Early October of 2017 I posted a Great Try The World Food Deal and some of you were concerned about the poor reviews of this company. There were a lot of remarks on boxes not arriving, customer service not responding well, etc. At one point Hyatt was involved with them but they probably are not anymore. In January 2018 I wrote Try the World – Canada Box Review eventually I wanted to write a review on their service as well and I wanted to address some of your concerns. After 4 months my order has finally completed and I feel like I can comfortably review their service.
This post is going to detail out my interaction with Try The World and will contain a few quotes. You can skip through the quote because I will rephrase the important bits anyway. Also, a short summary has been provided at the end.
10/8/2017: BOGO order placed (Free Chile Box Offer starting with South Africa)
3 weeks later I reached out to them asking why the shipment has not been made yet. Soon after they sent a shipment delay email to everyone. They also responded to my concern saying that they are “hoping to have October boxes shipped by the middle of November”.
Thanks for contacting us! Typically boxes take up to 14 days to ship from the purchase date. We sent out an email on Friday, after you wrote, with an update on October boxes. We moved warehouses recently which caused delays with shipments. Unfortunately, this has caused delays with October boxes as well.
While I don’t have have an expected ship date, we’re hoping to have all the October boxes shipped by the middle of November. You will receive a tracking number via email as soon as the box leaves our facility.
We underwent a warehouse transition in September and have been experiencing unexpected delays with our October and November shipments. We have finally caught up with our shipments and we don’t want to keep you waiting anymore however, so we will be sending out your November Box first! You will receive a tracking number for it soon. Unfortunately the October box will now be arriving in December along with your December Box, so please be aware that that you may receive two boxes in December. As an extra apology for this extreme delay, we are offering our customers a special edition Holiday Chocolate Box at no cost if you choose to stay with us. This box will also come with your October and December Boxes.
Your chocolate box will not be shipped until middle of Christmas week
I received 1 (out of 2) box 80 days after my order was placed!
South Africa box. Not displayed: chutney flavored rice snack
TtW: Thanks for reaching out! The chocolates will be shipped out next week at which point we will receive a tracking number that we can provide to youMe: That is good to know but when will my Chile box be shipped? I was supposed to get Chile and South Africa as a promotional price but only got South Africa.TtW: I do apologize, that Chile box should of arrived with the South Africa box. I will process a Chile box for you todayTtW: These boxes will shipped next week, at which point I will be able to provide a tracking number for them
We do sincerely apologize your gift has not been deliveredI can confirm that your order has been processed. December orders began shipping on Wednesday and will finish todayUnfortunately, we are still waiting for tracking information from our facility We do apologize for the delay. This was due to severe delays in our November and December shipmentsAgain, apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience
I received 2 (out of 2) box 101 days after my order was placed and the 2nd box was not of the country that I had ordered!
unboxing Try the Canada box
Me (Jan 17): I was shipped a canada box not Chile box lolTtW (Jan 18): I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. You should not of been shipped Canadian box in lieu of a chocolate box. I can request a try the world snack box filled with sweet snacks as an extra apology. Please let me know if you would like the complimentary snack box
What I Ordered vs What I Got
I know everything above is hard to track so here is a quick rundown of what I got vs what I ordered
I ordered: South Africa + Chile box for $33.15
I got:
- South Africa box
- Canada box
- Snack box
Another Household Order: Snack Box for $4
They got:
- Snack box
- Canada box (I think they meant to ship a chocolate box)
So is Try the World a Scam?
You tell me. They obliged with my request to push back billing over and over again. They were responsive over email. They did made certain promises that they failed to deliver on but upon inquiry they also tried to fix it. For example, I never received a complimentary snack box but I did get a complimentary snack box. Oh, and it took them 80 days to fulfill first part of my order and 101 days to fulfill my entire order.
What if I Still Want to Order?
If you’re the type who orders and forgets then TtW is likely not for you. On the other hand, if you can stay on top of your orders then it might be worth taking a shot a Try The World. If you choose to order, I would highly recommend asking them to push back your billing by 4 months or so.
14 comments
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Bro, why did you delete your TG acct? Or if you’ve got a new one – msg me.
responded.
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Total scam artists. We ordered the annual subscription. They failed to deliver. After 2 and a half months, we disputed the charge on our card. They sent one box to placate us and the credit card company. That was the first and last box we ever received. They refuse to respond to emails, have no telephone. We have filed consumer case against them in their state of doing business but are pessimistic we will ever see our money or God forbid one of their boxes.
that sounds like them. Try sending an email from a different account. It amazes me how they got Hyatt to partner with them.
on a side note, Yummy Bazaar also ships similar “taste the world” box and has lots of positive reviews. I might buy one and review it later.
I visited a friend and she got an Andes box. It was interesting. It sounds like you are having shipping issues I am going to my parents. If I ordered this now. Would anything g be here for Thanksgiving g?
In the beginning, TTW was exactly as they described. I had the subscription box for three years. I got fabulous boxes from each country just as described. I also re-purchased alot of the items as I enjoyed them so much.
Like many others, I had problems getting my boxes starting in June 2017. June, July, August, and September were all late or not delivered at all (in once case I was told that they ran out of boxes and they would extend my subscription by one month). I finally started getting the boxes, but noticed a change. The packaging for starters. My Canada box arrived and when I opened it, there was mustard everywhere because the items hadn’t been packed properly.
Then in December, I got a mish-mash box. That’s the best I can describe it. It was just random items from different countries. January 2018’s box came with more mish-mash. February was the worst – most of the items were sample sizes and certainly not worth the $33+ per box price.
Out of pure disappointment (and not a little anger), I decided to end my subscription when it ran out. I still try recipes from other countries, but now I have to really search to find local distributors of some of the ingredients. I have been lucky with one company – BR Spices out of Brazil – as they have gotten a new distributor in the states and I will be able to get their products again.
During my period of disappointment, I did a little digging on the company. I think the most telling thing I found was that the company partnered with Wal Mart (yes, the evil greedy empire), in early 2017. The article (https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaklich/2017/04/11/try-the-world-how-a-gourmet-snack-startup-caters-to-millennials-and-doubled-its-revenue/#1839f499712c) claims that they were providing Wal Mart with a service to source international foods for the chain, but something tells me they lost interest in running TTW and decided to focus on something else.
More reading on Glassdoor about the company was also eye-catching. Comments from employees claiming the owners are scatterbrained and easily distracted, make decisions on a whim, have no real office space, no oversight of employees and interns, etc. I never did get a response from them about how they could claim ‘warehouse relocation’ for so long, and how it explains their complete change in business model.
Their website, as of today, still advertises the original country box subscription, which is false and misleading advertising. There is no longer any curation of the boxes. Their customer service has apparently moved to the west coast, despite what the website claims, and many have reported that you can no longer get any response from them through the website or by calling them. Reviews on other sites also indicate that TTW may be very cash poor. Some distributors have reported through review sites that TTW has failed to pay their invoices or remaining invoice balances. One went so far as to report that the response to their inquiry for payment was that the company didn’t have the funds to pay their bill, so they wouldn’t be paying it. Their online store is no longer functioning, and depending on who you talk to, you get a different story about it. I’ve been told that the store was being overhauled and will be reopened ‘in the near future’, but later was told it wouldn’t be reopened at all.
Bottom line: I wish more people were reading these reviews before throwing their money at this sinkhole of a company. I’m bummed that what was once a great idea has become so horribly twisted that people are being duped into buying a product that no longer exists.
Mel, thank you so much for such a detailed response. I was never there in their glory days of Try the World but it is a shame how far they have fallen.
Like I mentioned in the previous comment Yummy Bazaar subscription box has pretty much the same idea as Try the World except they seemingly have better reviews. I’ve been meaning to try them but haven’t yet though.
I placed a TTW order with a coupon 6-8 months ago, but never received a confirmation email nor was I charged for it. It took a while, but I finally received my order last month, and then another order this month. In fact, I received 2 boxes each month (4 boxes total). I can’t find a single TTW email in my inbox, nor any TTW charges on my bank account. I’ve tried searching for every combination of keywords in my emails/bank account with no luck. I have no idea what “country” boxes I’m getting because the items are so varied. The boxes do not come with an explanation.
Getting a little nervous that I’ll get smacked with a huge unexpected charge at the end of 2018. Anyone else experienced something like this? I’m planning on contacting them soon, but figured I’d ask here first in case someone has some insight.
I suggest cancelling their sub. They were pretty annoying to deal with.
I wish I would have read this before I ordered a 3 month subscription for my wife’s birthday this year!
Bottom line; we never received anything. It has been several months. Virtually no customer service. Loss of $105.00 with no refund.
How have they not been shut down? I do believe that they are a true scam.
Travis Gallegos (not even sure if this is a real person) reached out to me with a an offer to participate in their test run (I own a small online tea store). I have been doing some research on them and it gets more weird with every webpage I open. It seems that the company has filled for bankruptcy (not sure whether it is a legit source, I am not from the U.S.: https://www.inforuptcy.com/filings/nysbke_284269-1-18-bk-11764-try-world-inc) . There also seems to be some relationship with Urthbox (based on the contact details provided in email signatures and some complaints in other sites). The Urthbox company has terrible reviews both from customers and vendors, one of them said that they bought the leftover boxes from TryTheWorld once they declared bankruptcy and now are sending customers expired products and also stuff that they scam from vendors. I am very surprised that the company is allowed to sell their products after filling for bankruptcy.
Been trying to cancel this junk for over a year, called, emailed, returned last three…but another one just arrived