The EssentialReviews of theessential.com

Incompetent & possibly illegal business practices - they take orders that aren't ready to be fulfilled, but don't disclose to you that the items are actually on back-order, or simply won't ship for weeks, upfront. This happens frequently. It's almost as if they are hoping so much time will pass that you forget the order. You will hear nothing about your missing order. You must reach out to them directly to inquire about it. No status updates will be sent, nothing. I placed an order in early January. Finally, after weeks of emails, they shipped part of the order, which I received this week. The packing slip listed ALL the items in the order, as if they had ALL been fulfilled, but only two of three items were actually shipped. I was told I would receive a refund for the still unfulfilled item. It has been nearly two weeks since that promise was made. Run. I will not do business with this company again. Further, I believe this practice is in violation of consumer protection laws. Back-ordered items should not be charged until fulfilled. Period. They take the money upfront and then good luck....I emailed them a .pdf of the packing slip and a photo of the tiny box that could not possibly have contained slippers, only 2 small bottles of supplements. Update: March 6th it has been over 10 business days since I was promised a refund for the slippers. Almost two months since I first placed my order. The status is now "preparing for shipping" and I have not heard from anyone about my refund. This company has completely lost control of the fulfillment process for orders. Final Update: I received my refund and deleted my account. It’s not worth it. I will say that Jason in customer service did try to help, was courteous, and did reply to my emails, ultimately.

Negative stars - My first order took over 2 months to get and my second over a month and it was delivered to Washington DC even though I live in Los Angeles. Customer Service is terrible, non-responsive. I just want all my money back and my membership money back - don't waste your time or money with this company

If I could give negative stars I would. Stil waiting 4 months for a chaise lounge and over 2 months for a lounge chair. I have emailed and I have received responses most of the time always telling me it’s the manufacturer. BS. I sent an email a few days ago because the website says both are in stock, no response at all. By the way when I placed my order both were supposed to be in stock, again BS. I’m beyond feed up , I just want my money back, I’m done!

I rarely write poor reviews, but in this case I felt I had to as I've had multiple negative experiences with this company. I placed an order for 2 standing desks in May 2023. The website said the ship time was 2-3 weeks. I had to wait FIVE MONTHS for the desks – which ended up shipping separately, weeks apart. Throughout that whole time I was consistently told (over 7-ish different interactions) that the desks were "still 2-3 weeks out". Had I known how long the desks were going to take I would likely have cancelled the order or not placed the order. The same issue happened when I ordered 2 desk lamps, they took months instead of the advertised 1-2 weeks to ship. So misleading and so frustrating. I also think it's telling that in their marketing emails they display their Trustpilot rating as 4 stars – when it is currently 3.1 as of the writing of this review, and many recent reviews reflect the same issues I had with them. They are clearly not addressing serious operational issues and continuing to misrepresent lead times on their website and disappoint customers.

I am a new The Essental customer. I've order several items and their logistics and communications are very poor. On the first order, it was sent in three separate shipments. I ordered a mid-weight down duvet, King sized (claimed to be made in Canada). Sent was a Queen sized light weight, not made in Canada. The linen duvet cover was King size, but the wrong color. A second order was for the Lounge Chair. I've sent three follow-up emails. Kevin replied to the first that he would check on the Lounge Chair, but I have not received any further response yet and the status remains unknown. As to the wrong duvet size and duvet cover, no replies. On top of that, I now have a big credit with The Essential b/c I purchased a Black Friday coupon. Money lost?

After having ordered a chair with a 3-4 week estimated time to ship, and the chair not having shipped at the 11-week mark, customer service has done nothing to help me. I've been offered false dates for shipping and some inconsequential offers of refunding portions of my purchase (They said they would give me a partial refund and they never followed through and honestly, I'm not sure that the 7% discount they've offered is even substantial enough to call a positive benefit).

I ordered 2 Eames Lounge Chairs in black leather & walnut plywood on August 7th 2023. I was told the chairs were on backorder, and the first chair was finally delivered on September 11th 2023. I have since sent copious emails to Essential Staffers about the second (and still missing) lounge chair. I have been told by one female staffer that the chair would be on its way 3 different times. Another email received a reply from a male staffer named Eric who claimed both chairs had been delivered, and refused to believe me until I showed him information from FedEx that The Essential had shipped 2 boxes of vastly different sizes (one huge box containing the chair, and one smaller box containing the ottoman). He then relented and said the second chair would soon be on its way. I have contacted customer support yet again for updates via email and via Instagram, with no shipping info sent to date. I have now begun filing complaints with the California & Maryland Attorneys General Offices under the Consumer Fraud Acts (The Essential is HQ in California but I live in Maryland). Why is it SO hard to send a chair and its ottoman?

Shipping times are crazy long. I decided to cancel my multiple orders and they said I would receive a refund in 5-7 Business Days however after two follow up emails they still have not cancelled or refunded my orders. Will be submitting a claim with my credit card company now.