Commerce Commission dealing with complaints about Celebration Box

Wednesday, 12 September 2018

The boxes filled with packaged and loose confectionary, and donuts cost anywhere between $40 to nearly $100.

The Commerce Commission has received complaints about Celebration Box, started by Waist Trainer millionaire Iyia Liu, after a slew of complaints on social media.

Celebration Box sells gift boxes online, filled with packaged and loose confectionery and doughnuts, and priced between $40 and nearly $100.

Liu, who also founded Luxe Fitness and Bambi Boutique, started the website six weeks ago but numerous disgruntled customers have complained about late deliveries, some boxes not arriving up at all, poor communication and being blocked on social media for complaining.

The commission would not specify the number or types of complaints it had received.

Complaints have spurred posts about what is expected versus what actually arrives.

* NZ is not ahead of the e-commerce onslaught

* Substandard service because Kiwis don't complain**

On Tuesday Liu posted a message from Bali, Indonesia, to her friends and followers on Facebook sharing the struggles of running a fast growing start up.

'In the past month we have had to scramble to find staff, we've run out of space to operate meaning we had to find a warehouse, we kept running out of supplies of EVERYTHING.' she said.

Have you ordered from Celebration Box? Get in touch: anuja.nadkarni@stuff.co.nz

Liu was unavailable for a phone interview, but told Stuff on Friday she was struggling to keep up with demand. The business had grown from a few orders a day to 2000 a week.

'We have scrambled to hire staff, we now have a team of five full-time, two part-time and lots of casuals, we are trying our best to keep up with demand.

'Keep in mind we launched a month and a half ago, every single customer who has emailed in saying they are unhappy, we have provided a refund. I welcome you to go on to our customer service email to see for yourself.'

Her business partner Briar Howard said the Auckland company was operating from a 'home-based kitchen'.

'We knew of the potential success of our business, however, did not expect this to happen as quickly as it has requiring us bring forward our expansion plans,' Howard said.

'We've grown really quickly, so we've had to fast-track our plans to lease a bigger space. We signed the lease three weeks ago and have been renovating the space to suit our needs.'

Howard said it was important deliveries reflected how they were advertised.

But Howard said on Friday that despite the complaints last week, there had been a 'huge' number of orders.

Auckland University marketing professor Mike Lee said Liu had applied her successful Waist Trainer model, which has been donned by Instagram models and celebrities like Kylie Jenner, to Celebration Box but the difference in product had probably created the demand and supply problem.

'Waist Trainer is a non perishable product, there's no food safety worries with that. But the same way of doing business has been copied for Celebration Box, which sells perishable products, and that's where it gets tricky for the business,' Lee said.

'The stock has to meet demand, and the risk with anticipating demand is that you may be stuck with stale product.'

Lee said indicating the availability of stock online would manage customer's expectations.

'It all comes down to clear communication. Complaints arise when customers' expectations aren't met.'

Celebration Box delivers nationwide but on its website it said for its boxes with doughnuts, it 'recommended' North Island only, and South Island customers placed orders at 'your own risk'.

'If you are in the South Island please order at your own risk. However, we have sent our donuts NZ wide without a problem,' the website said.

Howard said this warning was in place because its website could not stop people in the South Island from placing orders.

Rural addresses had been removed as shipping options and work was underway to allow the website to distinguish between perishable and non perishable boxes and where they were being sent to, he said.

Social media and business commentator Paul Brislen said handling social media was a tricky area for businesses, but acknowledging a problem and apologising when necessary was key to good communication.

'Blocking complaints is unacceptable. It defeats any point of getting to a resolution. And they may well be willing to spend their money on your product, if the problem was resolved,' Brislen said.

It was also best practice to acknowledge the complaint on social media and then deal with it privately on email.

Liu is also promoting a networking business event in November, where Kiwi business women including designer Karen Walker, co-founder of Slingshot Annette Presley, Eat My Lunch's Lisa King and Liu will talk. Tickets prices start at $140.

* Comments on this article have now closed