# The Essential — user reviews > 29 indexed App Store user reviews of The Essential by Inhabit.io, Inc, rated 3.91/5 from 100 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-essential/id1522395728/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-essential/id1522395728.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 64 · 4★ 9 · 3★ 2 · 2★ 4 · 1★ 21 ## Newest reviews (9 of 29) ### 1/5 — Delays all around *2022-08-31, version 3.4* Missing food, missing orders, this app is missing itself. Half the app loads the website. Don’t waste your time, it can’t even keep a session token to maintain you being logged in ### 1/5 — Customer Service is Horrible *2022-04-28, version 3.1* I have been with them since the start and have seen their customer service degrade. They use to respond in about a day or less, as of now it has been weeks since I have received a response concerning some orders I placed and never received. The projected delivery dates are also rarely met, I am still waiting on some items that were supposed to arrive before Christmas.. I really wanted to continue to support this project but they seem to think that launching new items instead of fulfilling out of stock orders is the best way to run a business. What happens when the new items are depleted? You will simply have more items out of stock and more unfulfilled orders. Instead of focusing on new products you should focus on customer service and your supply chain issue. They are trying to expand too rapidly and it is unfortunately starting to show. ### 1/5 — Need improvement *2022-02-19, version 2.5* Order never come as expected … I’ve waited 30days for food orders that say in stock … I have yet to receive a food order that has everything I ordered … ordered wine glasses that said ship in Jan’21 … and have to see them now Feb.19th. … have emailed twice for issues with no response … you need to improve your service or people will leave. ### 1/5 — Don’t bother *2022-02-17, version 2.5* Inventory is never available and canceling is a nightmare. ### 1/5 — Literally nothing is available to purchase *2021-11-01, version 1.9* Every single item I clicked on was “unavailable” or “ship by Christmas.” Who wants to pay for that “luxury?” I cancelled my membership within minutes. ### 1/5 — Kind of a scam *2021-09-06, version 1.7* ***HOW DOWS A 4 YEAR OLD APP NOT HAVE ENOUGH RATINGS TO DISPLAY??? LET THAT BE YOUR FIRST WARNING SIGN!***signed up for a free 7 day trial, but since I didn't recieve my items within 7 days I was charged the yearly fee. Since I had ended up paying even though I didn't want the service, I decided to give it a chance. The food is not good, does not have the proper labelling per FDA requirements and is not packaged well enough to withstand shipping. Every order I recieved was incorrect or leaking/damaged. Customer service is nearly impossible to get a response from. When you do, they give you a credit rather than a refund. I was not able to figure out a way to redeem my "credits" -- They do not appear automatically on the next purchase. There is no other way to leave a review anywhere else on the quality of their products or their customer sercice, which is why I'm doing it here. I am out a couple hundred dollars which is totally my own fault for giving the service a few chances. Hopefully my review will convince you to stay away as well. Google this company and you will see nothing but bad reviews-- that's why they have no place online to leave feedback. ### 1/5 — Cant view what they offer until you sign up and then can’t cancel *2021-09-03, version 1.7* I signed up because the service sounded neat, however you couldn’t view all their products unless you created an account. As amazing as their offering might be, it sadly doesn’t fit into my dietary restrictions, and there aren’t enough other products on Move I’m interested in. It’s stated in the app description that subscription is free the first month and until your first purchase. Now after creating an account I never made a purchase and after seeing the product offering. I also swiftly looked up their cancellation policy to ensure I don’t get billed 95$ a year for something I would not be using. You cannot cancel from within the app or website. Instead you have to access a cancellation link from their faq from a browser. The FAQ link is dead on the homepage, but becomes accessible after member login, and canceling takes you to a type form saying someone will review your request in 24-48 hours. For something that you pay a 95$ subscription for - for ‘premium items’ - I expect premium customer service, and that includes being able cancel my account immediately… ### 1/5 — Three orders. *2021-09-02, version 1.7* One no show. Second one gross, melted. Literally a box of smelly fish. Third hasn’t shipped yet. I think this is a scam. ### 1/5 — Can’t recommend *2021-03-30, version 1.6* I was so excited about Move - this is everything I would have wanted in a grocery delivery and could have seen myself ordering weekly for all my lunches, plus occasional dinners. Unfortunately, their shipping took 4 days instead of the advertised 2, which is an issue when trying to do meal planning. Given that the items were in transit for so long, I was concerned about the safety of the refrigerated/frozen items and was frustrated when my emails and texts to CS (no phone number to call, of course) went unreplied until the next day. Worse still, there are NO dates on any of the products, so it’s impossible to know when something will go bad or needs to be frozen. I emailed CS asking if they could provide estimates on how long I could expect my items to be fresh and they took days to reply. When I did hear something, they either ignored my questions by replying with a blanket apology or they gave contradicting information - they seriously told me all their food was good for “at least six months” before walking it back! I’m sympathetic to the challenges of a new, small business but when your CS can’t own up to any of the issues or even respond in a timely fashion, then I won’t be a customer. I was hesitant to post this review, but I know I couldn’t find any reviews before I signed up, so I wanted to provide an honest account about my experience for others. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Logged me out *2025-04-06, version 5.8* Won’t let me log in without creating a paid account with Shopify. I paid for a membership to the Essential and I can’t order anything. There’s no contact information on the app to help. ### 1/5 — Logged me out *2025-04-02* Won’t let me log in without creating a paid account with Shopify. What gives? Why am I having to pay another service to shop here? ### 1/5 — Terrible service would never recommend it *2025-03-14, version 5.7* I placed an order two months ago, and I still haven’t received it. This isn’t the first time I’ve had issues with delayed shipments from your company, but this is beyond reasonable. I reached out to support asking for a refund, but instead, I was offered a $15 credit for a future order. That’s not acceptable. I’m not ordering from you again, and I don’t want store credit—I want my money back. At this point, I’m just disappointed and tired of going in circles. I shouldn’t have to chase down an order for two months or fight for a basic refund. Since I haven’t been able to get a resolution, I’m left with no choice but to share my experience in an app review so others are aware of what to expect. ### 1/5 — Be ware of this scam *2024-10-25, version 5.4* This nothing but another subscription service with the same over priced garbage you knew you never needed in the first place. Definitely NOT worth the $95 for the privilege of overspending on bad products. ### 1/5 — Stay away! *2024-01-23, version 5.1* You have a better chance of getting higher quality items if you order on wish or temu. It’s that bad. Placed an order back in December. Took al ost two months to arrive and i’m being generous by saying the quality is subpar. Save your money and save yourself the headache and avoid this at all cost ### 1/5 — Do not shop at this site! *2023-12-07, version 4.9* I ordered three items on Nov 10th. Two men’s toilet article kits, and a filing cabinet. I have yet to receive delivery on anything. It is now December 6. I’ve already emailed once, and was given the lame excuse that the company is changing warehouses, and thus the delay. Unfortunately for them, I read the negative reviews about people never getting their orders delivered in a timely fashion, and I should have followed my better judgment. But I didn’t. So now they have my money, and I have not received any deliveries. How do they stay in business? I have no idea, as this method of conducting business is completely unacceptable. I’m concerned that these three Christmas gifts will not even arrive in time to be given for the holiday. No one gets back to you to explain why things may or may not be delayed. They tell me it’s a warehouse move, but the negative reviews about never getting deliveries goes back a ways in time. Do not shop here. It is not worth the aggravation. Shop at Rue La La, gilt, Nordstrom Rack or even W al mart for a better experience. ### 1/5 — good for nothing *2023-09-27, version 4.7* nearly all of the groceries have been out of stock for two months. the one item i did order is taking weeks to ship after i had an order cancelled because they didn’t have dry ice for a month. returns aren’t free for non-grocery items so good luck if you buy clothes and find out they don’t fit. ### 1/5 — Literally more expensive than anywhere else *2023-08-15, version 4.6* Their website claims all their products are X price on Amazon or “elsewhere” but they are definitely misrepresenting pricing and acting like they are giving you some amazing deal. Boho vase on Amazon allegedly $69 but omg, what a deal at $45 on The Essential. Quick search shows it’s a mere $29 on Amazon in like, 5 different colors. And in what universe is 2 pounds of whey protein $71? The Essential’s alternate universe apparently because “elsewhere” it’s $71 but you get the low discount price of $46 on their members-only platform. Even the boujee grass fed stuff isn’t more than $23 ish per pound. Completely not worth using their site let alone paying for access on top of really inflated pricing. I signed up, saw all the merch and terrible pricing, and cancelled immediately. ### 1/5 — Avoid. *2023-07-25, version 4.6* They promise nothing but gimmicks. It’s worse than kickstarter with updates. It’s insane they charge an annual fee for banal customer service ### 1/5 — Horrible Communication and Customer Service *2023-05-17, version 4.3* Was named Move, now Essential. I am so disappointed with this organization’s service. For Example: I ordered the kitchen table, five months later it came in…damaged. Still not resolved. I have yet to receive the matching room chairs as well. Getting close to NINE months. NOTHING! Seriously. They are a rip off…no communication unless you force it, and then they NEVER EVER follow up. Don’t buy a thing from this company. Trust me. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great furniture *2026-04-14, version 7.3* They launch the deals on the app before the website usually. They sell a lot of dupes but it’s considerably better quality than the junk you’ll get from Wayfair. Good customer support too. ### 5/5 — A simple yet powerful app! *2024-01-30, version 5.1* This app has proven to be the best way to shop The Essential. ### 5/5 — Fantastic products *2023-12-29, version 5.1* Great customer service. ### 5/5 — Service is decent, app is buggy *2022-06-10, version 3.2* Can’t see order details in the app. Have to use a computer, kinda ridiculous. Shipping is hit or miss, anything delicate usually arrives damaged. ### 5/5 — I am hooked! *2022-03-31, version 2.9* Inventory is limited but the quality is amazing. Love shopping here. The app could use some love and so could the shipping but they are things that will get ironed out eventually. Great concept and I hope they continue to make it happen. ### 5/5 — Love the app *2021-10-01, version 1.7* Makes it super fast and easy to order. Can’t get enough of Move. ### 5/5 — Early access and easy check out are game changers! *2020-10-20, version 1.4* I love that having the app lets me get my weekly order in, even when I’m not at my laptop. I also don’t have to worry about missing the weekly Sunday Drops, since the notification comes straight to my phone. Awesome value as a member! ### 2/5 — Shipping Broken *2024-11-12, version 5.4* I purchased some items, but the shipping option or selector keeps pending and doesn’t pick anything. I’m unable to place an order through Apple Pay or the regular checkout. ### 2/5 — Still haven’t gotten *2021-12-02, version 2.2* It’s already been a week and I still haven’t gotten my order. I’m going to keep using it in hopes it gets better, but when it comes to food, it shouldn’t take a week when you can order local and get groceries in the same day. It’s a great idea and all their stuff sounds really good, but it’s not executed very well yet. Also, a lot of the good stuff wasn’t in stock which was really disappointing. We’ll see what the quality of the food is like once I finally get it. 🤞🏼 ### 2/5 — Good products but bad experience due to extremely slow shipping *2021-08-29, version 1.7* Products are good, shipments are packed well enough. Shipping is free after 5 items, 2 day. The problem is that they will regularly wait weeks to ship. If you’re trying to “plan” around any of these ingredients or meals you can’t since they are extremely unreliable. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-12.*