Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/14/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I logged on to my bank account today and saw a charge for $19.99 from Grove Collaborative. I do not have any sort of active membership or account with them. I ordered a few items a year ago. It was a one time thing. Again -- I do not have an active membership with them. I thought, maybe I forgot and I had some sort of membership auto-renewal turned on. So, I had to reopen my account with them today to even be able to log on, and there was nowhere to cancel said account. I went to their help/FAQ area of the website where it linked to a page to cancel your membership, but it kept taking me back to the home page. I looked for account settings... there weren't any. I could really only look at the main website or my cart. No where to look at settings, memberships, personal information such as credit card and address. I am completely flummoxed to see that they have no live chat or phone number to immediately resolve this issue. It is mindblowing that a company from which I had a one-time order over a year ago, has decided to randomly charge me $20. This is so illegal!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/20/2023

  Hi *****,
  Thanks for the opportunity to address your concerns.
  Upon reviewing your account, you were charged $19.99 on 4-14-2023 for your *** annual renewal. *** is an optional yearly membership that gives you great perks, like free shipping on all orders over $29, full-size gifts, early access to new products, and exclusive sales. This is a part of your account that is separate from your shipments. Your *** membership was still active which is why this renewal was charged.
  You enrolled in the *** Program through a trial membership when you first shopped with us on 4-13-2022. Per our Terms of Use, at the end of the trial period we will automatically charge you a one-year subscription fee (plus applicable tax based on your zip code) using your stored method of payment, and your membership will renew each year thereafter, unless you cancel your trial prior to the end of the trial period. If you cancel your trial, you will be charged applicable shipping fees with your future orders under $49.
  Three days before your renewal date you should have received an email stating you could cancel and how to do so.
  On April 14, 2023, you contacted our Customer Happiness team via phone regarding the charge. Our team assisted you in refunding the charge ($19.99) as set out in our Refund Policy.
  Your *** membership has been canceled and you have been fully refunded for the yearly fee. Our team also deactivated your account for you per your request.
  If you need anything else, you may contact our Customer Happiness team at **********************************************************.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/11/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was charged by Grove Collaborative for the "perks" of ordering from them again. I don't want to order from them again - I just don't know how this can be an okay business practice. I haven't ordered anything in more than a year, and don't plan to, and they just charged me $21.00 - this is outrageous.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/20/2023

  Hi *********,

  Thanks for the opportunity to explain your *** renewal.

  Upon reviewing your account, you were charged $21.19 on 4-10-2023 for your *** annual renewal. *** is an optional yearly membership that gives you great perks, like free shipping on all orders over $29, full-size gifts, early access to new products, and exclusive sales. This is a part of your account that is separate from your shipments. Your *** membership was still active which is why this renewal was charged.

  Per our Terms of Use: You may cancel your membership to the *** Program at any time, but your cancellation will be effective at the end of the then-current annual subscription period unless cancelled within the 30 days from the charge date for your current subscription period. This means that if you cancel your *** Program subscription after 30 days or more of the charge date of your current subscription, your *** Program subscription will continue for the remainder of that subscription period and you will not receive a refund. You may cancel or renew your membership to the *** Program or find out more information about your *** Program subscription, including your annual expiration date, by accessing your Membership on the Account Settings page or contacting ********************************** Three days before your renewal date you should have received an email stating you could cancel and how to do so.

  Your *** membership has been canceled and you have been fully refunded for the yearly fee. You should see that refund back in your statements within a few business days depending on your bank or credit card company. You can still shop with us without a *** membership.  Additionally, your automatic shipments on your account have been turned off on your account to avoid any further recurring charges. Your regular Grove account does not cost anything.

  
  If you need anything else, you may contact our Customer Happiness team at **********************************
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In April of 2022, I purchased a bundle of cleaning and personal hygiene products from Grove Collaborative. The following month, I receive another box that was billed at 3x the price. I had not explicitly consented to a monthly subscription, meaning it was automatically added to my order and sneakily placed in some fine print. I called to request a refund and to return the unsolicited box. They first tried to say I couldn't get a refund because I opened the box, wven though I did not use any of the products. Then they said they would not do refunds unless I paid the shipping, which was ridiculously expensive because it was a big box.Customer Service also said they could not disable my subscription and that I had to go to my online account. As expected, the page to cancel the membership was multiple layers deep into the website; I can imagine this a move to make people who are not tech savvy give up altogether.One year later and I get another charge from Grove Co. Turns out that there was yet another yearly subscription that I was added to without my explicit consent. Of course, this "VIP" membership was hidden deep into another menu, separated from the monthly subscription page.This is a disgusting use of dark patterns designed to scam people into a subscription they did not want and make it as hard as possible for them to cancel.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/20/2023

  Hi ******,
  Thanks for giving us the opportunity to address your concerns.
  According to our records, you first ordered from us on 12-29-2021.
  Per our Terms of Use, Grove Collaborative is primarily a subscription service. On a recurring basis at intervals set forth on your Account Settings Page or as otherwise selected by you, we automatically charge your stored method of payment for your purchase of products in the ***************** and ship those purchased products to you (the Grove Collaborative Subscription).
  Your second order was processed with us on 1-28-2022. You contacted our Customer Happiness team regarding your unexpected order on 2-11-2022 and were provided a prepaid shipping label in order to return your shipment for a full refund. We fully refunded this order ($90.24) on 3-4-2022.
  When you first ordered, you also enrolled in a Free 60 Day VIP Trial, which ended on 3-14-2022 at which point it renewed for $19.99 for a year of VIP. This program includes free shipping for all orders over $29 (carbon-neutral, of course), four full-sized gifts, and early access to special promotions.  
  The description about our VIP Trial is included in our welcome messaging during a customers account set up and is fully described in our Terms of Use.
  You were charged annually for this membership on 3-14-2022 and 3-14-2023 because the membership was still active on your account. You were refunded for the 3-14-2023 charge on 4-7-2023.
  To confirm, your VIP membership has been canceled and your account has been opted out of automatic shipments since 2-3-2022. If there is something we can assist you with further regarding your account, please contact us at *********************************.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/28/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  There were two incidents that happened with this company, I placed a total of 3 orders with them. The first occurred on June 9,2022. I had moved and Received an offer of free items as part of my moving package. I decided to place an order with grove to receive the free items. I placed the order and almost immediately noticed that the order total was much higher than what I had chosen to purchase. I then looked at my receipt and saw that several items had been added to my cart without my permission. It was a major struggle to get grove to cancel and refund the order. I see that they have not changed their policy because I have used the service since and have to remove unwanted items from my cart every time. I recently, against my better judgement, placed another promotional order with grove and this time my order was not delivered due to bad weather. I was not notified that my order had been returned to the company, and had to contact them about its whereabouts because their website stated it had been delivered. I then was told by customer service that my order had been returned, and they would re-ship it. They made no mention of anything in the order being out of stock, but when I received the re-shipped order, several things were missing, including the promotional items, and several items I had ordered. When I looked at my account, they had refunded me for the items, but I was never notified that I wouldnt be receiving them. I will not be ordering from them again as the customer service has been consistently terrible. I have been misled, overcharged, and this company does very little to fix their mistakes.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/05/2023

  Hi Elle,

  
  Thanks for giving us the opportunity to address your concerns.

  
  While reviewing your account, we see that you placed your first order with us on 6-11-2022. Our Customer Happiness team assisted you with questions relating to this order and following a call to our team on 6-10-2022, this order was fully refunded to you. ($123.43). As explained by our team, the additional items added to your cart were from you searching our site for products and then you selecting them to your cart.

  
  Our team assisted you quickly and in a professional manner.

  
  Regarding your most recent order with us, you contacted our team regarding your missing shipment on 3-25-2023. Our team explained that unfortunately due to a weather event the carrier returned the shipment to us. Our carriers dont always notify us regarding delays in a timely manner so we were unable to reach out to you ahead of time. We do apologize for any inconvenience.

  Our team reshipped the order for you and informed you that a few items were out of stock and you were credited for those items. ($35.78). You can see what items you were credited for in your Order History in your account and which we have attached here. Your credits will not expire, will automatically be applied to your next order, and you are welcome to use them on whatever items you like.

  
  When you requested a refund from our team instead, we refunded you ($7.51) for one of the out of stock items that was a paid item. The rest were promotional items that you were not charged for at the time of your purchase, but again we have credited your Grove account for the value of those items.  

  
  We have resolved your outstanding issues in compliance with our Refund Policy, included in our Terms of Use and in a timely and professional manner. If there is something else we can assist you with regarding your account in general, please contact us at *********************************.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2023

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am not satisfied with the delivery of the package thereby I am not satisfied with the content. Between Grove Collaborative, their delivery vendor Veho, and Luxe pkg delivery system at the ********** South Loop property, the package is missing. I have concerns about the contents being compromised with this missing delivery. Prior to the Luxe pkg delivery system sending me an email I inquired about package at it was not discovered on the property. ********** personnel would not provide package log in information. Resolution: Refund and return delivery if discovered.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/05/2023

  Hi ******,

  
  Thanks so much for sharing your experience, we're so sorry to hear about the difficulties in receiving your first order from **.

  This is not the first impression that we like our customers to receive. 

  
  We will be sharing feedback with our carrier Veho regarding this shipment. You have now been 100% refunded for your first order. ($56.27) You should see the refund back in your statements within a few business days.

  
  We hope that your experience is a more pleasant one if you do decide to order from us again. Thank you for being a valued member of our community, we are so lucky to have you. If you need any help with your account going forward, please reach out to us at *********************************.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Feb 23rd, 2023 I accepted a promotion to sample free products while purchasing an item on poshmark.com. I thought this promotion strange as I had never heard of the company Grove Collaborative before but I have been using Poshmark for years so I trusted they wouldn't lead me astray. Once I followed the prompt to this website I was told I had to then pay for $20 dollars of items to get free items that were supposedly worth more than the $20 I would spend. This was red flag number two. But I'm very detail oriented, especially when trying new companies. I read every prompt and noticed the sight was automatically adding things to my cart. Flag number three. I took the extra things out of my cart and went online to see reviews of this company because it just felt fishy. Unfortunately the reviews I found at that time must have been staged because they said it was legit. I checked and rechecked my cart and the website prompts and there was nothing saying I would be signing up for a free trial or reoccurring products if I ordered through their promotion. I paid $25 to receive my "free" items. So, today when my bank alerted me of a fraudulent charge of $62 from this same company I was flabbergasted. I looked through my email to find I had not made another purchase there was no order receipt or confirmation email. My next thought was that someone has stolen my information. So I reached out to the company only to find out that they had "automatically" signed me up for a reoccurring order and VIP membership without my knowledge or consent, under the guise that I just didn't read the fine print. *****, insisted that even though they haven't shipped this mystery box that they couldn't possibly cancel it but that I'm free to return the unwanted items for a refund. Given other reviews this is a part of their scam. They charged me at 1am today but can not cancel an unauthorized order, same day. I want my money back or I will ****

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/05/2023

  Hi Lasharla,

  
  When you placed your first order with us on  2-23-2023 you were not charged for anything additional except your first order which you placed. Groves free gift sets for new customers do require a minimum purchase. This is outlined in the welcome offer on the website when it brings you through how Grove Collaborative works before you are able to browse the site. You can read more about that here ************************************************************************************************************
  

  Per our Terms of Use, Grove Collaborative is primarily a subscription service. On a recurring basis at intervals set forth on your Account Settings Page or as otherwise selected by you, we automatically charge your stored method of payment for your purchase of products in the ***************** and ship those purchased products to you (the Grove Collaborative Subscription). 

  
  This information is also presented to you upon checkout before your first order. You are welcome to cancel your flexible monthly shipments at any time in your account settings.

  
  Customers always have access to their Order History within their account which shows a receipt for each order. Additionally, we do send 7, 5, and 1 day reminders before any automatic shipment is charged. Per our records you received these reminders on ****, ****, and **** for your order charged on 3-26.

  
  When you contacted our Customer Happiness team on 3-26-2023 regarding your second order, you were provided a prepaid return label in order to return your order for a full refund per our Refund Policy. 

  
  We appreciate that mailing the shipment back was not acceptable to you so our team did fully refund your order ($62.00) at that time.

   

  If there is something more that we can assist you with, please let us know at *********************************.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/02/2023

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They've abused access to my payment information by submitting orders without my consent after I have already followed the necessary protocols to cancel/unsubscribe from said orders weeks in advance from the next scheduled order date. After reaching out to their team to fix this issue, they simply argue that "I didn't cancel auto shipments" and that is why my orders are still being placed automatically. I refuse to continue supporting a company that treats their customers this way. I know I went through their ridiculously complicated system for canceling item subscriptions and removing items from my cart. The fact they have some backdoor workaround for forcing orders on your account and you cannot even remove your payment information from the account yourself is also sketchy to say the least. I reached out the morning the order was processed on March 1st, 2023 (without my consent) to cancel the order and they refused. **** "the grove guide" didn't even attempt to help the situation and simply repeated the same script their chat agent pasted in the previous conversation and that was very disrespectful. They have simply taken my money without my permission and their support didn't seem to care about the situation at all or show any empathy for the inconvenience. The result is I received zero help from their support staff and supposed "supervisor" ****. It is obvious they don't care about their customers.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/15/2023

  Hi ******,

  
  Per our Terms of use, following your first purchase with Grove Collaborative, you automatically may be subscribed to the Grove Collaborative Subscription and it will renew automatically for additional intervals unless you cancel auto-shipments, modify your ship date, or remove or unsubscribe to product(s) in your Grove Collaborative Subscription.  

  
  During the first checkout, the information about our automatic shipments is also disclosed on our checkout page. (Screenshot attached for reference)

  
  When you contacted our Customer Happiness team on 3-1-2023, they reviewed your account and saw that your account was still enrolled in automatic shipments which is why this order was processed. The order was beyond our cancellation window so you were sent a prepaid return label in order to return the shipment per our Refund Policy.

  
  To resolve this issue fully for you, you have now been 100% refunded for the order ($91.38). You should see the refund back in your statements within a few business days. Your account has been deactivated and your form of payment has been removed so that no further charges will be processed. If you do wish to order from us in the future, you can reactivate your account by logging in and adding a new form of payment.

  
  We always welcome feedback from our Grove community to help us grow and improve. If there is anything we can further assist you with, please reach out to our Customer Happiness team at **********************************************************.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/16/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/22/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I keep getting billed for products I haven't ordered.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/03/2023

  Hi *******,
  
  Upon reviewing your account, you were charged $21.61 on 1-12-2023 for your *** annual renewal. *** is an optional yearly membership that gives you great perks, like free shipping on all orders over $29, full-size gifts, early access to new products, and exclusive sales. This is a part of your account that is separate from your shipments.
  Per our Terms of Use: You may cancel your membership to the *** Program at any time, but your cancellation will be effective at the end of the then-current annual subscription period unless cancelled within the 30 days from the charge date for your current subscription period. This means that if you cancel your *** Program subscription after 30 days or more of the charge date of your current subscription, your *** Program subscription will continue for the remainder of that subscription period and you will not receive a refund. You may cancel or renew your membership to the *** Program or find out more information about your *** Program subscription, including your annual expiration date, by accessing your Membership on the Account Settings page or contacting **********************************
  Your *** membership has been canceled and you have been fully refunded for the yearly fee. You should see that refund back in your statements within a few business days depending on your bank or credit card company. You can still shop with us without a *** membership. Your regular Grove account does not cost anything.
  If you need anything else, you may contact our Customer Happiness team at **********************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/15/2023

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Never ordered shipment

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/22/2023

  Hi ******,

  
  Per our Terms of Use, Grove Collaborative is primarily a subscription service. On a recurring basis at intervals set forth on your Account Settings Page or as otherwise selected by you, we automatically charge your stored method of payment for your purchase of products in the ***************** and ship those purchased products to you (the Grove Collaborative Subscription).

  
  During the checkout process when you placed your first order with us on 12-13-2022, our services were also described in our welcome messaging.

  
  When you contacted our Customer Happiness team on 2-13-2023, regarding your order, you were provided a prepaid return label in order to return the shipment per our Refund Policy.  Upon review, we see that the shipment was refused and marked as return to sender.

  
  You have now been 100% refunded for this ($55.30). You should see the refund back in your statements within a few business days. As confirmation, the automatic shipments have been turned off on your account so that no further charges will be processed unless initiated by you.  Additionally, we have unsubscribed you from any further marketing emails. 
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/19/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I heard about Grove, looking for environment safe house products. I ordered from them once to sample some and see if I liked it. After that initial order, I surprisingly was told they are going to process my order - again. What??? So I logged in and discovered I'm subscribed. Some of the items I didn't like, but some I can use. I blamed me for not understanding. So I adjusted what they were processing. The new order was processed and I immediately went in again, now realizing I unknowingly subscribed, and made absolutely sure the subscriptions were cancelled. Today, I see - without warning this time - they took money from me again and are in the "process" of re-sending again what they sent last month. STOP IT! If I am not refunded and my account with you completely deleted, I will file against you in small claims court for damages. You are taking advantage of knowing my banking information for a one time purchase. Not being able to cut ties makes you guilty of theft.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/25/2023

  Hi ****,

  A customers Grove account is made up of 2 parts: their shipments and their *** membership.

  
  Per our Terms of Use, Grove Collaborative is primarily a subscription service. On a recurring basis at intervals set forth on your Account Settings Page or as otherwise selected by you, we automatically charge your stored method of payment for your purchase of products in the ***************** and ship those purchased products to you (the Grove Collaborative Subscription).

  
  When you first ordered, you also enrolled in a Free 60 Day *** Trial, which ended on 1-17-2023 at which point it renewed for $19.99 for a year of ***. This program includes free shipping for all orders over $29 (carbon-neutral, of course), four full-sized gifts, and early access to special promotions. The description about our *** Trial is included in our welcome messaging during a customers account set up. 

  
  When you contacted us on 1-19-2023, we fully refunded the *** renewal and canceled your membership. We also canceled your automatic shipments on your account. Our correspondence with you is attached.
  Your payment information has now been removed from your account per your request.
  

  If you should wish to request a full data deletion, Grove has recently implemented new privacy technology to help in fulfilling these types of requests. Please visit our ************** (*****************************************************), and fill out the form, selecting "Delete as the type of request you wish to make. You will then receive a link in your email to verify your email address, and once you verify, the process will be started. You will receive an email confirmation when your deletion request has been completed.
  Please note, that requesting to delete your data will result in loss of access to your Grove account and ordering with Grove.