Factor: 50% Off Your First Box

Not all meal kit delivery services are created equal, says Factor, which claims to offer restaurant quality, scratch-made meals designed to meet wellness goals.

Interested in giving it a try? The company advertises that you can get 50% off your first box.

But before you attempt to take advantage of this offer, which comes with “free breakfast for 1 year*,” you may want to factor in some of what TINA.org discovered when we went through the sign-up process on Factor’s website.

• Depending on the meal plan you sign up for, you may not be able to get the full 50% discount. In fact, we were only offered 27% off our first box as part of the meal plan Factor recommended for us based on our answers to a questionnaire about our goals and meal preferences. (In the company’s TV ad, the fact that “discounts vary” is only disclosed in the fine print. Factor includes similar disclosures throughout its checkout process, but the messages appear in fine print and/or are often buried at the bottom of webpages.)
• In order to get any discount on your first box, you have to provide your payment information and agree to enroll in a weekly autorenewing subscription, the cost of which is significantly higher than your first discounted box. For example, the 26-meal plan Factor recommended for us autorenewed at $329.29 a week, compared to our “first box total” of $248.87 (which included a $10.99 shipping charge plus taxes).
• You also cannot get the “free breakfast” add-on (which is actually just one free breakfast item per box for a year) without signing up for an autorenewing subscription.
• You cannot select meals before providing your payment information and placing your order. Factor claims that you “won’t be charged” and that “payment details are needed to reserve your delivery.” (Some consumers disagree – more on this to come.)
• You may not be able to cancel your subscription the same way you signed up. Factor states in its terms that you may be required to call or email the company in order to cancel.

Perhaps unsurprisingly based on some of the meal kit company’s practices outlined above, consumers have complained about being charged without their consent and difficulties canceling Factor subscriptions, both of which would constitute violations of the FTC’s Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

Factor did not respond to a TINA.org request for comment.

Of note

Factor was acquired by meal kit giant HelloFresh in 2020. In 2022, TINA.org filed a complaint against HelloFresh for its false advertising of “free meals” and deceptive subscription practices (such as making it difficult for consumers to cancel subscriptions).

Last month, HelloFresh agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by regulators in California alleging it failed to adequately disclose the terms of its subscriptions, enrolled consumers without their affirmative consent and then made cancellation difficult.

Sounds familiar.

The bottom line

Consumers should always do their research before enrolling in a subscription service. Always read the fine print and consider what consumers may have to say on a variety of third-party review sites before trusting a company with your payment information.

Read more of our coverage on subscriptions.