Pv.Body Fails to Live Up to Promises

In case you don't want to read through my whole review and just trust whatever I say, don't join pv.body...unresponsive customer service and nowhere near enough experience to be growing at the rate they seem to be.

In case you haven't heard of pv.body, it is a monthly subscription services that promises to send you a workout outfit (top and a bottom) each month for $49.95 with a retail value of over $100.  Sounds good right?  Well I think this is a brilliant business idea but clearly they didn't execute it properly.

I signed up in late October after seeing it on a blog when the price was $39.95 a month and their website stated you would receive an outfit with a retail value of $150 or more (they have since removed this claim and gone down to the $100 figure).  You take a "style quiz" to determine what you like and request your size for a top and a bottom.  After browsing many blog reviews I determined that they pretty much send everyone the exact same thing based on what they have in inventory that month...no styling there!

I was going to do a super long timeline outlining all the communications or lack thereof I had with pv.body trying to exchange the top they sent me but I'll keep it simple since the bottom line is the same...I DO NOT recommend this service.  Some details...

My first outfit arrived in early November.  LOVE LOVE the pants.  They are American Apparel athletic tights and I literally wear them everywhere.  They retail for $48.00. I also received a Nux tanktop that was WAY WAY too small and ridiculously unflattering.  The retail price of this tank was around $50.  WAY under their claim of a $150 value.

The website also claims exchanges are free and easy.  With relatively little pain I received a fedex label to return my top for a new one.  After NUMEROUS emails and claims that my exchange was "on it's way" I spoke to Justin, the customer service manager.  He apologized using a ton of excuses for why they were backed up and said a new shirt would be in the mail to me ASAP (this was at the end of December).  After I didn't receive a top or a response to two voicemails and another email in early January I emailed threatening to dispute the credit card charge with my bank.  THAT got their attention and I received a phone call from Justin.  Justin seems like a very nice person who is way in over his head.  He apologized to me on the phone but each apology was followed by an excuse as to why this wasn't processed properly the first time around.  He assured me (once again) that a top and some "extras" would be in the mail that week.

I FINALLY received a new shirt on January 14, a full 2 months and numerous emails and phone calls later. They threw in a water bottle and some hair tie things as well.  The top is long sleeve Colosseum (never heard of it) and has thumb holes and according to the tag retails for $34.  It is WAY too tight but I'm keeping it as a base layer.  Judging from the skin tight quality of the two tops I received, this service is geared more towards a VERY slender/fit person.

SO...total value of my supposed to be $150 outfit was $83. NOT worth the hassle of the exchange I went through and ultimately not being 100% satisfied with my outfit.

Curent header on their website...I have yet to read any reviews from people who actually received Lululemon

There are a lot of reviews out there of pv.body on people's blogs but they are all ambassadors for the program (who receive commission from people they sign up) and have received much better service than I did.  I found a couple of blog reviews from people who aren't ambassadors who had somewhat similar experiences to mine:

http://www.theeverydaywarrior.com/2012/12/31/pvbody-review/
http://shapinup.com/post/38956768463/pv-body-review-not-for-me
http://j.shirley.im/2012/11/23/pvbody-cs-fail/
http://swimruneat.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/the-real-deal/
http://www.trainertiff.com/2012/12/pv-body-review.html (positive review with a negative comment)

They claim many changes are coming so you can customize your outfit more and make exchanges super easy but it is too late for me, I canceled my service and will not be joining ever again. Maybe one day in the future they will have all the hiccups ironed out but my bet is that with all these customer service problems they won't get that far...too bad...like I said before...great business idea...poor execution!

QUESTION: Have you ever had a customer service issue like this?