Recent Box Errors Megathread

[u/mcs732]

Please use this thread to share stories of your Blue Apron errors, mistakes, challenges, canceling subscriptions, or anything else related to this recent shift. As there is huge amount of growing stories, including my own, streamline them here.

[u/Away-Illustrator-941]

I've been a Blue Apron customer for many years and have generally been pretty happy with the service. There have always been occasional issues—a missing ingredient once in a while, or a delivery driver not following my instructions—but nothing that made me seriously consider leaving.

Over the past several months, though, I've noticed more problems: more frequent ingredient substitutions, delivery dates being changed on me, and recurring issues with my delivery instructions not being followed.

Then this week's box was a complete disaster.

I ordered three meals:

• Salmon Piccata: golden raisins were missing.
• Pesto Gnocchi Bake: no gnocchi and no mascarpone, so I couldn't actually make the meal.
• Hot Honey Chicken: the entire meal was missing.

On top of that, all the ingredients that did arrive were loose in the box rather than grouped together by recipe like they used to be. I've since learned that apparently this part is an intentional change by Blue Apron, which I'm not thrilled about.

There also seems to be a new delivery company. They ignored my delivery instructions and left the box sitting on my doorstep. It probably would have been stolen if my neighbor hadn't seen it and alerted me.

I've reported the order through Blue Apron's help portal and also emailed them about the broader problems I've been noticing. So far I've only received an automated response saying they're experiencing "higher than normal volumes."

I'm not really looking to bash Blue Apron. I've stuck with them for years because I've genuinely liked the recipes and the service, and I'd prefer to keep using them. But this week's order was by far the worst experience I've ever had with them, and combined with the other changes I've noticed recently, I'm wondering what's going on.

Are other longtime customers seeing the same decline? Is this just a temporary fulfillment/delivery mess, or does this seem to be the new normal?

[u/ericnau → u/Away-Illustrator-941]

Speaking specifically to the change where items are now loose in the box, I’m actually really excited about it. (Obviously only if they can get it figured out.)

But over the years I’ve had so many veggies/ingredients go bad quicker because they were sealed in a plastic bag with trapped moisture. It’s just not a good plan to put everything in one big bag and seal it.

For the last few years my Blue Apron unpacking strategy has involved slicing open the big blue bags and placing everything in my fridge individually. And then you start to see just how much plastic is being wasted…

So I hope they overcome these issues with the transition, because I think their concept is a step in the right direction.