Real Plans - Meal Planner Negative Reviews

Real Plans - Meal Planner App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024

Real Plans - Meal Planner app received 38 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Real Plans - Meal Planner? Can you share your negative thoughts about real plans - meal planner?

Real Plans - Meal Planner for Negative User Reviews

✓ SCAMMY, buyer bewareI signed up with a ten day free trial period for my whole 30 diet. Five days in decided this app wasn’t working for my family so tried to cancel it. Many hoops to jump through, couldn’t do it from the app. Live chatted with an agent and asked her to cancel my account. She said she could help me with that but then proceeded to tell me how I needed to log into the account from a browser and request cancellation from the account page. Ok. Thanks for your “help?” Did that, and then made a time stamped screenshot....just in case. Logged in on Sunday to ensure it was canceled and it said it had been and that I would not be charged again. This morning was about to delete the app but logged in just to make sure it was canceled. To my surprise it wasn’t! Live chatted with another agent who said she was sorry my account cancellation hadn’t been processed when requested, that it would go to the free account after the month subscription was up, and then argued the semantics between account cancellation and refund request. Obviously if I am not going to use a service I want my money back!! I filed a claim with PayPal, hopefully it won’t be too much more of a headache to get a refund. My advice is to hope and pray you actually like this app if you try it, because getting your money back under the free trial period isn’t an easy process..Review JACVersion: 8.2

✓ Website is betterI find the website so much easier to use. On the app, my grocery list often gives me wrong items so I end up having to get groceries multiple times. Last night I ordered groceries online, which is already time consuming. The generated list has the items, but you have to double check the quantity of everything. Last week I got 1 russet potato for a recipe that called for 6. After I get my groceries, I go back to the app to check them off the list. Today, when I opened the app to figure out what I still need, it had marked some of it “already have” and there was a whole list of new items. I panicked for a moment thinking it had generated a new plan for the week - it had. I triple checked that I was looking at the correct week’s list and menu. When I went to the website, the correct plan and grocery list is there. That’s a relief, but also frustrating because the website and the app aren’t communicating the way the should. Also, the website is almost impossible to use on a mobile phone. I should keep track of the number of hours I spend just getting groceries for the week. Otherwise, it’s nice to have the convenience of a meal planner so I don’t have to make a menu and grocery list on my own. That it not a talent I possess..Skyla928Version: 9.3

✓ Refresh BugsI purchased the Whole 30 plan. When adding recipes, they don’t appear on the planning schedule. In order to make them appear, I have to scroll all the way to the top and pull down to refresh the app/data. That adds 10-20 seconds each time I add a recipe. Also, when using the shopping lists and indicating that I already have an ingredient, often times, after marking it, it will reappear at a later time as unmarked. Frustrating. These are very basic app/service refresh design issues that shouldn’t appear in a $30 purchase, $15/mos subscription..GeekOfADadVersion: 8.9

✓ Great plans but turn off data!Chewed through 4gb in 5 days following the app, having it on, making meals etc.Jinjoo85Version: 7.6

✓ Not worth the moneyDefinitely not worth the cost. It just gives you a random selection of recipes each week hardly related to each other then makes a simple shopping list all things that other apps do for free..Chutch94Version: 5.6

✓ This is a scam!!!!They don’t let you cancel and you can’t contact them. They have charged me $63.70 after a “free trial” that I tried to cancel (thought that I succeeded in cancelling). I’ve tried to contact through the app but it’s in a weird recipe loop that gives no other options. Have tried through the website which again is a loop that directs you to the app or social media that I don’t do. Short of cancelling my credit card so that they cannot do this again, I don’t know what to do and can’t afford it. Run away - don’t even try this app..CassiaLass33Version: 11.14

✓ App won’t load any longerGreat ideas and recipes... if you can open the app. Waste of money and time..XKLS2015aVersion: 8.3

✓ Wouldn’t recommendNot even close to worth the amount of money they charge a year! When I first downloaded I was so excited I very quickly found out that it’s very repetitive. Most of the recipes are the same from week to week and is doesn’t even give you a full week of meals and recipes. After the first few weeks I never used it at all and some how missed it auto charging my bank for almost a year. When I realized this I emailed them to see if they would credit me back my last quarterly charge because I canceled it and haven’t used it. They credited me back half of one charge because of you want to cancel they charge you a 14 dollar administrative fee! Are you kidding me?!?! Most places are more then willing to credit more then one charge, these guys didn’t even offer and then charge a 14 dollar fee!.SarapirnreVersion: 9.6

✓ Wanted this to be great but so disappointed!I wanted to start the vegetarian whole 30 so this in theory seemed like the dream app but I was extremely disappointed and here’s why: 1. They automatically sign you up for auto renew and on the app it is hard to find how to change your subscription (not user friendly) and it does not come up on your Apple subscriptions if you have an iPhone. 2. It wouldn’t let me change the date of when I wanted to start it so my week had to start on a weds which isn’t what I wanted. 3. When I tried to change the amount of meals I wanted the meal to last as in leftovers for ththe next day but the recipe didn’t change. When you look on the support Center there are so many FAQs so seems like a lot of people have these issues or they are aware. Just seems like this is not that user friendly :/ and it’s not like I’m not tech savvy!.TLK-24Version: 11.12

✓ Falls shortThe concept of this app is wonderful and I LOVE the recipes I have tried thus far. But, isn’t there always a but, I planned an entire week worth of meals, went through the grocery list, took out the things I already owned and went shopping! Great so far. The first day was fantastic, everything I needed was there, the recipes were easy to follow and the results were great! Then day two. Scallops was on the menu. But scallops were not on the shopping list! No scallops. Ok, maybe I missed it or clicked “I have” by mistake. Push scallops to day three and we’ll eat day three meal today. No cauliflower rice! Cauliflower was on the list and I got it, but no cauliflower rice. Next recipe. No coconut milk! Now I am annoyed. It is a wonderful idea and I love the concept but I was looking for something that would organize me enough so I would have all the ingredients and not need to go to the store at 6 when i get home from work and start cooking..JulbanminkaVersion: 8.5

✓ Stopped workingAfter I purchased a year this app it stopped working completely. It won’t stay open. I will open it and then it kicks me out completely. I have offloaded it and reloaded it many times. Updated my phone etc. but I can’t use it at all. I gave it to stars because it worked great when I was using the monthly version. It was working fine when I was paying monthly. Right after right after I paid for the whole year at stopped working?.GabiSantoshaVersion: 8.31

✓ GlitchesI use the app daily, I love all the recipes and food. It’s helped me even loose weight and look forward to cooking. However I have had issues with the app randomly canceling my subscription, making me pay double and locking me out of my account. For example I was about to cook dinner tonight and the app locked me out and said I needed to renew my subscription. When I clicked to renew my subscription it wouldn’t allow me to resubscribe because it was registering that I am already subscribed however it won’t allow me onto the app anyways with out purchasing the more expensive subscription along with my current one. So now I have everything to make dinner but no recipe and can not find the recipe online...... I contacted online support and haven’t heard anything back. Their customer service isn’t very good and they don’t take responsibility for the app not working. Last time this happened they told me they couldn’t help and I needed to contact the Apple store. When I contacted the Apple Apple store (on the phone) they confirmed that it was Real Plans responsibility for the app having issues. Thankfully the gal on the phone for Apple ended up finding a way to help me..MarieSalaVersion: 8.15

✓ Good in theoryI used this app 3 years ago and I liked it, but trying it with the updates is really upsetting me. It is glitchy, it is slow, and the recipes it generates are ridiculous most of the time. I wanted to use it for another round of Whole30, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to have it generate a weekly plan that includes enough protein in meals. I have had to go in to each day and edit every meal that it generates. Sorry, but “apple with almond butter” isn’t a sufficient breakfast, nor is “baked sweet potato” a sufficient dinner. There needs to be a way to control the amount of protein someone wants aside from taking the time to go and edit everything that it generates. I’m spending more time using this “time saving app” than I was just meal planning on my own with pen and paper. Total waste of money..Brieski2416Version: 8.17

✓ You have to payIt does not say from the beginning you have to pay. When you open app it asks you to sign up and give your name, email and phone no, otherwise you cannot proceed. There isn't a trial version so you know what you are buying.Vio CVersion: 5.1

✓ Keeps crashing 😕I’ve used this on pc, and loved it. But keeps crashing on my iPhone and iPad......Monkey.mochaVersion: 8.1

✓ Not workingWhen I renewed my subscription through iTunes the money came out. But when I pull up the app, it just keeps saying I need to renew. I had problems with it the first time I tried it but I thought I would give it another chance. The chat ladies just keep telling me to re purchase it again and it will work. No I already paid over 20 bucks for the month why would I pay you again when you can’t even solve the problem from the start. So you can just keep collecting money for something that doesn’t work. Good luck trying to get anywhere. It doesn’t allow a refund either and any problems you report just sends you to their useless webpage. Chat is useless tried again, they will send an email in 24 hours. Useless. Horrible. Never again..CynthiaSueCarmodyVersion: 8.5

✓ Decent app, was charged despite free trial offerApp offered a 14 day free trial for the paid version, but I was charged the full monthly fee immediately. Of course the charge goes through Apple, so their customer service was able to just pass the buck and never even answered me as to why I was charged with the trial. The app is ok - I may have kept it were I not put off by the charge issue, though probably not. There are some good recipes, but it doesn’t allow much flexibility or account for those shopping on a budget at all. The shopping lists were enormous, with many specialty ingredients and very little overlap so you would have needed to get much more than you actually needed of many items. If more options for budget ranges or efficient use of ingredients were built in, the app could have potential..CinnamonGirTVersion: 8.21

✓ Not UsefulFirst you need to buy a monthly subscription, then to access any of the recipes in the database you need to subscribe to each different "cookbook" separately at an additional monthly cost. I filled in all my info and then waited while "they applied their magic to my meal plan" and over 3/4 of the meal plan was left blank! The whole point was for the app to be filled with receives and provide suggestions. I got very few suggestions! I unsubscribe but just wasted $19.99(Cdn) just to try this app. Extremely disappointed..Angela5107Version: 7.5

✓ Really annoyedJoined this for a free month and was so sure that I cancelled the subscription as it was no use to me living in Australia as I couldn’t get half of the ingredients - so now 2 years later realise that I have been paying for this with not a word from this company for nearly 2 years!! very annoyed - please be careful.One Cross GirlVersion: 8.13

✓ Repeating meals, not a lot of optionsI’ll preface this with, I came from the major meal planner service, which has a ton of developers and recipe makers, tons of recipe options, easy to use app. The drawback was that there wasn’t an option to do AIP or at least remove nightshades, which is an allergen in our household, and 90% of their recipes contain and NEED tomatoes. Being on this allergy trip for a few years, I do have a few swaps up my sleeves (pumpkin purée takes on the flavor of tomato sauce, fyi), but I was getting tired of constantly omitting the tomatoes. So I decided to try real plans. I liked the idea of it, i loved that I can dial in our allergens. There’s a huge list in the settings that I can select or deselect to get the curated foods set directly onto the weekly meal planner. My major major dislike is that the recipes are now repeating, less than a month later, there’s not really much to choose from in general, so there’s not a lot of recipes I can swap in now that we’ve seen a lot of the recipes. And while the kids enjoyed almost all of the recipes from the other service even with me swapping ingredients out, they have been less than enthusiastic about each meal with Real Plans. We’ve only favorited two meals this month out of many. The idea behind this app and planning service is fabulous but the execution and the options just isn’t there, and I wouldn’t have paid as much as I did to sign up had I known..Miss KristiVersion: 9.6

✓ Please fix this appNot sure where these positive reviews are coming from...maybe friends? I search for a recipe I know is in the recipe box (Southwest Chicken Soup) and it comes up with no image. Just sort of freezes with nothing on the screen. Tried to import a recipe from the web on my phone, and the images are grainy and have nothing to do with the recipe. If you want to support the paying subscribers, fix this mobile app. Especially us newbies-need something mobile to help when we have questions about a certain product when we're in the grocery store or out to eat..Tumblrlover1975Version: 7.1

✓ Love the app, not the 2019 updateI’ve used this app for a while now and have generally found it really useful for meal planning. I love the new interface with Instacart as well. That said, the bulk of the changes made in the 2019 update have made the app far more cumbersome to use and are less user friendly. The app has been considerably slower and the layout is less convenient. It is harder to pull recipes from past weeks without searching for them again and it is more difficult to browse through recipes if I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. I still love the app but wish they would return to the old layout as it was quite a bit easier to use..JschstrVersion: 8.3

✓ I didn't use itAfter the tutorial or tour never opened again..CarufisVersion: 4.3

✓ Waste of moneyI’m disappointed that I paid for a year of this because the app is not working that well. Its full of bugs.. It’s extremely frustrating to import recipes because the app is not saving or confirming all of the ingredients. I had to do one ingredient at a time after trying for awhile. Importing one recipe took over an hour. For the existing recipes, the portion sizes I am changing are not saving and my shopping list is all over the place because of that. When you indicate that meal will be leftovers, it doubled my portion size of 4 to 8 but since I am cooking for 2, I didn’t need that much. I changed the recipe to portion sized for 2 and the leftover portion was automatically set for 4 and cannot be changed. Certainly getting the portion sizes correct are nothing short of a nightmare at this point. I’ll continue to try because I unfortunately paid for it but at this point, it’ll be easier to get out a piece of paper....Jm1440_Version: 8.21

✓ Fraudulent BillingI attempted to buy an annual subscription last year - for some reason it didn’t go through. I was never able to login and support said I didn’t pay. I had to fight with Apple AND PayPal to get a refund and was a horrible ordeal. I decided eff this, the app isn’t worth this hassle. I got my money back and never used the app. Now, a year later, they KEEP trying to bill me, never mind that I never was able to login or use their crappy app to begin with. They also don’t show up under my subscriptions on iTunes, so it’s not like there’s anything to cancel. This is a SHADY company that 100% is trying to steal money..ChemicalsInTheCloudsVersion: 8.7

✓ InfuriatingThis app is glitchy, freezes up constantly, and once you decide you don’t want to use it anymore figuring out how to stop it from withdrawing $15 a month from your bank account is impossible. The app doesn’t show up under my subscriptions in the iTunes Store and I don’t see anywhere to discontinue my subscription from within the app itself. So I haven’t been using it for the past three months because of its poor performance but I’ve been paying for it against my wishes. I really wanted to like this app because the thought of having a grocery list generated for me sounded amazing. Unfortunately to use the grocery list you have to open and close the app constantly to get it to work properly. My advice is just buy the Whole30 books and steer clear of this irritating user experience..Chickman85Version: 7.6

✓ UselessJust buy the book with recipes.Rita CoachingVersion: 8.2

✓ Needs HelpI will say, I’ve come from multiples meal planning and macro tracking apps which were very user friendly. This app is NOT that at all. Not even close. It is EXTREMELY confusing. It is a little more manageable if you do it on the website, but I downloaded the app for a reason. The leftovers is confusing if you’re trying to do it from the app. I also purchased the macro tracker thinking that it would track/show the macros for the meals I had planned for the week-it did not. I really want to love this app, but it is absolutely horrible in its user friendliness. I have never used an app or program where I felt so completely lost and confused as I did with this app. It is great for recipe ideas, but again NOT even close to subpar as a meal planning app. I’m regretful I spent as much as I did on this app..Mary K EverettVersion: 11.15

✓ Not FreeOnce you try to sign in you are forced to choose a subscription for cost. Should not be listed as free..DereksalmonVersion: 5.5

✓ Are you sure you want to try this one?The app may be actually a decent one. I downloaded and paid for a month to try it out but I didn't find it useful so I just deleted it. Apparently the subscription is renewed automatically so I realised I have been paying for 9 months without using. Contacted the support team and said they will not refund me. They do state in the confirmation email that it is an automatic renewal. I guess it's my fault for not checking it earlier but after the initial purchase they never send you any notification email that you are still paying (good reminder in case u want to cancel). In this day and age it should compulsory getting such updates as its so hard to keep track of all the apps you are actually paying. This is a practice of dodgy developers who are trying to just get your money...KintsibooVersion: 4.3

✓ Good but needs tweaksThe recent update was a mixed-bag. The biggest thing I liked is they added the ability to “favorite” recipes that you like. However they changed the interface so it’s now harder to view the week’s menu and move/change recipes around, especially on the phone app where I usually do the meal planning. Trying to move a recipe to a different day is a Herculean task where as before the recipe stayed in place while you scrolled the calendar. The app only needed a couple of minor tweaks, but they changed several things for the worse..!pieface!Version: 8.1

✓ FrustratingThe idea of this app is fantastic. Some of the recipes were quite good. My issue lies in some of the glaring mistakes that I discovered after 3 months of using the app. Firstly, the nutritional information seemed to sometimes be for the entire recipe, and sometimes for one serving. I confirmed this by running some of the recipes though other nutrition programs. This is frustrating for people who want to closely track nutrition. Secondly, going through the trouble of entering in dietary restrictions apparently made no difference to the recipes offered. After restricting my diet to gluten free and Keto, my meal plan was riddled with sandwiches. What? Finally, I purchased an “integrated” macros tracker that turns out wasn’t even available on the app. You had to use it with the website only. Just...ugh. I got too frustrated to keep paying for it. TLDR; nice idea, terrible execution.ZannieqVersion: 8.1

✓ So much potentialI previously used this service and although it was often difficult to navigate I found some great recipes. However, I recently decided to use it again to do the whole30. In addition to charging a monthly fee they are now also charging for programs. The only reason I ever considered using them in the first place was because they were endorsed by the Whole30 and the fact that they've started charging so much more for that program doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Even this I could have moved past but many of the recipes I had saved have been erased which defeats why I decided to use it again. All in all the company fails to update customers on changes that allow us to decide if this is the right platform. It is again difficult to navigate and dangerously close to being exorbitantly overpriced. Furthermore, many of the recipes seem to be submitted so the clients are doing some of the heavy lifting. How are these prices and the other app failures then justifiable?.Zetta GayeVersion: 8.15

✓ Good features, but not good syncDecent app overall, but fails at being a robust multi-user or offline-first app. Good luck trying to use the shopping list feature with your partner, or in a store that squelches your cellular coverage. It’s fine superficially, but constant pull-to-refreshes that even then don’t consistently show your shopping list’s true state gets frustrating quite quickly. Also, this app follows the "beg for reviews" anti-pattern, so here we are. Friends don’t let friends’ apps block the world for this kind of thing..MattalogueVersion: 8.9

✓ Over pricedGot this app to try and it’s not as expected. Price is expensive and doesn’t give as many recipes/ranges as I thought. I find myself using a recipe more as an idea than an actual meal for my family. I’m googling other foods to make with some items off this app. Wish there were more options on editing the meal plans. After purchasing the app and trying it out I noticed they have a cookbook that most likely has the same recipes and a fraction of the price. I also saw that if you’re wanting more/different recipes, you have to purchase add ons…. For the first price paid for the app, it needs to have every recipe ever thought of. I did reach out for a refund but apparently I reached out 1 day late. 1 day. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Just buy a cook book or search super basic recipes that you can find anywhere else for free. Customer service doesn’t help just fyi. Was told mine was cancelled but they just cancelled the renewal..M3g4liciousVersion: 11.12

✓ DisappointedIm just disappointed that theres no trial version. I have non-responsive refractory celiac disease with histamine intolerance. Following low histamine AIP i need a lot of control. This app does not meet my needs and its quite a lot of money wasted..UmfheroVersion: 9.1

✓ Not worth paying forI’m pretty disappointed in the lack of variation with the algorithm for formulating weekly meal plans. Every week I have to erase everything and recalibrate it because it gives me hardly any variations of meals and I get the same recipes repeatedly. I stopped following the weekly meal plan and just go through and find recipes, which is not what I paid for. Wouldn’t recommend paying for this, I will not be resubscribing after my subscription ends..VGC12454028Version: 10.1

✓ Thought it was a good ideaThe App version is difficult to use on my iPad, so I end up having to go out to the website if I want to try to use it. Very cumbersome and time consuming. Since I am the only person on a special meal plan, and many of the recipes are for multiple servings with no ability to adjust, it wastes time. If I add my own recipe, then I have to manually add the ingredients to the shopping list. Seems silly to include baked or fried bacon as a recipe. Waste of time and money. Will not renew and wish I could cancel and get pro-rated refund..BelugaVanVersion: 11.9

Real Plans - Meal Planner works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Real Plans - Meal Planner.