KiwiCo

Lots of ordering errors and horrible customer service experience!!! First crate was not as advertised on the website. Company refused to exchange the wrong crate or guarantee the advertised initial topic for the next month. This customer purchased additional items to go with that topic, so these errors were ruining the gift that the… Read more

subscription was for.

Customer service was handled by an automated artificial intelligence email. There is no direct contact number to speak with an actual representative. As a result, the issues were not addressed before the crate was mailed.

It took a volley of 16 emails. Before a named representative, finally said that they would not help me.

Subscription was immediately cancelled and item was purchased through a 3rd party instead.

Ordered crates for my two granddaughters on 7 December 2025. The first crates were to be Christmas gifts-to provide activities during school holidays. It is now 17 January and they have not yet arrived and the family are now away from home on holiday. The other two crates for each child I requested to be delivered bi-monthly. This request resulted… Read more

in my subscription being “paused”. Customer service is appalling. They offer contact but it’s only with robots and totally unsatisfactory. Add to this the fact that it was never identified that the price cited was US dollars - nowhere was this specified- even at checkout. Quite a nasty shock when I got my bank statement. And still no crates! Disappointing in the extreme and if the crates are not delivered there will be a very formal complaint. Buyer beware! Especially about the price if you are not in the USA.

We’re enjoying it for 2,5 years now, love it! – We love the crates and the books included. Yes, delivery issues exist, especially with 1st order, only got 1st crate in 2 months, but other than some delivery delays no issues at all really. You could also get same packages from the store if you don’t want to risk a delay on subscription. Every time we wrote to customer support they have solved… Read more

our issues within 3 - 4 days. Twice got doubles because of a system glitch, but got them for free as a solution. If you sign up and then forget to cancel they return your money, just write an email to them! Anyways best quality subscription for us so far. Tried some other similar stem boxes from eBay, but they were rubbish, ended up in the bin. Thank you!

Really good toys - poor ordering system – I really like kiwico, not sure why so many people don't. The quality is really good, sure there are a couple of things that my son isn't interested in, but they can't please everyone. He isn't interested in the books but he loves the wooden toys. That's just his personality. every child is different. We've had 5 boxes from the panda crate line… Read more

and only 1 of them has been delayed, which was understandable given the current climate. Yes, shipping takes a while to Australia, but if you're ordering more than one box they are all spaced out the same so the delay doesn't really matter after you get the first box. I was really surprised by the quality of the toys, the shapes and blocks are really cute and I love the natural feel. Great for parents who prefer more natural toys as apposed to lots of plastic. My only gripe would be with the ordering system. I get confused between the termed boxes and the subscriptions, and I can never figure out if my subscription is going to auto renew, or if I have to order it again. Very confusing and I wish they would fix this. The 'My Account' section on the website needs to be more informative.

Takes forever to arrive – My son enjoyed the activity. It kept him challenged and entertained; however it took forever to arrive. I cancelled my subscription until more arrive as I need to know if he enjoys it enough to keep ordering.

The customer service is awful. Twice my boxes have been posted late without any notification, I had to chase them up myself. I didn’t get the October box until November and December box still hadn’t arrived. I asked for a refund of my last box because it never arrived and was sent an email saying ‘ We hate to see you go, and thank you for… Read more

exploring and innovating with us’ suggesting that they had cancelled my subscription themselves. I asked for clarification with no response and was so frustrated by the whole experience that I ended up just cancelling it myself.

I'm so disappointed and annoyed at myself for not coming here to read reviews before ordering. We initially ordered on 24th November, and like many others it seems, payment was taken, but the order completely disappeared. After trying to get hold of someone for days, but just getting sent to the most unhelpful AI bot, we got a refund and resent… Read more

the order. This is the point I should have stopped and gone to the reviews. It's now over 4 weeks later and the item is still in the states and not a chance this will be arriving in Australia before Christmas. An absolute joke of a business. But my own fault for not checking reviews

Over priced and the customer service is awful. There is no human to talk about the issue of the product. All AI bots. I don’t think it’s worth to spend the amount of money on them. I’d rather buy toys or kits from Amazon. Much better value.

Horrible first experience, where my money got processed, but order got rejected stating they don’t ship that product to my address. Upon asking for a refund they said they do ship to my address, processed the refund but then it took another 19!!!! Emails to sort out them shipping it to me… in which timeframe they then said it wouldn’t arrive for… Read more

another 5 weeks which meant I won’t get the advent calendars in time for advent… still waiting for this issue to be resolved. Hoping the products are worth it when/if they arrive…

Absolute garbage!! They are happy to send free boxes to all the YouTubers where you probably heard of them but can't look after regular paying customers. Their customer service team is complete garbage and they don't give you any answers. At this age my little one will receive the box for her 21st birthday. DO NOT USE!

Money taken and no order or support – I purchased a 3 month subscription. Payment went through but the order ‘vanished’. I received no confirmation email and the order is not showing on my account. I have emailed and messaged about 6 times and nobody is responding to me.

Looked so wonderful, did not deliver – The WORST. Still waiting for crate a month after ordering, consequently cancelled subscription. Customer service is automated. Tracking number , illegible and gives me five different countries and 20 different dates, none of which are mine. So annoying, so disappointing.

Can’t cancel subscription – We’ve tried to cancel our subscription multiple times. Impossible. This company is ripping us off and appears to be ripping off multiple others!

Total scam – Ordered a free box, there was an "error" in the system and postage was refunded however no where did it state that the costs where USD conversion. Out money from a product I never received. Customer support is non existent telling me it's nothing to do with them, when it was there system error.

Zero out of 5 – Just not worth the hassle. We had 2 x 6 month subscriptions for our kids. First parcel took about 5 weeks to arrive (after Christmas), one parcel didn't arrive at all (I also didn't get an email to say it was sent) and one was badly damaged. They re-sent the damaged one and sent the missing one after I emailed them. Then we signed up for another 6… Read more

months. Their first parcels arrived after 6 weeks, their 2nd parcels didn't arrive (no confirmation emails). I waited another month, the 3rd parcel also never arrived (no emails). Got in contact with them. They said there was a system error and have now sent them (2 weeks, still not here) and the 4th parcels also haven't been sent. I'm so over chasing it up and the kids have just given up asking. Kiwico is totally disorganised. Don't waste your money.

Didn't receive the item 1 month after placing order – I placed the order on 2nd Dec, the tracking shows it's been sent from a place to another in the same city with 30 minute distance, waisted 20 days! on 22nd Dec sent from New York and 24th arrived in Sydney. I'm in Melb, it's 4th Jan and didn't receive the item and no update. Rubish and poor customer service. Very disappointed. Please don't purchase and waste money and time, they ruined Christmas present planned.

Incredibly difficult to cancel subscriptions – Tried cancelling and as I had prepaid boxes yet to be shipped they only offered to swap crates and wouldn't allow me to cancel. Then they automatically debited the next 6 month subscription and same issue happened again. Now it's happened a 3rd time as they deduct payment prior to cycle date and I'm locked in for another 6 months as attempts to… Read more

cancel online result in constant error messages. Ice removed credit card details but they continue to charge! No contact number to help resolve matter and bot is useless

HORRIBLE – I can't even believe they are still in business. They guaranteed pre Xmas delivery, I ordered 22nd of November- goods are still in USA and haven't even left for Australia. They charge top dollar for International shipping yet use the cheapest option possible. Customer service is useless and just cut and paste response that are irrelevant. Do yourself a favor and shop at Mel Science instead.

They won't let you cancel – I tried to cancel for half an hour and they say the 'server is having problems'. This is a SCAM, and now I can see loads of other people have had this problem

Not worth it – I'm in Australia and the crates are overpriced and boring for the amount you pay, my son had no interest in his first crate (ocean). It stated that I would be billed on the first of each month however I was billed at random times throughout the three months that I was signed up. I also had no notification of when the money had been taken from my… Read more

account and no invoices or confirmation emails were sent or added in my account to say that the funds had been taken except for a shipping email - I don't like this at all as I like to keep track of invoices and receipts and have some sort of confirmation of what I've paid for. The "My account" section is very vague and you really have to search to figure out if you have another box on the way. I've only received ONE box in the three months that I had signed up and I'm still waiting on two more, with the second box still out for delivery nearly 6 weeks later and the third hasn't even left the country...

Fun crates, but expensive and hard to cancel – The crates themselves are fun, but they are very very very expensive in Australia. Not worth the money. And I can't seem to cancel. I follow the instructions but there is no cancel button. Not recommended.

Renewal Issues and Double Charging – My neice has been enjoying the crates, I have no issues with the crate content or the value of the crate. However their customer service is lacking. I started on a 3 month run, when that was nearing the end I used one of their holiday promos on an email to extend the initial 3 month. 3 weeks after I paid for this I got a "your subscription will… Read more

be autorenewed" email. I contacted the customer help email and they fixed it up. The system had just added another subscription for my niece, not extended it. They fixed it up, I wasnt charged for it.

Then when this was up I used a recent promo for the year subscription. The same thing happened! I repeated the same email process to make sure the system was updated. I was assured everything was OK and I would not be charged.

12 days after I paid for the 12 month suspension, 2 days after the last email assuring me I wouldn't be charged, they debited ANOTHER 6 month subscription from my account leaving me with all kinds of additional bank fees and an overdrawn account.

The customer service side of this subscription box has a lot of work.

Purchased as Christmas Gifts - NEVER AGAIN – I purchased a 3 month subscription for each of my two boys - 12 and 15 - as they love to build and tinker. I purchased for Christmas.... as per their website advertising... HOWEVER they didn't post items until nearly a month later. Needless to say, they didn't arrive for Christmas. When I emailed them about the issue they didn't respond - AT… Read more

ALL. They still haven't.

I then messaged them on Facebook, and they ignored my issue and sent me tracking info - I replied to this and they literally did not and have not read ANY of my messages since! (note to KiwiCo - Communication is the cornerstone of any business and frankly, you're failing).

According to the first two emails we were meant to receive a 'Wooden Crane', and a '2-in-1 Lantern'.

I have received one item so far, which is addressed to BOTH of my children (very confusing) and the side of the box says it's a 'Spin Art Machine'.... which I can only assume they're intending for my 12yo (who knows where the Wooden Crane that they said they sent him is?!) - he has next to no interest in a spin art machine and probably won't even build it.

The other package intended for my 15yo is still nowhere to be seen, and I have now received a third email saying they've dispatched our next parcel which is meant to be a Wooden Automon but I'm at the point where I doubt that they send what they claim in their invoices. I'm absolutely disgusted.

I absolutely DO NOT RECOMMEND this business. Not sure what on earth is going on, but I feel completely ripped off and disrespected as a customer.

I've messaged them again today - still no response whatsoever....

Non-delivery, Expensive and low value product – I ordered a 3 month subscription of tinker crate in September 2021, received once delivery in late October. I didn't receive any further deliveries despite them saying they were delivered. My daughter didn't think the first delivery was interesting at all. Then they auto-renewed and charge me another $100 for 2 deliveries? I have contacted… Read more

them and they did end up refunding the additional charge. It doesn't change how i feel about the company, products or communication strategy they have

Waste of money – Cheap, over priced and bad quality. Not engaging for the kids or worthy of the money spent. Delivery takes more than a month and the customer service is horrible. One of the items had a very sharp edge and pinching hazard for the kid.

No delivery – Same problem as everybody else down here...two months on, no delivery, and no response to my emails....I've cancelled the three month subscription. I had a dodgy feeling about this crowd from the beginning but ignored my gut.

Only 1 of 3 arrived, and the one that did was over priced – I ordered a 3 month starter subscription over 3 months ago in August 2021 which included the delivery of 3 crates. To date, only 1 of 3 have arrived. The one that did arrive was significantly late. I thought it was particularly audacious of KiwiCo to auto-bill my account after the initial 3 month subscription after failing to fulfill my preceding… Read more

order. It seems the only thing they are punctual with is their billing. I ordered a Koala crate for my 4 yo son. Although the one that arrived was probably a little over priced, it was age appropriate and kept my son occupied for a few hours and was a fun activity to complete with him during a very long lock down. It's a shame this company cannot fulfill their orders on time as the concept is good. I would not recommend, I think all consumers would agree that a company that takes your money but doesn't deliver the product is not a good company maybe even an outright scam.

Terrible customer service & my product never arrived! – DO NOT order from this company. Ordered over 2 months ago and items were never delivered. I emailed several times about this, with completely rude and late responses and no one actually wanting to help me. On top of that the courier company they used has no contact details, literally anywhere on the internet. Perhaps a FAKE courier company. When… Read more

asked for a refund, they only offered a partial refund that I still have not received. For a subscription service, they collect all of your money in one hit, instead of taking out monthly payments. This company is dodgy. Don't purchase from them!

Nothing To Share !! – Ordered my crates ( 1 year subscription), kept going around in circles with the customer care, finally raised a dispute for the transaction with my bank, and within 4 days have customer care providing shipment details, offering credit and promising on resolving any ongoing issues. I do not think I will change my stance, because at the moment I am… Read more

still in the window to raise a transaction dispute !! They dispatched 2 September crates and the tracking numbers (finally) provided shows that the October crate (almost is November now) is being dispatched from the US.

Still not delivered – Like many others I'm still waiting for my order to arrive. They took my money the day I placed the order but a month later they still say my order is "processing". Terrible

Have not received my crate – I have been waiting over a month for my crate, but I still haven't received it and don't believe I will anymore. Customer service is very slow to reply, tracking is incredibly slow to be updated. I have ordered other things from the US and the shipping has been a lot quicker, even during Covid. I have cancelled my subscription and will look into other companies. Don't fall for them

Total scam – I have now waited over 2 months for my niece to receive her first crate. After emailing them at the 6 week mark I was assured it was on its way. Have sent another email at the 14 week mark and they have not responded. They have however taken my money but no product has been delivered nor have they acknowledged the reason for the extended delay

Still waiting for a reply after a week! – I paid for the deluxe subscription for an extra book to come with each crate but did not receive the book I paid for neither did they credit me back. Contacted customer service on Monday and now it’s Friday and I’m still waiting for a reply from them.