Diets In Review welcomes Paul Slater to the Diet Column today. He is, or was, an eDiets Deliciously Yours customer and after his own frustrating experience with the company, he started a Web site called Ediets Sucks!. There he learned that he was not alone. Other customers finding themselves caught in the same situation as Paul reached out to share their stories as well. We bring Paul’s first-hand account of his experience to you today so that you have a little more information and as a consumer can use that in making your own decisions.
Now I’ve hit my mid-30s, it’s not only more difficult to get rid of that spare tire, it seems to sag a little more every day. It’s time to do something about it. This time properly.
I don’t have the time or patience to formally count calories, but I can follow rules, and eat what I’m told. So recently I began to think seriously about using a meal delivery service. NutriSystem is of course the most widely advertised, but I’ve never been a fan of shelf-stable food. I was looking for a healthier alternative, but still at a reasonable price. After much research online, I decided to pick the Ediets Deliciously Yours program.
The Deliciously Yours program is a new move for Ediets, although they have provided a slightly different meal delivery program in the past. You get 3 meals a day, plus a small snack, and you are expected to supplement with 3 portions of fresh fruit and two of dairy. The website provides a meal plan, but you can substitute any of the meals and snacks as you wish (albeit on a very unintuitive website). Food is fresh, and delivered once a week in a cooler by FedEx. Or at least so Ediets claims.
My first delivery was due to be delivered on a Saturday, so a day or so before I went online to get the tracking number. Surprisingly there is no way to view it. The website also was showing me food to eat for the day as though I had already had a package delivered. All in all I was starting to get a little worried. Still, a projected delivery date was still listed as Saturday, so I decided to have a little faith and wait patiently for it to arrive.
t didn’t. Not on Saturday, nor the following Monday, not even during the following week. Extremely frustrated, I tried calling them and waited on hold – for more than two hours. Eventually I was cut off. I tried calling multiple times, each with the same result. I tried e-mailing, no reply. Eventually in frustration I started my own blog – www.edietssucks.com mainly in an attempt to get their attention.
It rapidly became clear that I am by no means alone. I’ve received e-mails from many other frustrated customers, pointing me to discussion groups and blogs that document similar experiences. Many, many customers have been receiving shipments at the wrong time, shipments with the wrong food, and frequently no shipments at all. And all of us being billed weekly for up to about $130 a week with no obvious way to cancel the service.
The second week I finally did receive my food. It arrived on the wrong day, some of the food was missing and one of the dishes was substituted for something that I don’t eat. But at least it arrived. And actually, I hate to admit it, it tastes really good! This is exactly the kind of meal delivery service I would use, if I felt remotely confident in the company delivering it.
Finally, after about two weeks of less than subtle prodding from me – I got a phone call from an Ediets representative called Robert. Robert admitted that the company has had significant problems since launching the new service, but assured me that those problems are now being resolved. Ediets have apparently now pretty much tripled their customer service team, and are now answering calls “within minutes”. After some negotiation, Robert also told me that I will get a refund for my missing week, additional compensation for my missing and substituted meals, and a free week for my trouble. I’m supposed to get an e-mail confirming all this, but it has yet to arrive.
Unfortunately, for me Robert’s assurances were not enough. Despite loving the food I need to be able to trust the provider to deliver it, on time and accurately. So I have cancelled my service. If you are thinking of signing up for the Deliciously Yours program – I would urge you to check closely to see if these problems have been resolved. I really hope they are, but it is difficult to see how they can be until the company publicly owns up to these issues, formally apologizes and shows how it is resolving the situation.
Meantime, I’m back to looking for a decent meal delivery service…
Thank you, Paul, for bringing your concerns to our attention. There are many meal delivery services designed to help people lose and manage weight. Others that promise prompt and fresh service include:
I have had nary a problem with this meal delivery service. I ordered one week to try it and see how the food was. It came exactly when it should, nothing substituted, and the food was delicious. I was not yet ready to start dieting (social obligations) so called customer service, was not put on hold, and cancelled easily, no questions asked. Two weeks later, I signed up again. Food came on Friday afternoon for the week startin Monday, and again the food is outstanding. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Waiting to see how the weight loss goes since I just started. I have changed all my menus at breakfast because I am not a fan of cold cereal and that seems not to have been a problem either, so I opted for muffins (delicious!) or the California breakfast (eggs, cheese, salsa), which is also delicious. Also switched out a few lunches/dinners for things I liked better. The website could be a little more user-friendly, but once you figure it out, no problem with that either. I would recommend this plan to anyone.
I was happy to have gotten out while I did. I was not a meal delivery customer, but I was appalled at eDiets’ apparent belief that people will pay indefinitely for a product that is broken. I finally got out in February. Diets with WAY too many calories (up to 1,000 per meal extra), no fitness programs (you have to be in a pretty bad way to not be able to handle 10 minutes of exercise at 55% of maximum heart rate), incorrect scientific information and amazingly stubborn treatment by eDiets staff. Like many others, I was unable to get through, the emails weren’t being answered, and LiveSupport was simply gone. I started complaining on dozens of boards every day until an eDiets rep offered to get my account cancelled. Even if they were to finally fix everything (and, a blog entry dated 5/27/2008 tells me they have not yet), eDiets will never, ever get any money from me again.
The customer service at e-diets is horrible. The representatives are not ver polite and they sure don’t make you feel like a valued customer. I am said to say it, but I had to cancel my account with them. The food is really good, but the deliver reprocess is a nightmare. The food does not arrive on the dates that it should. As of today I am waiting on my final deliver that has been in transit for 4 days. Do I really want to eat food that has been in a box for 4 days??? NOOOO. So I had to cancel and the customer service rep didn’t apologize or even seemed like he cared.
I signed up with the e-diets food delivery and scheduled my deliveries to start on Thursday – received my first FedEx box and started the food the next day – well it was pretty bad – first meal cheese omelet had a very long black hair in it!!! – I threw it away – and thought – well stuff happens – second meal – marsala beef w/rice – soggy at best -, third meal tuna casserole – uneatable – called to cancel on Friday – they were closed – called Saturday – closed on weekends – e-mailed them (thru their web site) canceling any future order and explained food was not up to par – no acknowledgment of e-mail – in fact they deny every receiving it – I called first thing Monday morning – was told “too late” delivery on it’s way – no way to stop it – and by the way you will be charged –
Down right rude, customer service – I thought I was listening to a recording – same line over and over – from the person who answered all the way to the supervisor – absolutely no way for you to cancel your orders on-line, or change your payment information, you have to call – terrible experience – horrible customer service – in fact what I would consider NO customer service – told me they had no record of any phone calls (of course not I got a recording saying to call back when they are open) and no e-mail – I used their own form on line under “contact us” so basically they were calling me a lier – oh and when they call you back – it is listed as a “private number” so no way for you to contact them directly – just the 800 number –
1/29/09 – First of all, the sample meals they show BEFORE you sign up for your first delivery, is not a good example of the weekly menu – my first week choices were full of beans, spicy foods, and ham – all of which my system won’t tolerate. Unfortunately, I was locked in as once you sign up, they have you on the hook. No refunds! Meals arrived, as stated, by Fed-X in styrofoam carton – soup was spilled all over the place. Now, the taste of the food is just HORRIBLE, and they use tons of spices and obviously love ONIONS – as everything has onions….food smells strong which to me, indicates that it is not fresh.
Guess what – I also have a shipment of Nutri-Systems, and will use their program as their food is fantastic – tho not fresh, but it has flavor, not spicy and not tons of onions.
I regret spending the $130 PLUS for my week of E-diets – waste of money and food.
Don’t try to cancel before you receive your first order. They won’t let you. They are crooks and their customer service is awful. I will not do business with anyone who will not let me change my mind.