Stacey H.

What a massive disappointment. I read all the great, glowing reviews, signed up, eagerly anticipated customizing my first box, was thrilled to get up this morning knowing I'd get to tear into my first box... yay! And I got... NOTHING. Yup. Nothing. Called dispatch and got VOICE MAIL! Really?!?!?!?! Cancelled immediately and didn't even get a real message from a real person saying "I'm sorry," just some canned cut-and-paste BS. Won't be back; don't recommend.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE! I ordered a sofa in July and they've pushed back delivery several times and now they estimate the EARLIEST I'll get it it late December! These people are horrible liars and every time I manage to get an actual human on the phone, they whine and complain that they're "short-staffed" and "everything is running behind" and they don't even promise to return a phone call for two weeks! I am moving and can't even take delivery of the damn sofa anymore but if I cancel they'll force me to pay a 25% cancellation fee. I will be involving my bank and, if necessary, the state's attorney.

ANOTHER website that will not post any review below 4 or 5 stars for their products. I bought an item that was total crap and wrote a perfectly reasonable 2-star review, but it was not posted. You can be sure that all those rave reviews of their products are heavily curated and you'll never see the true opinions of those who've been ripped off. Their customer service is also nonexistent; it takes repeated e-mails AND phone calls to get anyone to respond to an issue. I've put up with their horrible service for years but won't be spending another penny there. Beware.

I never thought I'd be leaving negative reviews for Target, but I've had so many bad experiences with them lately!

Let me begin by saying that I've put together at least a dozen pieces of DIY furniture in the last few years, and I've never encountered such flimsy, poor-quality, junky furniture as I have with the items from Target's "Industrial Collection." I ordered the chair, the tall bookcase, and the desk, and all were returned.

The "wood" parts, which of course are not really wood, absolutely reeked of formaldehyde. There were warning stickers on every piece about the danger of breathing it in or even touching it. How is it okay to sell this crap? If you have chemical sensitivities, are pregnant, or if small children will be using these pieces of furniture, I strongly urge you not to buy this stuff. The metal parts were super-thin and could be bent with my bare hands. The hardware, many pieces of which were missing, was made of a cheap, soft alloy and all threaded pieces (screws and bolts) strip easily. But what ultimately made me return everything was the fact that the pieces don't fit together, and holes didn't align in many spots. And I don't mean by just a small amount, like if you push the pieces together you can get it to work. I mean INCHES apart. I spent two hours on the bookcase before realizing that the shelves can't be attached to the upright posts because the holes on the shelf frames are in the wrong spot! This was a terrible experience. It put me off DIY furniture for good.

But what really topped it all off was the horrid customer service. Target refused to pick up the furniture because the pieces weren't in the original boxes. I wasn't about to spend another two or three hours taking everything apart and trying to fit all the parts and pieces of styrofoam back in the boxes! So I had to take this junk back to Target on foot with a hand truck (I live in Chicago and don't have or need a car). Did I mention the closest Target is a mile away? Never, never, never again will I buy anything other than groceries at Target. I'm also convinced that all the good reviews on this "Industrial Collection" stuff are fake.

Today I reviewed a product that I purchased online from Costco. It was thoughtful and very useful and carefully described the problems I had putting the item together. It also gave the product only two stars. A couple of hours later, I got an e-mail stating that Costco does not allow reviews that "direct business away" [their wording] from Costco. Which logically would mean ANY review that wasn't glowing and positive. To me, that's admitting they don't post negative reviews.

Nice to know. Thank you for the information, Costco. I will now no longer bother to read any of the reviews on your products, because they are admittedly geared toward positivity and do not reflect any negative features.

It really pains me to trash a cute cat-related site (I love cats and all cute cat things), but when a merchant won't post a perfectly valid, rational, thoughtful bad review, it really chaps my butt. I wrote a 2-star review for one of their items and they did not post it. This is so scammy! It infuriates me when sites pick and choose only the best reviews.

I purchased several toys for my kitties. I was STUNNED by the high prices--$14 for a little stuffed cloth cat toy?!? But they were cute, and Meowingtons kept slapping coupon codes on the screen until I got one for 55% off, and I thought well, that's not bad. Less than $7 for this cat toy and it's probably great! That's why it costs so much, right? (Isn't it amazing how high prices make us think that? Every time!)

So I ordered the stuff and to their credit their shipping was reasonably quick. But the toys were so small! I opened the package and thought... what? They're tiny! If they really did contain catnip, it wasn't much. I couldn't smell it and apparently neither could my cats. The toys are still laying on the floor untouched a week later. I guess I'll throw them out eventually.

WAY, WAY, WAY overpriced, clearly just so they can offer 40%, 50%, 60% discounts--they really prey on discount psychology. And they won't post poor reviews. You had a chance to impress me, Meowingtons, and you blew it.

WOW! $10 per serving?!?!?! Really? I feel like I've been punked. The meals started out somewhat bad and went straight to tossing everything in the trash untasted (the appearance and smell were all I needed). I read all the good reviews here and thought, Say what? I was seriously pissed that I perfectly good money on this garbage, even at the introductory rate. Freshly has ruined meal kits for me.

If you decide to order anything from them, be very, very careful to check your total in your cart before purchasing. I've found that the prices of more than half the items I put in my cart were 50% higher than the price on the item page. It's been doing that to me for months. I tried to contact their (useless) customer service, but no one even bothers to reply--way to keep people happy, Industry West! They also do not allow reviews or customer posts on their Facebook page (no surprise there--who would have anything good to say?). I wouldn't give them a dime if I were you.

The first recipe from my first box was AWFUL. I was so disappointed. Lots of money for low-quality ingredients. The photos on their website are pretty and appetizing, but don't fall for it. You can do so much better on your own. I asked for a refund and was refused. Cancelled my subscription before they could take more of my money and send more of this crappy food.

I ordered eight pairs of Shadowline panties from this company and they began to fall apart immediately. When I got them I suspected that they were seconds based on the terrible cutting and sewing--the stitching missed entire parts of the cotton panels and the edges of the cut pieces were ragged and choppy. I wore them two or three times--I had them just three weeks!--and they began coming apart. I called for a refund and they refused. They said they can't take back anything that's been worn or washed. I understand that they can't do that if you change your mind, but these FELL APART! Within 3 weeks! That's absolutely unacceptable. I will never, EVER spend another penny at this company, and neither will my friends if I have anything to say about it. Wilma's pathetic response below is all you need to know. They sent me inferior merchandise and will not issue a refund for it. This is what they do; I mean, just read all of these awful reviews. Wilma, I think your parents are spinning in their graves over your choice of career. Her Room, you will never have another chance to rip me off.

Ordered a pair of frames without lenses (my local optometrist was going to put lenses in them because I use a high-index specialty progressive lens). Got an e-mail a week later saying it would be another six weeks before they'd ship. What? Six weeks? On top of that, EZContacts charged my credit card immediately, which is against card-issuer rules. You can't charge the credit card until the item ships.

I sent an e-mail to cancel the order and refund my money, which they seem to have "misplaced." Called their 800 number and was put on hold immediately; an automated voice told me that I was "caller number 35." Sure! I have time to wait on the effing phone for two hours! I'm going through hell trying to get my money back and will most likely have to do a chargeback through my bank. HORRIBLE service. I strongly advise staying away from EZContacts.

Fifteen years ago, American Consumer Opinion was a lot of fun. I got tons of items to use and review, like dishwasher gel, cat food, cereal, perfume, shampoo and conditioner, etc. I also got lots of different and fun surveys. They've devolved into occasionally sending a "screener" survey that gets me nowhere and is worth almost nothing to complete. It took months and months to collect enough points to cash out (there's a 1000-point/$10 minimum), and when I did, it took six months to get my money--via PayPal! How hard is it to send money to PayPal? Six months? Really? And I NEVER received my last payment of about $40. I deleted my account.

A few years ago, I received a catalog from Fingerhut and a letter stating that I was "preapproved" for a couple thousand dollars in credit. I should know by now that "preapproved" = "we're about to rip you off," but I applied anyway because I really needed a new laptop. Instead of enough credit to buy one, I received a letter in response saying that I had qualified for only $100 in purchases. I laughed and shredded the letter, thinking that was the end of it.

Fast-forward more than four years: I now have a negative mark on my credit report from Fingerhut that states I "purchased" $100 worth of merchandise on credit AND NEVER PAID FOR IT. I never purchased one cent's worth of anything from these scam artists. I am working with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the FDIC to get this resolved, but in the meantime, it has lowered my credit score and resulted in many wasted hours writing letters and making phone calls.

If I were you, I would treat anything from Fingerhut as radioactive. Throw out anything you receive from them, and resist the temptation to apply for their "credit" program. It's NOT what they say it is.

J. Jill's steady decline continues. Every piece of overpriced clothing I've purchased from them after 2000 has fallen apart rapidly. Anything knit is full of holes within 5 washes. Their prices are obscene, their shipping and handling fees are among the highest you'll ever find, and their return policy is pretty much nonexistent: You can return something that you don't like, but only if it's "unworn, unwashed, and still has the tags attached." Because that's how you find out if you like a piece of clothing--don't wear it, don't wash it, and never take the tags off. They will not take anything back that disintegrates, which is damn near everything. I remember back in the 1990s they had some lovely, feminine pieces in velvet, gorgeous embroidered blouses, and sweet homegoods. Take a look at their clothing line now. Sixty cardigans that are based on the exact same shapeless-sack pattern; horrible prints; t-shirts that (sorry to beat a dead horse here) just FALL APART.

How do they stay in business?

Anthropologie is one of those websites that won't post negative reviews. I reviewed one of their el-cheapo "trinket dishes" that I bought for a co-worker; I gave it one star because it is deceptively described on their website with their typical handmade, "artisan," one-of-a-kind jargon, but when I received it it had a MADE IN CHINA sticker on the bottom and was packaged in that flimsy cardboard that they put stuff in when it makes a long, long transoceanic journey. It was mass-made Chinese crap, in a nutshell. This happens with a lot of their stuff. Their branding and graphics and store layouts will make you think you're getting something very special when you're not.

Posting only good reviews is deceptive and a very poor business practice. I do not trust any store that won't post a bad review. I can understand editing for profanity, etc., but if a product deserves a one-star review, it should be posted.

Other things about Anthro that piss me off: No clothing they carry will fit you if you're bigger than an 8; the jewelry they carry is total crap (mostly from Alibaba.com) at crazy prices; their shipping charges are WAY too high, especially since they use that awful Fedex-to-the-Post-Office scheme, which also makes shipping very slow; and customer service is poor to nonexistent. Anthro is all image and little substance.

I've always hated Macy's, but I ordered a pair of boots from them last month because I couldn't find my size anywhere else. The boots did not fit--weren't even close!--so I sent them back and waited, and waited, and waited for my refund. Two weeks after tracking stated the package had been delivered to them, I get a gift card in the mail! A GIFT CARD?!?!? Man, I was HOT. I never asked for a frigging gift card. So I called their "customer service" (I use that term loosely) number and navigated their unbelievably aggravating phone tree and finally got someone on the line, who hung up on me almost immediately. Called back. Same thing. Called back a third time. Same thing. And I hadn't gotten three words out of my mouth, so it couldn't have been because of anything I said. Then I logged on to my Macys account online and discovered that for some reason my entire order history was gone. I'd made only that one purchase in 2015, but that one was gone, as were all my orders from previous years. WTF? I can't reach anyone without the line going dead. So I'm stuck with this damned card that I don't want to spend at their awful stores (the State Street store here in Chicago is an unspeakable dump), and no way to get my money back. I am so damned pissed. I've said it before, but this time I mean it: NO MORE MACYS.

And then there's this: http://consumerist.com/2015/12/11/macys-makes-it-really-difficult-for-me-to-give-them-my-money-because-my-last-name-is-slutsky/

My order was selected for review (at random, I assume) and held/stopped until I called them to provide "more information." Some sort of ridiculous faux "security" scheme so they could pretend to be serious about fraud. I had ordered on a Thursday, hoping for delivery
The next day; I had forgotten to order earlier in the week and had fingers crossed that my order would reach me before I ran out of cat food. Instead, my order was held for no reason and I was sent an e-mail that I'd have to call customer service before they would release it. Now, keep in mind that I have spent thousands of dollars over the years shopping at Chewy. I ordered from a password-protected account. I used a credit card and shipping address that I'd used a hundred times before. I ordered low-value items which were nothing out of the ordinary. Yet I had to find the time to call them and "prove" who I was. Instead, I cancelled the order and will no longer be spending ONE PENNY at Chewy. I
Don't know what kind of stunt this was, but it cost them a loyal customer (I will NEVER be back--nor will I shop at their pathetic parent company, Petsmart). Clearly, I wasn't going to receive anything from them before I ran out of cat food, so I had the joy of spending a 12-degree December day in Chicago on public transportation (I have no car) and on foot to bring home a couple of cases of Fancy Feast. Good job, Chewy, on that "fast and convenient" angle. The good news is that I found what I wanted at Petco at lower prices than Chewy charges!

Like others here have stated, you'll work on a survey for 15-20 minutes--sometimes more!--and you'll "screen out," which means you're not the demographic they're looking for and the survey abruptly ends. It should NOT take that long. I have also spent as much as an *hour* on a survey only to get to the last screen and get an error message. I've lodged complaints three times, but no one ever replies or awards the missing points. They have a consolation prize called "sweeps entries" that they give you instead of points if you screen out, but sweeps entries do not add up to anything as far as I can tell. I can't even find out on the website what they are and/or how often these "sweepstakes" take place. If you find yourself stuck in one place all day--you're a receptionist, say--and need something to occupy yourself, you may want to try your hand at this. But by all means don't spend valuable time if you could be doing something productive.

Placed two orders from Zulily about 20 minutes apart. These were my first orders ever from this website. I understand that they are merely drop-ship order-takers, and don't have the merchandise on-site, so it takes a while for them to ship anything. Okay... I get that. So I wait a MONTH for the shoes to ship, and finally get a notification that they'll arrive the next day. Except they don't. Because Zulily, like so many other idiots these days looking for the worst possible experience for their customers, is trying to save every stinking penny and they choose the cheapest, crappiest shipping method: FedEx to the Post Office. Now, we all know how great the post office is (HUGE EYE ROLL). These idiots try to deliver both of my packages to my BUSINESS ADDRESS after 7 p.m., when it's CLOSED. Delivery exception! Customer not available! Day two: Delivery exception! Customer not available! Day three: Same crap! The packages end up going back to Zulily, who claims they never received them. I have to get my bank involved for two separate chargebacks. So, no shoes, I'm out more than $100 for more than two months, and I'm seething frigging angry that I ever decided to $#*! with these people. NEVER AGAIN.