Customers who purchased SouljaWatches and other Soulja Boy-branded electronics still haven't received their orders.
The products have caused controversy since they were unveiled in early December 2018. Days after the merchandise first appeared in Soulja Boy's web store, fans pointed out that each of the items were cheap off-brand electronics, available on other websites for lower prices. This was followed by rumors of a lawsuit from Nintendo, which resulted in the SouljaGame console being removed from souljawatch.com.
Despite the setbacks, Soulja promised fans that all orders would be delivered.
When customers pointed out that products hadn’t arrived by mid-January, Soulja Boy told Complex that his team simply received more orders than expected, which put them behind schedule. The same day, souljawatch.com was taken offline and Soulja tweeted, “My ex-cameraman hacked my site and took it down,” before setting up a replacement site called souljastore.com.
Now, nearly four months after the products were first put up for sale, fans still haven’t received them, and customer service emails about refunds (directed to souljaboymp3@gmail.com) aren’t being answered.
Since publishing a story about unfulfilled orders in January, Complex has received over 50 emails from people who purchased products from Soulja Boy and have yet to receive them.
I did not expect to not have any communication at all in regards to where my $180 has gone.
“My 13-year-old son asked me to order a SouljaWatch for him on my debit card,” a customer named Temeisha writes. “I only agreed to order it for him because he gave me the cash that he saved from his birthday. I warned him that I didn’t trust it but he felt good about it because it was from Soulja Boy.” The email continues, “We have yet to receive any watch! My son is still holding on to hope that maybe it’ll just take a while. I have no faith that he will ever receive it.”
Another fan says he purchased a SouljaWatch as a Christmas gift for his mother because he couldn’t afford the Apple Watch she wanted. Describing himself as a “very disheartened customer,” he says the gift still hasn’t been delivered.
“I purchased four smart watches for my nieces,” a customer named Raymond Thiefault writes. “They keep asking me REPEATEDLY over and over for their watches! I'm a disappointed customer and deserve full refund.” In a second email, he adds, “What will you do about this? I don't want to file a claim report.”
In emails to Complex, multiple customers say they are considering the possibility of filing a class-action lawsuit.
Many of the emails come from Soulja Boy fans who purchased the products ironically but didn’t expect a complete lack of order fulfillment. A fan named Ian writes, “I did it as a joke and they weren’t that expensive, but I'm still pretty mad about my order never arriving.” A customer named Pory adds, “Never in a million years would I have thought that ‘Crank That’ would be an anger trigger.”
My son is still holding on to hope that maybe it’ll just take a while. I have no faith that he will ever receive it.
None of the fans who contacted Complex have received any kind of response after sending messages to Soulja Boy's customer service email. “I did not expect to not have any communication at all in regards to where my $180 has gone,” Twitch streamer ConnorEatsPants tells Complex, after repeated failed attempts to get in touch with Soulja Boy and his team.
One customer claims that this is nothing new for Soulja Boy. Tanner Appling says he never received a shirt that he purchased from Draco six years ago.
“Back in 2013 Soulja Boy had tweeted out on his official Twitter that he had new merch releasing and that he would be following back anybody that purchased any of his new clothing,” Appling writes. “It's 2013 and Twitter had just popped off, so obviously I wanted the follow back from Soulja Boy. Even after tweeting him showing him proof, I never did get a follow back. At the time, I thought that was the worst part about the situation, but then come to find out that I never even got the shirt I paid for. After contacting the email they had on their website several times with no response back, I eventually just gave up.”
Other fans seem genuinely confused about the whole situation. “Listen, I’m going to be honest, I’m a huge Soulja boy fan,” one email reads. “Soulja was the first rapper on Twitch and everything. He put me on new games. Hell, Soulja Boy put me on the Weeknd tbh. I don’t know why he did this fraud game system LOL. ‘A game system that plays every game.’ I know damn well that shit don’t play every game, Soulja.”
Soulja Boy hasn’t revealed exactly how much money he’s made from these products in total, but he claimed to have pulled in $250,000 within the first 24 hours of selling the game consoles.
Since explaining in January that his team was behind schedule because of too many purchases, Soulja Boy hasn’t provided any updates about the status of orders. As recently as March 24, he has continued to tweet messages directing fans to buy SouljaPods on souljastore.com.
Soulja Boy’s representatives have not responded to Complex’s request for comment.
