Marley Spoon

I have had two deliveries of Marley Spoon, and with my first box I noticed that some of the greens were bad, but I figured it was because the box had been sitting out all day until I got home and brought it in. With my second delivery, I messaged support and asked to cancel my box. They replied saying they would cancel it and refund me. Three days later I got an email saying my box was being shipped. When I emailed support again, they told me the cancellation hadn’t processed. Luckily I was refunded, but the box was sent anyway due to it already being on the way. I had requested to cancel the box, due to the fact that I was gonna be out of town, so I just had my roommate pickup the box and keep it. She sent me pictures of the produce tho, and again it did not look fresh and some of it was already browning. Lastly, I noticed a charge on my account this week and saw that I had been charged for a new box. I forgot to skip that delivery, so that was totally my fault, but not even 24 hours after they had charged me, I emailed them and asked if they could cancel it. Mind you, this was on a Sunday and my delivery day is Friday, so I didn’t see why they wouldn’t just cancel it. Well, I just got an email basically saying that they are not canceling it because the product has already been purchased and that they gave me enough warning. Which they did not by the way. If they had, I would’ve noticed that I hadn’t skipped the delivery earlier. Overall, I am extremely disappointed in Marley Spoon and have deactivated my account.

First, the good: We’ve been with Marley Spoon for over a year, and have loved the food! 5 stars for that! Really great recipes for the most part... a few are kind of average, but we’ve never had a meal we really didn’t like. I’d say more than half we really love. We tried Sun Basket first, but the recipes were too unusual for the tastes of our kids, and then we tried Blue Apron, but the recipes were to boring and bland for our tastes. Marley Spoon hit the right balance for our family. Occasionally there are some confusing recipe instructions, but mostly they are very easy to follow. Don’t order 4 meals in one delivery, as the box is too heavy and ingredients can get crushed. We’ve opened many boxes with a package of cream cheese, sour cream, or salsa squirted out all over everything. Now the bad, the reason for 3 stars, and the reason I’m ready to try a new service, probably Hello Fresh... order fulfillment is terrible. 1 star. I’d say at least 25% of orders have something wrong with them. It’s either busted open food packets, veggies that are on the brink of too old, or downright unusable, or the worst, missing ingredients. Nothing like being ready to make dinner for hungry kids and then having to run out to the store for a missing can of beans... AND during quarantine! To their credit, customer service has always been responsive, apologetic, and they give me credit for meals with problems. That and the delicious recipes kept me on their service for many months, but I’m sad to say it’s time to try someone new. We may be back if and when the reviews show these problems are behind them.

...but, like other reviewers have pointed out, not seeing recipes, or current meals offered, without giving credit card info., and paying for first delivery, is extremely disappointing. I’m eager to give Martha and Marley Spoon a try. I’ll check back once or twice more (with fingers crossed) to see if this problem has been resolved. If not, I’ll move on. I’m sure this will be the case with most potential customers. No one wants to give their credit card info., and pay for something, that they haven’t tried, can’t see, etc. That said, the app’s functionality and ease of use are seemingly top-notch. NOTE: I tried accessing menus via link/home page as was recommended to previous reviewer. I had no luck. Nonetheless, congrats to the developer of this app for a job well done. It’s a shame the app’s reviews seem to reflect user’s complete dismay with the setup of the meal service, specifically that it requires payment without providing menus, sample meals, etc., and not the app itself. The app deserves five stars. The meal service is what’s lacking here.