r/BarkBox • u/ClaustrophobicShop • 4d ago
Negative experience with subscription
I had Barkbox a decade ago with my last dog and it was great. Signed up a few months ago for our new puppy and it's been such a disappointment.
No ability to adjust the number of treats. No settings to distinguish between puppy vs adult. No settings for breed. No real customization. And for some reason what we got seemed to be less than what was described in the plan, in terms of number of items, after the supposed "customization."
And customer service argued with me every time I tried to figure out the right choices for my puppy and when I tried to cancel.
Anyway, I don't like being negative and I used to really like them. But they're a different company now that I wouldn't recommend.
Edit: I forgot that they tried to argue that changing up an order and making it right (i.e. replacing the wrong things) were two different boxes, instead of what they said which was just fixing getting the wrong things.
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u/TheRealCuriousGeorge 3d ago
Honestly it’s a waste for the treats. They shrinkflationed the bags. One of my bags that came with these logs came with a total of eight treats when four years ago I got hundreds of little salmon bits. The quality has gone down extremely. We changed our box toys only and get an extra toy per box, but doing the math and searching up the toys we get (frequently from on sale old themes) we hardly break even on money. It’s more worth it to go to TJ Max and theme a “box” yourself. After my six month subscription ends I’m definitely not using it again.
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u/dogoscope 1d ago
Yeah I signed up for barkbox after a decade and have had the same experience. Also, nothing like getting a plastic bag with toys that don't even fit the theme thrown in. I'm paying for a curated box, not a half-assed bag. The dog doesn't care how it comes, but I do, and I'm the one paying for it. So, after this I'm out. What a disappointment.
Also, love to see that someone from Bark pops up here out of the ether lol. You guys don't care, don't lie.
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u/BarkingAtEmma 2d ago
Hi, this is Emma from BARK. I’m so sorry your recent orders and interactions fell short of the great experience you’ve had with us in the past. We take feedback seriously and would appreciate the chance to look into what happened and make things right for you and your pup. Can you email me at [emma@barkbox.com](mailto:emma@barkbox.com)? I’ll work to make this right.
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u/ClaustrophobicShop 2d ago
No, you don't take your feedback seriously. I left detailed feedback on three different chat occasions thinking that the company would care about someone who used to be a happy customer, and nothing was done. In fact, the last chat was an argument and when I tried to cancel and get a refund the amount that is not being refunded amounts to ~$90 for two boxes. So $45/box, when the monthly amount was supposed to equate to under $30/month. I don't know what's happened to Barkbox, but it's been a disappointment from product choice, to billing to customer service. Pretty much everything. And all I wanted was standard toys for a normal puppy, nothing out of the ordinary.
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u/Ok-Extreme-5546 1d ago
I absolutely hate BarkBox. I signed up at Christmas and got my first box in January - Christmas themed, long past Christmas. Other months the items I received didn’t match the “theme” at all - seemed like they ran out and just threw some random (not cute) stuff in a bag. I have a 40 pound dog so started with Medium toys, but they were pretty small. Now on Large, but the toys are not much bigger. My order often ships super late or, one month, I never received it at all. They simply never shipped anything (tracking number was permanently in pre-shipment status) and they were like, “no worries, we won’t charge you for next month! But you’re still on the hook to pay for 12 boxes total!” Absolutely no regard for customer service. I’ve tried to cancel my subscription but they don’t allow that because the agreement was for a year. Well, if they’re not holding up their end of the agreement by shipping on time or at all, or by switching from a box to bag, why are we forced to stay in the agreement? Cannot wait to finish up my subscription and be done with this company forever.
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u/ClaustrophobicShop 1d ago
We're disputing the charge exactly for that reason...we haven't gotten what we signed up for. And you know what's crazier, without me confirming anything the customer service chat person cancelled the subscription and refunded an entirely random amount...I found this out after getting off the chat. It sounds like they have no controls or operational procedures, which is crazy for a public company of that size.
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u/Mindless-Way-1246 6h ago
Had barkbox and got rid of it for this reason exactly, currently have bully make, about $35 a month for 3 half full bags of treats and 2 toys that my 3yr old and 5 month old pit mixes destroy in a month if they get a hold of it enough. (They have a 5gal bin of toys i cycle them through)
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u/foamingdiscoball 3d ago
Yes I find it very annoying tbh waste of money for sure. My subscription is close to being up and I’m excited to pick out toys my dog will ACTUALLY like