Review Time
Japan Crate is an absolute treat! Every box is packed with a fun mix of authentic Japanese snacks, candies, and drinks that you can’t find in regular stores. The variety is amazing—there’s always something new and exciting, from unique Kit Kat flavors to seasonal treats straight from Japan.The packaging is vibrant, the selection is generous, and the experience feels like a little adventure with every unboxing. If you love Japanese snacks or just want to try something different, Japan Crate is 100% worth it. Highly recommend! 🎌🍬🎉
**I've included my previous update for full context. Not enough space for original post.** The last few months, the packages have actually been sent out and delivered promptly. We've actually been getting the boxes in their month, rather than like 6 weeks later. I wouldn't recommend against ordering based on the previous delays - that no longer seems to be a thing. However, this is the last update for me as the last box we got was the last box of our subscription and we're just not interested in continuing anymore for a few reasons. (Customer since 2019.) 1) For every 2-3 boxes we get, we can create another box out of all the things we don't like. Primarily this means gummy candies, gum and hard/sugar candies. There's a sense of cheap candy, but also, no one in the house chews gums and the sugar candies are just generally not interesting either. Unfortunately, they've also been including a number of things with artificial sweetener, so we don't eat those either. They just taste bad. When we visited Japan, we saw that artificial sweetener seems to be creeping into more and more Japanese candy, I just wish Japan crate wouldn't buy that stuff. 2) There's so many duplicates. We've been to Japan, there is such a huge variety of flavors and kinds of candy/chips etc. There's no good reason for the number of straight duplicates. Then on top of that, back to issue 1 - they're frequently the things we don't like. It feels like we're constantly getting those "dango mochi" with the faces that are basically pure sugar - I feel like we got that one every other month. Or the candy bottles of pure sugar. 3) The biggest problem we've had since the acquisition is that there seems to be more of a problem with the chocolates melting. Not sure if its weather or transport conditions, but the KitKats are frequently half melted. Our last box every chocolate was significantly melted and reformed. We got one of those Nintendo character chocolates where you break out the character. We have no idea what character it was. The whole thing had melted and remelted into a Kitkat sized shape at the bottom of the bag. The black thunder was also reformed into a different shape, and all the KitKats were melted and flattened. It was all still tasty but not great. And if I were gifting this, I'd be embarrassed. Tldr: I'd only recommend this to someone for whom this their first/early exposure to Japanese candy. There's not a lot of surprises or particularly interesting or good items anymore. I remember getting a small brand of potato chips that were amazing years ago - very simple chips but either nori or soy flavored and just very well done. I think they used to go out of their way before to use more brands and flavors - that seems to have disappeared. It's mostly big brands now, and things I can get at a random Asian store in any big city. The KitKats are probably the most interesting things recently. I'd only recommend it for someone who eats a lot of candy and isn't particularly picky about what they eat. In the future, I might try Bokksu. But we've basically aged/experienced out of Japan Crate is what I'd say. We've enjoyed it, and the boxes themselves were a nice thing to look forward to each month. However, given how little of it we've been enjoying or even eating lately - we just can't justify the price. ------------------------------- Update to review posted November 18, 2023Don't waste your money - waiting months to get crate with no customer service helpMy September crate was finally delivered on November 7, 2023.I was originally sent a tracking number on October 19, 2023 - for a _September_ Japan Crate. It then showed nothing happened until October 30, 2023.I am still waiting on my October Japan Crate. The tracking number was created on October 23, 2023 and I was really hoping this meant that things were possibly going to catch back up - it did not. There is no new info, nothing has happened with the crate. Even if it ships out next week, the earliest I'll be getting my October crate based on the last delivery is November 27, 2023...At least crates seem to be being sent out now, but shipments are still very much very delayed. The fact I'm getting anything is a very low bar to feel appreciative about. Reply from Japan Crate28 Nov 2023Hi V, we are so sorry to hear that your experience with our company has not met your expectations. We acknowledge our mistake and are committed to providing you with a better experience. Customer satisfaction is our top priority, and we’re truly sorry that wasn't demonstrated to you. We will relay this message to the appropriate department. Please contact us at *redacted for Trustpilot*, so we can see what other things we can do to make it up for the experience.
Two months later and I still don't even have one crate from the 3 month subscription I bought. I wanted to love this box, but it's been one excuse after another. I ordered Nov 24, 2023. After a couple of weeks I contacted them as I hadn't received notice it had shipped, and it was supposed to be a Christmas present. First their shipment was stuck in customs, then the package was lost in transit (it hadn't even been provided to the shipping company). At first they offered a $50 credit to cover the "lost" box. Why would I want to buy something else from a company that couldn't even ship what I originally ordered? After requesting they cancel & refund me for the boxes I never received, they refunded the last 2 boxes, but refused the 3rd as it was "still in transit." Again the shipping company hadn't even received it. Now it may be on the way two months later. But who knows when or if I'll ever get this one box. Which is super disappointing. On the plus side their support people are courteous and respond quickly.
What I got: I received January 2024's box and the theme was Year of the Dragon. What went wrong: The carbonated drink exploded in transit and soaked everything. Had to throw away the box, pamphlet, and any snack packaging that was made out of cardboard or paper. Luckily all the snacks were salvaged since they were wrapped in plastic. How they addressed my problem: Asked for a refund or replacement and instead got a $15 store credit. I should have pressed for better compensation admittedly.Quality of items inside: All of the snacks were pretty good. I got 18 items in this crate. 17 of them were snacks and 1 item was a special item for the year of the dragon which was a small ceramic dragon with a fortune inside. However, I disliked that there were more single or small-sized snacks than full-size snacks. Considering the price point, which is normally $49.95, I think it is more expensive than other subscription boxes that give the same amount of items for less. Some of them even give more full-size or sharable snacks. I did some research and got a rough estimate of how much everything was worth from different sources. I found that all the items in this month's crate were worth roughly $49.15 before tax and shipping. Stores calculate tax and shipping differently and I found the prices across different stores.Price and shipping: I used an online coupon to get the crate for $42.46 versus the usual $49.95. Shipping is free which is a bonus. It took 9 days for the crate to arrive after placing the order, which is great. They didn't waste time sending it out.What they can improve: They should better secure drinks sent in their crates. Wrap them in bubble wrap or put them in airbags. Maybe put more filling inside the crate. Carbonated drinks are especially at risk of exploding in transit. The snacks in this month's crate weren't enough cushioning to protect it. I also consider that mailing services may not always be gentle with packages and things break in transit often. The size of the snacks can be improved upon. This is one of the more expensive snack boxes especially compared to other 'junk food' subscription boxes. I found that there are some marketplaces online where you can choose the same amount of more filling snacks for a similar price.Compensation for damages could be better. I would have rather gotten a refund than a $15 store credit. I used the store credit towards a lucky bag from Sugoi Mart, which is owned by the same company as Japan Crate (Bokksu).
The email received looks like a review request rather than account confirmation. Not even sure if this is account confirmation until i hit submit after this.These processes should be separated since the review request is meaningless until later.Ordered on 1/09. Nothing moved since and it's 1/14.Adding the the confusion, the email for review is from bokksu.com
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The fun of Japan brought to your door through delicious Japanese candy and snacks. Try anything from Cheesecake Kit Kats to DIY Sushi kits.
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