Tess
Charged twice for a membership I couldn't cancel
I've been trying to cancel my membership for over a year. The cancellation option their FAQ references did not exist in my account. Their team later acknowledged this was a bug on their end. Despite this, they refused to refund last year's charge. They also failed to actually cancel my membership after promising to. In late April 2026 I was charged again for another year. When I complained, they confirmed in writing that my membership was now cancelled and that a refund for the April charge would be issued within 5–7 business days. That refund has still not arrived. Separately, I ordered an AI Mystery Box (~$105) marketed as a bedroom box valued at $200–$600. I received shower gel and a king-size comforter (unusable since I have a queen bed). I now have multiple unresolved refund requests. Customer service seems unable to actually resolve anything. Pay by credit card so you have chargeback protection. Edit: They refunded this years charge (2026) but not last years charge (2025), the one that happened because their website lacked a cancellation option. They did offer a replacement item for the unusable mystery box item. And a $30 credit as a goodwill gesture. Updating from 1 to 3 stars because they finally did the right thing on 2/3 counts. Overall, I would still recommend you save yourself a headache.
Response from The EssentialMay 18, 2026
Hi Tess, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience — we truly appreciate your feedback and are sorry to hear things have not gone as smoothly as they should have. After reviewing your case, we can see that you have two accounts with The Essential, which caused some confusion on our end. We sincerely apologize for this. We want to confirm that the membership on both accounts has now been cancelled and refunded. Please allow the standard processing time for the refund to reflect on your original payment method. We also want to acknowledge that we recently underwent an upgrade to our customer support communication system, and unfortunately some prior correspondence was not retrievable during this transition. We understand how frustrating this must have been, and we take full responsibility for the inconvenience this caused. Regarding your AI Mystery Box — we are truly sorry to hear that the items you received were not a good fit for you. This is the first time this concern has been brought to our attention, and we want to make it right. In line with our policy, if an item is the wrong size or unusable, we are happy to send you a prepaid return label and arrange a replacement or alternative items (in the event the queen size is no longer available). We would also like to offer you store credits as a gesture of goodwill for future use, should you be open to accepting them. This is not the experience we want for our customers, and we genuinely hope to have the opportunity to serve you better. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly at [email protected] so we can resolve both matters as quickly as possible. Warm regards, The Essential | Customer Care Team