FragranceNet is an online perfume store that was started around 1997. As the name suggests, it is an independent retailer of fragrances and related product. It is a US-based company that is headquartered in New York. The company says that its mission is to offer a great selection of brand name products at great prices.
Thus, it provides over 17,000 brand name fragrances, and an equally impressive selection of related products like beauty products, aromatherapy, and scented candles.
Everyone wants to smell good. Not only can you get attracted to someone because of smelling good; but smelling good can enhance the mood and lift the spirit. To satisfy this need to smell good, fragrances have been developed. Looking at the market, you’ll be spoilt with choices.
However, many are just cheap stuff; some will make you anything but smell good, while others have good smell that’ll be gone almost as soon as it comes. Designer fragrances are heralded as the solutions to good fragrances that’ll not only make you smell good but also last long.
Yes, FragranceNet is legit. It is not a scam because it is one of the most popular companies with reputable services online. You will get any item you order from the site without a problem.
The question is whether the fragrances and other products of FragranceNet are actually high-quality products. If yes, another question will be whether FragranceNet really offer these quality products at relatively good prices.
Then there is the question of how they are able to do this. Yet again, there are questions about its service. Does FragranceNet offer top services that we’ll expect of a modern online store (like easy ordering, fast delivery, easy returns, effective customer support service, etc)? In the first place, is FragranceNet legit?
This FragranceNet review will examine FragranceNet in order to provide information that will help you answer these questions and more.
However, if there’s anything we know about designer products, their high-end quality commands high-end prices. This is where FragranceNet comes in – to provide high-end quality brand name fragrances at relatively low prices.
FragranceNet review at a glance
- Website: fragrancenet.com
- US-based online store founded in 1997
- Offers a range of brand name products that include perfumes, colognes, beauty products, and home products
- Ships to only the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand
- Free Ground shipping is offered within the US (for orders above $59)
- Unwanted item can be returned for a replacement or refund within 30 days of receipt
- Customer Support is available via postal mail, email, fax, Live Chat, and Telephone
Is FragranceNet legit?
FragranceNet is legitimate. As business moved online, fraudsters followed. Thus, there are many cyber fraudsters using scam stores to rip people off. Therefore, in order not to be ripped off, you have to determine that the store you’re about to use for your online purchase is legit.
The big question is whether FragranceNet is legit. There’s no doubt that FragranceNet is a legit online store. This is because it is a 100% legal company, it has industry-wide recognition, and it has a long track record of fulfilling orders with real and functional products.
Our first check of a legit online store is usually legality. This is because, it is almost impossible for a store that is 100% legal to be scam. Thankfully, FragranceNet ticks this legality box. The online store is operated by FragranceNet.com Inc, which is a dully registered US company. Suffice it to say that the scam stores do not go for legal company registration certificates.
Another check of a legit online store is visibility and industry-wide recognition. This is because it is almost impossible for a store that is widely known and recognized to be scam. Thankfully, FragranceNet ticks this visibility box, as it has over 1 million Facebook followers. Also, the store is widely known as a go-to destination for cheap name brand perfumes. Suffice it to say that a scam store will not draw so many followers, or earn a far-reaching recognition.
Another check of a legit online store is the test of time. This is because it is impossible for a scam store to have a rich operating record. With the passage of time, scamming activities are exposed; and with such exposure, the scam stores close their virtual doors and disappear. Thankfully, FragranceNet ticks also ticks this box, as it has been operating since 1997. Suffice it to say that a scam store just cannot rip people off for over two decades using the same front.
However, the ultimate check of a legit online store is fitness for purpose. This is because scam stores are set out to rip off people, so they either do not fulfil orders or fulfil orders with worthless products. Thankfully, FragranceNet also ticks this box. This is because when orders are placed, FragranceNet delivers real products, and most often than not, these products are functional and satisfactory.
Is FragranceNet safe?
Another important consideration in online purchase is safety, which means safeguarding whatever sensitive information you share with the store and preventing it from falling into the wrong hands. This will include information like your personal data, contact data, and most importantly, your credit card information.
In this regard, FragranceNet says that its goal is to make your shopping experience safe, convenient and worry-free. Thus, it gives a security guarantee that its “privacy and security programs make sure that every transaction made at FragranceNet.com is 100% safe and guaranteed”.
To ensure this, FragranceNet uses the industry-standard security protocol for ensuring the private connection between two devices communicating over the internet – SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology. SSL also encrypts all data ensuring that it cannot be read by anyone over the internet. With the use of this security measure and more, it is safe to say that FragranceNet is safe.
Complaints
As you’ll know, there is hardly a company that one or two persons will not have something bad to say about. However, the ideal company will ensure that the complaints are very limited, and drowned by a sea of positive reviews. Thus, a review of an online store is not complete without looking at the complaints that persons have.
These persons will preferably be customers who have actually bought from the store. Thus, for this section, we looked at the top independent customers’ review platforms like Trustpilot.com, Sitejabber.com, and Resellerratings.com.
At the time of writing this review, the only platform where FragranceNet was highly rated is Trustpilot.com; in this platform, its average rating is 4.6/ 5 (by 28,367 reviewers). In consumeraffairs.com, it had a fair rating of 3.5/ 5 (by 324 reviewers). However, in Sitejabber.com and Resellerratings.com, FragranceNet had poor ratings. In the former, it is rated 2.4/ 5 (by 145 reviewers); and in the latter, it is rated 1/ 10 (by 169 reviewers). The main complaints which cause the poor ratings include poor customer service, poor quality products, late delivery, and more.
Poor Customer Service
In all the customers’ reviews platforms, customers almost always do not have anything good to say about the Customer Support Service of FragranceNet. The problem ranges from basic Support failure like not responding to Support submissions or taking long to respond, and there’s also the problem of receiving unhelpful responses. For example:
- DaintreeRainforest in Resellerratings says “can’t complain about customer service because there is none”. The review continued that “Bought 5oz bottle of perfume, received a 1.5fl oz. Sent 5 emails – No replies…”
- Blessings Nicole in Resellerratings says “I bought two perfumes… I received a notification that the item was delivered while I was at home; I did not receive any package from any carrier, and it was not in my mailbox. I send an email to fragrancenet informing them what had happened; no one seems to care…”
- Olga in Sitejabber says “Worst Customer service that you’ll ever experience”. The review continued “I would gladly pay retail prices to not deal with their RUDE and ARROGANT customer service rep – she didn’t listen to what I had to say and kept parroting obviously canned answers. I would advice to stay clear of this company”
Poor Quality Product
There are also some customers who had complaints about the quality of their orders. This problem ranged from receiving watered down products with a scent that do not last, to receiving empty bottles. For example:
- CjRennie in Resellerratings says “Selling fake/ watered down cologne…” The review continued “I’ve ordered from this company in the past and just started receiving a watered down version of the same brand (Liz Claiborne “Curve”) for the same price…”
- Monica-778 in Resellerratings says “Fake perfumes be aware, Do not last” The review continued “Purchased 3 perfumes for my wife, lasts 2 hours. Be warned do not buy. If you appreciate your loved one buy real from real stores…”
- Wendell of Tallahassee, FL in Consumeraffairs says “I purchased the 3.3 sizes of Creed Aventus for $303… The box looks real, the bottle looks real but it is totally a knock off. The cologne does not last more than an hour. The real Creed will stay with you the entire day…”
- B. of Clemont, FL says “I placed a large order of 8 bottles of fragrance. 4 men’s and 4 women’s. All 4 of the men’s were off & the one woman’s that I’ve opened is off. One of the men’s leak and in one the sprayer is loose and barely sprays. I feel these products were either counterfeits, 2nds or very old…”
- Christina G in Sitejabber says “They are rip offs”. The review continued “I ordered a gift set, they sent it to me, the whole bottle perfume was empty…”
Late Delivery
Another prominent complaint is late delivery. The reviews show that it took a relatively long time for orders to be processed and dispatched for shipping. For example:
- Monica-778 in Resellerratings added that “Shipping takes 1 month”
- Catherine S on Sitejabber says “Find another retailer”. The review continued “On Thursday 02/07 at noon, I ordered 5 items for Valentine Day gifts. The website said 3-5 days so I assumed a week was plenty of time. It should have been but they didn’t ship it until 5 days later on Tuesday 02/12…”
- CJRennie in Resellerratings says “…didn’t even ship my order till a week after I ordered it…”
Difficulty receiving Refund
Another complaint that was significant is that getting refunded by FragranceNet is a tall task. As we’ll see, FragranceNet requires that you get approval and an RMA before you can return its merchandise. However, it seems that the company does not easily give this approval, and where it does, issuing the refunds does not come easy. Many times, customers reported having to initiate a chargeback with their credit card companies or Paypal to get the attention of FragranceNet.
For example: Remember DaintreeRainforest in Resellerratings who says the company did not reply any of 5 emails. The review continued “Luckily, I paid with PayPal. After contacting them, I then received an email from FragranceNet advising where to return the perfume”
Products
Product Range
As the name of the company suggests, the fragrance is its headline product category. In the fragrance department, there are different sections that you can shop in. The main ones are Women’s Perfume and Men’s Perfume. In each section, you’ll find a host of designer perfumes, including top brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Juicy Couture, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Burberry, Gianni Versace and many more. Another section in fragrance is Gift Sets where you’ll find a set of bottles in a package. Other sections in the fragrance section include Best Sellers and New arrivals. The former is where you can find the perfumes that are most sought after, and the latter holds new products that are just received into stock by the company.
FragranceNet says that one of its commitments is to offer a great selection. Thus, apart from the fragrance category, you’ll find other product categories as follows:
Candles:
- Skincare: In this category, you’ll find products for body, eyes, face, feet, hands and nails, lips, and neck. You’ll also find sun protection products, as well as supplements.
- Makeup: You’ll find MakeUp palettes, Makeup sets, and Makeup Tools & Accessories. You’ll also find Make-Up products for body, eyes, face, lips, and nails.
- Hair Care: In this category, you’ll find: Conditioners, Shampoos, Hair colour products, Hair treatments, Products for Hair loss, as well as Styling Products, and Styling Tools
- Aromatherapy
- Candles – Where you’ll find scented candles to make your home smell good
Product Quality
It is not enough to find a wide range of products in a store; you’ll want the products offered to be of high quality so that no matter what you pick, you’ll not find its quality lacking.
In this regards, FragranceNet comes with a Product Guarantee that states that “all of the products showcased throughout FragranceNet.com are 100% original brand names”. It adds that there’s “absolutely No imitations or knock-offs” to emphatically underline that the Company only carry genuine brand name products.
As documented earlier, there are quality complaints. It must be said that these complaints are significant. Since they are quite many, they cannot be passed as one-offs or coincidences. However, FragranceNet does carry high-quality products. Thus, while it is a legit company that lives up to its mandate of providing brand name products at relatively low prices, it is plagued with certain quality problems.
Pricing and Related Policies
Pricing
Every customer wants the best value possible. Thus, even for some perceived quality, no one will want to pay over and aboard. Therefore, the ideal online store should feature prices that are perceived as reasonable.
FragranceNet says that one of its commitments is offering great prices. True to those words, FragranceNet offers very good prices for brand name products. You can get up to 80% off by buying from FragranceNet instead of directly from the brands or their authorized dealers. In fact, for most customers that buy from FragranceNet, the biggest reason they state for buying brand name products from FragranceNet instead of buying directly from the brands is the relatively lower prices of FragranceNet.
In all the independent customers’ review platforms, you’ll find comments like: “the prices are way below the market prices”, “great prices”, “the prices are amazing”, and more. In fact, in some negative reviews, the relatively low price of FragranceNet was seized as a weapon. For example, a reviewer in Site Jabber stated “You get what you pay for”; another in Consumeraffairs says “if it sounds too good then it is”. These comments suggest that the price was significantly low, such that the issues that were experienced were to be expected.
That said; there’s no doubt that, as it promises, FragranceNet offers relatively low prices for its brand name products.
Promotions
The search for the best value also takes customers to stores that run a lot of promotions. This is because promotional offers allow customers to get certain products for free, and others for less than the products’ full prices.
Thankfully, FragranceNet comes out as a promotion generous online store. At the time of writing this review, there were many coupons that a customer can redeem to save big on their purchases. Some of these include:
- 30% off your order when you sign up for texts
- $25 off your purchase of $100 or more
- $10 0ff your purchase of $40 or more
- $5 off your purchase of $20 or more
Payment Methods
Every customer wants hassle-free services which include convenient payment systems. Thankfully, FragranceNet supports convenient payment methods. You can pay for your FragranceNet order using Credit and Debit cards (Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover Card, Diners Club), as well as PayPal, PayPal Credit, and Amazon Payments.
Shipping
In online purchases, shipping is an important consideration; and the most important things about shipping include: shipping destination, delivery times, and shipping costs.
Shipping Destination
When making any online purchase, except you use a store that directly ships to your location, it may be unnecessarily difficult to receive delivery of your order. In this regard, you’ll want a store that ships to many worldwide locations so that your location is more likely to be covered.
However, FragranceNet ships directly to only a few countries. It ships domestically within the US, and five other countries that include: Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. Needless to say, this is not the worldwide coverage that we’ll want. Thus, except you live in any of those six regions, using FragranceNet will be unnecessarily difficult in terms of receiving delivery of your order.
Delivery Times
Customers generally do not like to wait endlessly for their orders to be delivered. Thus, the ideal legit online store will feature fast delivery.
Delivery times are made up for order processing time and shipping time. The former is how long (after placing an order) before it is dispatched for shipping; and the latter is how long (after it is dispatched for shipping) before it arrives at the delivery point.
Shipping Times in FragranceNet depends on the location the order is shipping to, and the shipping option selected. For US orders, FragranceNet offers a couple of shipping options, which include: Standard Ground Shipping, Express Shipping, and 1-business Day Shipping. The Standard Ground Shipping takes 2 – 8 business days, the Express Shipping takes 2 – 3 business days, and the 1-Business Day Shipping will take one day.
It should be noted that the 1-business Day Shipping is a next-day delivery option. That is, as long as your order is submitted by 12pm (EST), it will be delivered the very next business day (excluding weekends). However, the times quoted for Ground Shipping and Express Shipping are not inclusive of order processing time. FragranceNet does not specifically state how long it takes it to process orders. However, we gleaned from customer reviews that it can take easily take up to 5 days. Thus, when using Ground or Express Shipping, you’ll have to allow for 5 business days before you start counting off the shipping times.
When shipping internationally, the shipping time is also dependent on where the order is shipping to. Orders going to Canada can take 2 – 7 business days; Orders going to Mexico can take 6 – 10 business days; and others going to the other locations served can take 4 – 15 business days. Also, these are just shipping time; so you have to allow about 5 business days for order processing.
Shipping Cost
Shipping costs are an important consideration in online purchases because when high shipping costs are added to purchase price, an item that is acceptably priced can easily become too expensive to acquire.
Shipping Costs in FragranceNet also depends on where the order is shipping to. For domestic US orders: Ground Shipping to the 48 contiguous states cost $6.95, but is free for every order above $59.00. However, Ground Shipping outside the 48 contiguous states cost $8.95. The cost of the Express US Shipping is flexible, depending on the weight of the shipment ordered, but it starts at $11.95. The cost of the 1-Business Day Shipping is also flexible and starts at $15.95.
International Shipping cost is also dependent on the location the order is going to. There’s a Shipping Calculator at checkout with which you can calculate the actual costs after inputting your shipping details. Be advised that international customers will be subject to certain extra charges (e.g. VAT) imposed by the applicable country.
Return
It is not all the time that customers are totally satisfied with their online purchases. Thus, the ideal legit online store will allow customers to return items that are not to their satisfaction, for an exchange or refund. Thankfully, FragranceNet allow returns.
However, returns are subject to an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) issued by the customer service. Thus, if you receive a FragranceNet product that you are not pleased with, you’ll have to first contact the Customer Service of FragranceNet to submit a return request and obtain an RMA.
After the return approval is given and the RMA number received, you can then proceed to package the product appropriately and ship it to the return shipping address (FragranceNet.com, Returns Department, 900 Grand Blvd, Deer Park, NY 11729, USA). To process your return, you’ll have to also state your reasons(s) for returning the merchandise.
However, you do not have forever to return a FragranceNet order. The company will only accept items returned to it within 30 days of receipt. This is a relatively long return window, and is on par with the industry average. Thus, if you must a FragranceNet product, you should not be pressed with time and run the risk of your item getting back late and being rejected.
Also, it should be noted that it is not all items that can be returned to FragranceNet. However, the returns restriction is limited; you can return any unopened FragranceNet merchandise except Skincare, Haircare and Make-Up items. These items are only restricted due to health reasons. Also, FragranceNet does not offer free returns; so when you decide to return an order to it, you’ll bear the cost of return shipping. The store will only take responsibility if the reason for returning the item is clearly a mistake on its part.
After returning an item you’ll not want to wait forever to receive your refund, so the ideal legit online store should process returns and issue refunds as fast as possible. FragranceNet advertises that it takes 14 business days from receipt of the return package to process it. After that the refund is issue immediately, and how long it takes to reflect on your balance will depend on your financial institution. This could take another 3 – 7 business days.
Customer Support
The ideal online store should have an effective customer support service for handling customers’ complaints and questions. This is because it is a must that certain customers will have issues with their orders, while there will be orders who’ll want answers to some questions before they’ll commit to an online store.
FragranceNet does relatively well in this regards as it supports both the self-help and the direct contact support channels. For self-help, you’ll find many helpful articles in the “Customer Support” page of its website, which also include an FAQ. In these articles, you’ll find answers to questions in such subjects as Shipping, returns and refunds, safety, and more.
If you’ll rather contact a support rep of the company, it supports a couple of contact channels that include: postal mail, email support, Fax, Live Chat, and telephone support.
For postal mail, you can send your letters to the Corporate Headquarters: FragranceNet.com Inc., 900 Grad Blvd. Deer Park, NY 11729. You can fax your letters using (631) 582-8433. For the email service, you can send your emails to info@fragrancenet.com. Alternatively, you can send the company a mail by completing an online contact form on the FragranceNet website. In filling the form, you’ll submit your email address, and you’ll get a response via email.
For the instant feedback channels of the telephone and Live Chat, the service can only be reached between the hours of 9:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern Time (Monday – Friday). The Live Chat feature can be accessed in the FragranceNet website, while the telephone numbers to call are: 1-800-727-3867 (within the US) and 631-582-5204 (outside the US). The US line is toll-free, so you don’t need to worry about charges when getting assistance.
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Pros:
- Offers brand name fragrances
- Has a wide product range that includes Skincare, Makeup, Hair Care, Aromatherapy, and Candles
- Prices offered are significantly lower than retail prices
- Free shipping is offered (albeit available for only Ground Shipping to the US)
- Minimum purchase required for free shipping is relatively low (orders over $59)
- Relatively long return window of (30 days from delivery date)
- Supports a range of channels for contacting Support Service
Cons:
- An order once submitted cannot be modified or cancelled
- Ships to only the US and 5 other countries
- Takes relatively long to process orders causing relatively late deliveries
- Reviews have significantly large cases of poor quality products (especially problem of scent not lasting as expected)
- Getting refunded may be difficult
- Too many cases of poor customer support
Summary
FragranceNet is a legitimate US based retailer that sells brand name fragrances. It promises a great selection, and you’ll find that brands featured range from the very biggest brands around to more obscure ones. However, FragranceNet is more than fragrances. It provides other products like Skincare, Makeup, Hair Care, Aromatherapy, and Candles.
The mission is to give you these brand name products at great prices; and FragranceNet lives up to this, as you’ll find that listed prices could be off retail prices by as much as 80%. For its great selection, and great prices; FragranceNet is the go-to destination for many people who’ll want to smell nice, or want their home to smell nice.
However, it ships to only 6 countries, meaning it is unavailable to many worldwide customers. If you’re in the “lucky 6”, you’ll find that it has relatively low shipping rates. US customers can even get free shipping. However, the delivery may be late, as FragranceNet has a relatively long order processing time. Also, though you may find the quality of your order to be great; you should know that there are many reports quality complaints, so you should keep your fingers crossed until it arrives and is tested.
If you do not like your order, FragranceNet advertises that it’ll happily take it back and issue a replacement or refund; and it offers a relatively long window (30 days from receipt) for making any returns. However, since returns are subject to approval; the customers’ reviews show that the approval is difficult to get; and when gotten and the item returned, getting refunded is not as smooth as customers will expect.
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