So Tuesday evening Citrus Lane posted on their Facebook page that they were going to be offering a Groupon deal for new subscribers to enjoy three months of their surprise boxes for just $35 (usual price $75).
Being a marketing kinda girl, I thought this was a great idea for them to get the word out to people who are on the fence about trying out their subscription. However, when I clicked on the update to check out the 60ish comments posted by their followers, I saw a bunch of complaints.
Basically, their followers were using the forum to complain about the boxes and also complain that current subscribers weren’t getting a special deal.* Which is totally FINE that they wanted to voice their complaints, I’m just not sure if this was the appropriate place to do so. Each month the company sends out a customer survey to get feedback on the boxes. THAT is the appropriate place for people to comment. Also, Citrus Lane seems to respond quickly to both emails and tweets. This is MY personal experience in dealing with a billing issue that was fixed within 24 hours.
On the status post, in addition to the complaints were worried comments from people who were now not sure whether they should try out the subscription at all (based on the bad comments). So I wanted to speak for a moment about MY experience with Citrus Lane for anyone out there thinking about taking advantage of the Groupon offer.
I have been a subscriber of Citrus Lane since March 2012, when my son was one month old. While I feel that the subscription service is totally worth it, obviously others do not feel quite as happy about the company.
My suggestion to you is to make up your own mind.
I think a lot of it has to do with people’s expectations when they sign up for the subscription. If your goal is to get a monthly treat and be surprised with fun products that you most likely wouldn’t have purchased for yourself, you will probably love Citrus Lane. If you’re going to compare your boxes to others that people received for different age ranges or be angry about a particular product that you might not necessarily care for, you might want to skip the deal.
Feel free to check out my previous box reviews to see if the Citrus Lane subscription boxes sound like something you would like:
- March post about my decision to subscribe
- March post, “Dining Out” box
- May post, “Fun in the Sun” box
- June post, “Little Artists” box
- July post, “Bon Voyage” box
- August post, “Back to School” box
I did not post a review of the April box because I wasn’t really thrilled with it… until I actually started using the products and decided that I really liked them. I also did not post a review of the September box – not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I was super busy and didn’t have time to post.
I have been wanting to post my review of the October box, because I really loved its contents – however both my son and I have been sick so I haven’t been able to do a fun photo shoot with the products. I do hope that we are both feeling better soon so I can post that review. And well, it would be nice to NOT feel like I’ve been run over by a snot truck…
Anyways, back to my point. If you are interested in paying the small commitment of $35 to try out three months of surprise gifts, go for it. You can always cancel once the time is up! Click here to access the Groupon offer (good for 10/24/12).
Here’s my typical disclosure: I was not rewarded by Citrus Lane for reviewing their boxes on my blog. I review the boxes, because I feel like other mom’s would be interested in seeing what they’ll get if they sign up for the monthly service. However, if you missed out on the Groupon offer and would like to try out the subscription — by using my special link I will receive credits on my account. You can also benefit by using the code SPRINGFUN which will take 10% off the cost of your subscription.
If you do decide to try out Citrus Lane for the very first time, stop back by my blog and let me know what you think!
*Even though the post states that they will be releasing a special deal for current subscribers soon.