Try The World

My original review gave them 2 stars. I have changed that to 1 star. It took over 2 months and multiple emails to get my boxes. When I finally did, they sent me 2 identical boxes. I have emailed them again to try to get some kind of value out of this subscription. Very disappointing.

Boxes these days, if they arrive, feature cheap fake international food. Recent boxes have featured an expired bottle of salad dressing you can get at the dollar store and bottles (yes, plural) of Lee Kum Kee brand Chinese sauces. Don't know the name Lee Kum Kee off hand? Do a Google image search and you'll realize you've seen it a million times before as it can be found in every single chain grocery store in the US.

At this point they're customers are so enraged that Try The World deleted and disables comments on almost all social media so they can sucker more unknowing folks into wasting their money.

Terrible! Order a 3 box delivery for my son. He never received the box, so I contacted them (which is also very difficult). They said they would send it and give him another bonus box for the trouble. He said he finally received it two months late. He stated the box was filled with "weird" spices and no instruction on how to use them. Again I contacted them and they emailed back that they would send another shipment (i think their response is a blanketed response they use over and over). They never send another box! Not the free ones or the 2 extras they promised. THEY ARE A SCAM! Save your money

Received a 6 month gift. First couple of boxes were "interesting". No "wow" items. From there, it only went from bad to worse. It is not themed by country or region, as advertised. The company simply buys a lot of "crap" from whomever they can buy it the cheapest. Sauces are repeated, drinks are mostly nasty, odd items are just fillers (like organic dijon mustard in a tube, that's hard to squeeze and way inferior to regular dijon mustard), inedible items - and there were several (like the jar labeled TonNino, which was supposed to be tuna in a jar of oil, and it tasted like a spoiled can of cheap tuna fish - straight to the garbage). Every package was worse than the previous. Our gifter clearly overpaid for this food club. Like I said, this company just buys anything that is cheap, without regard for taste, real uniqueness or originality. You have been warned...

DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY. I ordered a set of 3 boxes as a gift to my brother. They didn't deliver any boxes after several months, but they charged for another set of 3 boxes. I emailed about this, and they said they would send the boxes. Another several months pass, and my brother has received a total of 2 boxes. By this point they had charged me for 9 boxes. Completely ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is when I asked for my money back for all the boxes that weren't delivered, they refused. They did say they would send all the boxes I had paid for, but I'm not holding my breath. Absolutely horrible company. Terrible service experience topped off by an astoundingly insulting refusal to refund for service they didn't render.

Trytheworld keeps on trying to recruit our business to give them stuff (so that you, the consumer, can pay to get it from them)... "you can always use product that might be close to expiration that you wouldn't normally be able to sell anyways. Its a good way to get awesome visibility and marketing."

Right. Also, we're not even a business that makes products. Which they could figure out in a split second if they ever looked. I've responded to the e-mails close to a dozen times. I never hear back.

Seems this is pretty consistent with the rest of the reviews. I got 3 boxes. All of the boxes not only had a had a bunch of duplicates within the boxes, but there were duplicates between the boxes. Customer service basically was polite after I complained about the first one, saying "oh, some people like one thing or another, so we give more" and then promised no more dupes. After the second box was full of dupes, I complained and CS didn't even respond. The third was more of the same. Absolutely do not bother. Waste of money.

I was given a gift of 3 months. I only got 2 of the 3. I tried on two separate days to call the company and both times just got a recording saying "high call volume". I sent an email but I really have my doubts. I would say to avoid this company. The price that my friend paid for this gift was way overpriced too for what I got. Ridiculous. Its even worse since I only got 2/3 of what was paid for.

I decided to give this subscription as a gift to my fiancé for Christmas and I purchased my first box on 12/3/20. It is now 2/12/21 and I have yet to receive any boxes and continue to get charged monthly. I've reached out to customer service 3 different times and they tell me the box is being shipped out next week, that obvsiously hasn't happened. I've cancelled the service and asked for a refund but there is silence on the other end in regards to my refund. This is so unacceptable.

After getting rave reviews from friends about this service, I decided to try it for my trip to Paris during my honeymoon. It was absolutely FABULOUS! My husband and I travel a lot, both for work and leisure, and it serves as a sort of travel companion, introducing us to all of the new cuisines!

It's also now become my go-to gift in corporate settings -- it's such a unique gift and actually provides the service of making a work trip more rich, informed, and delicious. I LOVE this idea and it works perfectly for people who travel all the time and want to be well-prepared for every place they visit.

I received this as a gift and I was looking forward to the idea of it! Unfortunately, the box is just a combination of things that I can get at the grocery store (Nandos peri sauce, etc.,) I feel bad for the friend who got it for me as it's not cheap. It wasn't what I expected- I wish it truly was a curated box from a specific country with at least a print out highlighting the country and the products rather than nothing but the products or literally a coupon for one of the products. I think they've missed the mark but have a big opportunity to make this a cool and fun novelty which you should see as you open the box. This is definitely more of a gift opportunity than anything.

Go to the link and get a FREE BOX when you subscribe!
https://goo.gl/o2mhha
I absolutely love this site. Each package I've received it always fantastic! So far all of my packages have arrived in perfect condition. Their customer service is stellar.

Purchased this as a wedding gift to my wife since we could not travel for a honeymoon. The reviews up until the last few months were relatively positive. It seems I'm in the recent group that was conned - unfortunately, I paid for an entire year gift subscription.

I received the same hodgepodge box of supermarket products after significant delays and emails only telling us "our box was pulled." There is no description of the products or a country theme as suggested from their website and marketing. I could pop into Whole Foods and buy the same groceries; likely for much less than $40. It also states on their website "Items are sourced from their country of origin, and we make every effort to work with small, family-owned companies who follow traditional and artisanal methods of production." We received a juice box of "Banana Wave" banana milk from Florida...

Further, my wife's account does not show an active subscription, so we are only guessing and hoping if a box we've paid for will show up. After multiple requests, we are just told not to worry and that it is active.

Customer service responds, but with no answers. They also have avoided responding to the specific question of the quality/contents of the box.

There should be more that can be done to report this business and their practices so folks can avoid being taken by what appears to have been a once good service.

I have been forwarded emails from friends/contacts in the food world about the company going under and to pass along an inventory liquidation price sheet OFFERING ITEMS AT 10% OF WHOLESALE COST to "anyone in the business who may be interested"...
Meanwhile, I work for a small high-quality food importer, and we have received TWO separate inquiries now in the past 2 weeks, asking to "partner" with us and place a "very large order" for international products- both have stopped corresponding when we have replied that we will need payment up front- SUPER SKETCHY

I have tried to cancel my subscription with them, but I keep getting boxes. My account page says "Pending Cancellation" and has had that notation there for three or four months.
I just received another box! I'm calling my credit card company and telling them to dispute the charge and deny any others that may come in. STAY AWAY FROM THIS FRAUDULENT COMPANY!

If your box is late, don't bother contacting them because they will have a computer respond. They said between 30 to 45 days... it's almost been 60 days.

I was a subscriber several years back and couldn't wait for my curated, county-specific Try the World box. Found several great products in themed boxes like Thailand, France and Sweden that I continue to use and purchase today. So when I received a "try us again" email from them I reupped earlier this year. Can't believe this is the same company. For the third time now, I just received a box of random products - the latest with things like a bottle of pickle juice, some matcha mix, some shelf stable cauliflower rice, and a beat up bundle of cookies. No more curation, no themes, no more suggestions for how to use the ingredients and recipies. Just a box of junk. Hit unsubscribe today.

It is unfortunate what this box service has become. Someone had purchased Try the World box for me around 2015. The boxes were great - each had a culture or region which would act as the theme. Each item in the box was thought out and related to that theme. The items would come with a pamphlet which would tell you about the items in the box, explain its relevance to that culture and set the scene for you. It was great.

Now the box is just a random grab bag of products that have seemingly paid to have their products get more exposure. There is a rhyme or reason for why a certain product is in the box - most of the items are just made in the United States. This is no longer "Trying the World." This is "Try our Sponsored Products."

Its sad - they had a great idea. But its clear that budget cuts have gutted the heart and soul of this service. Now I assume they are surviving by sending out a box that has had the bear minimum thought put into it and double dipping by sending out sponsored products for a hefty price.

Heed my warning - avoid this product.

The idea that a subscription offers tastes from around the world is brilliant. The customer service response time is a nightmare. The lag time between order to receiving the boxes is anywhere from 3-8 weeks. Half the time there is no confirmation email sent to show the box was sent. I received the same box three times during my subscription period. When I tried to use a coupon through Restaurants.com ($25 off of a $50 shipment) and my boxes did not arrive I contacted customer service to be told the items I purchased a month prior were no longer in stock. I was assured that the money I spent would be credited towards my next monthly shipment only to be charged in December. When purchasing outside of my subscription my order shipped out in parts rather than in one box and that made it a nightmare to track. I tried this company in 2015, I was disappointed in their shipping and customer service, gave it a second shot in October and came out with the same disappointment. You're better off browsing their website for ideas then ordering the items through Amazon!

Before I go into the list of things that went wrong during my subscription with Try The World, I would like to mention that when I went to customer service with these issues, they were mostly very helpful. And by helpful, I mean they sent me a free apology gift. Additionally, most of their snacks are pretty unique and tasty. Now, here are all the issues I had. I placed my first order in August for a set amount of money, and not only did I have to wait until the September shipment to receive my order, but when they charged me again in September, it was before I even received the first box and for a new on agreed-upon amount. (They changed the price without informing me and charged me twice before I got the first package because they have a weird shipping system.) They also sent me the wrong sized box. After that got sorted out, they forgot to ship me a box in October altogether. To their credit, they did their best to resolve any issue that arose. To continue, when opening the box, you are greeted by a messy display of randomly assorted snacks with no rhyme or reason. Things like upside down packages, and the corners of wrappers curling over the edge of the box. It wouldn't be fair to compare this subscription to another because it would lose so horribly. Speaking of other subscriptions, I noticed that, for once, an item had a sticker on the back translating the text to English. Since Try The World typically doesn't include that step, I looked closer. The product that I found in my box was from the company Universal Yums. They literally re-purposed products from another subscription service. (Universal Yums is definitely a spectacular subscription, by the way.) Now here's the icing on the cake, not one, but several items I received during my subscription were close to, if not expired. It was technically the "best by date" that some of the items had passed, but I would still expect a food purchase to have more shelf life than that. And at least one item was definitely expired. To restate, there are definitely qualities snacks that I had never heard of before and enjoyed, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't worth the hassle. (The photo with the best by date of the two chocolate bars was taken in December 2023.)

I have ordered a subscription where you pay every 3 months as a Christmas present for a friend. I contacted them after the 1st shipment to change the recipient's name and address and also that I only want the subscription for 3 months. I have requested for them to cancel the account after that. This didn't happen as I got charged the renewal fee of CAD $169.66. They have given me a refund of CAD $160.37 and when I contacted them telling them that I didn't get a full refund, they have advised me to contact my bank as it is no longer their problem that the US to CAD exchange rate has changed. It was bad customer service from that point on. I have asked "Gregory" the customer service rep to escalate the issue to someone that can assist me but just would not. I then get lectured on how the exchange rates work. They have failed to realize that they were at fault and fraudulently charged my credit card when I have already cancelled the subscription. Any subsequent charges resulting to this error should be accommodated by their company.

The boxes kept getting mailed to me and not my sister, the intended recipient. Snacks were not themed as promised and were nothing special. Poor customer service.

Boxes arrive months late, if at all. They can't pay their suppliers, many of which are small family businesses. Just cancelled and trying to get my money back. STAY AWAY.