GlitterSnifferCosmetics.com is Gone

It appears GlitterSnifferCosmetics.com is gone.

I tested it in several browsers (Firefox, IE, and Chrome) after clearing cache and cookies to be sure and it didn't load in any of them. People have also tried in Safari and Opera and from mobile phones. Aside from one person who was able to access the site from Safari there were no reports of the site being able to load.

Firefox

Chrome

Internet Explorer

As I posted yesterday there is still a 30 day grace period for the site to be recovered by GlitterSniffer Cosmetics. As far as I could determine the renewal costs just under $25.00.

The recall FAQ is no longer available for the public to be informed. There are bits and pieces on this blog, but they are incomplete. I will be uploading the screenshots in full this weekend to GlitterSniffer Complaints MySpace as it has unlimited free picture uploads. They will be set for public viewing without having to 'friend' the profile.

GlitterSnifferCosmetics.com

According to tucowsdomains.com /whois the domain for GlitterSnifferCosmetics.com is set to expire today. It is my understanding that should GlitterSniffer Cosmetics fail to renew it the domain will be held for a 30 day grace period by the domain holder. It will remain on their server but be inaccessible/unusable. After the grace period there is a chance it will be held for an additional 30-35 days at which point it will either be deleted or sold if there is interest by a third party.

Should the domain be allowed to lapse gone with the site will be the official recall notice and FAQ posted by GlitterSniffer Cosmetics to alert customers that there may be issues with previously purchased products. The Fan Page is still down, but the recall notice was deleted from that page by the company long ago. The recall letters the company stated to FDA that they sent to customers on or around February 7, 2011 have still not arrived. With the domain expiration there will be no official record issued by the company of the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics recall readily available to the public.

I have screenshots of all the recall and FAQ information. I will be uploading them soon so that the information is still available. .

Web for GlittersnifferCosmetics.com/Glittersniffer.net Followup

I received an email today from Fasthosts, the host of GlitterSnifferCosmetics.com. It contained no confidentiality disclaimer, so I present it here, unedited, except to remove my personally identifying information.

Dear redacted,

Ticket Reference Number: redacted

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

As a hosting provider, we are unable to confirm absolutely that the website in question is fraudulent or is involved in a malicious malpractice.

We do take reported cases of fraudulent activity extremely seriously. However before we can take further action (as may be appropriate) we require your concern to be verified by the appropriate authorities or regulatory parties.

With this in mind, we ask that you forward the evidence which you have gathered to The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) either via letter or by contacting their consumer advise/advice line on 0845 4040506.

They will then make any additional enquires that they feel appropriate to prove the complaint.  If and when action is required by Fasthosts, the OFT will liaise with us directly on the issue. We will then take the appropriate action to edit or disable any website which has been designed for or is involved in fraudulent activity.

Please rest assured that we are fully committed to acting as a responsible hosting provider, and will take the strongest course of action available to us with anyone we find to be misusing our services.

We thank you for your understanding and co-operation.

Best Regards
Fasthosts Misuse Team.
Fasthosts Internet Ltd.
http://www.fasthosts.co.uk

Sure, it may be a form email, but it's better than what I got from the US host of GlitterSniffer.net (nothing). It has the added benefit of providing me a resource where I can register my complaint with the appropriate agency.

I will be calling the OFT on Monday and outlining the situation. I read up a little bit and it seems that GS may be covered under the Distance Seller Regulations, which covers internet sales. From the OFT site:

The key features of the regulations are:

• you must give consumers clear information including details of the goods or services offered, delivery arrangements and payment, the supplier's details and the consumer's cancellation right before they buy (known as prior information)
• you must also provide this information in writing
• the consumer has a cooling-off period of seven working days.

I have worked in the internet business before, and I know there are laws that apply in the jurisdiction where the servers are located. Since information flies through the ether in the internet, and thus is hard to pin down to prove jurisdiction, it became common practice to place jurisdiction in the physical locality of the servers, which is why I am going to file a complaint in the UK, where the servers are located.

I will post a followup when I know more.

3/2/11 ETA: Correct the title and the reference to glittersniffercosmetics.com

Consumerist.com

I sent a tip into Consumerist.

Consumerist is a consumer protections site that is associated with Consumer Reports.

I emailed them with a brief overview of the issue and a link to this blog.

I'm unsure as to whether they would feature something like this, but as the number of people possibly affected grows, and the true scope of the possible damage GlitterSniffer has caused becomes known I hold out hope that they will help publicize the recall in order to protect people's health.

Artfire Followup

An interesting development.

So, about once a day I go through and I check links to various web presences GlitterSniffer has. Today when I Googled Artfie and GlitterSniffer I was directed to this page. I clicked on the username link and was directed back to the main page. So I searched by seller for GlitterSniffer. Nada.

I know that GS was planning on closing all other web presences besides their own .com domain, but last I checked the store products were simply removed, and GS was still a registered "Pro" member of the site.

The optimist in me wants to think that GS has reevaluated their viability as a business and voluntarily removed their store on Artfire. One can hope, right?

Anyway, the storefront is still accessible (just like pages of GlitterSniffer.com) via various Google links, but I believe that may be just cached data.

12/40/10 ETA: For some reason the search link is locating GS again. Odd.

Screenshots

Some of the screenshots I have linked to in previous posts have been removed by Photobucket. I am unsure if someone flagged them or if Photobucket has a group of people that looks for objectionable material.

I am currently researching other ways to host these photos as I believe thay are important documentation in regards to my complaints against GlitterSniffer.If I am able to find a suitable host I will repost them.

Regardless, they are being sent to me and I will have them in my possesion to send to the various agencies to aid in their investigations.

Web for GlittersnifferCosmetics.com/Glittersniffer.net

I sent a complaint mail to the web service hosting Glittersniffer.com and Glittersniffer.net. I also contacted the domain sellers for both.

I included a brief overview of the complaints lodged against GS, a copy of Lela's statement admitting wrongdoing, and outlining her intent to reopen for business. I simply suggested they review the information and do with it as they wished.

I am unsure about the outcome of the contact for the hosts of Glittersniffer.com as the servers are located in the U.K. I am not versed in the consumer protections in the U.K., so I am curious to see the outcome.

The Glittersniffer.net domain is in the US and is hosted by MSN.

I've not received any confirmation emails as yet, but, again, will update when I do.

3/2/11 ETA: Correct the title and link to glittersniffercosmetics.com.