Auckland dessert box company Celebration Box has again attracted a raft of dissatisfied customers after Valentine's Day orders were delivered late.
Celebration Box was founded by Boss Babes star Iyia Liu and Briar Howard, but was sold last year to new owners Wayne and Melanie Kennerley.
In 2018 , complaints were made to the Commerce Commission about the company after boxes arrived that were substantially different to what was ordered, and refunds were not offered in line with the Fair Trading Act.
An investigation by the Commission last year found the company may have breach the Fair Trading Act, but the agency stopped short of pursuing legal avenues against the company, opting instead for the issuing of a compliance notice.
One of the factors in the Commission deciding not to take the company to court was that its then-owners assured the Commission it had "made significant changes to its processes to ensure that similar issues do not reoccur".
However, dozens of customers this week complained on the company's Facebook page, saying their Valentine's Day orders had not arrived in time for the big day, despite ordering them weeks in advance.
"I ordered the box two weeks before Valentine's Day just wanting to do something nice for my partner," Olivia Hopkins said.
"They send the tracking code so you can track it and on Valentine's Day it still hadn't been picked up, so I knew it wasn't the couriers' fault.
"My partner had done all these nice things for me and I had nothing to give back - by the time it came the day after, it was kind of irrelevant and everything inside was stale and the flower was brown and gross.
"As a stay-at-home mum, it was really expensive for me and I felt like I was ripped off and also felt terrible that I did nothing for my partner."
NEW OWNERS APOLOGISE AND PROMISE TO PUT THINGS RIGHT
Celebration Box co-owner Wayne Kennerley was apologetic, and said the company "had some challenges" completing orders.
"We thought we had a good plan in place which had worked well at Christmas where we’d successfully sent out thousands of boxes with few issues," Mr Kennerley said.
"However, on Thursday we found we'd been short delivered a couple of key product lines.
"While we managed to find an alternative supplier in one case, we simply couldn’t find the product we needed in all cases.
"Despite a huge effort from the team we didn't manage to catch up and we missed a key courier cut off for some North Island customers.
"We accept we should have done a better job ensuring we had the stock available."
Mr Kennerley said the company had taken note of the Commerce Commission's compliance advice, and that the issues faced this time were different to last time.
"The core issues the Commerce Commission investigated were that the boxes sent out were substantially different to what was ordered and initially there weren’t any refunds offered," he siad.
"We were conscious of that in our decision not to make substantial product substitutions, and to work with our customers to offer refunds where appropriate.
"For customers where we couldn't supply their box we’ve offered a full refund, or the option of getting their box delivered this week at a substantial discount.
"We know Valentine's Day in particular is important to a large number of our customers and for key events we'll be closing off orders earlier and ensuring we have the stock available.
"What occurred wasn't up to the standards our customers or Mel and I expect and we will be doing a full review to ensure this doesn't occur again."
A spokesperson for the Commerce Commission said one complaint had been received regarding Celebration Box since they were issued compliance advice last year on June 7.
The spokesperson said the Commission is not currently investigating the company.
News tip or more information? Email Luke Appleby or Follow @lukeappleby
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