Mark VS MeowBox.Net

By Mark Rodriguez

                                  

So yeah, after seeing how curious she was about this product I decided to surprise Paige and buy her a 3-month Meow Box as a birthday gift. At first I was confused since there was both a Meowbox.com and a Meowbox.net. I decided to try out Meowbox.com first but for whatever reason there a problem with the screen where you finally authorize your purchase. I honestly thought this was a scam since it seemed odd for the site to have an error after placing my credit card information, but no, my account was never charged. I decided to try out Meowbox.net instead.... oh the irony.

Meowbox.net says it ships out a new box every month on the 15th, and from what I heard from other customers, you usually get the tracking info email around the 17th. I honestly forgot all about the box until Paige brought it up in conversation half past May. Upon checking their Facebook page, it seems that NOBODY has gotten their May boxes yet and the only posts on the page were from April's box.

Eventually we got an email in JUNE explaining some kind of medical emergency with one of the employees in this small company that delayed everything. And yeah, we got our boxes in June. Our May boxes in June... but hey, most of us understood due to this unforseen emergency and wished this person well.

So we went past June 15th.... and well, it's July 15th and this time we have not received ANY word from them at all, not even late. This time we are left completely in the dark as this company does not respond to any emails and has no phone number on their site to contact them. Their Facebook page still only has pics and posts from their April box.... as well as a lot of complaints from unhappy customers. And for the customers that were subscribed to this regularly, their cards were already charged for the month of July even though they haven't gotten the June box yet.

I wanted to wait and give them the benefit of the doubt. Some customers started reporting them to the Better Business Bureau and some even gave detailed information as to what jurisdiction Meowbox falls under to better file a complaint. I also found out that despite being a 3 month gift... my package was set to re-new itself for another 3 months in August. I'm not sure if this is the case for Lootcrate or Nerd Block whenever you choose to buy them as a gift for someone else, but I quickly thought 'the hell with that' and cancelled my auto-renewal.

Now that I'm safe from being locked into another 3 months of their unkept promises, there was the matter of trying to get my money back. Sadly when I checked with my bank I found out they can't stop a payment or consider it a fraud if it was reported after 60 days. Of course at this time we had still gotten the May box, even though it was late, so at the time we had no idea we were about to be cheated out of the June box, so I really had no reason to contact my bank during the 60 days. Especially since everyone kept saying the company has been working flawlessly for a year and just now in May did all of this drama start. We, like everybody else, were expecting everything to be business as usual for the June box and onwards.

So now I decided it was time to report them to the BBB myself. I was nice and patient, but this has gone far enough. I reported them and posted a screencap of how the BBB accepted to file my complaint like how some others have done on their FB page to drive the point home. Now... I don't know if this was because of me, or because the company has had enough of not only us complaining, but also warning people to NOT subscribe to them, at least until they work out their issues.... but they now removed the ability for people to make posts on their page.

Yes, we can still post replies on their April box posts... but those get easily lost upon all the comments of the 'at the time' happy customers back when the April box was new. They don't stand out as open and obvious as to whenever you make your own post on the page. For the most part our complaint and warnings to not buy their products have been partially silenced.

But again, all of this only raises suspicion. The other person that filed a complaint against the company got an email from Meowbox that cancelled their service. I post my complaint and now they removed the 'post to the page' option. SOMEONE is still watching their Facebook page. And if they have someone that can do that... why don't they get on shipping out those boxes? Or at the very least since they have the time to check Facebook and remove our ability to post... they couldn't take all of 5 seconds to make a post explaining what the hell is going on with their company? We demand an explanation!!!

Someone commented that this also could have been a drawn out scam. Actually doing a good service and delivering their boxes on time for several months.... and then when they figured they scammed enough subscribers, pull a disappearing act and keep all the money. I really hope not... I really want to give them the benefit of the doubt here... if anything my complaint was mostly to see if enough letters from the BBB against their company would finally get the Meowbox staff off their asses. All 4 of them.


And so... this concludes the fight for now. The BBB did tell me they have sent the complaint to Meowbox.net themselves. But will I somehow get my money back? This gift was 70 bucks and they turned what could have been a happy surprise for Paige and cats.. to a drama filled nightmare in which noone knows what's going on.

I'll keep you updated. I might file another complaint if the July box also turns up missing. Just what is going on with these guys? I guess we'll find out.

For the time being, DON'T buy stuff from Meowbox.net. For whatever reason they're having trouble sending stuff out but sure don't have any problem charging your card for the following months. There is NO way to contact them for a refund and now you can't even ask about it on their FB page. Just stay away. For your cat blind box needs go to Meowbox.com. So far no problems with them and they seem just as legit as Lootcrate and the rest.