Hey ladies, so this blog is my happy place. Like, a couple of companies have pissed me off in the past, but I would rather not rant or have a go when they might be genuine mistakes. I try to be kind and patient – though I admit it’s not always easy 😉
But I do need to tell you about Bondi New York. I subscribed to the box back in August and told you all how great it was. Well, if any of you bought from this company based on my review, please accept my heartfelt apologies. I could not have known it would go sour, and it really does sadden me.
There are a lot of rumours about Bondi and about Richard Annington, the founder. I do not know if any of that is true, exaggerated or completely made up. I wasn’t there, and it’s quite easy to fake digital information. Please know that I have no intention to add to them, I just feel that you gorgeous girls, who are kind enough to read my box regularly, should know what my experience has been.
The August box (which was the first) was great. The polish was a surprise selection, and I really enjoyed it, it was great quality at a good price and available internationally.
The September box had a big change – we were invited to choose our polish at the end of August from the new Fall collection. As with August, once you subscribed to the box for $20, you were also offered a second at $16. I chose this promotion. At the end of September, we learned that these boxes would be shipped very late (mid October with the October boxes, to be precise) since the polish that the manufacturer had sent was not up to standard. We were invited to request a refund if we weren’t willing to wait, and offered a Beauty Gift to compensate us for our trouble.
This means that, as of mid-October, I was expecting the following to ship :
- Beauty Gift (though I admit I don’t mind not getting this, all I want is the polish I ordered)
- September Box #1
- September Box #2
- October Box
And the last information that I had from Bondi is to expect all this to ship in the second week of October.
Yes, I was disappointed to wait so long (I mean, the polish I picked in August might not be what I want to wear in October), but okay, this is a new company, and as I said earlier, I try to be kind and patient.
Well, in the second week of October I hadn’t had any information. I figured that other people might have the same questions as me, so I wrote a post on the Facebook page. They have since disabled comments (possibly due to the other controversies, possibly not), so I can’t pull it up directly, but it was basically asking – politely I think – when these boxes would actually be shipped. I got the following reply (pulled out of my emails, since again, the comments on the page are disabled) :
Hi Brijit, September boxes have been shipping and tracking numbers are going out. Please email us and we’ll be happy to look into this further for you – hello@bondinewyork.com
Great! So I sent an email on Friday with my order numbers to ask if they would confirm what has already shipped, and when the rest would be shipped by.
The reply that I got (by Monday) didn’t really confirm much, but did suggest that the (at least the first) September box had been shipped, and that the others were on their way. What was particularly interesting is that it suggested that the November payments would be debited later, so that we would (at least mostly) have our boxes before paying for the next. So far, so good!
But I was concerned that I didn’t have any specifics on my orders. So I replied, asking again, and to find out on exactly which date the November payments would be processed. You see, if my boxes would still arrive in time, then I would stay on. Silly me!
This is the email I received today. I have removed the images, since I believe that Bondi have already threatened a blogger with legal action for using their images (which is their right as copyright holder). As far as I am aware, I am allowed to quote them – if I am informed that this is not the case, I will happily paraphrase…
A message from the team @ Bondi New York
Dear Brijit Elouise
We regret to inform you that today we have decided to put the subscription service on hold and focus primarily on our core retail business. Today we have refunded all subscriptions and will be refunding any outstanding orders that accompanied your subscription orders tomorrow. Please allow 1-3 business days for the refunds to post.
Why is this? While it was not an easy decision, our September issues and our continued shipping problems have made it increasingly difficult for our small team to focus on our business operations while also providing readily available customer service. We’ve heard your concerns, and this has guided our decision to suspend subscriptions. This will allow the time needed for our team review operations and provide you with the quality products and services we sought to deliver when we we’re established only in March.
What does this mean? When our polish is recovered and restocked, we will inform you of its availability, accompanied by discount codes and special promotions that will enable you to repurchase the polishes you have been waiting for.
We cannot express enough our appreciation and gratitude for your patience. Having only launched in March we’ve seen a large growth in our dedicated consumer base. We want to personally thank those loyal customers who have contributed to that growth, and who continue to provide support to our team. As more information becomes available, we will be sure to keep you informed.
The Team @ Bondi New York
I do not know which, if any boxes have shipped. I only received a cancellation note for the last (October one). Big bummer, since the others were paid for at the end of August… The time frame is already closed for me to have my card provider/PayPal reimburse me. Bad times!
I realise I contributed to the hype of this brand (and more specifically, the sub box), and I am so sorry ladies if you have lost out due to me. I sincerely hope that all of us get refunded – or receive the polish as promised, and I will be a lot more careful in the future. I genuinely believed this brand to be sincere at the time I made statements about them.
#sadface
———————————————UPDATE 19:00 29 Oct
I just received confirmation that my second September box has been cancelled too. Since I paid for it back at the end of August, I really hope that Bondi are good to their word and refund it. Very disappointed, and wondering if they ever had this polish at all… Otherwise, surely they would honour the orders which had already been paid, and not cancel them?
———————————————UPDATE 8:30 30 Oct
Checked my bank account this morning, and the reimbursements for the two cancelled boxes have been processed. So that’s good news!
Now I need to find out about the first September box – I still don’t know if it has been sent or cancelled, as Bondi have not replied to my email from Monday. If it has been cancelled, then I don’t know if I paid via PayPal or card… oh joy!
Brijit's Digits 
