Allison

Item intended as Xmas gift arrived several weeks late. Product wasn’t functional. Initial attempts to contact seller were futile. Instructions for reporting problems to Etsy were useless and led me around in circles for hours. Live chat with an agent in some other country was also futile. Agent ended chat without my permission and without resolving problem or responding to my request to escalate to a manager. This is yet another instance of poor communication and unprofessionalism that result when customer “service” is offshored to foreign countries
Update: after this review was published, I heard from the seller, who seems sincere about wanting to make things right. My criticism of Etsy stands, however.

Shopper said she understood, during chat, my instructions to not make bags too heavy and to double-bag. But order arrived in single bags, with one so heavy it almost tore when picked up. An empty bag had been placed upside down over it for no apparent reason, probably to keep the overstuffed bag’s contents from spilling out. All items had been thrown randomly inside bags rather than packed. A liquid soap product was in a bag with food products. Produce was delivered loose with no protective plastic. Bunch of bananas without plastic was likely sitting on shopper’s car seat. Several items were dented due to the lack of care taken. Customer “service” in Philippines (or wherever) apologized 1000 times but per usual no meaningful action taken. Requested escalation to supervisor, which of course hasn’t been honored. This company shows blatant disrespect for customers by allowing untrained, unqualified shoppers to work for it. There is no real accountability. I doubt they do any background checks, which gives rise to concern that customer complaints could place customer at risk, since obviously the shoppers know where customers live.

I am disappointed that I had to replace this very expensive Santa Fe Compact dehumidifier after just a few years. I am even more disappointed that I was not provided warranty coverage for service, only for parts; no local air-conditioning companies are interested in repairing freestanding units. Though I was given a discount toward purchase of the new unit, by the time I paid for necessary help getting the heavy unit into the house and down into the basement and hauling the old unit back upstairs to get rid of it and purchasing a tag from the City to arrange the pickup I had basically paid nearly full price. The representatives were responsive by email and phone, so that was a plus— perhaps the only one.

I lost between 1/3 and 1/2 of what I paid this company for a pullover shirt, due to its deceptive practices. The item took two months to arrive. Each time I queried customer service, I got a reply that it was “in transit.“ The item apparently was being shipped from Spain; there was no indication that this company wasn’t US-based at the time I placed the order. The garment had a strong chemical-like odor and the fabric tags had been deliberately removed. When I requested a return label and a refund, I was told I would need to pay the international shipping cost, which would’ve been exorbitant. Customer service kept replying with “offers” for a partial refund and nonsensical advice such as “why didn’t I try the item for myself?” before deciding, and that they would make “an exception” and give me a US address for a return. Eventually, I agreed to a 60% refund, since I could not locate whatever BBB might have jurisdiction over the company, which of course isn’t BBB-accredited to begin with but BBB can often be helpful anyway. There seems to be a consortium of clothing and other-product companies that lead the buyer to think they are based in the US when they really are based in China or another foreign country. Their products tend to be subpar and not as described online. It is getting to the point where I am hesitant to order anything from other than big-name US companies, such as L.L. Bean and major department stores.

If you can tolerate frequent malfunctions, short useful life, lots of DIY maintenance, and costly replacement parts, you might like Venta humidifiers. I have been a customer for around 20 years and have seen a steady deterioration in quality and effectiveness. I currently own a Venta Professional model ($1300) and an LW 45 model ($300), neither of which are performing any humidification on a series of very cold, dry days. Customer service is spotty; they seldom if ever answer the phone anymore, so you must be prepared to contact them, sometimes repeatedly, by email. Recently, an L45 unit that I sent them for diagnostics and repair incurred considerable damage during the UPS packing process. UPS refused to consider reimbursing me for the damage unless Venta, its account holder, filled out a form, but Venta adamantly refused, merely saying “We don’t do that kind of thing.”

The app by which shoppers communicate with customers wasn't functioning. It's functioned correctly on numerous prior occasions. The shopper did a good job despite lack of communication. However, soon after the groceries were delivered, I began to receive notifications indicating that the identical order was being fulfilled a second time! Naturally I was alarmed; I didn't want to end up being invoiced for a mistaken duplicate order. All attempts to reach "support" were futile; I was on endless "hold" while loud music that overcame my phone volume turned to low was piped in continuously. When I emailed "support" I got a silly response about how I should "reinstall" my app, with long, complicated instructions--this is what companies advise when they don't want to address their own issues--and told that if that didn't "fix" things I should use the app on my computer instead! The whole point of the Instacart app is that you can receive notifications and chat with shoppers as needed while you are otherwise engaged; being chained to a computer for hours in order to have access to Instacart's non-working app is a ludicrous idea. Instacart support at its best involves dealing with agents whose English is almost non-existent; at worst, as described in this experience, there's no support whatsoever.

My dissatisfaction isn't based on the performance of the product, the AW902 Professional model humidifier, which, at least so far, is providing good humidification of a large room, but rather on Venta's shocking refusal to include an operating manual, including parts diagrams and cleaning/maintenance instructions, other than via an online PDF. After leafing through multiple included brochures, focused mostly on safety precautions and in a range of languages, which WERE included with this $1200.00+ device, I called Support to ask where the user manual was. The astounding answer: Venta "doesn't want to waste paper," so it deliberately omits this essential document! If the customer wants to find out how often to clean the unit, how to clean it, what its different parts are, etc., they can "go online and read the PDF." When I pointed out how inconvenient it would be to be trying to read and follow instructions on a tiny phone screen--because one would want to have the instructions in proximity to the device--the customer-service representative said she understood (and agreed). I asked if the user manual could be mailed to me so I could have a physical copy and was told that wouldn't be possible; evidently it's preferable that the customer "waste paper" by printing out a 60-page manual. I find this omission of a crucial document in a user-friendly format to be totally outrageous.

UPDATE: I just received a completely unresponsive reply from Venta about my review. The unit did NOT include an instruction manual in the box as they claim – I was told by the phone rep that it was only accessible online, which is not a convenient way to follow along with instructions when the unit is a very large one, too heavy to carry from room to room. Venta’s statement that it is no longer including physical copies with its “smaller” units isn’t applicable, as mine is its LARGEST humidifier model model, the Professional, and it costs in the vicinity of $1200! I am very disillusioned with Venta and will continue to post negative reviews until or unless the company agrees to send me a PHYSICAL copy of its ACTUAL instruction manual.
LATEST UPDATE: Eventually a supervisor approved my request for a user manual to be mailed to me. Selected pages were sent, and they weren't especially enlightening with regard to the basic functions of "servicing" the unit. Device--specifically, the disc stack--came apart while being cleaned--there were some 15 separate discs that dislodged from the cylinder and had to be re-secured. This happened during normal cleaning. The cylinder did not easily lend itself to re-insertion--my handyman, who assembles devices during his normal work, was baffled both by the process and the sketchy/nonexistent guidance in the manual. Device earns an F for user-friendliness.

This company has NO customer service. I had a several questions that weren't well explained in the (extremely long and daunting) user manual. Levoit's voicemail says that it can't handle phone calls due to high volume; it advises customers to send them an email, with their response expected within 48 hours. I emailed them on a Monday; no response whatsoever by Friday. Meanwhile I've decided its product doesn't function as claimed, so I'm going to return it.

After placing an order for $127, I received notification of a charge to "Maplebear" for approximately $30 above that (not counting tip). When I called Instacart customer "service" to ask who was "Maplebear" and why I was being charged so much more than for what I'd actually ordered, I was told it was to "authorize" potential "additional items" that might (or might not) be added. If not added, then it would be up to me, the customer, to track whether Instacart (aka Maplebear) reimbursed me. Also, my requested delivery timeframe was wildly ignored; the shopper began shopping immediately, hours before the beginning of the delivery window. When I asked customer "service" how perishable items would be maintained at safe temperatures for the HOURS that would elapse until delivery timeframe began, I was told the driver uses a "cold pack." NOT reassuring to have to depend on an individual shopper, in a personal vehicle, who could be driving around for hours, to keep spoilage-prone items sufficiently iced. I asked to have my issues escalated further and was told that I could "send an email"--in other words, I could waste a lot more time, writing about my issues, and wait for an autogenerated, scripted response.

BTW, there was so much static, on two successive phone calls with customer "service," that what the reps were saying (which was mostly "sorry for your frustration") was barely intelligible.

Instacart seems to have a near-monopoly on grocery deliveries in the Boston area; that's probably why it feels it can afford to have such low standards and to disregard customers' preferences at every turn. And I believe the so-called "authorized" charges for items not even ordered is of highly questionable legality.

Most user-unfriendly site ever! On a photo notecard reorder attempt, it was impossible to change basic options, e.g., from Matte to Glossy. "Chat" feature is staffed by people who are totally unable to help. Also, unwanted borders appear inside card and on back, while there seems to be no option to insert a white border around the photo itself.

Was shipped a product I didn't order and assessed a "monthly membership fee." When I emailed them to tell them this, I got replies from "Valerie" and "Brandon" advising that I'd "agreed" to the fee for "a minimum of three months" and to "automatic shipments." Neither of which is true; I'd NEVER agree to either of these conditions unless it was a trusted entity (which this company isn't). This company is clearly fraudulent! Will open dispute with credit-card company.

Beware before you buy anything from this company! You will be deluged with promotional emails, sometimes only hours-to-minutes apart, on a daily basis. They have no "unsubscribe" option. If you contact them directly, they'll "apologize for the inconvenience" but will continue to barrage you with emails. This will continue ... indefinitely.

Abysmal customer service. I called to see if I could get a shipping label in order to return a clothing item. The rep said they didn't provide shipping labels but that as a "one-time courtesy" they'd arrange a FedEx pickup. I was told I could call a few days later to get the exact date for the pickup. Second call, was told pickup was scheduled for that day. However, Fed Ex never came. Third phone call to Company Store: rep had no clue of what was going on -- was confusing "pickup" with "delivery." Her English was clearly a second language, and she peppered the conversation with annoying "Sorry for any inconvenience" comments. After a week of trying to arrange what should have been a simple return, I'll just take the item to UPS or USPS and pay for shipping myself.

Task Rabbit was once a useful resource, and the most recent tasker whom I used did in fact resolve my home-repair issue. That said, Task Rabbit as a company has become an irresponsible entity that has deliberately disabled customer support; its recording advises that it is too busy to answer calls and that phone service has been "suspended." The caller is then disconnected. Evidently Task Rabbit is too busy to answer emails as well; several sent to them have gone unanswered. In addition, the site has lost much of its functionality. Before, only profiles for taskers who were available for a given task were displayed. Now, profiles of UNAVAILABLE taskers are displayed as well, so you have no way of knowing if whomever you select IS actually available, and you're likely to receive an automated message that "Tasker XYZ can't help" so you must choose another tasker. Last but not least, this is the same company that put thousands of customers' personal information at risk earlier this year due to a security breach. The company should be bending over backwards to try to restore trust, but it's doing the opposite. If I had to make a prediction, it would be that Task Rabbit will be out of business in the very near future ... and deservedly so.