CB and I both got our As Ever packages on Monday! So far, I’ve only tried the monarchy-destroying jam, or “spread.” It’s not really jam, it’s a raspberry spread or perhaps even a sauce. I tried the spread with vanilla ice cream and it was really lovely. I will try the teas at some point this week (I have to be in the mood for tea). While I was lucky enough to get my As Ever products, many fans were not even able to order anything before the product line was completely sold out. I didn’t even try to get the limited-edition honey, but many people were able to order it… and some of those customers are being told that, actually, Meghan doesn’t have enough honey.
Meghan Markle is “so sorry” that some As Ever customers won’t be getting access to her limited edition honey — despite already placing orders for the product.
“My goodness, what a whirlwind this week has been!” Meghan, 43, wrote in a letter shared with consumers. “Thank you for the support. It really means so much to me.”
Screenshots of the apparent letter have been shared on social media and Meghan explained that “due to overselling” some purchasers could not receive their honey.
“Please know the team worked very hard in every department and felt just as sad when we learned what had happened,” she wrote. “I know it’s not the same as the limited edition item you had your heart set on (I would feel the same!) so I would also like to promise you something else. When our next limited edition item drop happens, you won’t just be the first to know … you’ll be the first to receive it. No need to order, it will come to you in the mail as a gift from me.”
Us Weekly can confirm that Meghan Markle reached out to customers who ordered but would not be receiving the limited edition honey from her first As Ever product launch. Because of the overwhelming response to Meghan’s new products, orders briefly outpaced the inventory, Us understands. Therefore, a small number of orders were accepted for the honey after the product had already sold out.
Meghan, along with the As Ever team, is proactively reaching out to customers offering refunds and a complimentary item of their choice, Us has learned.
I’ve seen some British outlets describe this as “embarrassing” or some huge catastrophe… my God, the impossible standard Meghan is held to. This is perfectly normal for a start-up, especially when there’s a limited-edition product (and it’s labeled as such). I do wonder if the As Ever team sent out more special gift boxes to influencers and friends than they originally accounted for, and perhaps that’s why they miscalculated how many jars of honey they had. Anyway, Meghan is offering refunds AND a complimentary gift. Which is the right thing to do.
Photos courtesy of Netflix, Instagram.
I’d RATHER had received the 🥰 letter than the honey anyway❣️ And to get BOTH is so frigging 😎
One of the challenges of e-commerce platforms is that many people can be shopping for the same item at the same time. It’s not a rare occurrence, but Meghan’s response is so much classier than, “we were unable to complete your order.”
Good for Meg!! This is good customer service which a ton of places don’t have today. I tend to buy from places that treat me fairly and quickly if something isn’t right. Repeat business is the goal and that means great customer service!!
To your point about places not having good customer service, I recently did a stint in retail. They don’t care about customer experience anymore, it’s all about harvesting sales data and selling that. I quit because day in and day out we had to disappoint customers with our own lack of tools. Even 5 years ago it was so different.
Glad she’s owned it and is making amends.
The rats can buy honey from the Palace shop if they’re that desperate
I love that As Ever, Meghan are proactively and quickly reaching out and trying to make it up to people who missed out.
That’s how you run a business!
Anything could have caused the shortage.
Heck it’s a natural food product in a glass jar. Things happen.
It could have been a simple whoops – a case of honey getting damaged (dropped, crushed, bumped) on the way to the shipping department … and suddenly 24 or 48 jars are damaged and unsellable. And because it’s a limited edition, they can’t just make more of the same.
“This is perfectly normal for a start-up…”
Not just start-up company, I have experienced the oversell from other big brands, even some high-end, luxury product companies. Most of them just refund my money for the out-of-stock item, so for As ever also offer a free product & Meghan will gift the next limited item to the customers is pure class.
BTW, the PR gift box does not include the honey.
I noticed that too. I wonder if the honey and comb comes from her hives.
Yeah, I’ve ordered from companies like Jcrew, Athleta etc and my order will be canceled bc they ran out (especially for sale items.) This isnt a big deal but I’m glad Meghan is being proactive about it.
Fantastic customer service. I would be disappointed but totally understand the circumstances. How exciting for them to recieve a random delivery whenever the bees make more honey!
Very responsive to her customers and the right thing to do! Well done Meghan!
…and also after looking at the beautiful packaging, HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WAIT FOR A FRAGRANCE?? (taps watch meaningfully) That’s a license to print money right there. And please let them come in a series of variations like the little atomizers at Ulta that I can’t help buying 🙂
My guess is someone in the warehouse dropped a case. Or there was a miscount at some point.
Or they’ve got a sneaky bear somewhere in the operation.
Lol at the sneaky bear.
I would be disappointed, but addressing it before customers start to reach out AND offering an additional item free of charge? Excellent customer service recovery. I’d probably be more excited by the special shout out. My package should be here Friday and I can’t wait!
And yeah this isn’t a catastrophe or whatever the BM says, these are normal hiccups that it sounds like they immediately addressed. The BM is just so exhausting and honestly boring at this point. Yes, yes we get it literally anything she does is wrong.
I don’t think her PR gift boxes have honey afaik.. so it’s probably really just sold out! Way to handle the disappointment though! It’s the right thing to do
I got my tea, flower sprinkles, and shortbread cookie mix yesterday! I’m bringing my son to school for a special day we’re having tomorrow, and we’re going to bake the shortbread cookies tonight to bring to my colleagues–they’ve been so helpful to me during the fostering and adoption process–showering me with toys, clothes, helpful advice, words of wisdom. I think they’ll all appreciate some of Meghan’s joy! (He’s going to be in charge of sprinkling the flowers–who knows how that will work, as he’s 2.5, but he loves “helping”)
Aw that sounds sweet. Enjoy using the flower sprinkles with him!
this is so sweet! I hope you both enjoy!
I saw online someone making her cookies and she put the sprinkles that come with it directly into the cookie dough. That way the sprinkles are mixed in. Is that the directions?
It’s a bummer but also a free gift and a letter from Meghan. I’d take that! Nothing to be embarrassed about.
I got the jam/spread yesterday! So I don’t love sweet stuff and barely ever eat jam so I don’t have anything to really compare it with. That said, I was v into it. I didn’t think it was too sweet. More tart/sweet with the lemon really coming through. It tasted fresh if that makes sense. So v yum. Now I just ate it by the spoonful and I’m trying to figure out what to put it on. Like I said, I’m not really into sweets so I’m not putting it on ice cream or even pancakes really. Maybe I’ll try toast. But what kind of toast? Or Greek yogurt maybe? I actually want to attempt to make the honey lemon cake with the kids at some point but I would need to use the whole jar for the cake and I don’t want to use it all on one thing. So I’ll def get more when it comes back in stock.
Scones with cream.
I don’t really like scones either…lordy I’m being difficult😳. Maybe Brie? I like biscuits. Maybe that. I’ll figure it out. It’s not a bad problem to have.
@Jais yeah a ripe brie or camembert sounds good. Drizzled with honey!
I like @LadyEsther’s savoury suggestions. Almost like the lingonberry jam with the IKEA meatballs. I’d go for game meats such as venison too.
I’m not really into sweets either but I do like to make coulis from time to time if I’ve got fresh berries – this sounds similar. Try toast, I’d go for a dark thick bread, Scandinavian style with goat cheese (for the calcium) or cream cheese and then a smear of the jam, I like the contrast of slightly savory with sweet. I’d do the same with the honey.
I would also try it in a sauce for duck, chicken, lamb or a sturdy fish like salmon: start your sauce (aromatics like onion or shallot sauteed in EVOO or butter) then mix in a couple of tablespoons of the jam, add stock (chicken or veal stock) and simmer for about 15 minutes until you can spoon it over your meat (or fish) of choice. It should be a nice balance of sweet and savory! Sprinkle of fresh tarragon or chervil if you’ve got it (optional).
Okay yes, I was leaning more towards a dark grainy bread and adding Goat cheese or cream cheese all sound very good. And your last paragraph is making me really hungry😊
@Lady Esther, what a yummy-sounding recipe! Thanks
😊
Grainy bread, like Ezekiel bread – lightly toasted with a smear of fresh ricotta, and a dab of the raspberry spread. Neither the bread or ricotta are overly sweet, only the fruit spread.
Also I love the idea of mixing it with plain greek yogurt … you could even sprinkle in a few fresh raspberries to layer the berry sweetness/tartness.
Raspberry spread is really good with any creamy cheese, really, as long as the cheese isn’t super salty. I put it on a cheeseboard with goat cheese, havarti, cheddar. Also good on NY style cheesecake (if it’s one that’s not too sweet)
It also can be good in small amounts as a glaze on salmon or other rich fish – the sweet/tart flavor cuts through and complements the richness nicely, especially if the jam has some lemon.
One thing to be aware of, IME fruit spreads can have a shorter shelf life than jams, jellies once they’re opened. They can’t live forever on the fridge door :). Something like 8-10 weeks maybe depending on the exact recipe.
(It’ll go ‘off’ or show mold on the surface) though in my house it’s used up before then, esp sour cherry, apricot or raspberry.
I received the raspberry spread yesterday. I don’t really care for raspberry, but I really like it. I had a tiny spoonful and I am calling it crack! It is so good. I put a tiny spoonful in my cottage cheese today. Yum!
This is good customer service.
I received my honey yesterday, but now I’m a little bitter because damn it, I want a letter!
That said, I was supposed to wait until this weekend to open it, as my friend and I have a little As Ever brunch planned with the products we ordered, but I couldn’t resist. Had a drizzle with my homemade vanilla skyr and granola for breakfast this morning, and it was delicious. I’m a total honey snob and I think that wildflower honeys can often be a bit flat, but I was very impressed with As Ever’s. Definitely worth the wait for those who couldn’t get their hands on this batch.
Lucky! Now you know how in demand your honey is!
I love wildflower honey. They have such a different taste to commercial honey. You can taste the change in season, the different flowers of a region…yummy, must go search for different types of wildflower honey now.
Also, truffles go well with honey. When in season, place a whole truffle in honey and let it infuse.
This is really nice of Meghan to do! I once ordered a limited-edition color from Beis and it ended up being sold out despite my order being confirmed (I suspect a similar issue to Meghan’s honey). Beis offered a refund or to send me the product in a different color.
It’s much more common than the tabs seem to think it is….
I got my raspberry spread and tea yesterday.
It’s a spread. It says it on the jar. And it is the exact consistency you see in the photos, it does run off the spoon but not like water or anything. I’ve had it with my Siggi’s and granola and it is perfect. It tastes like raspberries with a zing of lemon. It’s sweet, yes, but not cloyingly so. It’s quite enjoyable actually. I can’t wait for more flavors (holding my breath for a lemon curd or orange marmalade type)
Cancelling part or all of an order happens all the time. I ordered a dress from JC Penney in red once and they sent the dress in blue because red sold out. No email or nothing, they just sent this blue dress. And I’ve ordered products from Bath &Body Works only to get a “cancelled order” email. My point is these are huge companies with what I would imagine major inventory control systems in place but they can’t control every order. So good for Meghan to reach out and offer to refund or replace things.
I ordered some shoes from Naturalizer, the order went through, and then they cancelled it.
Meghan posted on her stories that she will send packages to Elizabeth Olsen and Bryan Tyree Henry. Tyree was talking about his and Lizzy’s obsession with the show As Ever on the Kelly Clarkson show. Kelly replied with: What is that?. Like isn’t her literal job to keep up with pop culture? No package for Kelly since Meghan said sending packages for these two.