Steve Spangler Science

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:I thank Spangler Science for pointing out the warning email In my discussions with the customer service representative and with [redacted] they never pointed out that I received such a warning email I missed this in my inbox While this puts me at fault for missing the warning email I still do not understand why I cannot return a product that I have not yet received Especially given that they can delay sending the product for months from now, like [redacted] said in her response I do not want a special price on my next order, I just wanted a full refund for the subscription I have not received yet I think a company in this business should be able to provide this to their customers Sincerely, [redacted]

You signed up for an auto renewing subscription clubUpon checkout, you have to check a box acknowledging that you understand this is auto renewing and agree to our terms and conditions Our terms are clearly listed under our FAQ section, which we provide a link in every email we send out
Even every tracking email we send each month mentions that if you have questions regarding the "automatic renewals, pre-paid kits, or shipping times," please check out our FAQ page and again, we provide the direct link On February 20th, we sent you an email letting you know your subscription was going to be renewing This email always goes out days in advance Per our conversation, you read this email, but did not take action on it until after the renewal was processed Per the email, and our cancellation policy, you must cancel your subscription a minimum of days prior to the renewal date You cancelled your subscription on February 28th, several hours after the renewal was processed You received an email confirming the cancellation, which does mention that it does not cancel any prepaid kits on your account The reason for the hard cut off is because our team immediately goes into preparation for the next club kits Club kits are much different than regular retail since we are often shipping out thousands of kits at a time We are a small company and do not have the warehouse space to store all of the pieces and parts that go into these kitsThe first time you and I had a discussion about this issue was on March 19th The first kit of your next months was scheduled to ship out the following day Had you contacted us on the renewal day, before the kits had started being produced, we could have come up with a creative solution However, at this point, everything has been purchased and they are starting the preparation for the next two "builds" (as we call them)

By joining the subscription service, you are agreeing to the terms of the club We do offer individual club kits that do not lock you into the subscription service They cost more and you have to pay the shipping, but it gives you the freedom to purchase what you want, when you want it By joining the club, you are receiving the best price possible and free shipping - with the ability to cancel the automatic renewal immediately after the original purchase Since we offer a total of different kits, we do not have the warehouse space to keep these in stock year round Instead, we are constantly ordering the additional supplies in in advance and pack them immediately after each renewal date to make sure we have everything produced in time for the next shipment It has to be a well-oiled machine to meet the demand each month This is why we offer great discounts to customers that purchase in advance, so we can plan ahead I am sorry for the inconvenience, but we feel we have done everything in our power to make sure you knew what you were purchasing and signing up for before you received your first kit We do bring to your attention that it is an automatically renewing subscription on the home page, check out screen, “Welcome” e-mail, and do send a notice days prior to the renewal date, with explicit directions to cancel your accountOnce you had contacted our office, after you were automatically renewed, our team went so far as sending you a refund of $- effectively giving you one of the three months completely free, even though our policy is not to issue any refunds once the renewals are processedIt was our understanding after that conversation, that you were satisfied with this resolution, as materials were already purchased for the three kits that you pre-paid for I am not sure what additional warnings could have been provided about the automatic renewal and we feel that we have made every effort to help compensate for your inconvenience

I have reviewed [redacted]'s file and have provided you with as much information as I can attach.  I have other information to provide if you need more information, including the email correspondence.  Our website clearly states it is an auto renewing subscription site right where they...

choose their subscription option.  It also says it on the check out page and in their welcome letter they receive immediately after submitting payment.  In addition, [redacted] selected that this was a gift.  This means she even received an email 10 days prior to her renewal letting her know her account is about to renew.  I have attached a screen shot of our website, a copy of the Welcome letter and a copy of the gifter email about the upcoming renewal.  I have also attached information about our cancellation policy that is listed under our FAQ section:  [redacted].  Please feel free to review our website at SpanglerScienceClub.com.  We are always looking to make changes to make the renewal process very clear.  I am a little shocked with [redacted]'s response since we do not have many complaints about it not being clear.   Also, in regards to how my team left things with [redacted], we offered her a few options since we do not offer refunds.  We have moved her next three kits, per her request, to ship out November 5th, December 5th and January 5th.  This way the person she is gifting this to will receive the kits again, just during the holiday season.   It also looks like [redacted], one of our other customer service reps, gave her a refund for one of the kits.  Therefore, she is getting 3 kits for the price of two.  This is the biggest thing we have done for anyone since our kits are one of the most expensive kits to produce.  They are, by far, the heaviest educational club kits out there on the market.  We make sure our customers get quality packages once a month for their little scientist.  It requires a lot of coordination for ordering supplies well in advance and a massive crew to put these kits together to ship once a month.   Please let me know if you have any additional questions regarding our Club.  If you need any additional documentation, please do not hesitate to let me know.  I look forward to hearing back from you on if there were things we could do better. It is definitely not our intent  to leave our customers frustrated or unhappy with our services.  -- [redacted] Brooks | Master of Customer Service | [redacted] [redacted]  [redacted]
[redacted] [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I thank Spangler Science for pointing out the 10 warning email.  In my discussions with the customer service representative and with [redacted] they never pointed out that I received such a warning email.  I missed this in my inbox.  While this puts me at fault for missing the warning email I still do not understand why I cannot return a product that I have not yet received.  Especially given that they can delay sending the product for months from now, like [redacted] said in her response.  I do not want a special price on my next order, I just wanted a full refund for the subscription I have not received yet.  I think a company in this business should be able to provide this to their customers.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]