It’s hard determining what is fashionable these days, and JustFab.com wants to help sort out the mess. They say they have a team of stylists that is ready to take your style profile and match you up with some of the hottest trends that are right up your alley. How well they do that is a matter of personal preference, but we got signed up and gave it a spin to see how they deliver. We also address the concerns with their ordering process and miscellaneous charges, and figure out if it’s a scam or not.
Overview
The theory behind the JustFab.com site is that they’re fashion specialists will organize that month’s latest trends and present them to your for your perusal. If you like what you see you can buy any of that month’s items for $40 which includes free shipping. Sounds pretty good when you first hear how it works, but what most don’t realize is that you’re signing up for a little more obligation than just fun, fashion, and shopping.
The Claim
JustFab.com claims that they have celebrity stylists that keep their fingers on the pulse of what’s hot and what’s not in the fashion world. They go out and find the best possible accessories, shoes, and handbags, and let you know about them so you can see what lines up with your own sense of fashion.
The premise is that if you take their style profile they’ll get enough information about your tastes that you’ll be getting personalized recommendations from their top stylists. This way you won’t have to sort through a bunch of stuff that isn’t suited to you. For example, if you have more of a conservative style, they’ll only show you some of their more reserved items. However, if you’re more of a Carrie Bradshaw they’ll show you things that will definitely turn heads and catch eyes.
The Hype
The hype comes from how they present their offer, and the fact that they have a really well-designed site that features some pretty good looking styles at affordable prices. Most of us can imagine finding something we’d like to own at their site, and $40 a month on shoes and accessories is not too much, and keeps us in fashion.
It’s also endorsed by Kimora Lee Simmons, who seems to add hype to most any project she’s involved with. There’s also ads being run in some of the most popular fashion and celebrity gossip reads out there like Us, Glamour, InStyle, People, and Extra. This all works towards creating a buzz about the service, and adding a bit of legitimacy to it.
The Cost
The flat cost of items at JustFab.com is $40 which includes shipping as well as exchanging items that don’t fit the way they’re supposed to. It’s almost like an everything’s $40 shop, although they do admit that some of the items they carry do exceed this price point.
The Commitment
It’s the commitment that most people don’t realize they’re signing on for. The class action lawsuit against JustFab.com claims that they don’t make all of the fine print easy to understand during the sign up process, and people don’t realize just what is necessary in order to avoid additional, inadvertent charges. You’re basically making a commitment to buy, try, or deny the products that they show you every month, but you need to do one of these things or you end up getting charged regardless.
Evaluation
The JustFab.com people seem to be doing a lot of things right, it’s surprising that they also seem to be doing one thing really wrong. What we don’t understand is with such great looking items, why can’t they just do business 100% on the up and up and make their money by selling products, not signing people up for automatic charges.
People don’t like paying money for nothing, especially in a turbulent economy. By being sneaky, and not fully straightforward, they’ve created a large and growing base of people that are not very happy, and frankly downright pissed that their accounts were charged repeatedly even though they did not order or receive any products. It’s a very strange business model that is bound to catch up with them eventually and cause a major setback.
Apparently they will bill your credit card every month for $40 whether or not you order anything from their collection, and take no action. It is in their terms of service that you have to take action in order to prevent the charge from occurring. What is not clear is why they are charging you the $40 for not ordering anything, and why you have to take action to *not* be charged. It seems like you should take action in order to be charged, like actually placing an item in your shopping cart and going through the checkout process.
Final JustFab.com Review
The complaints people have with JustFab.com are with the auto-bill problem, and the way the system is set up. Without a doubt this will likely be getting an overhaul, as more and more people complain and join the lawsuit, it just won’t be worth it to them to keep it like this. However, let’s get down to the more important question: What about the shoes? From what we can determine people are happy with the actual products they receive from Just Fabulous, so it makes sense to get on board and get your share of the fashion action.
Our Recommendation
Now that you know the score, and all that’s involved, why not get started with JustFab.com. No one complains about the quality of the merchandise you receive from them, and the stuff they carry is definitely trendy at an affordable price. Most of us spend more than $40 per month on clothing and honestly speaking if you don’t you probably should – hint hint. So sign up, and just don’t forget: if you don’t like anything they offer you each month just say Skip This Month and you won’t be charged. Easy peasy.
Yeah, it’s clear as day. People just never read! It amazes me that there are so many that just won’t admit that they were unobservant.
I was so enticed when I saw my first pair of boots would be $10. In my excitement of saving a ton of money on cute boots, I didn’t care that the receipt that was emailed to me didn’t have prices on it, I figured they were an honest business. UH NOPE!!!
My bank account was charged over $70 for those $10 boots. THEN when I asked about returning them (since I could find boots just as cute on Amazon for cheaper) they said I had to pay a $6 re-stocking fee!!!!!!!! WHAT A SCAM!!!!!!!
I had ordered two pairs of shoes; One pair I received damaged, while the other was sent to me with two of the same side shoe. It has now been a month and a half since that order was even placed, and none of my funds have been returned. I have been shipped another pair of one of the sets of shoes, which was (surprise, surprise) damaged upon arrival. The other pair of shoes I tried to originally get a replacement for was no longer even available. After branching out to various pointless emails found on their website with no reply, I resorted to their live chat option. This online chat option is horrible. Several times I spoke with representatives that either:
A. Made numerous mistakes having to correct themselves
B. Would end the chat before you could even collect all the information given, which is problematic seeing it glitches and does not even allow one to scroll back up the majority of the time, even after trying different browsers.
Highly advise not wasting your money, or energy. You will end up waiting multiple months having to talk with multiple, faulty representatives just to receive unwearable shoes. Then they try to cop out by giving you a coupon for future purchases. Who the hell is stupid enough to continue purchases with a company who clearly does not care about their service quality?
I joined a few months ago. I ordered a pair of boots and purse and got both for the price of one. I love both the purse and boots. I usually buy high quality, high priced boots and purses and these are not bad considering the price you pay. As far as the VIP club I read everything and knew I was joining a club where my card would be charged if I didn’t cancel each month or order something. I haven’t been charged a monthly fee because I skipped once and ordered the other times. I think they make it fairly clear up front what they do. I realize in the past they may not have made everything so clear, so I understand why some people would be so upset… but it’s really clear on their site now. I actually enjoy their club. My daughter actually told me about it, she’s been a member longer than me and she loves them. She has had the same experience as me, she either buys something or skips for that month and doesn’t get charged.
I am not a fake customer and I just do not understand how anyone could be tricked. I just ordered a pair of shoes and the monthly charge thing was very clear. Dont get the prob.
Yes!!! That’s what I think too! So obvious when you buy something what the terms of the deal are. Just cancel if you don’t want it. Seems easy to me.
Ii had a membership for a while and was ok with the monthly charge. Even though I didnt always order every month. Some things i did not like is they call my money points… and points are not used for sale items. So even though I had money/ points when i ordered items on sale they charged my card.
After some time i had sevseal months of points that wen unused, they are forfeited…. meaning i could not use my money/points which they charged my card and lost over 100. Dollars with nothing to show for it. Would never recomend just fab. Save your hard earned money spend it on Amazon.com or zappos and get a quality product.
I think your commercials are stupid. Nobody gets that excited about shoes. You really need to get some new commercials.
Hi! Can you please tell me, if you can order & cancel? Or do you have a term commitment?
Good lord, the positive reviews of Just Fab in this comments section are hilarious! How much more obvious could it be that they are mostly, if not all, fake customers created by Just Fab employees or investors? Seriously guys, use some tact and subtlety. What normal person writes a gigantic post explaining how to use the site in detail and how much better the company has gotten (I’m looking at YOU “Vic”….if that is your real name). The underhandedness and shadiness of this company knows no bounds. It’s obvious that they’re already selling pretty cheap shoes, but that the only reason they’re not sold for even more is because the auto-billing scam is relied upon for their business model to be successful. I just went to their website and it is still so incredibly underhanded to the customer who does not know about their tactics ahead of time.
As for all the “happy” customers in this comments section….what kind of reviewer always tells us that they’ve been a customer “since 2011?” No normal person does that. The others blame people complaining about the auto-billing, calling them stupid or naive.
My advice: don’t shop at Just Fab shoes, because you have to ask yourself….if they do dirty business like that, then why trust that the shoes are going to be good quality? But if you absolutely MUST shop from them….as soon as your first purchase ships off, IMMEDIATELY call up customer support and as that they cancel your “VIP Membership.” Get the customer service representative’s name. Ask for a confirmation number for your cancellation and ask that they send you confirmation of the cancellation in writing. But if you have to be that paranoid and cautious about a company not stealing money from you, maybe it’s time to shop somewhere else?
I’ve been a member since 2011 and remember when I first got blindsided with the $39.95. Yes, it is true that during the company’s early days there was hardly even a mention ANYWHERE on the site that it was a subscription service. Obviously since the filing of the suit they’ve changed their ways and make it pretty clear what the consumer is getting into. Although I still subscribe there are still a few things I think are wonky:
-SKIPPING- I buy stuff occasionally, but usually skip every month and have never, ever been charged even after skipping (yet). The reason I say “yet” is because the process of skipping tends to slightly change every so often. When you decide to skip, they ask that you choose one out of four reasons why (i.e, you didn’t like the styles, need more time to decide, or just don’t have the forty bucks). Next you have the option to have the “personal stylist” choose options for next month, such as colors, styles, etc. Normally, after you submit your choices for next month, you’re taken to a confirmation page that states you’ve skipped. But sometimes I’ll see something that instead says they’ll be sending new choices for me to go through right away, and there’s no mention of skipping. The few times this has happened I always log in the next day to make sure that the system logged that I skipped.
-CANCELLING- If you decide to cancel, steel yourself and pick up the phone. That’s right, cancelling must be done over the phone. They know that these days people covet the ease of doing things instantaneously online and if anything takes extra effort (such as, god forbid, placing a phone call) chances are they’ll be less likely to leave. Awhile back I decided to cancel because I just wasn’t happy with their products anymore. This was pre-Kimora Lee Simmons, so the quality in some of the shoes were awful and some months the selection was just, meh. I called during my lunch break at work figuring it would take all but 5 minutes. Instead, it was a half hour session that I admit left me defeated. I felt like I went through a time-share presentation. Now, I know we all have different personalities, and I’m not saying that everyone who decides to cancel will shrink like a wilting violet as I did. Nor am I saying that all their reps are collection agency caliber speakers. But it is true you must call to cancel, and I’m pretty sure they probably train the reps to put up at least a little bit of a fight.
So anyway, I decided to just continue subscribing, and hoping that the rep was right in saying the quality and selections would get better “soon, due to an exciting new addition to the team.” Enter Kimora Lee Simmons and yes, actually, the selections did get better, and I ended up with a few decent pairs of shoes I still wear today. But…the almighty Kimora has recently left JustFab, so I’m wondering now what the ripple effects of her departure will be.
-QUALITY- At times, the quality of the shoes and bags were downright horrible. Like Payless Shoe Store horrible; definitely not worth $39.95. Shoes coming unglued, seams ripping, funky plastic odors, etc. I noticed the better quality shoes tended to have other brand names on them, like “WhoWhatWear,” and the poor quality items were branded with the JustFab logo. I don’t know how retail manufacturing and wholesaling works, but I like to think consistency is much better in the long run. Most of the poor quality stuff was available, again, before Kimora took the helm, so now that she’s gone will the company return to sometimes putting out inferior product?
So even though the erroneous billing issue no longer plagues the company, I think they still have some caveats for people to consider before signing up…
I notice how website comment areas on such topics are full of scammer sock puppets! Who else should have a reason to type comments, that mock and blame the victims, and mostly commend the companies and their products?
Making informal acts, like ordering consumer googs, “formal contracts” and hiding unexpected disadvantages or fees, in fine print or terms & conditions, is one of the oldest fraud schemes since written contracts exists.
Mocking sentences like “your fault if you’re too stupid to read the fine print” quite clearly identify scammers and their helping sock puppets. And massive occurence of such entries on a topic is a strong indication that the subject is a deliberate scam!
Anyway, check if your legal system really allows such contracts to be valid/enforceable! Many legal systems have responded to such fine print fraud at least decades ago, by at least making such “contracts” unenforceable, or void at all.
I have been a very happy member for a couple of years now and it clearly explains the way it works when you sign up. First off Billing doesn’t start until your first purchase. Than $39.99 a month unless you go to the site within 5 days of the beginning of each month and opt out for the month, than no charge. If you do not opt out they do charge you even if didn’t buy any shoes that month BUT it goes into a credit on your account that you can use at anytime. So its not like they take your money and you get nothing,,,you will still get a pair of shoes for it when you feel like purchasing. It’s like a little savings account for future purchases.
People who don’t read all the terms before handing over there credit card information, should not be shopping on line.
Stop blaming the company for your negligence!
I’m also a previous justfab VIP member. I joined on a friend’s recommendation (who thought she was earning credits buying shoes, oblivious that she was being charged $40/mo).
I was naive for not reading the descriptions closely, but quickly learned something was up. They sent out my email reminder on the 7th of each month, reminding me if I wanted to skip the charge I had to do so by the 5th. Just this month I ignored the ability to skip since my debit card expired in April. As far as I’m aware, the consumer has to change that information in order to be charged again, but not in justfsab’s case. They added 3 yeard to the exp date and billed me for the month.
On one phone call they promised to refund $40 (after I agreed not to cancel my membership) and never did. A few months later, after they updated my card info themselves, I told my husband about it. He called them himself and argued with someone who wanted to only refund one credit and not two. After getting transferred to a manager he got the two credits refinded and changed my online debit information to an empty Visa gift card – just because he doesn’t trust them- and I cancelled my membership. The shoes are cheap, not worth $40, and I’m glad to be done with them!
Total SCAM. the fine print is deceptive, the negative-option marketing is deceitful, but the kicker is calling the customer service and having to argue with them. A complete and total pressure tactic. We are still unsure whether our account was cancelled or not.
BAD BUSINESS PRACTICE
stay away unless you OK with a company staking a $40 claim on your debit/credit card monthly
I write bad reviews about this company because it is one of the more egregious offenders of ethics of the sea of companies out there…
The company is a ripoff plain and simple. Stay far away from this site and the owners of this company.
They might be a legit company and it might be a consumer’s stupidity not to be able to take note of this, bottom line is PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING and they should do something about it. As loud and clear as they claim that they have trendy items, they should make their VIP membership obligation fee as loud and understandable to the buying public.
People have to be responsible for their own actions we live in a very litigious society. Do your homework I did and I am a satisfied customers with over ten pairs of great shoes.
People are just stupid. I signed up for it and knew exactly what I was signing up for. They have it posted all over the site and in the description of how the VIP membership works. Just because you didn’t read something doesn’t make it invalid.
I’m one of the people who signed up and originally thought it was an awesome service.
It’s like having your very own personal shopper.
However, the auto-billing kicked in and started charging me for stuff i didn’t know about.
When i contacted them they pointed out their terms when i signed up etc.
Needless to say i cancelled it all and they won’t be getting any of my money again – be careful people!