program when making my purchase.

VIP Program:
I received two emails following my purchase. One email stated that I made a purchase and then a second email (with the same subject as the first – probably designed to look like a duplicate email) said I had joined their VIP program. Needless to say, I was startled that I had somehow been enrolled in this VIP program and I immediately began looking into what it entailed. The Adore Me website revealed that it was a program which took out a $39.95 payment from my credit card every month to be used as a credit for one of their lingerie items. In order not to be charged, you have to log onto the website and select "Skip the Month" before the 5th of each month.

Attempts to Unsubscribe:
1. I called within 48 hours of my purchase, and I was told by Rachelle that I couldn't unsubscribe from their VIP program for 10 days. And that when I unsubscribe I will be charged an additional $35 for the non-promotional cost of the item. I asked to cancel the order, I was told it was too late to cancel the order and that I would be charged $5.95 to restock it when I returned the item.
2. I called again 10 days later as instructed (prior to the call I had skipped the month within the time frame given, and returned my item using their RMA), and I was told by Rachelle that I still could not unsubscribe without being charged the $35 – despite the fact that I had nothing, the product had been returned to them unopened. I was told I would have to wait until 45 days after my purchase to cancel.
3. I called on the 45th day after my purchase and was told I couldn't unsubscribe without being charged $35 until the 45th business day.
4. After checking my calendar I realized that Rachelle told me 45th business day would be early the next month, which wasn't true. I suspected she gave me a false date in order for me to miss the next "Skip the Month" and get charged. I called back and was given another date to cancel.
5. I then read through their terms and conditions again, and realized that nowhere does it say "45 business days" so I called back, spoke to Dan and was told yet another date.
6. I called back on the date given by Dan and was finally unsubscribed by Rachelle. There was a lot of "bait-and-switch" going on throughout this entire process, with both customer service people that I spoke to telling me information that would only be refuted in my next call. I suspect this tactic is used often by the company to make it so the customer forgets to call or skip the month so that they get charged under the VIP program.

What's deceiving about Adore Me:
1. The Adore Me homepage doesn't actually say anything about its monthly membership. You can click on the "How it Works" page to find out about the VIP program, but despite it's selling point being that it offers monthly lingerie, it's not even mentioned on their main page. The home page resembles a regular, non-subscription based "store-front" in order to lead unknowing customers to think that the purchase process is the same as any other online store.
2. When you go to purchase your item, the VIP membership is already selected on the side of the screen. The selection button next to the VIP membership looks like a bullet point rather than a selection (circular, same color as the text box it's in), and the Pay-As-You-Go option is a white, fairly transparent button that isn't all that visible.
3. When you scroll down the purchase page, the Pay-As-You-Go option is partially covered by the "Adore Me Stylist" chat box, which also extended upward during the purchasing process, obscuring the Pay-As-You-Go option from sight.
4. Typically when signing up for something extra (as I have signed up for yearly memberships on other websites) there is something in the checkout that says something to the likes of "Membership - $0.00" in the invoice. Adore Me has no such text, as to limit their customer's awareness that they are signing up for the VIP membership.
5. All over the Adore Me website it has text that seems to indicate that Adore Me offers free returns. Here are the exact quotes "Free Shipping – both ways", "Free shipping, free exchanges & easy returns", which try to get the customer to think that they can return items free-of-charge, but if you read their fine print it's actually a $5.95 restocking fee for any return (not including exchanges). You can call the return "free" apparently if the cost doesn't occur until the item gets back to the warehouse.
6. Under Adore Me's FAQ page, it says "Can I cancel my membership? Easy & FREE! You may cancel your Adore Me Membership at any time without consequence. If you would like to cancel, call Member Services at *******367 Monday – Friday 9am – 6pm (EST). There is no cancellation fee." This suggests that you can cancel the VIP membership whenever you want, without consequence, but as shown through my experience – this is a complete lie. I was unable to cancel without being charged for 45 days after my purchase. You can ONLY cancel by phone and they are ONLY available from 9am to 6pm EST. Fortunately this limitation on time wasn't an issue for me, but for other people in different time zones and busier schedules, this can be near impossible. I don't understand why a strictly online store cannot have any type of electronic unsubscription service (unless of course, they use this as a way to make the unsubscription process more difficult for their customers).
7. As I stated previously, the VIP notification email is made to look like a duplicate email of the confirmation of purchase. I believe this is a way to prevent customers from reading through the VIP notification email. In addition, there have been several complaints of the VIP notification email going into customers spam folders and these customers have no idea they are signed up until they notice the recurring charges on their billing statements. According to review sties, many customers will not even be refunded this money once they explain that they mistakenly or unknowingly signed up for the VIP program.
8. Adore Me advertises its designers (see their "About Me" page) and talks about "creating fashionable, high quality, perfectly fitting intimates", and how they "design our own intimates" making the customer believe that the intimates they are purchasing are exclusive to Adore Me. This is not the case as shown by this blogger: http://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2013/06/adore-me-lingerie-review.html
9. Adore Me uses bait-and-switch tactics to make it so their customers have a difficult time unsubscribing from their VIP program.

If there are any doubts about my claims, I have screen captures of all quotes included in this review. I have all emails I received from Adore Me, as well as the dates, times, details, and names from every time I communicated with Adore Me as well.