The "Honest" Company Trial: Verdict

I received my free trial from the Honest Company quickly, and was really excited about the product at first glance. I thought that the diapers were cute and the "baby essentials" cleaning products seemed legitimate. For $4.99 in shipping, as I said before, I received seven diapers, a pack of 10 baby wipes, and five small cleaning supply samples. Miss N was sporting the first diaper mid- next day, and I was pleased that it successfully contained a good amount of poo-- not all diapers do this well, especially in combination with a baby who I know to be a heavy pee-er.

Miss N seemed a little pink-- definitely not rashy-- when I changed her diaper, so I applied some butt cream and didn't think much about it. Given the diaper I had changed, I would almost expect some pinkness. I decided to give Honest Co. the big test and let her try one out overnight. Suffice to say, these are not overnight diapers (they don't claim to be either, in the interest of fairness) and I had a wet little girl early the next morning-- she woke up about ten hours after I last changed her diaper. With a very pink bottom, I might add.

I was almost happy that we needed to have a morning bath day so I could test out more of my trial pack, so I soaped up Miss N. I didn't find that the body wash/ shampoo product lathered very significantly, but that didn't bother me too much. There is also not much scent in any of the baby essentials products. This is a good thing, especially as they claim to be natural.

After her third round in Honest Co. diapers, N was sporting a significant diaper rash, to the point where her bottom could accurately be described as red and there were several bumps at different point in the rash. In the interest of full disclosure, N does not have a strong history of diaper rashes but has had two instances of terrible diaper rash where not only has there been bumps, but they have bled. One day she cried every time she peed. Those rashes occurred around the times of significant dietary changes, however, and she has been consistently eating everything for a number of months at this point. Nonetheless, there could be a factor outside of the diapers or cleaning products. But as it happened during my trial, I have to consider that they could be involved.

At the end of the day after similar experiences over the course of my weekend, I decided that these products did not seem awesome enough to justify increasing my monthly baby expenses so much (for both the Honest Company charges $115.90 monthly-- this is, as they highlight, a nominal weekly fee but significantly more than I currently spend) and I signed online to cancel my membership. After ten minutes of scouring the website after my phone message the day before didn't reach an actual person, I couldn't figure out how to cancel and so called the toll-free number listed. I got a recorded message and was told to leave one myself. To prevent you from having to do your own website search, I found the following phrase in the FAQ:

"It's our ultimate goal to make your life a little better, so before you cancel, we'd love to know how we can keep you in the family. And we don't mean that in a creepy or clingy way – we just want to be good to our community. Please call or email us anytime to offer your insights, thoughts, or criticisms – and we'll do everything we can to make it right. However, if you do wish to cancel, you may do so at any time and there is no cancellation fee.

The Honest Company strives to provide the best service and personal experience, but if you decide to cancel, please call Honest Support at 1.888.862.8818 Monday - Friday 7AM - 5PM (Pacific).

Please note: Accounts cannot be cancelled via email."

So while I can make any number of changes to my account via the website-- the diapers, the supplies I would receive each month, etc.-- I have to actually speak with a person to cancel. I called first on March 26-- at 6pm my time aka 3pm PST-- and was not able to speak with anyone, and I woke up on March 27 to an e-mail which was sent at 8:58am my time stating that my account had been charged and I would be receiving my shipment shortly. I called the toll free number again and left two messages. I find it ironic that I was charged after six days at at an hour when the Pacific-based company would not even be at work.

The website made the claim that I had seven days upon receipt of my free trial to cancel. It did not mention that I needed to call within the hours of 7am-5pm Pacific time and speak with someone in over to confirm this. It did not specify what I would need to say in my message. I consider this lack of information and premature "confirmation" of my account to be an egregious breach of my trust in this company. I even got an e-mail on March at 12:24pm my time which encouraged me that if I needed to, I had "7 days from the delivery of [my] Discovery Kit to cancel [my] membership."

At this point why would I recommend that anyone else participate in this trial when there are so many hoops to jump through? I received a trial at 4pm on a Tuesday, gave it the fullest and fairest chance I could over the next five days, was unable to contact the company on Monday and then was charged/ package was shipped for a monthly membership on Tuesday before the company even claims to be operating for the day (9am my time is 6am their time, and I can't call until 7am their time according to the website). In an age where internet usage is so pervasive, I find it sneaky when a company makes such an interactive website (you can change your baby essential supplies to receive in a heartbeat) and then makes it impossible to cancel via the same website or even an e-mail.

My hopes are high that when someone makes it into the office that they will do the right thing and cancel my membership before I receive notice that a charge has been made on my bank account. Maybe my frustration is for naught. But I sincerely believe that when you give a seven day-- one week-- trial opportunity, people should have that full seven days to make a decision. You never know if they are working hard to provide a review for others which could potentially increase interest in your business.

Jumping off my soapbox,

P.S.- Since I haven't received any notice from the company yet, got a message when I called recently-- after 7am their time-- and they are now open, I sent the following e-mail:

Hello!

I received my Discovery Kit last Tuesday, March 20, at 4pm and was very excited. Over the course of the next five days I took my time to test out the product, but ultimately decided that it isn't for me. I called the number on the website on Monday, wasn't able to speak with anyone (aka nobody answered except a message) and then received a note that my account was confirmed at 8:58am my time-- 5:58am your time-- and that I would be charged for the month. I understood that I had seven days to make my decision and even attempted contact on day six. It was not said that after six days I would be charged before your hours are even open the next morning. I left two voicemails and would appreciate prompt cancellation of my membership before I have to take more significant action. Thank you for understanding; at this time I am hoping this is nothing more than an innocuous misunderstanding.

Thanks again,

Erin X

P.P.S.- I am still holding out hope for a satisfactory conclusion of this headache.

P.P.P.S.- UPDATE: I have received e-mail confirmation that my account has been cancelled. I am very relieved to see that they took my e-mail and voicemails seriously and were able to stop delivery on diapers/ baby essentials. In the future I would hope that they will provide a website-based method to cancel accounts so that other customers could avoid this frustrating process of phone calls/ voicemails/ e-mails.