I find it odd. When searching for actual customer reviews & testimonials for LetterJoy, there aren’t many. I WONDER WHY?
If you haven’t heard about LetterJoy, it’s a subscription letter service that sends one historic letter a week to your mail box. Their tag is something like: “History’s best letters to your door.”
The boy gifted me a 3 month subscription this past Christmas 2018. When I heard what he picked out for me, I was geeked. This was going to be the gift that kept on giving, and I was eager to also get additional information about their educational letters since we homeschool.
HOWEVER… I’ve had 3 separate issues and have been given the runaround by whomever mans their FB messenger – which is where I first contacted them to (hopefully) resolve my issue(s).
My general overview and review of the LETTERJOY service is: cool concept, but too many glitches, lackluster customer support, and I feel they still haven’t rectified my account situation. In short, I was awarded TWO WHOLE ADDITIONAL LETTERS “for my troubles” and still crossing my fingers, toes and eyes whilst I await their arrival!! Below is my blanket review of LetterJoy for anyone that cares to read:
Got LetterJoy as a gift. Have had 3 separate issues with my account. Since this was a gift, I contacted them through their FB messenger. My first letter arrived (late- but I figured NBD) was excited, and happy… at first. Then my second letter arrived with 2 duplicate pages. I contacted c/s- was told they wouldn’t send a replacement- that they would add a letter to the end of my subscription (after a lot of verbal run around)… ok- so incomplete letter #2 – letter #3 never even arrived. I live in a pretty big city, no inclimate weather conditions, and got ALL my other mail timely. After a lot of back and forth I was given excuses, and ambiguous solutions that I had to ask for actual clarification… more than once. SUPER FRUSTRATING. Felt like I was dealing with a bot. As it stands, I’m NOW awaiting letters #2 and #3 – which I have been advised they are resending, and then hopefully whatever else is supposed to arrive as per my gift subscription – oh and TWO whole additional letters “for my troubles” As of now, I’m definitely underwhelmed. Hopefully others haven’t had my same negative experience with LetterJoy’s customer service. It’s a cool concept and I was totally geeked when I initially found out about my gift… BUT- it doesn’t feel like Christmas every week when I open my mailbox and get NOTHING!!
…
I sent copies of the letters, and the post marks for what I received as proof or WHEN they mailed my letters, and their contents.
Thought I’d add the correspondence with their c/s dept for the record.
So the subscription ended, we didn’t renew, and THEN the CEO reached out. Nothing came about the message he sent to me. For what Josh paid for this gift…I think it was around $50- the service did not live up to the expectation. Customer Service 101, make sure your customers are happy, do whatever you can to attempt to make that happen.
Did you enjoy the letter you did receive?
As I was reading the responses, they always said letters as in plural. So I’m not sure how you got one from that. I’m debating ordering for my son and to be honest the responses they sent to you solidified my decision to order from then. The customer service seems great. They tried to recify the situation and their website has always said it takes 10 days to process. I got my son a sample letter and he loved it. Thanks for your kinda Karen review, I’ll diffently be ordering.
Hi JoJo Peck,
Glad your son enjoys the letters and that you are happy with your purchase. Unsure if you were responding to my initial review and critique of LetterJoy service, or lack thereof.
My review of the product and experience was originally written 3-4 years ago. I’m still surprised that people are continuing to have issues with LetterJoy… I really had high hopes for them as a budding product.
As for my dis-satisfaction of the way customer service handled my particular situation, I just wanted to refresh you on WHY I happened to be unhappy with the outcome. I had more than one missing letter. Multiple missing letters and then being given the run around when I inquired as to how they intended to rectify the problem. Since I had so many missing letters, and story lines that would have in theory began and then had no resolution… or started in the middle of the sequence… I felt the entire offering from LetterJoy was lackluster.
Yes, I did ask for clarification as to HOW MANY letters I would then be receiving to rectify the situation. Simply because I wanted an exact number, that they would be accountable for. In the end, it really didn’t matter because as I received the content sporadically, I really didn’t look forward to getting the letters whenever they showed up, with partial story lines. For me, I expected more.
Thanks for the comment,
~thatgirljen
THANK YOU FOR THIS. I was thinking of getting this for my husband but not now!
My husband got me letterjoy as a gift. I am not excited about the letters at all. The premise was interesting, but the letters are not interesting, don’t draw the reader into further curiosity, and they are extremely random. I would daresay I loathe letterjoy for falsely leading history buffs into a thick, tasteless mire that is……muck.
1) I appreciate you sharing your honest experience and opinion with Letterjoy. It gave me pause before ordering.
2) Do you realize how entitled and whiny you sound?
I’d love for there to be a more reliable, more predictable, more well-explained product offering out there. But…. there isn’t, apparently.
Calling out subpar customer service is one thing. Expressing where that service could have been better is another one thing.
Going out of your way to insult the CEO’s attempts to reconcile the issue and provide some form of recompense is a little much – especially when you didn’t seem to ask for a refund or propose any other solution, instead just insulting an entrepreneurs efforts to create a meaningful product that doesn’t exist otherwise.
I WILL NOT RENEW MY SUBSCRIPTION TO YOUR WEBSITE!
(doesn’t feel too good, huh? Maybe a little insulted? aggravated? annoyed? feel like I’m a jerk? After all, you built this whole website, and I only invested in a google search and a few $ worth of my time to partake.
see what I mean?)
Respect if you have the courage to post this on your site as readily as you have the courage to post your personal correspondence with the service providers you engaged with.
I’m not interested in engaging with this any further, so I’m strategically not sharing my name, and using a spam email.
Just as frustrated with subpar customer service as you, in general, but even moreso frustrated by entitled millenial mindset that businesses should 100% cater to our every whim – those businesses are just people too.
I’ve just ordered Letterjoy for my dad’s birthday. Hopefully the customer service kinks have been worked out, and it’s a silky smooth experience that makes my Dad rave about a thoughtful, exciting, super unique gift.
If not, well…. maybe there’s an opportunity for you to snag some of Michael’s revenue flow. Or some other kid smarter and more driven than us.
Cheers.
What’s your problem sir? She wasn’t AT ALL “whiney” or “entitled”.
I had a similar experience w/LetterJoy. They charged me TWICE for 1 subscription. At least 3hours of MY time, UNPAID, attempting to work it out. They wore me down. Givethem the money, just don’t let me have the nagging feeling that I need to do something about being screwed..
I think this guy is connected to the company in some way. He did nothing but attack the reviewer very personally and illogically.
Obviously the reviewers age has nothing to do with her content.
Maybe this guy is the CEO in anonymous guise. Whoever it is sure took this balanced review very personally.
Yes, we’re both Jannas!
LOL 2 Jannas have found my blog? That’s kinda cool! 🙂
~thatgirljen
I can’t agree more. To me this review it’s what I’d call a “karen” review. She didn’t even understand what “letters” meant.. she thought it said letter and her own proof shows they said letters the first time.. lol.
I think their customer service response was great and not too mention it states on their site 10 days to process. She is ls making a negative review for something she got as a gift “at no cost to her” but she wanted more free letters in my opinion.
Anyone with a brain can read the CS responses was great and yet they had to clarify “letters” meant more then one. Lord I’m happy I found this Karen review that showcased letterjoys great Customer Service.
Hi there JoJo Peck,
I always find it funny when people use the word “Karen” to describe a person (woman) who is dis-satisfied with something, and complains about it. But that’s all part of customer service and the exchange of money for products, goods or services rendered. Not everyone will be happy, especially when a customer has to make multiple attempts to get an actual representative to assist.
I want to clarify that the GIFT was from my husband, not some random person. So it actually was “at a cost to me” since we share finances in my house. The 3 month subscription didn’t put my family in any sort of financial distress. it didn’t cost a million dollars. And… I wasn’t wanting a lifetime supply of LetterJoy letters, I simply wanted them to rectify the subscription and work on their customer service work flow. They were a small company at the time, and had some growing pains to overcome.
Yes, I did ask for clarification as to HOW MANY letters I would then be receiving to rectify the situation. Simply because I wanted an exact number, that they would be accountable for. I had multiple missing letters, and the content itself was sent sporadically. I expected more, based on their initial offering back in 2018.
Sadly, it seems like there are still customers to date (2023 MARCH) that are currently experiencing the CONTINUED lack of customer service with LetterJoy when it comes to a dissatisfied consumer.
I wrote and shared my experience with LetterJoy to share my personal experience. Of course YMMV. It sounds like your son is enjoying the letters. Glad you had a positive experience.
Thanks for the comment,
~thatgirljen
From a different angle – there are ‘careers’ advertised on the Letterjoy site – to which I applied just recently. I received a response that invited me to do a ‘paid trial’ as a way to ascertain my writing abilities. In the application, he asked for a pitch for a monthly theme. For the paid trial, he asked for the complete theme to be researched and written: 4 letters and postscripts in total.
The offered compensation was $500. No waiver for how the final product would be used. No contract.
All he needs are 12 schlubs to be duped into submitting copy for $6,000 and his next year’s worth of product is done.
I declined the offer.
Wise of you, I think.
How much did you really expect to earn? They are a business. And I’m sure there’s much more that goes into it than the writing. $500 isn’t bad for 4 letters. Most companies ask for unpaid writing samples before you’re hired.
This looks like a question directed to “A Historian” and not me. I never worked for or wrote content for Letter Joy. I did find it interesting to hear from someone who actually experienced the back end of their content creation process. Maybe if “A Historian” sees this comment, they will reply?
Thanks for the question,
~thatgirljen
This was a gift from my grandchildren. The first was received postmarked January 18, 2019. That last received was August 12, 2019. I have received a total of 27 letters. It should be 35. Right? Please reply. Maxine Traudt
Hi Jen,
I ‘m following up on this thread to let you know that since ordering my Letterjoy package August 9th, my father has not received any letters, even though I scheduled them to begin arriving in September.
I have requested a refund and am eagerly providing negative feedback on all formal review platforms I can find.
Apologies for letting my frustration with your justifiable frustration with product quality as the gift RECEIVER instead of the gift PURCHASER get in the way of realizing that you were forewarning me that this company has no commitment to executing.
If I had to guess how they’re still in business, I’d wager that they are focused way more on big clients than the one-offs. Which is gross. Letterjoy, just turn off your offerings to one-off clients, if that’s the case!
Otherwise, they simply don’t truly care that the product quality is so consistently abysmal, and all of their outreach is, as you implied, simply half-hearted insincere damage control in order to keep the money flowing.
Final a quick, mostly personal followup here to say that:
after a snafu of my father trashing the letters believing them to be spam, and Letterjoy providing unexpectedly attentive customer support follow-up, I’ve been notified by my father that he has received the letters.
I cant speak to the quality of the content, and I think this gift buying and evaluating adventure has run sufficiently course of my attention span…
But just wanted to close the loop on my earlier “you know what, you’re right, these assholes dont care” screed.
Cheers!
I cannot find a way to co9nbtact them directly! I am amazed you SPOKE to someone. How?
Ugh — I got LJ for my parents and my in-laws for Christmas. I wish I’d read online reviews before I signed them up!
It was supposed to start January 1, and apparently they’ve received one letter, with an extremely lackluster “post-script” containing an elementary-school level history lesson that they remembered from elementary school… in the 1950s…
My parents called to ask if they were supposed to receive more letters and more/better info. I said I thought they were *supposed* to. Sad trombone is right 🙁
I
I received this as a xmas gift that was to be received in the mail in Jan. That was the only information given; I didn’t even know it had to do with a company called Letterjoy. About 1 wk in, I received an email to confirm the name and mailing address; 2 weeks after that a letter arrived. The envelope was from “Sherlock Holmes” with a Washington DC address, though the letterhead was a banker in a town in England; it was requesting Sherlock’s help and laid out the scenario.
The writing was in the style of the period but clearly a recognizable plot, not necessarily one from a Holmes story. The 2nd and 3rd letters came on the same day about 3 weeks later and the 4th letter came about a week after that. No instructions arrived either by mail or email during any of this.
During the last week of Feb, I received two letters on the same day. The envelopes were #2 and #3 in the lower right. The were from another Holmes adventure but more disjointed than the first. Envelope #1 did arrive this week, which cleared that up but still left me with the wtf-is-the point-of-this feeling I’ve had since it started.
Granted, the gift-giver is not the best communicator but I feel that if some business is sending things directly to a recipient of a gift, ALL information pertaining to it – except, perhaps, the price – should be supplied.
A look at their website, which does not provide a way to contact them, either! I scanned the FAQs and found a way to send an email if you had another question – great! WRONG!!! You had to choose a topic and all of those were the FAQs. I just picked one and sent my email.
Great idea — lousy execution.
Hello. I was wondering if you have tried any of the other LetterJoy type services? I really like this concept and can’t seem to find a whole lot of reviews for the different versions. HistoryByMail and HistoricMail are the other two I’m seeing and I’m wondering if you have heard anything about these?
Please add my apartment number to my mailing address, to read: 2080 Oak Bay Avenue #401.
Thanks for the review. I was considering giving this product a try, yet your review and that of others has convinced me to take a hard pass on it.
In particular, lots of people are complaining about not receiving the letters they’ve paid for. It sounds like the customer service department has been given no way to address that very important problem.
Sorry about the “mansplaining”comment from Mr. Courageous Troll.
I found your blog after Googling “Lovejoy reviews.” I’m subscribing to your stuff for what that’s worth. I certainly don’t think that your business hinges on my subscription.
Thanks again!
Janna Chan,
I actually appreciated the mansplaining to the Courageous Troll. In a world full of screens fake names and people hiding behind them, it’s nice to have a comment that is supportive. I strive to provide an honest review whenever I DO review a company or situation, while also remembering to remain diplomatic with my responses. After all I’m just one person with one experience. YMMV
I’ve done a few other posts detailing my disappointment with other products or services. Usually that happens only after attempting to rectify the situation directly with the company first. My blog has become a place where I have from time to time, created a post to let other consumers know of my experiences. And yeah- I also have written good reviews of products and companies too on my blog.
I’ve also been fair when people don’t agree with my opinion… dare I say courageous? LOL
Sincerely, thanks for the response and thanks for subscribing.
~thatgirljen
PS you can also find me on YOUTUBE at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMw00gabX-9jYq-SWDgij-w/videos
Hi Jen, Here’s my experience:
I cannot tell if this was a SCAM or Incompetence, sad but true. I first bought 6 weeks of letters which was good.I renewed for 1 year, and it fell apart. They skipped many weeks, often I did not get letters from them. Must have sent 8 emails asking after, they auto-replied, couple times even a human replied. In response to missed letters sent they sent me a couple DUPLICATES, of which I already received. Now it’s ben about 5 weeks in a row that they have failed to send them. GREAT IDEA, but for me they completely blew it. I REALLY WANTED this to work, but have come to my limit, I cannot spend more time attempting to solve this non-receipt of letters (paid for in advance, mind you). I write this review of bad service/Failure to live up to the deal so that others know my story with them. Too bad, I wish it were different. Great Idea, Poorly Implemented. I WOULD HAVE BEEN A LIFETIME CUSTOMER, but after 8 missed weekly letters I’m calling it quits and leaving it at that.
While looking to place my review elsewhere I found yours, and though a copy of my experience will fit here too. Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave,
I’m sorry to hear that your experience with LetterJoy seems to mirror my experience from back in 2018.
I really had hoped by now they would have implememted a better customer support and user experience. Their company is a few years old, so one would think that the kinks would have been worked out by now. Should you find any other service that is similar, and decide to give it a try, drop me another comment. I happen to really enjoy historical writings.
Thanks for the comment,
~thatgirljen
Thanks for your review. I wanted to send a subscription to my MIL. She just lost her husband and I thought this would be something to look forward to during the next year since she is such a history buff. I have had a (flawless) subscription to the Flower Letters before so I was thinking this would be great since it wasn’t fiction and right up her ally. So glad I read your original review and all the follow up responses up to this year. I certainly don’t want to chance disappointment for her so I will keep looking for something more reliable.
Hi Debra Lynne,
I know Letter Joy has a new pay as you go option, if you wanted to check out the content… OH and thanks for posting about Flower Letters, I haven’t heard of them. Did you like their service? I’ll have to look them up!
~thatgirljen
Hi, Jen. Like so many others, I was fortunate to read your review before gifting gifting LetterJoy to my husband. The funny thing is, when I asked the person who introduced me to the idea what her opinion was, she really liked the “one letter per month ” that she received. I can’t help wondering if there is a variety of subscription plans, or that she was blissfully ignorant of missing 3/4 of the package??? I have researched the other companies with a similar product and will follow up by checking reviews.
PS The text thread on this issue was possibly more interesting than some of the historical mail floating around. What a
study!
study!
Hi Patricia,
Let me know if you find a different letter of the week (or whenever it happens to arrive) company. I’m always on the look out for historical stuff.
Thanks for the comment,
~thatgirljen
Hi Jen,
Thanks so much for your blog. I had read reviews about questionable and inconsistent service from LetterJoy in 2019 when they first started up. I thought they might have fixed their workflow and so ordered the Military package from them for my husband’s 50th birthday. I was promised to receive the first letter within the first few days of August, but…..nothing. I emailed them to cancel the subscription and….nothing. Thanks to all the other reviews, I decided not to pursue receipt of services and called my credit card company to cancel the subscription. I feel like I dodged a bullet. Especially after reading everyone’s experiences here! So thanks for sharing your input- appreciate it! Cheers!
Hi Aimee,
I’m sorry that your husband’s gift didn’t meet expectations. Similar experience as mine. Glad you were able to cancel through your cc. I hope you find a FABULOUS makeup gift for the LetterJoy experience, or lack thereof.
Thanks for the comment and the update on their customer service,
~thatgirljen