Smutandsip Reviews 8

Unfortunately been subscribed since the start and haven't had a single box arrive without anything wrong. Every box I have to email about missing items or my book being damaged and it's quite disappointing. The books themselves look beautiful and the stories have been good however the pages feel low quality when compared to other books or book subscriptions. I liked the pins etc but the goodies from the full box are lackluster after a few months although I couldn't tell you what I would want from a book sub "goodies" that would be doable cheaply.
The company itself promised a community vibe which a few months in has been dissolved without exploring other options first. I used this community myself to find out what items I was missing as they never showed full boxes on their socials. Tldr the books are pretty but numerous damaged books and missing items have made it so ill look for my smut books elsewhere

As a concept, Smut & Sip is both charming and promising — a curated subscription box pairing romance reads with exclusive extras, designed to appeal to fans of beautifully produced books. On first glance, the design of the editions is undeniably stunning. The use of foil detailing and quality cover art reflects a clear intention to elevate the reading experience beyond the story itself.

However, my experience — and that of many others — has highlighted several issues that have significantly impacted overall satisfaction. A number of subscribers have reported quality concerns, particularly with the durability of the foil detailing, which begins to peel or rub off after just a single read. This undermines the collectible nature of these special editions.

In addition to quality concerns, there have been recurring issues with fulfillment. The subscription promises two exclusive art prints with each box, yet many customers (myself included) have received only one, or none at all. These inconsistencies have gone unaddressed publicly and create a sense of unreliability around the product.

Shipping delays have also plagued s&s since its launch. While some leniency is expected during a new venture’s early stages, delays extended far beyond the third month — a reasonable timeframe by which these logistical issues should have been resolved.

Perhaps most concerning is the shift in community management. Previously, s&s maintained a Discord server that allowed readers to connect, ask questions, and provide feedback directly. Unfortunately, not only has this channel been shut down, removing the community’s main avenue for communication, but it was also poorly moderated before its closure. Clear breaches of house rules were often ignored, while users offering genuine support or constructive input were penalized without clear cause. This approach to community engagement has eroded trust in the management and commitment to its audience.

In conclusion, Smut & Sip began with an exciting and aesthetically appealing premise, but significant ongoing issues in quality control, customer service, and community engagement need to be addressed if the brand hopes to maintain long-term subscriber loyalty.

Honestly, I’m not even sure where to begin with this train wreck. This is a new business that clearly exploded faster than they could handle. They gained traction quickly in the book world, managed to rope in some impressive authors, and secured the rights to produce special edition copies. Great start. But that’s exactly where the positives begin and end.

What followed was a spectacular display of incompetence dressed up as a premium product. The quality of the books? Sub-par at best. Their Discord (supposedly a space for community engagement and transparency) quickly became a dumping ground for subscriber complaints, with reports piling in over:

• Books arriving damaged, due to near non-existent packaging
• Foiling on covers rubbing off or disappearing after zero handling, only for customers to be gaslit and told this was “normal wear and tear”
• Wild inconsistencies in finish quality
• Items missing from boxes, despite all customers paying the same premium
• A leaking mocktail bottle in one month’s box, showing complete disregard for safety and presentation
• Poor formatting inside the books, which shouldn’t happen at this price point
• One book being physically taller than the rest, making any collector’s shelf look like a joke

And what was their response when customers brought up these entirely valid concerns? Shut it down. Literally. Discussions were erased. Users were told to “stay on topic” and “keep this a positive space.” Translation: We’re happy to take your money, just don’t expect us to listen when you point out we’ve botched the job. Comments were deleted, concerns ignored, and critical voices silenced. Because “we’re just a tiny team of two”…….cry me a river. That’s not a brand with integrity, that’s a red flag flapping in the wind.

And we haven’t even touched on the absolute mess that was their public Discord server. Despite being openly accessible, and promoted as the heart of their community, it quickly became a toxic environment, riddled with inappropriate discussions. Where was the moderation? Non-existent. Why? Because the so-called “community team” refused to monitor it in the evenings or on weekends, you know, the exact time people are most active online. Make it make sense.

Worse still, there were documented instances of users making jokes about sexual assault. These comments were left untouched for days, despite being flagged multiple times. The original poster was eventually banned, not immediately, mind you, but those who engaged with that filth were merely suspended for a brief period of time. A slap on the wrist. That’s not “community management” that’s wilful negligence.

This is not a trustworthy company. Their handling of criticism has been nothing short of childish, their transparency a complete illusion. Rather than owning up to their failures, they doubled down on censorship and retreated further into a curated echo chamber. The Discord is now gone, replaced with a private Instagram page where subscribers can no longer comment, only react with emojis. Because apparently, a thumbs-up emoji is how they prefer to handle feedback now.

This business looks and feels like it’s run by people who weren’t ready, not ready for the scale, the responsibility, or the community. They rushed in, underestimated their audience, overestimated their own competence, and now they’re hiding behind a social media wall while pretending it’s all fine.

It’s not fine. It’s amateur hour, and an expensive one at that.

The books are beautiful editions and this is no reflection of the authors but the Smut and Sip team are awful.

Used the excuse of “a small team of two” any time people bought issues to their attention, and despite many of the patrons of their discord server offering to help out UNPAID, they refused, gaslit and denied. Eventually moving their “community” to Instagram broadcasts which many can’t access as it’s still in beta (another issue brought up to “the small team of two) and you can’t chat with them on because they don’t want to hear what subscribers are saying.

They started series with no intention of finishing, always using the excuse of “if there was demand” despite many subscribers asking. They clearly didn’t research their books - promoting a book as cowboy when even just reading the synopsis makes it clear it isn’t.

I thought this book box was about inclusivity, community and a love of spicy books. But clearly the team just want notoriety and don’t care who they screw over to get there

They were just extremely unprofessional after creating a discord server for current and future subscribers. They wouldn’t monitor the chat at all during the busiest periods, claiming they were only a team of two and not able to always be on the chat. This allowed multiple harmful and dangerous discussions to take place which often weren’t deleted until a day or two afterwards.

They also would block and ban people from said chat who would be trying to de-escalate the conversations that would be happening since the owners weren’t doing it themselves. These people were then banned for a lot longer than stated on the initial rules. They’ve now moved all communications to an area where we can’t give them feedback, essentially silencing the people who are paying them money.

Whilst the books are gorgeous, the rest of the box is so expensive for what it is, you’re paying an extra £10 after shipping to get a pin and a sticker. A lot of books would also come damaged and would break really easily, one of my copies spines breaking after reading it once.

They also stated to us multiple times that they were talking with the authors they’d worked with to get us the sequels to these books, but this never happened, authors were not spoken to about this which disappointed a lot of us.

I know it’s a new business but when you don’t listen to a single bit of constructive criticism from your subscribers or try to fix theses issues it just causes problems.

The books? Beautiful. The artwork? Stunning.
But the service? Absolutely not.

What first drew me to this subscription wasn’t just the gorgeous editions—it was the promise of a real community. But as that community grew, the team behind it couldn’t keep up—and worse, they refused to adapt. Instead of scaling with care, they doubled down on poor management: banning members without reason, shutting down discussions, rejecting offers of help, then turning around to say “we’re just a team of two” as an excuse.

They’d start series with no intention of finishing them. They moved key content to Instagram broadcasts—a beta feature many can’t even access—effectively cutting off the very community they built. Feedback wasn’t just unwelcome, it was ignored.

It’s a beautiful product wrapped in a deeply disappointing experience.

It just ain’t it.

Clearly don’t research the books they’re promoting. (Cowboy items in a book box that isn’t about a cowboy?)

Made a discord, as soon as people started giving them feedback, they didn’t like it and switched out to Instagram broadcasts.

Claimed they were going to finish up the series in their boxes and that they’d approached the authors, we found out that this was a lie.

Pretty books, but please don’t waste your time.

Do better

They really do not like constructive criticism and feedback at all - usually block people over it or straight up ban them.
Use the excuse of "We're just a team of two" to excuse bad things happening instead of letting VOLUNTEERS who don't even want money or anything help modding, which we now know is because they can't make the mods act out their will which is to silence everyone who does not agree with them. A lot of people were wrongfully banned over NOTHING and then they switched to Instagram Broadcasts because the Discord Server was too much work for just two people and at least on broadcasts they won't have to listen to anyone's opinions uwu
And that was just all the discord stuff.

Questions were asked about the possible completion of series (Body Count, ...) and they always answered they did not know, which valid, but now it came out that author's weren't even asked about such a possibility. Honestly not the best business move. The books weren't bad and the art wasn't either, but the team just was not it.