The EssentialReviews of theessential.com

The company (Chai Mishra) raised a bunch of money on crowdsourcing platforms a few years ago and we haven't heard about any company updates since then.The head of investor success from wefunder has tried to reach out to the CEO multiple times but there has been no response. The company also changed its name from The Move to The Essential. What is going on? Please provide an update instead of ghosting all of your investors!

Like others on here, you're going to wait a long time for anything you order here. The food is OK. Everything else is poorly made and cheap quality. Received a lamp I ordered after 4 months and it stopped working 3 months after. I had used it maybe once. Customer service was nice enough to refund with credits, but at this point not even sure what I would use here.

What a mess. Signed up for this "company" back when they were heavily marketing via media. After a few months I submitted an order due to a special they were advertising. I ordered some snacks and food, hoping I could try them out and potentially start using them for some meals. I instantly regretted the purchase. The order went into "processing" and stayed there for months. E-mails to customer service were unread and no reply. I finally charged back the order with my credit card. These guys had the guts to contest the charge, but as soon as I screenshot their website with the order "In Process" all went quiet. I thankfully got my money back. Essential, no thanks, won't ever do business with you ever again. Nice try.

Products are not great quality and they don't stand by them. If they break, you are out of luck. The food was particularly bad and the shipping was also quite bad. An office chair that I purchased broke within a year and we are out of luck. It was $200 so not cheap. I will never be buying from them again and I would not recommend them to anyone.

Don’t even bother. I order was NOTHING like the coat pictured. Took over six weeks to arrive. Refused a refund. Can’t even speak to customer service. All over email. Scammed.

This site charges an annual membership fee for access, but gives you those fees back in the form of monthly credits to use towards purchases. If you're making purchases monthly, it seems like a great bargain. However, almost everything is out of stock, so finding something to purchase is nearly impossible. Then, ontop of that, shipping charges are insane (lowest rate is $22), but there is free shipping for orders over $75. Again, ok, that's not so bad.... BUT if any item is on sale in your order (even if there are regular priced items ALSO in the order), the monthly credits cannot be applied, because it's considered a stacking discount. The only way to cure that issue would be to make TWO orders: one with no discounted items, so that the credits can be applied, and one with all the discounted or on-sale items. However, the credits per month are only $15, but shipping is $22. So that means, the $15 credit is USELESS, and is a wash for shipping charges, unless you spend at least $150 ($75 per order). The site is absolute garbage and I will not be renewing after my annual membership expires.

I have ordered from this company 3x now and every single experience has been horrible. The first time, I ordered an item on 9/30 and the order took over two months to arrive - and it wasn't a big piece of furniture or multiple items - it was a little cordless lamp. I had to write to them TWICE, on 11/15 and 11/19 to ask if the company was a scam and to ask whether my order had been processed, before I finally got a reply on 11/27 from Eric Nogues that my order would be arriving next week, but no process confirmation or shipping tracking number, which I demanded. It was now two months from the date which I initially placed my order but I figured sometimes shipping delays happen, and thought to get these prices, maybe it got held up at customs. But isn't it funny how then the order was sent out a week later? From a California address? Do they just ignore the emails until they have stock available at which point they tell you your order will be processed in a week? Horrible. But I figured, maybe it was just mischance so I ordered again on Dec. 31, 2023, a dog bed which I was very excited about and lo and behold, again, almost two months pass, and I have to write to them to ask where my order is. Again, I had to write at least two more times, on 2/19 and again on 2/25, then yet AGAIN on 3/3, before I finally got a response back from a 'Jason' on 3/4 that the bed will be shipping soon, "in the coming weeks". Unfortunately, I can't say that I ever received the bed - it was either misdelivered or stolen, but when I wrote to customer service letting them know, I was told only that they are not responsible for lost or stolen packages and that they will reach out to USPS to investigate (YEAH RIGHT) and that I may receive a quicker response by filling out a form that they sent me a link to. So basically, they won't do anything to make it right despite the fact that I had already waited over two months, and that I should basically handle it myself. My last and most recent order was placed with "free express shipping" on 3/9. I guess that could mean anything to them, because 4 days later... no update. This morning I wrote them to ask if I should understand that based on their previous track record, express shipping meant I would get it with 2 day shipping... 3 months from now. Lo and behold, I got a shipping confirmation from Jason today. I understand that things happen that can be out of a business's control and those things can affect fulfillment - that's life, it happens, but this has been by far the worst customer experience I’ve had with any company. Delayed processing with no ETAs communicated, kindly worded but ultimately empty and slow to respond customer service replies - if they ever do reply to you at all, poorly met expectations and little offered beyond fulfilling the orders only after the customer raises the issue, months later. The only good thing is that I didn't have to pay for this trial membership but I guess that just goes to show that you get what you pay for. You know what’s ‘the essential’ part of a good business? A happy customer, and there are ways to achieve that even if there are gaps in order times, fulfillment, shipping delays, etc. You communicate honestly, and help set reasonable expectations. That way, even if there are difficulties, you can still maintain trust and loyalty from your customer. From the other reviews, I can see I'm not alone. I would give negative stars if I could. This has been a disappointing show from their team in every way from start to finish. They are so shady. Run run run - do not give them your money.

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.