HELLO FRESH: Fresh Ingredients and Recipes to Cook Meals at Home

Spanish-style steak salad

www.hellofresh.com

Price: $69-$129 per box (includes ingredients for 3 meals and is sent weekly), shipping included

The Deal: Hello Fresh sends seasonal, fresh ingredients along with recipes to create healthy and balanced meals. Vegetarian options available.

Review: Hello Fresh delivers on their promise to send super-fresh, quality ingredients. The recipes are very clear and easy to follow and the meals are crowd-pleasers, even for a family with picky eaters. Also, cleanup is a breeze, something that's much appreciated.

You're probably thinking this box is for people who don't know how to cook or are too lazy/busy to go grocery shopping, but in fact Hello Fresh is really for anyone who enjoys learning new recipes and simply likes to cook.

That said, even though the boxes themselves are awesome, Hello Fresh as a company engages in some very hinky business practices. I ordered a box using a $40 off coupon, understanding that I could order more boxes at any time. What they didn't make clear was that they would automatically send me a box every week unless I went into my account and canceled it. So when another box arrived at my doorstep a week later, I was blindsided.

I refused the box and immediately went into my account to see what was up. Coincidentally, the cut off date for canceling the next box was the day before I was set receive my boxes. There was nothing to do but wait for the next box to arrive and then refuse it, but Hello Fresh refused to grant me a refund despite the fact that my state law requires refunds on boxes that are refused on delivery. I'm still considering taking the matter up with the Better Business Bureau.

Basically, Hello Fresh lured me into trying them with a coupon, then tricked me into spending $260 I wouldn't have otherwise. And who the hell wants to learn three new recipes every freaking week anyway? I wish I could say I recommend this box service, as the boxes themselves are great, but the customer service end was absolutely terrible bordering on a scam.

Notes: Portions of this post originally appeared in "Unboxing Subscription Boxes" in the April 2015 edition of The Pueblo PULP.