Misleading ship times, poor communication I rarely write poor reviews, but in this case I felt I had to as I've had multiple negative experiences with this company. I placed an order for 2 standing desks in May 2023. The website said the ship time was 2-3 weeks. I had to wait FIVE MONTHS for the desks – which ended up shipping separately, weeks apart. Throughout that whole time I was consistently told (over 7-ish different interactions) that the desks were "still 2-3 weeks out". Had I known how long the desks were going to take I would likely have cancelled the order or not placed the order. The same issue happened when I ordered 2 desk lamps, they took months instead of the advertised 1-2 weeks to ship. So misleading and so frustrating. I also think it's telling that in their marketing emails they display their Trustpilot rating as 4 stars – when it is currently 3.1 as of the writing of this review, and many recent reviews reflect the same issues I had with them. They are clearly not addressing serious operational issues and continuing to misrepresent lead times on their website and disappoint customers.

Excellent products Excellent products - sourced and sold ethically at often unbeatable prices. Overall I find The Essential has dramatically helped the way I manage my household!

Don’t even bother Don’t even bother. I order was NOTHING like the coat pictured. Took over six weeks to arrive. Refused a refund. Can’t even speak to customer service. All over email. Scammed.

Happy and surprised My order was a little delayed though their customer service rep was great. When my chair arrived, it was fantastic. They followed up on my order and even gave me some credit. I wasn't expecting that.

Tasty with a side of poor communication The products themselves were very tasty. However, there was about a few weeks delay in shipping with no email or notification sent out to customers. I emailed them at which point they let me know of a shortage in dry ice. The product was shipped the following week.