Wittlebee – Worth it or Not?

Wittlebee

Everyone knows that I’m a huge fan of subscription boxes…and a few months ago I tried Wittlebee out for two months last fall (paid for out of my own pocket).  It’s a monthly subscription box that includes 6 pieces of clothing for your child for $39.00.  And you might be wondering why I didn’t post a review then?  Well, I wasn’t impressed.  Period.   Shipping took almost a month and the clothes were just…blah.  And I don’t recommend companies that I’m not impressed by.

Well…recently a deal popped up for Wittlebee on one of those deal sites and I figured I would give Wittlebee one more shot.

Maybe things had changed?

Let me give you a little background info…Wittlebee is a pretty new company.  And on their website you’ll see lots of photos of name brand/designer kids’ clothes.  I was pretty excited…what a great deal right?  With the monthly fee of $39.00 you’re supposed to get a box with clothes that is valued over $100…but take a look at what I got with my newest box:

wittlebee box

And the clothes:

wittlebee clothes

A heart tank top, a white lace hemmed pair of leggings, red long sleeve plain shirt, plain purple onesie, plain purple pants, and a blue graphic (milk and cookies) shirt.

Okay…not too bad…but worth over $100?  No way.  Any designer clothes?  Nope!  Where are all the cute clothes that are featured on their website?  And so you all know…this is what my other two boxes looked like that I got last fall.  The only thing that I thought was really cute in this box was the cookie and milk shirt (which honestly felt a little cheaply made) and the tag of who it was by was cut out.  Really?!  I’m paying money to get clothes with tags cut out of them?

I almost feel that if I’m going to get a bunch of solid color/basic items, it would just be better for me to take my $39.00 to TJ Maxx or Marshalls.

Hmmm….

Am I being too critical?  Maybe, but it’s kind of hard to think that out of three boxes, if I didn’t get any name brand items that I’ve ever heard of…it’s not really worth it.  AND if you happen to get something from a designer brand…could I find it for just as cheap at a department store on clearance?

Take it or leave it…but I’ll be closing out my account again.  Shipping was faster at 2 weeks (compared to almost a month when I first signed up) but this wasn’t enough to sway me to keep my membership.  Just not worth the money or being disappointed by the clothes.  🙁

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29 thoughts on “Wittlebee – Worth it or Not?

      • Mia says:

        Hi guys! I am so glad I found these posts b/c I am having a REALLY difficult time with WB. I placed my first order two and a half weeks ago, was charged, and my tracking says that the order is still “processing”, hasn’t been shipped. I have emailed TWICE and no response. Do any of you have a phone number for customer service? I can only find an email on their website. Thank you!

  1. Sarah says:

    So I totally was psyched by Wittlebee initially. I snatched a Groupon deal for half off two months. We have very specific gender neutral clothing requirements so I was very specific in my stylist notes about was/was not okay for daughter. First box? Awesome! Met our clothing requirements to a T! None of it was blah! Full of super cute, mostly organic cotton and bamboo clothing. Loved, loved, loved.

    So I was super excited for our second box to arrive.

    Second box? FAIL. Same stylist notes (didn’t change anything). Specifically says “NO PINK, NO FRILLS”. Guess what I got? Pink and frills, exactly opposite of my gender neutral stylist notes. I know the company had been reorganizing so I thought it was an oversight. I called Customer Service and requested a return label. They grumbled because I was sending back 4 of the 6 pieces (not my fault you made them all hot pink and frilly). They sent me replacement pieces several weeks later. They gave me 5, even though I only returned 4 so I didn’t complain that one was pink and frilly…again. The 4 pieces that weren’t pink in that box were very bland and boring–plain colored onesies and leggings (not even organic to bring up their value). Nothing like my first box and definitely not $40 worth, let alone $100 value.

    I thought I’d give them one more chance.

    Third box? FAIL. Completely girly, pink, frilly, etc. Again, totally not what my stylist notes indicated. I called and the customer service rep said she’d email me a return label. It never arrived. Two days later, I emailed in–they have a 48 hour reply policy. Customer service rep was extremely rude and told me my request for “no pink or frills” was “impossible”. (If it was impossible, how did Wittlebee send me such an awesome first box that meant my requirements to a T?) They reluctantly agreed to send a return label via email. 2 more days past. No return label. I emailed in again. No response. 2 more days later, another email, another day of no responses. I finally emailed and said if I didn’t hear from them or get my return label within 12 days, I’d file a complaint with BBB and my credit card company. Still didn’t hear anything. 12 days later, filed complaint with BBB and credit card company (to get refund). Guess who contacted me the day after to refute the BBB claim?

    Although I didn’t post anything on their Facebook page, I was banned from messaging or commenting on their page. I found out because I was trying to ask them to take down my “happy customer story” photo (from Month/Box 1) since I was no longer a happy customer. Other customers were still posting, so I know only I was banned. =\

    Bottom line: great concept, but major bummer. Don’t build your business on customized stylist notes and designer clothing if you’re not going to follow through. Would have loved it would have worked out, but I take my $40/month and buy elsewhere.

    • Sarah says:

      I will say, slightly to their credit, I did get a few good values in my FIRST box (only). Sage Creek Organics, Tea Collection (which I’ve come to absolutely die for), etc. But Box 2 and 3 were pretty much plain cheap clothes. I think the company reorganization is not working in their favor.

      • Morgan says:

        WOW! That’s pretty crazy! I should have included more details…and like you, I left notes and they didn’t go off of my style profile that I set up at all! I had ‘primary’ colors set and most of my items were pastels. I had also left sizing notes since I think they ranges they give you to pick from are were…and they apparently didn’t read what I had typed about needing smaller items.

        I don’t like to bash companies but due to my bad experience and apparently a bunch of people have been through the same things, I just wanted to let other moms know not to spend their money! Thanks for sharing with me Sarah. 🙂

      • Heather says:

        Hi Sarah,

        I feel for you! Sadly, I’m in a similar situation w WB. Although in my case it was something like 7 emails before I got any reply & 3 “Oops, your replacement order was accidentally deleted or placed on the wrong list” replies on the last snafu.

        I was with them since March 2012 & kept hoping for better times. Lots of phone calls, emails, & careful style notes. Nothing seemed to help — Although the folks at WB did try to help– for a while. Kinda sad I never saw the boxes I had hoped for. Although, I did get 1 cool item, a Lately Lily tee. Nowadays– I just keep a close eye on the clothing sites & wait for sales.

        Anywho, the reason why I replied to your post was to mention that Tea Collection is having an AWESOME sale right now. They’re offering and additional 25% off the sale section. I placed an order recently & got a dozen items (dresses, pants, sweaters etc.) for about $200. So in the end, I got about 2 boxes of WB promises w exactly what I wanted in them. Wish I had waited for the sale instead of investing so much time & effort in WB.

        Hope the heads up is useful,

        Heather

        PS Tea also has a sample sale about twice a year. It’s great if you know anyone who lives in the Bay Area!

  2. Liz Olivier says:

    Wittlebee used to be great at first! The quality of clothing (and service) have definitely declined a LOT. Thank you for writing an honest review. I have read a lot of Wittlebee reviews that seem very fake AND those bloggers have received wonderful, FREE boxes. So many things wrong about that, but whatever.

    • Morgan says:

      Liz…I remember I first signed up after they had just gone to 6 items from 8. And when people were getting 8 items the clothes looked amazing! And now…it seems like people are getting plain, solid items from no name brands. 🙁 It’s so disappointing.

      Now I have gotten complimentary things to review before but I always write the truth or I won’t post the review at all if I don’t like it/believe in the product. I won’t stand for steering my readers the wrong way. Everyone works too hard for their money to spend it on items/products that aren’t worth it. So I can’t stand when bloggers sell out!

  3. Jency Kuriakose says:

    If I got a box like the one you have pictured, I would have been terribly disappointed. I like the plain tees but for it to be the only things in the entire box is certainly not worth it.
    But I BOUGHT one box, paid for the second box with referrals $$ and WON two more boxes from LearnVest. And during this time – I never posted any reviews on my site or on their pages. I did not reveal to them that I had a blog either. And I got some decent clothes in all four of my boxes. Yes, I got several American Apparel plain tees and some plain pants and some repeats (also the picture heart tunic). But I also got 3 Le Top dresses, 1 Lately Lily tee, 1 Sage Creek, 1 Baby Nay, 1 Violet+Moss, 1 Flappy Pants, 1 Isabel G. I swapped some repeat item for a Trish Scully as well. So I really lucked out. The reason why I am putting these details in this comment is because I do not appreciate folks saying that any remotely good reviews are all ‘fake’ and that those reviewers were ‘bought’. Mine wasn’t. Infact it’s only now (last week) that I even posted my review to their wall. I simply lucked out and have no reason to complain. I think every one needs to be fair. Some people did get good clothes. Some folks didn’t.
    Every company has a few customers who they make mistakes with and every customer has a few companies that they won’t love. It happens. If every complaint is true, then I wish WB had treated everyone fairly and paid more attention to each customer.
    I am not an active customer with WB since Nov 2012 but I feel that just as much as WB allegedly mistreated some customer, a few customers have also seriously made a dent in WB’s online reputation and reputation with their suppliers. They may feel it was well deserved but ultimately is it worth a few items of clothing for our precious little ones?
    This is just an opinion.

    • Morgan says:

      Hi Jency,
      I’m happy that you got some good things…but it’s just disappointing when all of my 3 boxes were the same things. I don’t complain and I didn’t to their customer service (maybe I should have?)…I kept thinking that the next box would be better. What I don’t like is that some people seem to get boxes loaded with name brands and others get boxes with no name clothes. I think that it would be better if they came up with some way to divy up the good clothes evenly. I mean it’s not right that everyone pays the same price and the results vary soooo much.
      I’m not exactly sure what you mean about customers making a dent in WB’s online reputation but I stick behind my review and what I experienced. I’ve had several readers ask me about Wittlebee and so the time came to let them know what I thought and it’s up to them to make the decision on if they want to sign up or not.
      I do appreciate your comment and thank you for posting. 🙂

      • Jency Kuriakose says:

        Oh, I completely agree with you and your review. Yes, like I said if I got three boxes with just plain tees and pants, I would have the exact same review. But when I see some folks comment that this is the only honest review out there and that everyone posting something positive is ‘fake’ – that becomes unfair.
        And No, I didn’t mean your honest review was putting a dent in WB’s reputation. Nevermind that I mentioned that. It was something else I have seen and heard elsewhere.
        Thank you for responding here Morgan. (No offense was meant at all)

    • Kristi K says:

      I was another customer that has been shafted by WB. First box was FAB. Second was meh. Third was terrible. Fourth was wrong sizes. In each box, there was something wrong. The first box had something the wrong size. The next two boxes had items that were duplicates. The final box was about a $30 retail value and was filled with clothing sizes that my son wore a YEAR ago.

      Each time I contacted them for a replacement, they said they’d send replacements with the next box. I shouldn’t have to purchase something else to get what I’ve already paid for—and finally with the last box, THEY NEVER SENT THE REPLACEMENTS. They’ve now refused to compensate me for the items that they promised to resend (only now they won’t because their policy has changed and they no longer offer replacements). They’re also wanting me to pay to ship the box full of wrong sized clothing back—-even though it’s their fault that their stylist didn’t read the notes.

      I believe that I have every right to be pissed. They’ve essentially stolen my money. It’s not just “a few” customers. There are at least three FB pages filled with unhappy customers from WB. They’ve cut off all forms of communication except email—which they reply to it whenever they feel like. Negative reviews on their FB page are simply DELETED.

      Is it worth it? Hell yes it is. I’ve filed with the BBB, my bank’s dispute department, and with my state’s attorney general. The complaints are true. WB is not a reputable company. You only need to read their BBB page (rating: F) to know that they aren’t dealing with complaints appropriately, and sometimes not at all.

      • Morgan says:

        Yeah my first box, I actually got an item that had a busted snap…and they replaced it but like you said, it was with the next box. And if I’ve already paid for it…why not send it to me asap?

        I remember when they used to allow posts on the FB page and when they started getting negative ones, they just stopped allowing the comments on their page all together. 🙁

        I’m so sorry you had such a bad experience!

  4. amber says:

    I’m so glad you posted this! I’ve seen so many reviews out there that just made me wonder how HONEST they were. In my head, I just couldn’t imagine them sending $100 for $40 every month and then I’d seen a few boxes and thought “eh. no!” Glad I never ordered!

  5. Anne says:

    Have you tried the Kate Quinn Organics grab bag service? A lot us who haven’t been happy with Wittlebee have tried it out and the clothes have been fantastic. They are having a buy 2 get 1 month free deal until Jan 31st. I just got my first 6 piece grab bag in today and the combined value of the individual pieces on their website came to $199.60 and I only paid $6.72 per piece after figuring in my 3 month. http://www.katequinnorganics.com/brands/kate-quinn/outlet-grab-bag-3-month-subscription/

  6. Whitney says:

    Thank you for sharing this! I don’t have kids yet but I’m always curious about those boxes and have been tempted to sign up for one or two of them (different ones).. so thanks for the review and word of caution! Just found your blog and love it! Now following 🙂 Would love if you came and looked around at mine!

    michaelandwhitneyweekes.blogspot.com

  7. Lara Bell says:

    I am so upset with Wittlebee. I decided to go online and see whatever types of reviews I could find. I have done it for about four months now. I was charged February 9 for my February box but still haven’t received. It should arrive March 26th per tracking. I was also charged for the March box on March 9th. When I asked why I was charged for Feb before it had shipped they said “they needed the money”. I have this in an email in writing. So, for my March box they charged me, cancelled it for some unknown reason and then recharged me again but now my account shows my box has been cancelled yet my bank account shows I was charged twice for March and it was refunded once. I am still waiting for an answer from them on this. I have received a few Le Top pieces, etc. But they didn’t fit my son well. I wouldn’t recommend this site. I have been thrilled with Citrus Lane and with Precious Moments/Baby Einstein. What other companies have you found that you have liked?

  8. tarde says:

    I just had a terrible experience with Wittlebee and have file a credit card dispute yesterday after numerous excuses/ non-responses. They charged my card on February 13 but never set up a showroom till March 13. I emailed them several times to find out what was going on but never received a response. A showroom was set-up on March 19 finally and I selected 3 items from it. On Match 25 (month and a half later from when my card was charged), I received a polypack (no box, no cute packaging) with JUST 3 lousy T-shirts only one of which I selected and nothing else.

    I emailed thrice and then posted on their Facebook page asking what to do, they kept removing my messages from their page and blocked me.Finally I got a rude response saying they did not need my 10 postings on Facebook (I didn’t know why my posts were dissapearing from their page) and would respond shortly. Then somebody named “Kristyn” send me a message saying they were oversold on the showroom items, would not be able to complete a package and can give a $15 credit for my next purchase. I checked my account but there was no mention of this $15 credit anywhere and no way to cancel my account with Wittlebee. After filing a dispute with my credit card, I emailed them asking for directions to send their cheap T-shirts back. No response again. All this after being a customer for 8 months.I had to request a mechant block on them to stop them from charging my card again next month because they won’t cancel my account.

    I apologize for this whole drama story, I just wanted to forewarn other customers before they go through the same hassle like I did.

  9. Om says:

    I made a mistake of resuming my membership after I canceled it in November. I should know better. WB boxes were great when I started with them 1.5 years ago. Things went down hill pretty quick around the same time they became so populate in a short period of time. I am cancelling it again. I hope we can all post this link to their FB page so others can see.

  10. Erine says:

    I’ve been super unhappy with my Wittlebee subscription. I’ve received two boxes and have liked only two of the items I’ve received. They have discontinued the use of style preferences. As I was told by their customer service rep over email: “Preferences are no longer taken into consideration for the 3 items we choose. The reason being that with the new showroom you now apply your style preferences directly to the 3 items you select each month. For selection items you can just exclude what you don’t like. For the other 3 items we can’t use those preferences.” That only kinda makes sense, since it’s not like I have unlimited choice for the showroom items. I have to choose from the options I’m given so if I don’t like them, or they contain duplicates of items I’ve already received, or contain duplicates of other items in the same showroom, I don’t really have great choices. Three of the items I received this month had the tags cut out of them, which makes me really skeptical of the source, quality, and currency of these items. I’m in a prepaid subscription and can’t cancel, so I’m stuck with them for a while. Hopefully I can find a charitable source that needs children’s clothing.

  11. Regina says:

    I have been a subscriber of Wittlebee for quite some time and I keep waiting for them to “get their act together” but they never have. Their customer service has never been great but now it is NON-EXISTENT. They now prohibit anyone who has EVER posted any kind of a neutral or negative comment on their FB page from posting ANYTHING AT ALL. They will NOT credit or refund ANY item. I received a size 12 month shirt in my 18-24 month box and they wouldn’t do ANYTHING – no credit and no replacement. They will charge you card and ship a month after the charge and the slow packing/processing and shipping never changes. They are now offering a “Showroom” feature that allows you to choose up to 3 items for your box but so far I have only seen graphic T-Shirts and sweatpants available in my sons size (I prefer polo style shirts and neither of my kids wear sweatpants). They RARELY if ever send matching set of anything. In the beginning they offered 8 items then they took 2 away and only sent 6 items – now they are charging for shipping and sending only 6 items that are a much lower quality and value than they used to be. I’m so tired of waiting for this company to get their act together it’s pathetic. Instead of getting better, they are getting worse – such a shame since it was a great concept. I am fed up with this company. I just got my “Showroom” selection option this month but after I get my box I am canceling my subscription and will tell everyone I know that this is NOT worth the cost and frustration!

  12. Scentsy says:

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    And the shipping costs for Ebay are much higher than the $5 charge for shipping on a consultants’ site.

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