TL;DR: Forgot to cancel my Purple Carrot subscription, totally my fault. But the order doesn't ship for another week and they still won't cancel it and I will be out of town. Is there any way to stop this shipment? At this point, I don't care about getting a refund, I don't want a box of food sitting on my front porch.

I'll be the first to admit this is on me. I thought I cancelled my Purple Carrot subscription a while back, but apparently I didn't. That's my mistake and I own it.

I got charged today for an order that doesn't ship for another week. I messaged their chat to cancel it (Calling the phone won't get you to a person), and they told me the weekly change deadline had already passed (Tuesday the week before shipment at 11:59 PM EST). So even though this box hasn't been packed, hasn't been shipped, and isn't going anywhere for days... they "systematically" can't cancel it because it's been sent to their fulfillment team.

A week out. They can't cancel a meal kit order a week out.

I can cancel my dog's food delivery with less notice than that. But Purple Carrot has apparently already locked this order into some unstoppable pipeline that no human being can intervene in. That just doesn't add up to me.

The issue is that I will be traveling next week and nobody is home to receive the box, so it's just going to sit on my porch and rot. They offered me a half box credit as a "courtesy" and told me the deadline was visible on my Order History page. Which sure, fair enough... but an email reminder about an upcoming charge would have been nice too. That's pretty standard with most subscription services.

Again, I'm not blaming them for the fact that I didn't cancel. That's 100% on me. But refusing to cancel a shipment that's still a week away? That feels like a policy designed to make it harder for customers to leave, not a real logistical limitation.

Has anyone had luck getting Purple Carrot to actually cancel an order after the deadline? Or is there another route I'm not thinking of?

I am appalled at the blanket policy change of no longer providing printed recipes.

Our phones are not as big as a large recipe card and I can see myself making mistakes. I print all my recipes off to be honest, the phone has never worked for me.

I could see allowing people to opt out, but to me, removing the cards is taking away a huge advantage of this service.

The large pictures and instructions make it easy for children as well.

I’m looking for a recommendation for a meal kit plan for my dad. Mom passed away last year and he’s been winging it. He has diabetes and needs to eat heart healthy. Any recommendations for ready made meals or a meal kit that isn’t too intense would be greatly appreciated. He’s great at grilling. Thanks.

Edit we’re in the Sacramento area.

They’re not announcing this publicly which is sketch. Just a PSA if you’re trying to avoid cyclospora

After you cancelled you sub taht the testing kit option automatically turned on, you also need to clear the cart (AND there is no UI for finalization/confirmation!), otherwise, you will be charged for something you never wanted to order.

How is everyone feeling eating the prepackaged leafy greens and vegetables and such from their kits? I’m torn.

I ordered my first Wildgrain box mostly out of curiosity. I kept seeing it mentioned in food threads, and liked the idea of having bread and pastries ready to bake at home.

Then I baked my way through the whole box and ended up ordering a second one.

Now I’m at that moment where you stop and ask: is this something I actually want to keep, or was it just a fun experiment?

After two boxes and a lot of croissants, bread, and pasta, here’s the pros and cons list I ended up with.

TL;DR: Wildgrain isn’t cheap compared to grocery bread, but it’s not trying to be grocery bread. For me, it sits between supermarket staples and a bakery run, with the advantage that everything waits in your freezer until you want it.

The reasons I might keep it

#1 Convenience

Having good bread or pastries in the freezer fixes the “I forgot bread” or “I wish I had pastries for guests” problem in about 25 minutes.

You get weekend croissants without leaving the house, fresh bread for soups, and pasta that feels a little nicer than a pantry box. It makes cooking at home easier on busy nights.

#2 The quality is better than typical freezer food

After baking through a bunch of the items, I can say the biggest quality point isn’t just the taste, it’s that things actually bake the way you expect them to. The croissants rise, the bread gets a real crust, and the pasta cooks like fresh pasta.

#3 Variety helps keep it interesting

You can mix in croissants, cookies, pasta, waffles, rolls, sauces, and a few other things. So the box ends up supporting different meals instead of just stacking up loaves of bread.

#4 Simple ingredients and fermentation

A lot of their breads lean toward sourdough or slow fermentation, which gives them that more bakery-style texture and flavor. If you like that kind of bread, it’s noticeable.

#5 The baking timing is predictable

One small thing I appreciated is that the baking instructions are pretty consistent. Most of the breads and pastries fall in the same 20–25 minute window, making it easier to work into dinner or breakfast without guessing.

#6 Good for small households

If you live alone or with one other person, bakery bread often gets stale before you finish it. Being able to bake things one at a time helps avoid that.

#7 The house smells amazing when you bake the bread or croissants.

The reasons I might cancel it

#1 The price compared to grocery bread

Compared to supermarket bread, it’s going to feel expensive. A grocery loaf is still the cheapest, and Wildgrain definitely costs more than that. The value makes more sense if you compare it to bakery bread or pastries.

#2 Freezer space gets crowded

Six items doesn’t sound like a lot until they’re sitting in your freezer. If you have a small freezer or already keep a lot of frozen food around, it can start get packed.

#3 You still have to remember to bake things

This sounds obvious, but sometimes I forget I have things in the freezer or baking sounds like too much work. If you’re someone who prefers instant food, that extra step might matter.

#4 Subscriptions always require a little management

They do send reminder emails before each shipment so you can swap items or skip a box. But it’s still a subscription. You have to be aware of that so you don’t end up with a delivery you didn’t really need.

Who this probably works best for

After using it for a while, I think Wildgrain fits a pretty specific type of home cook who cooks often, loves bakery-style bread, and likes the convenience of baking things fresh when you want them.

It probably makes less sense if you’re strictly comparing prices to grocery bread or if you already have an amazing bakery nearby.

Keeping it or not? 

I’m keeping the subscription. After two boxes, it’s clear that the convenience fits the way I cook. Bread, croissants, and pasta I can bake when I need them have ended up being more useful than I expected. 

I also understand why some people cancel after the first box. If you’re comparing it strictly to grocery prices, it’s going to feel expensive.

Has anyone else tried them? Did you end up keeping it or no?

Lemon Pepper Pork Filet: 5/5

Salmon with Red Peppers & Olives: 3/5

Pesto Chicken & Roasted Potatoes: 5/5 - I added small roasted peppers (not part of recipe)

Overall love the variety of veggies accompanying the meat for each dish (should be baseline given Green Chef is an organic premium tier compared to its competitors). Less prep work than Marley Spoon that I keep in rotation but still requires chopping whole veggies and taking leaves off of the kale for example, but things like garlic comes peeled and ready for dicing.

My partner and I do feel kind of hungry still after eating our serving…!

I’m trying to focus on my health, manage my portions, and cut down on calories. My main issue is that I work all day, and by the time I'm done, I'm starving. I end up mindlessly snacking on chips, grabbing random "quick meals," or ordering takeout.

I want to build consistency. I need quick, convenient meals where the calorie counts are explicitly provided so I can track everything accurately for CICO. Additionally, I am trying to completely avoid dairy to help manage my asthma.

For those who have been in a similar spot: Which meal kits have helped you stay on track with calorie counting while offering good dairy-free options? I'd love to hear your recommendations!

I think it would be better for me if the meal came mostly prepared but If i have to cook I will, it may just take longer for me to plan that in

I've been a customer since the end of May (I've only had 6 total boxes) and hello fresh is 3/6 for boxes having the correct items. At first it was whatever but then I started having an issue with it when it is clear there is a quality control issue that isn't being addressed.

For example, I got the gnocchi bacon dish. Idek what gnocchi is which is why I chose it and the meal kit didn't even include the gnocchi. I got a little $5 credit even though the whole dish was ruined. (In my opinion should have had the whole meal refunded). I also got the cheesy ancho BBQ chicken sandwiches and guess what! No bbq sauce and no gouda. What gives!?

As a new customer this just shows how genuinely garbage hello fresh is. I love the idea and I bet there are other alternatives that are more reliable and I bet even better. So anyways, does anyone have any recommendations for a service similar to hello fresh where they just send u the ingredients? I'm so disappointed.

Also, they have the shittiest loyalty program. Thanks

My wife and I are currently getting two HelloFresh meals a week, which works out well. However, we have an upcoming medical issue, so we're looking for easier, fully prepared meals that also include breakfast. Years ago, when looking to lose some weight, we subscribed to BistroMD which send 3 meals ready to heat for every day of the week. It wasn't bad, but since it's been so long I'm not sure if they are still any good or if there are better options out there now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Smoky Spanish Pork Pan Roast: 5/5 as far as meal kit flavors go! High effort prep work of chopping veggies, making the marinade paste (consists mainly of smoked paprika), and oiling pans and veggies for a 450F oven roast. I added the green beans into the roast for some extra veggies. This is a recipe I wouldn’t have defaulted to on my own if MS has not introduced me to it.

Martha’s Best Lemon Dijon Chicken: 4/5 also high effort and involves both oven and the pan. I liked that the chicken breasts came already pounded thin for faster cooking. can be pretty bland if it weren’t for the sauce - no time to marinade the chicken itself so the Dijon sauce is a great touch for flavors. quinoa in rice is leftover from the third recipe (below).

Caprese Gluten Free Grain Bowl: 3/5 very healthy - great flavors of shallots and sun dried tomatoes to add some flavor depths. also lots of prep work with chopping especially with frying shallots thereafter. It’s just not my definition of a weeknight dinner portion. went great with some scrambled eggs the next morning.

The food itself is flavorful, convenient, and true to its roots. But a closer look at the nutrition label gives pause: 10–15g of saturated fats in a 500–600 calorie meal is on the higher end, which is worth knowing if you're watching your cholesterol levels. Good for a quick time saver meal option, but not a good daily meal option.

The bigger letdown though is the subscription experience. Signing up is seamless but canceling is a serious pain. Getting out of the subscription requires navigating through 10+ clicks, with no clear indication anywhere in the ordering or sign-in flow that you even have an active subscription. It feels deliberately opaque, and that kind of dark pattern erodes trust fast.

Until they fix the subscription workflow, I'd approach with caution and ensure that you keep track of your subscriptions.

I just canceled my Thistle subscription. They messed up 4 of my first 5 orders - MANY missing items, leaking ice gel pack that slimed everything, a bkfst item that was spoiled, etc. I was doing this for meal planning but i couldn't trust they would actually deliver my plan. Everytime i contacted customer service, an AI agent responded cheerfully but completely scripted.

With each screw up, they put credit onto my account and keep my money. This tactic locks customers into continuing with their crappy service. I finally got them to refund my money and I'm done.

Hope this helps anyone who is shopping around for plans. Sigh.

I needed to change my email address, discover I can't.

Support "To change your email address, cancel your account, create a new one. Oh you may be flagged for fraud."

Me "Can I get a manager to promise me I won't be punished."

Support does absolutely everything to not have a manager state I won't be punished.

Support helpfully cancels my account without telling me. This was a soft cancel, I can still go back in and reactivate that account with my old email address.

Create a new account, discover I can't re-enroll in a program for free shipping and other discounts.

"As per policy, we cannot transfer that from account to a different account."

Less than a day later after canceling my orders, "Sorry about that, here's a discount and maybe we will re-enroll you later."

Grand scheme of things it would have been better if they didn't have any support versus this experience.

Also the abundance of low value chatbot "AI" formatted responses feels an extra layer of insult to absolutely failing this badly. There is no way they can fix this because I just wanted to change my email address.

God forbid "[email protected]", "[email protected]", or "[email protected]" would want to change their email address! I mean that's such a weird thing, why would anyone ever want to change their email address?

Haven't devolved down to using curse words but their automated system keeps contacting me asking "How was your customer support experience? Blah blah lip service about being competent."

I guess back to factor, I heard they're only half as soggy as it used to be!

Signed up for Green Chef, even added sides and protein shakes, was actually excited to start after being off of meal kits for a few years.

Received confirmation of delivery with a delivery photo. Problem was the photo was not of my house, and the box was not delivered to me.
I attempted to contact their customer service, and was forced to engage with an AI chat bot for ten minutes. Then I got through to a human, only to realize that it was their 3rd party delivery contractor and not Green Chef. After fifteen minutes I was informed that that driver had closed out their route, so my concern would be “escalated.” Which meant, I was out of luck and should try contacting Green Chef. Which I had been attempting to do.

I then called Green Chef, where I was told that they would register my concern. When I stated that I wanted to cancel my subscription,their representative suggested that I could make my subscription for every other week. Which was baffling.

That’s the sad tale of my failed attempt to sign up for Green Chef, and the 45 lost minutes of my life spent resolving their issue that ended in ordering take out.

My husband and I tried out Marley Spoon, we've subscribed for about 2 months or so now. Everything was great for our first two months' boxes, but this month alone has been an absolute nightmare.

Two weeks ago, my package was delayed by a day and the food showed up smelling awful and the ice pack (ONE!) completely melted. I checked the temp of the meats with my instant read thermometer and they temped at 66 degrees F. Today, my box showed up a day late and BOTH ice packs were melted and one had a hole in it, so the ice pack goop got all over my food. The meat temped at 68 degrees F today!

Their notification email says that they package their food so well, that it should survive a few days delay, but it actually can't even survive one day of delay. If you subscribe, please please make sure to temp the meat to make sure it's being kept at a safe temperature.