Monday, January 17, 2011
Big Cartel/Old Stock/Refund
As I was researching today I ran across some information that reminded me of some of the commitments made by GlitterSniffer Cosmetics.
In her statement admitting to using unsafe dyes and selling non vegan products GS proprietor Lela Warren made the following commitment:
To ensure that they meet the standards they have set forth for themselves GS stated that they were only going to be selling through their official website.
GlitterSniffer has a BigCartel site.
The site contains a listing for a Back to Basics Collection which includes the recalled pigment Flight Club.
Perhaps this is an oversight on GS part, as we know that the company further committed to discard all unsold product as evidenced here:
Except this is what actually happened:
It does not need to be said that selling the old stock off in a lot is far different than discarding it.
In regards to the recall refund policy the company stance, in part, taken from the official website includes the following information (emphasis mine)
According to the official company stance in order to receive a refund you must return your pigments and any pigment not on the recall list is ineligible.
I received a refund today without meeting any of these guidelines.
These instances clearly illustrate that the commitments that GS has made to its customers are not set in stone. GS has in the recent past shown through their actions that as a company they can choose to make a business decision not in line with their official policy. I am hopeful that my refund is a benchmark that GS has set for itself, and that they will disregard their current recall guidelines and refund any consumer that feels unsafe using their products. Their choice as a company to refund me outside of the guidelines shows they could easily accomplish this. They were both willing and able to in my case, so there is nothing aside from policy, which they have a demonstrable history of disregarding, that is stopping them from doing so for others.
In her statement admitting to using unsafe dyes and selling non vegan products GS proprietor Lela Warren made the following commitment:
To ensure that they meet the standards they have set forth for themselves GS stated that they were only going to be selling through their official website.
GlitterSniffer has a BigCartel site.
The site contains a listing for a Back to Basics Collection which includes the recalled pigment Flight Club.
Perhaps this is an oversight on GS part, as we know that the company further committed to discard all unsold product as evidenced here:
Except this is what actually happened:
It does not need to be said that selling the old stock off in a lot is far different than discarding it.
In regards to the recall refund policy the company stance, in part, taken from the official website includes the following information (emphasis mine)
We are refunding at the price of $6.50 per 5g pot, $4.00 per 3g pot, and $1 per clamshell with proof of purchase. The proof of purchase we are requiring is that the recalled pigments are sent back to GS Cosmetics with Delivery Confirmation.And this, taken from an email reply today:
According to the official company stance in order to receive a refund you must return your pigments and any pigment not on the recall list is ineligible.
I received a refund today without meeting any of these guidelines.
These instances clearly illustrate that the commitments that GS has made to its customers are not set in stone. GS has in the recent past shown through their actions that as a company they can choose to make a business decision not in line with their official policy. I am hopeful that my refund is a benchmark that GS has set for itself, and that they will disregard their current recall guidelines and refund any consumer that feels unsafe using their products. Their choice as a company to refund me outside of the guidelines shows they could easily accomplish this. They were both willing and able to in my case, so there is nothing aside from policy, which they have a demonstrable history of disregarding, that is stopping them from doing so for others.
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About the Big Cartel shop - I pointed that out to Lela about 3-4 months ago on FB chat when I came across it. She said she had completely forgotten about it ...yet months later, its still there and she can't claim she forgot again since I had linked her to it..
ReplyDeleteI thought Big Cartel had a monthly fee to keep it running. Also, I'm horrified to see Flight Club listed on that shop, since it was recalled.
ReplyDeleteI pointed this Big Cartel shop out to Lela once on the GS Fan page and asked if it was an impersonation or was it run by GS? I got no response to my question.
ReplyDeleteI find this strange as you have to pay around $20 to keep a bigcartel-shop.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do not use MMU, I found this to be a very interesting read. I only found out about it thanks to the Calling Out on Etsy blog.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Cartel shop contains 2 other listing with contain or may have contained 'recalled' pigments as well. ROYGBIV contains 'Flight Club' as well- http://glittersniffer.bigcartel.com/product/the-r-o-y-g-b-i-v-collection-7-fun-colors-a-35-value
The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Collection- of which there is no longer a photo- refers to a '5 gram pot of every pink shade shown', which leads me to believe, it too was originally full of 'recalled' pigments- http://glittersniffer.bigcartel.com/product/a-glittersniffer-production-girls-just-wanna-have-fun-eyeshadow-collection
I have a Big Cartel shop. The Diamond level is indeed $20.00($19.99, and there's a Titanium level at $29.99/mo) a month.
However, there is also the Platinum level (what I have) at $9.99/mo and the Gold level that is FREE, with a limit of 5 products listed, which appears to be what Glittersniffer has.
Thank you for calling attention to unsafe practices within the MMU community. While I personally may not use it, my oldest niece does and I would rather she use it safely.