The story of my Bikini Bombshell package that never arrived...
For the last 4 weeks, I have been following the Tone It Up Bikini Series challenge. I have been posting on my blog about every day of my progress and journey throughout the challenge. However, I have been meaning to review a little bit the Tone It Up products, services, and plan. This is solely based on my personal experience, so it should not be taken for granted.
 First of all, I found Tone It Up last September 2014 when I moved to Shanghai, China. I was looking for some fitness videos that I could do at home. Living in a small apartment, I really like the fact that the Tone It Up videos did not require a lot of space to perform them correctly. Unfortunately, I was not very consistent with my workouts because I was working 7 days a week, 68 hours, barely making ends meet. I was extremely stressed, not eating healthy (mostly rice and veggies or veggies and spring rolls). I lost my interest for cooking and because of the strong pollution outside, was not able to do many activities outdoors.
 Luckily, we decided to go back to Spain with my boyfriend, where the job opportunities were better for him. We got back to Madrid on the 23rd of March. Shortly after that, I saw a post on www.toneitup.com announcing the Bikini Series 2015. I donât know why but I had a huge change in me. Instantly, I decided that for the next 8 weeks, I was going to dedicate myself to ME. I  am currently searching for a job, so I have a bit more time on my hands and I would be able to commit fully to the program. I started looking at the different bundles and really liked all the products, especially the Tone It Up journal, and the Perfect Fit protein. Luckily my birthday was coming up, so I talked to my mom and she decided to buy me the Beach Bombshell package, and she did so on April 2nd.  I  was so excited! However, I was nervous I wasnât going to receive it on time so I paid an extra 90$ for the express shipping to Madrid, Spain.
 As we all know now, Tone It Up did not plan very well in terms of products and they ran out in just a few hours. I thought I was sorted out because I had ordered early, however, I did not received my shipping confirmation until after more than 10 days  of ordering (even though I had paid for express shipping â 3-5 days). After e-mailing Tone It Up, I finally got my shipping confirmation and the delivery date was set between April 20-24th (an entire week after the start of Bikini Series!).
 As soon as my package left, I tracked it every day. My package entered Spain from Holland on the 16th of April. I was feeling that with some luck I might receive it right on the 20th, which would be at the beginning of Week 2. In the meantime, I had been writing everything on an improvised journal, waiting to transfer everything to my new journal.
 April 20th passed, then came the 24th and still no package. On the tracking website, it said it was being âcleared at customsâ. When I saw it was taking so much time, I knew something was up. So, I decided to call Spanish Customs, with my tracking number and ask what was going on. Of course! My package got stopped at customs. The representative on the phone told me I had to wait to receive a letter by mail where I would have to send a detailed receipt of every item in the box, as well as a copy of my passport. Normally, when a package is stopped, you have to pay a 21% of VAT and then another 21% on the VAT youâre paying. So looking at my total bill (over 300$), I was going to be charged about 90-95$ for the products. However, I had to explain to customs that the total amount I paid on the bill did not represent the value of the items in the box, considering that the biggest chunk of money went to the Tone It Up nutrition plan, which is a digital download.
So, I e-mailed Tone It Up explaining the situation and they were extremely nice and provided me with a new bill, detailing only the items included in the box.
 Next step, I had to send those documents and wait a few days to know how much I was going to pay for my box to get âfreedâ from Spanish Customs. I finally got an e-mail with the amountâŠ. 56 EUROS! I could not believe it! 56 EUROS for products worth 36$ (according to Tone It Up)! This was ridiculous. I think some of you might understand the anger I have been feeling lately.
Ok, so we are not mid-week 3 of the challenge and still no box. As soon as I received that letter, I went directly to make the payment. That payment was made on April 29th. I figured that by Monday 4th or Tuesday 5th of May, my package would leave Customs and get delivered. In order to make sure, I called Customs once again and the lady told me that the package had left Customs and was on its way to get delivered. Â She also assured me that I would receive it before the weekend.
 Well, here I am writing to you on Tuesday May 12th and still no package. So this morning, I called once again and guess what they told me⊠They told me that when they receive my payment, they have to send my file to get a final âapprovalâ at Customs (that can take from 2-7 days). Finally, once the green light is given, then my package is going to leave to get delivered, which can take another 2-7 days. So letâs be clear, in the best case scenario, I will be receiving my package mid Week 6 of the challenge. Worst-case scenario, I will receive when the challenge is over.
 I know this is long and probably extremely boring to read but it is important for people to be aware of this issue. This definitely raises the issue of distribution of the Tone It Up products and being able to attend and cater to the European clientele. Tone It Up not only has American followers but it has members from all over the world. Members that paid their membership, actively participate to challenges and live a healthy lifestyle. Tone It Up is growing extremely fast and should really consider opening offices in Europe or at least have a European distributor for their products. I truly believe it is an important step that should happen short-term if they donât want other competitors to take a lead. I have to say that after doing some market research, I have not found any protein powder sold in Spain comparable with Perfect Fit. On another note, I know a lot of gyms, health stores and also vegans that are looking for a Vegan-friendly, Organic, Gluten-Free, and Non-GMO powder!
 The conclusion to all this bla bla bla is that I have paid an extremely big amount of money for products that are supposed to be great (I do believe they are). After paying extra for shipping , the only option for me to receive the package with not too much delay, and after having to pay an extra 56 EUROS (approx. 80 $) for Custom clearance, I am not even guaranteed to receive my package before an 8 WEEKS challenge ends. I know Iâm not the only one and I know that I wonât be the last one if Tone It Up doesnât try to better cater to their European clients.
Once again, I want to make myself clear that I am not hating on Tone It Up, as the whole Customs issue is not their fault. However, I hope it can help them realize the necessity for having a European distributor of their products.Â
Ok, time to go to bed! Bootycall tomorrow! Goodnight beach babes!
