Reading In Heels Reviews 223

Beautifully packaged and executed. There is a little menu included within each box which details the contents and what small businesses they have come from.

I am onto my second book and have no complaints, I love that the box has challenged the tradition of what I may normally choose. I haven't been disappointed. I'm open to reading anything and am sure I can feedback with thoughts of future books if I felt it necessary.

Biggest presence and communication is via social media, presumably so that the small businesses can be tagged and benefit from the marketing traffic associated with each subscription box. Makes sense to me.

Would definitely recommend!

Absolutely love my Reading in Heels subscription! There are always books I’d never choose for myself. I love the range of items and books. I always look forward to my box arriving each month. I’d recommend this to anyone who loves a read!

Products -5 stars, customer service - 0 stars.
No problems with my first box, delighted with the products, but after that my subscription showed as active but payment was not taken for box 2. Numerous emails ignored, apart from an initial response requesting confirmation of my postcode so they could look into the issue. I ended up cancelling my subscription and starting a new one so that I wouldn’t miss the next box. Have continued to try to contact customer service with no response until I posted a comment on Instagram which was quickly deleted by the company. Since then I have gotten one lined dismissive responses from their Instagram account including a condescending “have a great weekend x”, and still no response to emails. Very unprofessional treatment of a paying customer. I have stated clearly that I don’t wish to stop receiving products but have concerns about the lack of response to genuine concerns and queries. Customer service issues need to be addressed or they will impact greatly on what could be a brilliant service

Edited following reply from RIH: still no responses to any emails. The only responses recieved were through private message on Instagram, which I don’t consider a professional approach. As previously stated there is no issue on my end, confirmed by my bank. RIH continues to be unwilling to address issues with their service and to communicate appropriately with paying customers

If only I had read the reviews before signing up! Not that it matters but I am a professional person in their late 40s and have never criticised via social media but they leave me no alternative. I read a comment on their Instagram page and responded. Factually. Nothing defamatory nor inflammatory. Yet, minutes later, I found myself blocked and the comment deleted. If only they had responded professionally I would not have written this.

Thankfully, I only subscribed to six months of books but what a waste of money. Their ‘treats’ are of variable quality but the books for my first and second delivery were so similar it was so disappointing. I am recovering from surgery and had treated myself. Thank goodness it wasn’t a gift for a friend. The second book and ‘treats’ have been packaged up with the unread first book and will be posted back first thing tomorrow. With a plea to not offend with bothering to send months 3-6. Great concept but poorly executed. Cringeworthy that they have blocked a customer who was factual rather than gushing in praise. Please take a look at your customer experience and learn from those of us who dare to point out the Emperor is wearing no clothes, and respect those who have spent money with you? Thank you. I hope this helps others think before they choose whether or not to subscribe.

Post RIH sarcastic response: Thanks, got some great books from Amazon to see me through my recovery. I am 47, so you can hold off on the teenage ‘x’ at the end of your numerous negative reviews. They were so similar that your response is laughable and demonstrates your amateur set up.

Really looking forward to your response re deleting anything less than gushing reviews for your set up, and blocking paying customers?

Good boxes. Inconsistent customer service.
I do enjoy receiving the boxes. The books and other items are great. However, the company has very much struggled with payment and delivery issues over the last year. I don't always receive a confirmation that my payment has been taken and the box sent, and the response rate to queries is very hit-and-miss. Sometimes I receive a response in a day, sometimes my requests are ignored. Over the last year, they have finally hired at least one additional person to deal with customer queries. I had cancelled my subscription for 2 months over Christmas (due to issues in 2017) and I resubscribed in early January 2019. It's now 7th February and I haven't received the February box yet. It has very much been 'too much effort for a monthly subscription' box. Oh, and like other reviewers - I have also been blocked from social media due to my rather direct requests (and some threats to make formal complaints) for a refund in 2017 when the December box didn't show up until January 2018. Overall, the company needs investment in better customer service - like a telephone helpline.

I bought a subscription as a Christmas present for my mum. Now 2 months in, she is overjoyed with the care, attention and high quality of the Reading in Heels product. Simply put, she cannot get over how fantastic these boxes are, and truly believes that this company deserves huge praise for the high standards that they appear to hold. I felt compelled to pass this on, especially after seeing a litany of negative reviews here. Those people are entitled to voice their opinions, but I wanted to pass over a story of positivity because this has been my mother's experience so far. Well done team and keep it up!

DO NOT order anything from here. If I could give zero stars I would, they do not deserve even the one.
I ordered MANY items from them for Christmas presents, most were not delivered at all, a random couple of items arrived (not on time). I also ordered a subscription as a gift, the gift card did not arrive in time or at all infact. They ignored that it was a gift and have sent a January box to myself (which wasn’t that impressive).
I have emailed them numerous numerous times to try and resolve this.
After much persistence from myself, RIH finally replied to my emails. They admitted they had not sent out two items and refunded me for those but actually they had not sent out 6 items from my order!!!!
I persisted again emailing them about it but they have completely ignored me. The Customer Service has Probably been the worst I have ever seen from any company.
Basically they have taken a large amount of money from me but delivered 1/4 of the goods. They have stolen from me and are completely ignoring any contact from me.
Of course I will never buy from them again and I will be warning others to do the same after the terrible experience I have had.
AVOID AVOID AVOID *UNTRUSTWORTHY*

Edit: in reply to your response - please do supply me with this evidence, it would be great fully received and I would love to investigate this further.
It is amazing how quickly you can reply to a negative review but to my many emails...nothing!!!

Didn't receive my parcel in December as promised. So in January I chased up after reading the reviews. Royal Mail were responsible for losing it would I like a refund? Yes please. 2 weeks later still waiting! Its only 12.80 but its not the point. They shouldn't take your money if they can't deliver and don't promise refunds and not give them. Please do not buy from this company it will be the worst thing you can do! I will be taking things further.

The product concept is great and my sister, for whom I bought a subscription, is pleased with what she has received, but there is a delivery issue which needs to be fixed. I first messaged Reading in Heels over two weeks ago. No response. Then I emailed over a week ago. No response. If you don't sort out your customer service soon, your business will be at risk.

The idea is great, the customer service horrible! Twice I have payed for a box and not received it. First time they fixed the problem, apparently was something to do with the currier. Second time they claimed I haven’t paid for it, even though I provided them with screenshots of my bank records that prove otherwise. And to top it all, I said I was cancelling my subscription and asked for them to confirm my last payment for next month’s box but they told me they have cancelled it all for me and refunded the last one. Without even asking me!
I was looking forward to my boxes every month, but the customer service has totally ruined it for me.

This is the second year that my daughter asked for a subscription from Reading in Heels for her birthday present, as she loves it so much.

Unfortunately this year I was experiencing trouble with the website and so messaged RiH on facebook not expecting to get a reply Sunday afternoon, but one came back within 5 minutes.

I am very impressed with that level of customer service, and my daughter can now look forward to her birthday presents for the next six months. Thank you Reading in Heels.

I have never done this before, and i am genuinely sad to have to take to the internet to speak my mind in a negative way about a company which plainly has a really good idea but no concept of customer service.

---------

In August 2018 I bought a 6 month subscription as a birthday present for my wife. I paid £71 up front.

In October she received her first and only box.

In November I sent a query via the online form when no second box was received. Of course, there is no phone number to allow you to speak to a real person. The online query received no reply.

18th Dec 2018 I followed up with an email. In fairness, I got a reply asking for my postcode so they could look into this. I replied almost immediately, giving my postcode.

19th Dec 2018 I sent a follow-up email asking for an update. No reply.

20th Dec 2018 I sent a follow-up email asking for an update. No reply.

21st Dec 2018 I sent a follow-up email asking for an update. No reply.

Left it over Christmas.

1st Jan 2019 I sent an email setting out the history and asking for a reply by end of business on 3rd Jan.

It is now 4th Jan.

I got no reply.

I have given Reading In Heels every chance to deal with this without me having to criticise them publicly and they have failed to act.

I am obviously disappointed to have paid £71 and not received much in return, but I am far more disappointed with the way my problems have been ignored - or fobbed off - once I complained.

Yes, December is busy, but this was an order placed in AUGUST.

RiH seem to be quite prompt at responding to public criticism, so I am posting this in the hope that they feel obliged to resolve my issue. I have tried to do it privately but my patience has been exhausted.

The other comments on here don't lead me to hold out much hope for a positive resolution. Let's hope I am wrong.

At the moment, while I love the idea, I simply would NOT recommend Reading in Heels to anyone.

__________

EDIT

Well I guess people will judge for themselves, based not only on the facts set out above but also on the tone and nature of the somewhat acidic and huffy response from RiH. "It's only just the New Year" would be a fair enough response if I hadn't complained well before that, and if my order hadn't been going unfulfilled since October.

The reply does nothing to address the fact that, having made the order in late August I received one box between then and the end of the year.

Also intetesting that my email back in December received no meaningful reply, none of my follow up emails received any reply but 6 hours after posting on Trustpilot I get a resolution.

I say "a resolution" because the response of RiH has simply been to refund five-sixths of what I paid. No explanation, no apology and no asking me whether I actually WANTED a refund or whether I wanted to receive the products I actually paid for (which would have been what I would have chosen, had I been asked)

Still, had I known the way I would have been treated by the company then there is no way I would have used the company. Anybody thinking about using them should tread carefully.

Like many other people here, I loved receiving the boxes and think it is a great idea. I received a few and then one month nothing arrived so I emailed quite a few times. After two weeks I did get a full refund for that box and ended my subscription.

The disappointing part is the lack of basic customer service when you have an issue. Yes I did get a full refund but I would have preferred to have had someone deal with me in a professional manner, explain what was going on and for normal service to resume. Instead I was told the same story as everyone else about Royal Mail (my local depot have no record of the parcel at all), was given a refund and no attempt was made to try and keep me as a customer. Responses to emails were few and far between and were quite blunt, in no way did they make me feel like a valued customer.

Everyone understands that there can be delivery issues and busy times of year etc but what isn't clear is why customers with difficulties are given such attitude about it. When emails are ignored they have no option but to go to places like this to vent about the frustrating situation or use social media to get in touch.

My situation wasn't too bad compared to some others I just read about but I would say stay away, it's not worth the hassle!

Edit:
Thank you for providing the figures, it’s great that you have so many happy customers. 31 out of 25,000 is not a lot but it really doesn’t make me feel better about my situation.
As I said, I can understand that issues arise and that is fine if they are dealt with in the right way. A little empathy would go a long way and would maybe mean that people wouldn’t have anything negative to write here.
I hope that you can take the feedback and improve this. It is a great idea and I only wish I was one of those who have had no problems.
Best of luck!

Nasty nasty ‘company’ with an equally nasty ‘founder’. Constantly blaming Royal Mail and/or their own customers for things that Reading In Heels are at fault for. Emails go ignored and then it is claimed they are never received. When you call them out; they simply tell you to email again - and continue to ignore you. Also parcels never arrive, but funnily enough no evidence can be provided of boxes ever being sent out. No ‘Sorry we missed you’ card left by Royal Mail. Very quick to take your money, but not at all keen to send out what you’ve PAID for. If you raise these queries with them, you are berated for ‘bashing a small business’. Sorry, but if people PAY for something - and don’t receive it weeks after paying with no responses - shock horror - they are going to query it - and rightly deserve to get their money back.

EDIT: Another lie. I asked for a tracking number and none could be provided. Instead; all I got was a message saying it was sent. No response after that.

Like so many other reviewers on here I also ordered a subscription as a Christmas gift (12 months) from "Reading In Heels". I ordered this in the first week of December and expected a gift card to be posted to me as I selected this option at purchase. I chased the customer support team several times over the next few weeks as no gift card arrived and I wanted to have something to present to the recipient. To be fair, unlike other reviewers, I actually did receive responses to some of my e-mails (albeit very brief one liners) assuring me the gift card would arrive before Christmas. When I chased again a few days before Christmas I was told that all customer gift cards had been sent out in one batch on Tuesday - 18th December (I don't know which class post as they did not say and the gift card never actually arrived although Royal Mail advise that this date was the last date for 2nd class post). Only on Christmas Eve when I said I would cancel did they offer a digital gift card to print. Unfortunately it was very cheap looking and had no mention of what the gift actually was. Based on my experience I would not purchase anything from this company again in future as they are unreliable and poorly organised, with equally poor customer service and communications, and a disregard for their customer base. Simply by sending the gift card by post when the purchase was made would avoid all these issues (maybe they were too lazy to visit the post office every day?). Alternatively, a professional looking digital gift card - one that includes basic details of the gift like subscription start date, duration, frequency, types of item to be received etc. could automatically be generated and e-mailed at purchase. Instead they make poor excuses and have little consideration for their customers and have left lots of people high and dry without anything to give to the recipient of their gift on Christmas day.

UPDATE:
Your response to negative reviews says it all. Blame everyone but yourself. You waited until the last day possible to post out all your customers gift cards even though people ordered weeks before. So many people obviously are upset as they wanted something tangible to give their loved ones on Christmas day. Next year try posting the gift cards when they are purchased, or at least at the end of each week in December rather than waiting until the last possible day and then blaming Royal Mail. When your customers spend Christmas day posting negative reviews about your company you must realise you have got something badly wrong.

If I could give zero stars then I would.
Awful company who resorted to lying and saying I hadn't paid for my box when I had paid but received nothing. Luckily I received my money back through PayPal as I obviously had paid.
I have used many subscription boxes, and this is the only one I would actively warn against signing up to.

Edit: yep PayPal are aware of what happened. That you take money but send out no boxes. Then resort to lying about it saying you had received no money.
Obviously PayPal could not have given my money back if it had not been sent in first place. Doh!!

Disappointing and frustrating to deal with. I purchased a 6 month subscription as a surprise Christmas gift, and requested that a card be sent to me. No card has been received despite it saying on their website at one point that cards were being sent out. There's nothing within my online account which enables me to print a card myself.

I've contacted Customer Services twice but no reply. I have little confidence in this company now and can only cross my fingers that the boxes arrive.

Yes, it's a busy time of year but other companies seem to cope just fine.

Excellent product and service. A previous review of mine was deleted, but I continue to receive fantastic boxes every month with no issues.

Like many other reviewers, I agree that this is a brilliant concept but I feel that it is let down by poor customer service.

I ordered and paid for a 3 month subscription for my wife. It said online that if this was a Christmas gift, they would send a card to be given on Christmas day. I didn't read this before ordering so did not receive a card. I contacted the company via two online messages and two emails about the issue... there was no response. I then contacted them via twitter to which I received a response. They told me that a card had been added to my order. This didn't arrive in the next 4 days so I chased them again via twitter. They assured me it had been sent and should be with me "early this week". It's now Wednesday and I have received nothing. I am going away for Christmas tomorrow (which I informed them) so will not be receiving a card. Instead, they have sent me a digital gift card, which looks cheap and has no mention of what the actual product is.

I made the company aware of an issue which was so easy to resolve 10 days ago. To not even be able to send a card in the post is really poor and I would expect better. There are many other book subscription websites available and I would assume that their customer service function is a whole lot better than this one. Unfortunately, this part of the business lets the whole idea down and I will be recommending friends to look elsewhere for similar products.

Edit: no I don’t want to cancel the subscription. As I mentioned I think this is a great concept and my wife will be very happy. My main observations were that the quality of customer service could be improved. I hope this can be taken as constructive. It seems a lot of people’s emails aren’t received and if I make a company aware of an issue 10 days ago, I would expect it to be resolved by now regardless of the obviously busy time of year. I look forward to receiving the first box in January.

Great concept and the product is brilliant. The customer service really lets this company down. I had a three month subscription. One box was on time, the second arrived only after me contacting the company and chasing and I have been waiting for the third to arrive since August despite numerous emails. I have requested a refund for the third box and my emails are now going unanswered. I have never posted a review on a public forum before but am frustrated about the lack of customer care and want other potential customers to be aware that sadly the company seem to be unwilling or lack the capacity to manage complaints.

Update - emailed the company as requested the day they responded to my post, and again a few days later. Am still awaiting a response.