The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, will be handing out free apricot spreads after her online company, As Ever, ran out of stock, leaving customers in a lurch.
This is the second time in two months—the first was the lifestyle brand’s honey offering, which flew off the shelves even though it retailed at $28 per bottle.
These developments have failed to draw attention to the brand’s demand, instead appealing largely to social media and the press’s critical sensibilities.
The shortage sparked a crisis for Meghan Markle’s fans
The development spilled onto social media on July 1, when a client wrote:
“Just received an email from As Ever, they are unable to fulfill my apricot order but will give me a full refund and a free replacement when it becomes available again.”
It was a crisis for them and they indicated as much: “I only have a half a jar of my raspberry spread left. It’s war tomorrow!!!”
“I hope they fix this though,” remarked another.
“At the minimum comms should be out literally on the day instead of waiting for your product for a while and being disappointed. Not a good customer experience even though the customer service is good after the fact,” they lamented.
Some fans saw it as “teething issues,” but others delivered judgement
The embattled notice conveying the apology announced:
“Due to high demand, we are unable to fulfill your order of the apricot spread at this time. We are refunding the purchase of this item by the end of this week.”
“In addition to the refund,” it continued, “we want you to know that when the apricot spread is back in stock, you will be the first to receive it, free of charge.”
The company’s notice drew a few empathetic comments.
“I think this is happening because it’s selling very fast and it’s not keeping up with the buyers and the amounts. It’s like if there are 10 & 4 buyers & each buys 3 then someone will be left without!” wrote one.
“It’s just teething issues of a new business. I’m sure they’ll sort it out soon enough,” commented another.
But not everyone was as understanding.
One critic called the Duchess of Sussex a scamming “grifter”
“It’s weird because e-commerce websites are not set up to sell something that is no longer in stock. There’s a stock count in the backend that keeps track live. You should also make sure you have a margin of error,” observed one critic.
Another netizen pulled out all the stops on a page dedicated to Meghan-critique.
They called the Suits alum “a scamming grifter” before claiming that “she just cares about” her fans’ money and “not the products she is” selling, predicting that her brand would be nothing more than a “bad memory […] within two to three years.”
It is the second time in two months that As Ever oversold, and some think it is due to bad business sense
The last time As Ever–which launched on April 2 this year with an array including strawberry jam, herbal teas, crepe and cookie mix, and decorative flower sprinkles among other items–ran out of a product was in April.
The item was “wildflower honey with honeycomb,” selling at an eyewatering $28 apiece.
At the time, Meghan tried to mitigate the disappointment with an email that said, “I was so sorry to hear what happened to your order.” She promised that when another limited edition item dropped, she would gift it to her let-down customers.
Social media reacted positively to this first faux pas, and one netizen wrote: “OMGG you’re gonna get the next limited edition product first and directly via mail. That’s so sweet!!”
“What a classy way to handle this scenario! Sorry you didn’t get the honey this time, but wow, how cool to know you’ll get a beautiful product next drop,” another chimed in.
The second time she promised freebies (with the apricot spread), however, it struck a chord and one person interpreted it as Markle “having the worst business sense.”
Some factions on social media are calling foul
