Have you ever had such a bad experience with a brand that you stopped using it?
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Have you ever had such a bad experience with a brand that you stopped using it? Share!
Yes – when a brand reacts poorly to a negative (or a not-so-positive) review, then they’re off my list. e.l.f. is a brand I don’t use, feature, etc. because they used one of my eyeshadow looks in their newsletter and led their subscribers to believe it was a look used with e.l.f. products, and then they used three of my other photos on their website without permission. It takes a fair amount to annoy/frustrate me enough to write a brand off.
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Urban Decay's customer service ticks me off. I love their products, but the first time I ordered from them, two thirds of my order was missing. I had to call four times to get anyone to pick up, then search the web to find an ALTERNATE phone number (shady much?) which was answered by a rep on the first ring. Why that number's not on their site...well, you got me. The lady who answered wasn't rude, but she wasn't friendly or even really apologetic that two thirds of my order was missing. As compensation, I was eventually issued an e-coupon that turned out not work...I had to email them again. Approximately three weeks for a response...no joke. Additionally, when I emailed them with an ingredients question, they took FIVE weeks to answer and the response was terse, one line long and couldn't have taken more than ten seconds to type. I still use some of their stuff because I won't use anything tested on animals and I think their animal rights stance is awesome, but I only buy it from Sephora and Ulta now. I am NEVER dealing with UD customer service again.
wow you are BIG time when an established company steals looks from you! congrats!
They have a ton of stolen photos - I think they just did a Google image search and took photos from there :)
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, not because they are shady necessarily but because I got tired of dropping hundreds on limited edtion fragrance oils. (They refuse to offer limited edition sample vials, obvious sales tactic) to find that they sounded so much better on the website's descriptions, and wound up smelling very "Plastic like" and fading too quickly. Don't get me wrong they have done some good oils, but I felt like they were churing out tons of sub par oils. I don't know if it's my skin chemistry or what but they started to become disappointing. It is irritating that they are so cocky on the website explaining "simply put there are NO limited edition sample oils to give", if you can make samples of the perm oils why not the LE? Pretty annoying. I also never ordered with Limecrime due to the huge amount of negative press I read about the company cheating it's customers.
I no longer buy from BODY SHOP because their aloe vera skincare for sensitive skin badly irritated my skin and they refused to refund me my money, never again. I'm in the UK BTW, I think it might've been different if it was in the US. I also don't purchase from Lime Crime due to their shady practices or from companies like Max Factor or Benefit who test on animals. Oh, the MAC at Westfield, London, because the customer service is terrible. I get what I want from Harrod's instead.
I refuse to buy Kat von D products because I don't like her attitude and her as a person in general.
This certainly wasn't as bad of an experience as some of you other readers have had, but I can't use Olay. I used makeup removing wipes and they irritated my skin, and made it blotchy. My mom has the same problem with Olay. However, the wipes didn't go to waste- I used them to clean makeup remnants off my dresser, or to do a quick clean of some brushes! I'm also sorry that ELF did that to you, very unprofessional.
Limecrime, for obvious reasons already mentioned by others here. Which is a shame as I really like the company's style, and would've loved to try out their new Carousel Gloss. But I can't get past the repackaging and shady business tactics.
No bad experience has ever completely turned me off a brand. However I stay away from brands that are known for animal testing. So no L'Oréal, Benefit, Maybelline, Covergirl etc. I just wish that it was obligatory for brands to be honest about their animal testing. Figuring out which brands do test is a such a hassle. Christine, maybe you could do some research and a post on this? It would be so helpful!
MAKEUP: I would have to say NYX cosmetics, with the exception of one cream blush I own. I have two glosses that I have never used because the smell bothers me. I am also not impressed with MAC. SKINCARE: Marykay. It was extremly drying to my skin. My face also developed red patches from the product. Needless to say I returned it and got a mascara (which I love).
I do try to boycott companies that I don't want to support - as consumers it's one of the most effective ways of making our voices heard. It's been particularly interesting finding out about the controversy surrounding the brand Lime Crime from the numerous comments here - I did a quick google after reading this thread and was absolutely shocked. That is definitely a brand that I will never ever purchase from.
Body Shop Make up always brings me out in a rash for some reason. So I avoid them like the plague now. I also refuse to order from Model's Own online. The service is awful. So I miss out on some of their polishes? Not really fussed tbh, because I saved myself a headache.
I bought a liquid liner marker by e.l.f. When testing it on my hand, it glided perfectly. However, when trying it out on my lid that evening, I could only line half of my lid before it dried up! After hearing what they did to you, I will no longer buy e.l.f. products. How disrespectful and ridiculous!
Yes! I stopped using NYX brand because I HATE their eyelashes. They're irritating and uncomfortable to wear compared to other brands I've used. Also, the glue that keeps them in the packaging is too strong...most of the time I end up ruining the lashes just trying to take them out of the box the first time! Bad packaging is just such a turn off to me!
I personally won't touch anything that is from Too Faced (eye-wise) as I experienced an allergic reaction from their Shadow Insurance product. BTW, that's awful that e.l.f. did such a thing! I haven't bought anything from there before but it'll make me think twice about purchasing e.l.f. products.
I suppose boycott is too strong, but I avoid MAC; I'm not impressed with the quality of recent collections, nor am I generally impressed with their sales staff, anywhere I've looked at displays I'm either uncomfortable accosted or completely ignored. I hadn't been invested in makeup for very long when I landed in a MAC store to get matched for a foundation. To be frank, they don't carry a *great* color match for my skin, which is about as pale as possible for humans...they've got some close-ish, but before I knew better I was given the hard sell on liquid foundation, powder, concealer, etc, that just didn't really match me. I always try incredibly hard to make my needs and interests known to salespeople about cosmetics; not in a pushy way, but in a "I-am-looking-for-x-and-I-need-it-to-do-y" kind of way so they can really give me the product that's going to help, but I do it now a lot of fear that if I don't insist, I'll end up with a similar issue and a host of products that tip me toward orange and someone glowering at me for not being sure and dismissing me when I voice concern. I'm also not keen on TokiDoki; it's not their fault and I can't explain why, other than I am not eight years old, but I will actively avoid that display in my Sephora. It's a gut reaction and has no basis, they could be fully awesome, but somehow their marketing strategy has alienated me to a point where I won't entertain trying their stuff.
I'm not especially interested in Tokidoki's stuff (despite liking cute things, I collect Hello Kitty stuff and love Urban Decay's packaging), but even if you dislike it, it's worth ignoring to have the Perfetto Eyeliner in Sabochan. It's a marker eyeliner, a great black, and stays put. An eyeliner tube is small enough to ignore the packaging, in my opinion. I haven't used anything else of theirs, though!
Urban Decay...their "Vegan Pallet" came with their eyeshadow primer potion. I liked it so I went to their site to buy a full size and realized the primer wasn't listed in the vegan section any longer. I emailed them several times to find out if they reformulated the primer with a new non-vegan ingredient and eventually was told it was never vegan (has lanolin in it). They said it was the manufacturer's mistake, but what bothers me is that after they discovered the mistake the didn't update the "Vegan Pallet" info to let us know that the vegan pallet wasn't really vegan. It took lots of emailing back and forth and eventually they did put a notice up online, but I just can't support a company that claims to have a product that is vegan when they knew it wasn't. People usually buy vegan cosmetics for moral or skin sensitivity issues, so it is really customers deserve accurate information.
yea, that's pretty important! i can't believe they messed that up.
Not really a brand, but I will definitely avoid few counters because of their rude employees... Not a pleasant experience at Chanel counter today :( one of the ladies followed me and treated me like I was thieve.. I made a decision that I will only shop at Nordstrom now on!! I spent over $300 and great experience at there :) Yeah baby and they never fail but remind you that if you don't like anything to bring it back!!
I've had people at the Clinique counter treat me the same way. After my last encounter with a rude older woman, I won't buy Clinique anymore. Their makeup is not good enough for me to miss buying it.
Ugh. I've told my NARS story too many times... LOL! So I'll just say "NARS." Never EVER been talked to so poorly by people at a company. At least MAC has the decency to ignore me ;)
New Mac collections have disappointed me over and over again. I always hope that their limited edition eye shadows wouldn't be too stiff and lacking in pigment, but with every new collection they crank out, i don't find myself being impressed. In addition to lack of quality, every time I go to a Mac counter the sales associates never smile at me, never ask if I need help unless I'm in their face, and they're just not very friendly towards me. But i still go there because I love their superslick liquid eyeliner. I never stop at their counter unless I need more superslick liner.
you should try going into the store 6 months pregnant like i did the other day....my brother was with me and was doubled over laughing because 3 of the 6 associates in the store were like competing to take care of me and help me get stuff. another associate was asking me if i could move over so she could get into a storage drawer in a corner, which was a bit hard to do with the baby belly. my brother said he had never seen such attentiveness and we both decided it's because i'm short, preggo, and was wearing a bright lipstick which might have made me look like a good candidate. any other time i have been to a MAC counter or store i have been completely ignored!!!!
MAC! With the exception of 1 mascara and 1 color of lipstick I don't plan on repurchasing from that company ever again... customer service being the culprit. I'm not sure about any one else here but for me when I go to buy make up I am at a counter for what seems like hours. The manager at the Mac counter told me that I should go on the website and create a list of items to come into the store to swatch because they didn't want me "hanging" out at the counter anymore. I went and talked to upper management who said they would talk to them and would gladly come with me every time I go there to swatch and check out their products but I don't need some higher manager to stand and stare rudely at the other rude employees causing problems. I literally have no stepped foot near a Mac store or counter since the whole experience totally put me off. I'm very happy about that though because I initially only went for MAC but it's caused me to try out new brands and I've never been happier with the new brand's I've tried.
I agree, the personnel at MAC are the biggest reason I no longer buy anything from the brand. While some of the sales assistants can be welcoming and helpful, the typical customer service I've experienced at MAC counters/free-standing stores has ranged from disinterested to impatient or outright rude. Also, the face products from MAC (Studio Fix powder foundation in particular) gave me deep, painful pimples. That, along with the poor customer service, put me off the brand for good.
Despite of brands.. you can get crappy customer service wherever you go.. it entirely depends on who's working that day. However, I don't jump on the bandwagon when new brands start popping up. I have always been dubious about cheap brands because they are cheap for a reason, right? My hunch has always been lack of customer service and reading some of the responses here, It seems i was on the ballpark with that. I have my particular everyday items that I use and even though I don't use a lot of brands.. the ones that I consistently use are: Chanel and Mac. Drugstore: NYC. love their products, never have an issue, been using them for years.. enough said.
I haven't had any truly awful experiences to put me off from a brand. There are some I prefer not to use because the products are just poor quality (NYC comes to mind), but nothing personally upsetting.
Yes, LANCOME. I swore off their products.(Sorry Hypnose mascaras!) Both of their highly raved foundations gave me bad breakouts, Eg, Teint Miracle and Photogenic. BLEH
Covergirl mascara BURNS my eyes like no other and anything Neutrogena makes my skin burn and itch so badly. I still use covergirl concealer and lip products (their eyeshadows are terrible though), but I refuse to use anything Neutrogena again after having 2 of their products burn my flesh.
I won't buy Bare Minerals. It's the only cosmetic product I have ever used that irritated my skin. I don't have sensitive skin, but their foundation made me itch like crazy. And I won't buy nail polish from Cult Nails. My one one and only bottle of polish purchased from them arrived a hot mess. The bottle wasn't cracked, but it had polish all over the outside. Disgusting! I'm still waiting for a reply to the emails I sent over the summer. And lastly, I rarely purchase MAC products and when I do its over the Internet. MAC has some of the WORST reps working their counters. Whether its in a MAC store or counters in different department stores, the reps are rude and snotty. It's a shame, because they make good products but their employees need a serious attitude adjustment.
I totally agree with you on refusing to buy Mac from the stores/counters any more because of the people who work there. I pounce and stock up on my staples online when there's a free shipping code!
Any brand that decides to test on animals or that has poor costumer service is out. There are way too many quality, cruelty-free brands to hang on to these bad companies
Amway skin care range Artistry . expensive as clinique .I never had acne . But i got stubborn acne and damaged my skin. It took me over two years to clear my skin. I will never recommend the products to anyone. Also, coastal scents the palletes are over rated you never end up using more than half of the colours. they break easily .not highly pigmented. Also called for brushes . short and tiny brushes .
MAC, for 2 reasons. 1st reason is that even though I don't own many of their shadows(I have one quad), those 4 colors, I can't stand. I never use them. So dull, and so stiff and difficult to work with. I have no desire to work with any of their other eyeshadows. Especially after I see countless poor reviews of their products. 2nd reason is due to customer service. I was using MUFE HD foundation, but wanted to switch to something a little less expensive because the $40 pricetag was putting me off. So walked in to MAC, the girl was barely helpful, and when I explained my makeup routine, she literally told me she couldn't understand why people did their makeup like that. I was like, are you serious right now? Especially since her makeup looked awful, and I have always been VERY particular about how my foundation looks. If it doesn't look good, I won't wear it. She looked like she was wearing a mask. I literally just walked out of the store, and I'll never go back. There are plenty of other brands out there that are infinitely better.
I have noticed pictures of models on the ELF website and have seen those same pictures used by other companies. Don't know if it's just stock photography or if they just take them from other places.
I suspect they're doing an image search via Google or the like and just taking photos - I've attempted to contact them multiple times over months but no luck - and that's including their Twitter.
It usually takes a lot to get me to stop using a brand, and my reasons are either poor product in general, poor customer service or unethical business practices. Lime Crime is one I've stopped using - The product itself is way overpriced for such terrible quality (the lipsticks I ordered were all broken at the base or leaned funny in the tube, which led to scraping. They were all quite dry and unpleasant to wear anyway. When I emailed about the packaging and the "leaning", they did send me replacements and a coupon code, which was lovely of them, but unfortunately, I just didn't want to order anything more since they were all quite dry and unpleasant to wear anyway). The eyeshadows are just repackaged mica anyway. I'll stick with my Fyrinnae.
WOW. What e.l.f. did to you was really outrageous. See, they have deceived their consumers, you and all the makeup companies whose products you used on the looks they stole. What a shame!
I'm a little grumpy with Shu Uemura right now, having sent back one of the WKW lipsticks (said it was a warm pink, more like cool Easter egg pastel) and how many weeks later I've got neither a refund nor the lipstick.
Neutrogena -- They reformulated the cleanser I had used for years to include menthol, which was horrible on my dry, sensitive skin. This was the experience that led me to start reading ingredient lists, track what did and didn't work for me, and to explore higher-end skincare and makeup.
Sally beauty. I ordered from them last year and used promo codes for free gifts, the entire reason I ordered. They shipped without the free gifts, and didn't even send me a notice or anything. When I conplined they bacilli told me that I was SOL. What kind of company ships a partial order and cancels the rest without notice?!
Covergirl - their mascara made my eyes water and burn. So passing on this brand altogether.
Dr.Perricone's Vitamin C facial lotion makes me break out. Same with all mineral foundations. Thank you!
Revlon for sure. I've tried two different kinds of foundations on two seperate occasions, and my face was breakout city both times. It took me a good month to clear up my skin each time, and I'm just not willing to take that risk again.
Milani Cosmetics. I made an order with them during their recent Cyber Monday sale. Not only did it take a long time for them to actually ship my package, but a week AFTER I RECEIVED my package (which was almost a month after I had placed the order), they charged my credit card for it. I suppose I don't have to right to be really, really mad, because they only charged me once. But it wasn't professional at all. At they very least, they could have notified me before they charged me, saying that they hadn't charged me and were about to do so, so I could check my bank account and make sure there was enough money in my checking account to cover the cost, or move some money around if necessary. I've emailed them about this, and they still haven't responded. Needless to say, I will never be purchasing from their website again.
I had a very similar experience with Jordana (sister company of Milani). Never again!
I don't see what the problem is? If you buy something, you should have the money for it. Since you knew you owed money, you should have made sure the funds were in your account anyway. I suppose there was a delay in their billing process... but all they did was let you keep the money in your account for a few extra days. And you received the package BEFORE you were charged. Did you expect to get free stuff or something? I would probably even have contacted the company upon receipt of the parcel... telling them to charge me.
If you're, say, a college student who has anywhere between $0 and $100 in her bank account at any given moment, checking your online statement every once in a while to see how much you have, it's *really annoying* to forget about an order you made two weeks ago and not be able to pay for something because you're a little short on the day they *did* decide to charge you. She said she knows she didn't do anything wrong, but that it was annoying.
Joan, I am not referring to the money, I am referring to their sister company (which really is the same company), Jordana, refusing to fulfill my order and never sending an order confirmation. I wrote out the whole story above.
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