GlitterSniffer Cosmetics- TOSing Amazon Payments Out The Window

GlitterSniffer Cosmetics re-relaunched today with Amazon Payments as their payment processor.  The company announced that shipments would not commence for two weeks due to a hold on funds from their new payment processor.

In terms of the refund process, for those that chose to pursue it, this would seem to be a heartening development. However, it appears the company once again did not read the not so fine print.

From Amazon Payments:

Note: To be paid by Amazon Payments, you must confirm shipment of your orders.

And what is 'confirming shipment' for Amazon Payments?

Confirm Shipment
Confirming shipment means that you tell us when you hand over the order to the shipping carrier. A shipping confirmation includes the date (and even time) the order was dropped off, as well as the shipping carrier used for delivery. Most domestic carrier services provide a way to check the status of a delivery while it's in transit, from the moment they receive the package until the time it's delivered to the customer. Your customers will love the extra convenience and peace-of-mind this offers as they can anticipate getting your items. See Confirming My Shipments for information on confirming shipping.

And:

 After you ship your order, you confirm shipment. Confirming shipment is required —you simply tell us that you've sent the order, including the date sent, the carrier used, and any tracking information about the package. As soon as you confirm shipment, we'll charge the customer. If you do not confirm shipment, then you are not be paid for the order. After 30 calendar days have elapsed since an order was placed, we'll automatically cancel it. See the User Agreement for more information.

In order for GlitterSniffer Cosmetics to confirm shipment they must actually ship the item. For GS to be paid the order must be confirmed. So, if a+b then c. According to their payment processor GS must ship out the product (and confirm that shipment with carrier info, date, and tracking number) prior to the customer being charged, negating GS' assertion that they cannot ship for two weeks due to waiting on funds from their payment processor. Either they plan to ship prior to confirming shipment and charge to the customer as per the terms set forth by their payment processor or they are planning to confirm shipments without actually sending the items, a probable violation of the terms of their new payment processor. From the announcement on the main screen of their new website it appears to be the latter.

Another interesting thing to note is that Amazon Payments has a very specific set of requirements for their sellers, as per their User Agreement (TOS). One in particular is their standards for Privacy Policies:

(g) if you use the Service for business purposes, you will accurately describe your use of Personal Information and your use of our Services in your Privacy Policy

Amazon Payment requires a posted Privacy Policy in order to use their service. This is what is currently posted on the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics site in regards to their terms:





There is no Privacy Policy listed on the Terms of Use page for the new GS site. In fact there is no Privacy Policy listed ANYWHERE on the site.

Lela Warren posted on the GS Cosmetics Fan Page on 7/11/11 that

 I am taking my time to make sure everything is done properly as well efficiently.

One cancelled payment processor and two seeming TOS violations on the new payment processor an hour into relaunch does not seem proper or efficient.

I'd like to make absolutely clear that my goal, as it has always been, has been refunds for all those affected by GS' past business practices. It was Lela Warren's own terms that it must be done by a successful relaunch of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics. While I'd like nothing more than to post about said refunds and bring this matter to rest 'successful relaunch' does not just mean reopening and selling. It means abiding by every rule, regulation, law,and TOS that GS agreed to when they opened for business. Until GS can not only commit to doing that but show in their actions and business practices that it is being done every single minute that they are in business the launch will continue to see issues. And that responsibility lies with GlitterSniffer Cosmetics and GlitterSniffer Cosmetics alone.

**ADDENDUM**
During the writing and editing of this post GlitterSniffer Cosmetics sold out of at least one listing, The Control Freak 3 Stack.

There is still no Privacy Policy listed on the site. By initiating these sales without listing this policy GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has now, without question, violated Amazon Payments User Agreement.

 

GlitterSniffer Cosmetics: Driven to Distraction

GlitterSniffer Cosmetics relaunched today with the new website and the new payment processor, Propay.

Lela Warren has gone out of her way to show how much hard work she has put into this relaunch. With that amount of dedication to her own business it's hard to understand how she has time to be focusing on what other companies may or may not be doing.

As has always been my practice I have edited out the identity of the commenter who actually named the companies, though I will state that this is a close family member whose interest in cosmetics lies only with the fact that there is a family connection with Lela and it would be very beneficial for them if GS was able to recover financially.

I have also redacted the names of the two companies. I spoke with one of the formulators and an Complaints Page Admin has been in touch with the other and they are readying a response to these allegations. It should be noted, however, that the two companies in question have had previous, very close ties with GlitterSniffer Cosmetics, though neither of them are in any way associated with them now.

Lela was informed on this thread that others have been posted about regarding these issues and was encouraged to bring any concerns to me. Though Lela stated she had direct contact with me I have received absolutely no communication from her regarding these accusations, nor been provided with any proof. In fact, aside from the refund information posted almost two weeks ago, I've not heard from her at all.  

I did check the current listings for ingredients for both of these companies and had my research vetted by another seasoned formulator. There is nothing listed that we were able to find that is not approved for eye use.

While it is nice to see Lela admitting her guilt in using unapproved ingredients in the past, perhaps her time would be better spent elsewhere, like informing the two customers whose names and addresses were posted on the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics Facebook Page that their personally identifying informaion was released on the worlds largest social network for a period of about 12 hours. The photo was removed after the post to this blog, but no announcement or acknowledgement of the issue was forthcoming from GS. I was able to contact at least one of the affected parties, and had it not been for me doing so, she would have no idea that her information was publicly released. I have no way of informing the other affected person except for sending a physical letter, as I do have their address.

And what about ingredients? GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has posted an entire page listing everything by INCI in all of their products.

Overlooking the obvious typo in Yellow 5 Lake, it all seems in good order, though it's curious that there is no mention of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or glitter as it is more commonly known), especially for shades being sold as "glittery".



An oversight, perhaps. Or it's possible the sparkle seen in the lower left shade was added when the photo was 'brightened'.

Photo editing would certainly explain the lack of PET or similar in the ingredients and also explain the disclaimer that the shades may vary due to the handcrafted nature of the product, a disclaimer unique to GS a disclaimer unique to GS in its wording.

With GlitterSniffer Cosmetics now back in swing we will see what, if anything, the company plans to do to focus on these concerns. As for the other two companies a response should be forthcoming soon.

 **Addendum**

During the writing and editing of this post it was announced that Propay would no longer be the payment processor for GlitterSniffer Cosmetics.