It has come time to bid adieu to the subscription workout clothes service I have been with through many iterations. In my most recent post about Ellie, I compared the relationship to a love affair. Well, the ups-and-downs of the love affair are too much and she has become the addiction I know I need to kick.
There were a few things leading up to this end: first, the clothes just aren’t as cute. I primarily need shorts and sports bras, they have only two sports bras out of months of collections, and five types of shorts—though I don’t know that you can really call the tight knee-length ones shorts. I guess technically speaking above-the-knees qualifies as shorts, but they’re more like short capri pants than real shorts. The collections seem to be focused on capris and leggings, and this may be what the majority wears, but it isn’t what I want.
Second, I already expressed my dissatisfaction with the quality of the fabric going down, and I think the attention to great fit has suffered as well. The clothes themselves, it seems, are more generically made than they were when the line first launched—and more generic means worse fitting. Le sigh.
Third, but certainly not least, is The Email. This email ruffled all sorts of feathers when it arrived in October, but I hung on to give Ellie time to sort it out:
Basically, in the worst marketing and customer retention move a company can make, they upped the price for their early adopters by 45%, and $7.95 more than a price new subscribers paid the past month. As you guys know, I’m an ambassador, so I wrote to my contact and asked a few questions. She emailed back saying she was leaving the company. I sent this email to her temporary replacement:
Hi M,
I understand K is no longer with the company, do you have any comments I can share with my readers regarding the change from grandfathered in FFC members? Below is the note I sent K.
I’m surprised the ambassadors didn’t get an update on this change first. I have heard some very negative feedback, including that later subscribers paying the $49.95 get free shipping while the group of early adopters transitioning from the $39.95 formerly-grandfathered-in-rate don’t. While I really want to support and believe in ellie, I do tend to agree with that sentiment of frustration and disappointment. While I understand the rising costs and commitment to quality, it does seem like early brand champions aren’t being rewarded here. I don’t think it’s good business, and I am going to write something soon on my blog to that effect.
I’m wondering if you have any comments that I could share on my blog?
She responded with a whole bunch of fluff and no real answers.
Hi Lyssa,
Thank you for reaching out! I’m sorry to hear that you feel this way. I hope I can shed some light…
The users that were offered $49.95 with free shipping opted into Ellie during a special limited time offer. Of course our loyal subscribers are a brand asset and hugely important. We want to reward FFC members every chance we get, for championing our brand and supporting Ellie. We always strive to offer exclusive deals and promotions to our FFC members. In order to continue to offer quality products at prices well below other top of the line competitors, we had to make a price adjustment.
In order to account for the change in shipping, and reward them for their longtime loyalty, we offered these consumers $10 gift cards one for them and one for a friend, access to our VIP customer service hotline, and will continue to give them first access to new collections. We’d love to keep the prices at what they were but it wasn’t a sustainable price point for our company with the rising costs. We felt it was correct to notify the members on an individual basis before sharing with the influencer community. It’s always nice to have our influencers know about important news first, however when it comes to price changes, it’s very important that all subscribers effected by the change be notified on an individual basis so they can contact Customer Service if they have any questions and are clearly aware of the cost.
Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
M
For more: The Naked Truth About Subscription Start-Ups: the Good, the Bad, the Scams
In short, they didn’t sort it out, and they haven’t done a good job of rewarding early adopters, much less ambassadors. They even started to offer a higher referral reward to members referring friends than ambassadors, but I kept up the ambassador link in order to give my readers the 20% discount. In the interest of keeping this blog a place you can come for honest reviews and really good stuff in general, I will be removing the ellie ads you normally see, and giving up my affiliate link. I’m bummed, but the time has come. Breaking up sure is hard to do!
I will carry on the memories: these shorts and the pink sports bra will remain my faves!
