Walmart Beauty Box Overcharges Go Viral
The retailer's subscriptionbased beauty box service has been incorrectly charging subscribers over the past 24 hours due to a “technical glitch.”
Since Tuesday, some subscribers of Walmart’s Beauty Box have taken to social media to share that they have been erroneously charged for an excessive quantity of orders due to a “coding error,” which resulted in fees of $698 for 100 boxes.
In a statement to WWD on Wednesday, a Walmart representative said their third-party vendor Brandshare will reverse duplicate charges for consumers who were affected.
“Some subscribers of Walmart’s Beauty Box were overcharged due to a coding error by a third-party vendor, Brandshare. The company who operates the Beauty
Box program is working to complete refunds as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and any inconvenience this causes our customers.”
Customers who were impacted by the charges will receive a Walmart gift card with a balance of $100, as well as complimentary spring and summer beauty boxes. Subscribers of Walmart Beauty Box typically receive an assortment of beauty products four times a year, for the price of $6.98, which includes shipping but not the additional applicable tax.
Beauty influencer Tara Brown said she was charged $698 for 100 boxes and posted a TikTok video on Tuesday explaining her experience with the duplicate charges, advising her followers to check their accounts for similar activity.
“Brandshare originally emailed and said we would receive a refund in five to 10 business days and that they were sorry,” Brown told WWD. “Last night, they emailed again and said we would get a refund in three to five business days. I can’t even imagine the amount of late fees and overdraft fees that people are incurring because of this, it’s such a nightmare.”
In correspondence sent to Brown, Brandshare explained she was charged “well over the seasonal box fee due to a technical glitch.”
Brandshare did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WWD.
A Reddit thread posted on Tuesday, which received more than 200 comments, was among the early forums for grievances, with many responses from users who claimed they were incorrectly charged for 100 boxes instead of one box they expected to receive as part of their subscription plan. Some users described being charged for around $2,000 for their seasonal order.
“Walmart Beauty Box just charged me $762 for the next box. It’s saying I ordered a 100, I very much didn’t. Already sent an email and definitely going to try and dispute the charge,” a user wrote on the discussion platform.
Walmart Beauty Box launched in 2014 and has since delivered more than 2 million samples to its subscribers, from brands including Aveeno, Bioré, Burt’s Bees, CoverGirl, Dove, Neutrogena, Sally Hansen, TREsemmé and more. The program and official website, beautybox. walmart.com, is managed and fulfilled by Brandshare. In 2021, WWD reported that beauty boxes were the most subscribed-to box service in the U.S., according to data from Emarsys.