An Open Letter to GlitterSniffer

Yesterday during the Q&A on the Facebook page (Which I am still working on editing-the screenshots need to have PII removed prior to publishing, and there are 400+ posts to edit and proof) Lela posed a question: Can I fix this?

I answered her on the thread, but I wanted to expound upon those thoughts. Please indulge me as I answer in an Open Letter to GlitterSniffer.

Lela,

You asked yesterday what you can do to fix this. I advised that there was nothing you could do that would recover my business, but, as a consumer, I do have some suggestions for you.

-When you say it, mean it. If you’ve promised something, stand by it. That includes your products, your policies, and your company values. People are more inclined to trust a company that admits their faults, takes responsibility without excuses and fixes issues. That means following up on emails and commitments, shipping out in a timely manner, shipping products as described, and ensuring quality and safe products across the board.

-Be transparent. All information regarding products and policies should be posted on the site and readily available for all. If a question is not answered on the site and you receive an email or Facebook post about it, respond within 24 hours. If a question is asked repeatedly via email or Facebook posts revise your FAQ to include it. The public’s trust in you has been harmed, and if you wish to recover that trust you must be as forthcoming as possible. Be detailed in all information. People should not have to ask for clarification. If someone asks a question that has already been answered respectfully direct them to the proper information.  Ask that the fans of your page do so as well. If you post something to the Facebook page or site, leave it up. Even if the information has changed you still have the ability to edit it. If you do edit it ensure that you note what has been edited and on what date. This will go a long way in restoring trust.

-It’s business, not personal. One of the overarching things that I have noticed as I’ve been involved with this situation is that you have an amazing ability to build brand loyalty. This is due in no small part to your role as the face of GS Cosmetics. That being said, when someone has a complaint it is incumbent upon you, as a business owner, to separate yourself from that complaint. It’s not an attack against you personally. Yes, some of the vitriol may take the form of a personal attack, but that is to be expected when you make yourself so readily available as the spokesperson. What it comes down to is the fact that you must maintain a professional manner in all business communications. People are your customers, not your friends. I commend the fact that you do seem to care very deeply for some of your customers, but that should not influence your business decisions. And if someone does attack you personally, deal professionally with the issue, resolve the matter, and then enact your right as a business owner to refuse service once the issue is resolved. Banning people from the fan page and not responding in a timely manner to complaints does nothing but breed hostility. Be open to communication, both good and bad, and use that feedback to better your business. I guarantee you that if you are open the negativity that you do not wish to have posted to your page will drop by tenfold as the issues will be addressed privately and to the customers satisfaction.

-Follow all FDA/Postal guidelines for any product produced by GS Cosmetics. This includes labeling, ingredients, shipping times, and safety and recall procedures. By now you should be fully versed in what those guidelines are. To be sure, you should have known them prior to selling your products. Whether you knew them previously or not is of no importance, as the FDA guidelines state that you are responsible for them whether you knew them or not. There is no question that you are fully aware of the expectations now. Implement them. Follow them. Live by them. Check the FDA website on a weekly basis to see what, if any, changes have been made and then act immediately to address them.

-Accept returns. Not every product will work for every person. If someone is dissatisfied with a product, issue store credit. Better yet, send them a replacement product as a gesture of good will. With your ability to inspire your fans I sincerely doubt you will have all that much profit loss in implementing this, and it shows that you are more than willing to work with your customers, which in turn will make them loyal to your company. There is nothing that stops you from accepting a return “due to the nature of your product”. In fact, the FDA states that products should be returned, especially in a recall situation, when requesting a refund or replacement. If you don’t want a used product being sent back to you, then issue a credit or replacement and move on.

-Keep what is private, private. Everyone has bad days. We are only human. But those issues should be kept strictly to your own personal page and not aired out for the world to see. If you have a personal issue that is impeding business announce that you are not accepting orders for the time being, give a timeline for when outstanding orders will be shipped out (and stick to it), fix your personal business, and then reopen when you are capable of meeting the demand. Your reasons for ceasing operations are your own, and as long as you give a clear indication of what your customers can expect then you have met your burden as a business owner.

I hope that these suggestions are helpful to you. They are only meant to be constructive and are presented here as they were solicited by you. Use them or disregard them at your discretion.

I appreciate that you took the time to visit the page and answer questions, and I look forward to seeing you implement the behavior changes you have promised. I do wish you luck going forward.

GlitterSniffer Complaints

Back in Business

GlitterSniffer reopened today.

As per Lela, these products do not carry labeling on them, but are eye approved.

1/8/10 ETA: I corrected the title as I had a case of sausage fingers when I typed it.

Also, it was pointed out on the FB page that there is not an ingredient listing on the site for this product. Lela responded:

We are trying to get this done. Our graphic designer forgot to put it up. I'm leaving on my way to my first day at my new job but I will deal with it when I get home.

1/8/10 ETA: The website has changed and the ingredients are now posted.

Facebook

I apologize for the lack of posts today. I am in the middle of writing and editing six of them, but my attention is needed elsewhere.

For those that aren't aware Lela Warren joined the Facebook page and has been intermittently answering questions. It was my fervent hope that it would remain a constructive dialogue. To that end I have had to remain on the page as I want to ensure the integrity of both the thread and the page.

I am hoping to collate all the questions and answers into one post, but it's going to be a huge job. I appreciate your patience while I monitor the situation and see exactly how it shakes out.

Email 2-GlitterSniffer Complaints

Posted below is the full and complete communication I had today via email with GlitterSniffer Cosmetics, specifically, Lela Warren. I am posting it in full, unedited. I have obtained permission from GS to do so.

Lela Warren

Hello! :) We're all for free speech, no debate here, but we figured any good ...

10:28 PM (4 hours ago)

Lela WarrenLoading...

10:28 PM (4 hours ago)

Lela Warren to me

show details 10:28 PM (4 hours ago)

Hello! :)

We're all for free speech, no debate here, but we figured any good journalist would be interested in both sides of the story, so feel free to come to us with any questions you may have as a medium of information for your readers.

Also, we took down the recall list as I spoke with the FDA today for the 2nd time in two weeks and they informed me that they were closing the file on GS. I'm sure they are still willing to take any complaints sent their way, but that is why the recall list was removed.

We ask our customers not to post any sales of pigment simply because we are trying to continue profiting so that people can be paid back in a timely fashion, therefore we are asking that sales be taken off the page.

XOXO

GS Cosmetics

--

XO- Lela <3

President of Glittersniffer Cosmetics

GlitterSnifferComplaints to Lela

show details 11:17 PM (3 hours ago)

Lela,

I appreciate your taking the time to address these matters. It is very important that information be available to everyone so they can make an informed decision.

I do have a few questions I would like ask, posed by both myself and others.

1) What changes, specifically, are you making to the labeling of products and ingredients used going forward to comply with FDA regulations?

2) What pigments, specifically, are not vegan? Why are they considered not vegan (ingredients, etc)?

3) What is your specific timeline for remitting funds previously raised for charity? What is your plan to obtain the money in question?

4) What processes do you have in place to ensure that every customer who may have purchased an adulterated product from GS is informed?

5) What ingredients were used (including chemical name), specific per pigment, in all products distributed from 2006-present?

6) What measures are being put into place to ensure that all ingredients are 100% safe and vegan?

7) What steps are being implemented to ensure that all safety measures for formulation and packaging of products are followed every time?

8) What is the contact information for your legal counsel?

9) What is the timeline, specifically, when all claims will be paid?

10) Where are the ingredients for the new products you are readying for sale from?

11) You state that the FDA has closed their investigation and you have removed the recall list because of that. Does this means that although you admit to using unsafe dyes and ingredients that you are now not going to honor that recall?

I appreciate your time in answering these questions. I am sure I will have more as time goes on and will contact you again. Any response you could provide would be most appreciated.

Sincerely,
GlitterSniffer Complaints

Lela Warren to me

show details 1:06 AM (1 hour ago)

Okay, Lets get to this :)

1. As I mix pigments I will be writing down the Retail Name of each ingredient I am using, my staff and I will then be going in and looking at each bag of pigment and writing down the chemical names of each ingredient in that specific pigment/mica and posting it with the collection. We have already done this with the next 3 collections that will be coming out. We are not able to fit the labeling on each individual pigment, but we are in discussion with each other and our Graphic Designer about the best way to make that information available. We are considering doing a separate page on the official website for more detailed information on the ingredients, but it will be available in full for consumers to view.

2. It is really difficult for me to say exactly what pigments are not vegan, simply because I have made so many over the years. I know that is not the answer many people want to hear, but I am being 100% forthcoming with these answers, therefore they won't necessarily be what some hope them to be. I do keep recipes for things that I know I will be remaking, such as the website colors, but colors that I don't ever plan on making again, I, in the past, did not always write down what I had in each pigment. I can say, however, that the website colors and the colors that I sold on Etsy were of the majority, vegan. Only a few of the reds, which I always did make public at some point in time, were not vegan. Most of those reds would have been colors in collections, such as Ariel in the Twisted Princess Collection. I started with the intention of being 100% vegan, and then people starting wanting reds and I wanted to give people what they wanted, so compromised that, and I take full responsibility for that. If anyone is concerned about if a specific red is or is not vegan, they are welcome to e-mail me.

3. We have contacted TWLOHA, who we had contact with about the donation previously, and they are aware of the delay in the donation. We did, however, want them to know that it was still in the plan. We did not contact the other 2 charities, as we had not notified them about our plans to raise money for them in the first place, but we are still going to donate to them as we promised. The funds were left in our PayPal account, as we planned on doing a donation directly through PayPal on Christmas Eve. When we asked people to file for refunds, we had no idea the response we would get. The influx of disputes locked our account so we could not transfer the Charity Money out, and then every dispute filed began coming out of the charity money. We cannot give a definite time frame on when it will be donated, we can only say that we hope to donate it within the next 6 months. We have no idea how our sales are going to be when we re-open, and our first priority is taking care of our negative PayPal account balance so that people who have filed disputes can be paid, then to pay all of the invoices we have, and then we will begin putting money toward Charity again. It was never our intention to NOT donate to Charity. Our plan to obtain the money, as I mentioned, will be sales.

4. Unfortunately, it is not within our means to contact every single customer who has ever ordered from GS Cosmetics. We did provide the recall list to the FDA as requested, and it is our understanding that they have opted not to publish this recall list like they do for major companies who need to reach a large consumer base. We will gladly, and happily, refund anyone who contacts us about the recall. We are  in discussion with each other, our legal counsel, the FDA, and our graphic designer as to if we will be posting the recall on the website. We will comply with any request made by a federal agency. We will be speaking with the FDA one more time tomorrow where we plan to find out if we are legally required to post the recall. If we are not, we will then be in discussion with our legal counsel as to the next steps.

5. Again, in relation to question number 2, I will not be able to give you a list of every ingredient in every pigment ever mixed by GS. It is up to the consumer if they choose to use or product that has not been recalled or not pursuant to that information. We believe we have thought of every pigment ever made by GS, and believe that our list of recalled pigments is as true to our knowledge as we have. Any other pigment has been made with 

6. As stated in question number 1, we will be following all those guidelines. We have also implemented new procedures to ensure the sanitary conditions of all the pigments, including but not limited to wearing gloves, sanitizing all work environments, and instructing on proper hand washing.

7. We currently only have 1 other employee who packs any pots and orders. I am personally supervising this process and as new employees are added again, they will be personally trained by me and briefed on this exact situation as to why their compliance is necessary.

8. Due to the overwhelming amount of discussion about my legal counsel, I am not publicly posting that information. My address is available for anyone who is concerned with any legal matter. They may send their correspondence to the address listed and I will then forward that on to my attorney if need be. Should there need to be any legal correspondence, my counsel will then take over. However, general questions and concerns need to be directed to Glittersniffer Cosmetics, as it is our sincere hope that we can settle any issues amicably.

9. Again, I'm sorry for the inability to give you definite answers. We are truly hoping to do it within the month, but subject to our sales and what happens with our profits we aren't able to give a definite time line. All of the money that comes in for proceeds are going back toward refunds.

10. We ordered new pigments from our supplier for the new collection coming out. There is concern that the money used for new pigments should have went to refunds, but we felt we had to have a means to produce more income to ensure everyone gets their refunds, rather than refunding 1/2 of the people and being at a standstill with no way to produce the money to pay the other 1/2 back.

11. We are still honoring the recall

I hope that answered all of your questions. Please let me know if you have any more.

XOXO

GS Cosmetics   

GlitterSnifferComplaints to Lela

show details 1:21 AM (1 hour ago)

I appreciate your response. I would be happy to update the blog with the information you have provided. I generally do a summary post, but if you would feel more comfortable that I posted your exact words I would be happy to do so, with your express permission, of course. I do have some followup questions, but it is late and you have been accomodating enough for tonight. I will say, though, that it seems question 5 is not a finished answer.

Again, thank you for taking the time to answer questions. It is actions like this that show your commitment to reinforcing your company values, and I appreciate it.

Lela Warren to me

show details 1:23 AM (1 hour ago)

Oh, sorry about number 5! I was just going to type all the ingredients that were listed on the website.

I would prefer you update the blog with my exact responses, except for number 5, you may fill that in with the ingredients I just made mention of.

 Here is a screenshot of the ingredients from the site.

Email 1-GlitterSniffer Complaints

I received an email this evening from GlitterSniffer Cosmetics. In keeping with my stance on not printing any full email from them I am summarizing it here.

Lela states that she is "all for" free speech and wants to make sure everyone is informed. She states that she took down the recall list after speaking with the FDA today and being informed that they are closing the file on GS. She states that sales were taken off the fan page to ensure the company's profitability going forward so that they may pay claims

I appreciate that GS has taken the time to try to clear the air. In terms of the FDA I can tell you I spoke with them today and there was no indication that the complaint I filed was anywhere near resolution. As a matter of fact, I was provided a fax number to send further documentation in. Perhaps GS is speaking of one complaint in particular. As the FDA is currently closed for the day I have no way of following up at this time.

Below is the email I sent GS in response.

Lela,

I appreciate your taking the time to address these matters. It is very important that information be available to everyone so they can make an informed decision.

I do have a few questions I would like ask, posed by both myself and others.

1) What changes, specifically, are you making to the labeling of products and ingredients used going forward to comply with FDA regulations?

2) What pigments, specifically, are not vegan? Why are they considered not vegan (ingredients, etc)?

3) What is your specific timeline for remitting funds previously raised for charity? What is your plan to obtain the money in question?

4) What processes do you have in place to ensure that every customer who may have purchased an adulterated product from GS is informed?

5) What ingredients were used (including chemical name), specific per pigment, in all products distributed from 2006-present?

6) What measures are being put into place to ensure that all ingredients are 100% safe and vegan?

7) What steps are being implemented to ensure that all safety measures for formulation and packaging of products are followed every time?

8) What is the contact information for your legal counsel?

9) What is the timeline, specifically, when all claims will be paid?

10) Where are the ingredients for the new products you are readying for sale from?

11) You state that the FDA has closed their investigation and you have removed the recall list because of that. Does this means that although you admit to using unsafe dyes and ingredients that you are now not going to honor that recall?

I appreciate your time in answering these questions. I am sure I will have more as time goes on and will contact you again. Any response you could provide would be most appreciated.

Sincerely,
GlitterSniffer Complaints

Questions

I was just contacted by GlitterSniffer and informed that they are available to answer any questions. I am currently working on a list to send. Is there anything that you would like to see answered?

Statement

As of today the statement that was posted regarding GlitterSniffers commitment to change and the apology for the issues has been removed from their fan page. I present it here, in full (emphasis is not mine) as I sent that statement link along with several of my complaints and I wish for that information to once again be easily accessible to those following up on any complaints I filed.