Pat McGrath Dark Galaxy MTHRSHP Eyeshadow Palette Swatches
Pat McGrath Dark Galaxy MTHRSHP Palette ($65.00) is a new, limited edition palette that sold out within a couple of hours. Smoked Amethyst is a repeated shade while the other five are new. Bronze Nebula is likely similar to at least one past shade by the brand, but the name itself is unique, and this was the shade that arrived shattered and was not salvageable (only what was still clinging to the edge of the pan). It was packaged fine, so I don’t know why it broke in transit. Pat McGrath reached out within minutes of this post going live and will replace it — I’ll re-shoot photos when I receive!
It is disappointing that they will respond so quickly to post by a blogger mentioning a broken pan and still won’t respond to customers with orders that aren’t filled weeks later. This brand has terrible customer service but is clearly trying to keep bloggers saying positive things about them.
Hopefully, they will work through their backlog of messages sooner rather than later and that anyone having an issue will have it resolved!
There were several readers who left comments on my Instagram post sharing how PMG has fixed issues with broken palettes for them, and everyone seemed to get a good response (full refunds if replacements weren’t avialable), and I know some readers forgot to use their 10% off code on Decadence earlier this week and received emails that refunded that 10% back. It was actually a surprisingly high number of good experiences dealing with the brand’s CS if you read through those comments!
I know a few readers who had their Decadence orders cancelled, then they reached out to Pat McGrath via Instagram, and they said they would take care of them + send them the palette – they were not bloggers or influencers. I’m sure that the response I received is in due in some part to having a relationship with the brand but not everyone who is getting a more “above and beyond” kind of response is a blogger or influencer.
I have received plenty of broken products over the years, and whether a brand replaces it, refunds, or does nothing, it does not change how I review that product. They don’t get a better or worse review for it.
The point is, it is uneven customer service, which is not good customer service. There are orders unfilled from over 6 weeks ago. I have relied on Temptalia for evaluating my makeup purchases since the site launched and only tried this brand based on your recommendations, since it was a new brand and pricey. I have discovered many great brands through the site with fantastic customer service, like Sydney Grace (thank you!). But in this case I feel really, really let down. Please dont forget what they have done this time around because it has really been appaling compared to reputable brands and reliable sites like Sephora, Ulta, and Nordstrom. Being able to place an order and receive your product in a timely fashion (and communication) is a fundamental part of the shopping experience. This brand has failed many, many of us at this point. Other brands have been canceled for less.
I always support readers purchasing or not purchasing from whatever brand(s) based on what feels right/makes them happiest — this is makeup, which is generally a want and not a need, so it should be enjoyable. I never ask readers to support or not support a brand based on my feelings about them, I would just ask for the same respect to be given to me as well as any readers.
Pat McGrath’s team absolutely needs to take away some lessons from the last month or so on how they handle releases and how they can communicate with customers in the future, and I hope that they do. I felt like Natasha Denona’s issues with their Black Friday sale were more serious, but Natasha Denona was getting on Instagram stories and trying to give updates, walk through what they were doing, and talked about how they were going to change/improve going forward. It does seem like both brands experienced an unprecedented volume in sales (based on order numbers, PMG looks like they got half a year’s worth of orders in 1-2 weeks), and there are consequences to being under-prepared (and PMG has not communicated much, so we don’t know if they took any extra steps to prepare – I recall ND stating something like they predicted X level increase but it ended up being many times more, I don’t remember the exact numbers). For some, added communication might not be enough to overcome the actual series of events, and for others, it might be more than enough. I was glad to see PMG actually post that Decadence was sold out affirmatively, and I hope we see more in that vein re: launch dates and availability.
I’m happy to have readers share their experiences with a brand’s customer service, positive, neutral, or negative, but my response to your comment was because you called my integrity into question as a result of the brand’s response to me, which I think was unfair, so I wanted to at least point toward some other experiences from readers since they were on the same issue (and what their resolutions were). I shared what PMG did not to make anyone frustrated but because some readers were asking what the brand was going to do, so I felt I had to be transparent and answer with what occurred.
Unfortunately, customer service can vary from brand to brand, rep to rep; it really depends on how the brand/retailer empowers their representatives. You’re satisfied with Ulta’s customer service, but Ulta’s customer service was one of the least customer-facing I’d experienced, which has improved in the last year or so, but they had really inconvenient solutions – e.g. you must take this broken product to a physical location to prove it’s broken and to get a refund for an order I purchased online. It’s a valid solution, but I consider that to be really poor customer service (in terms of solutions) myself. I have to ship all Ulta packages overnight or two-day in order to avoid broken items because they have the worst shipping/packaging (going ground takes 7-15 days in transit plus high odds of at least one powder product being broken, in my experience).
On the other hand, I’m a huge fan of Nordstrom’s customer service, but I have had some readers say they had the worst customer service – as in they were out their order money because it did not arrive and Nordstrom wouldn’t do anything about it. Even Beautylish, who is normally top tier in my experience for customer service and being more customer first, had not shipped an order after 2 weeks, so I inquired, and it turned out one item out of many was out of stock so they held up the entire order for that item to come back in stock.
How was she questioning your integrity Christine? She said it was wrong how the brand is responding quickly to your broken palette because you’re a popular blogger while the brand continues to ignore the valid complaints from those who aren’t bloggers. They can’t delete your blog post but they can (and are) deleting complaints on their social media. Questioning your integrity? No. Questioning the integrity of PMG customer service? Yes.
Hi Kriss,
The reader can clarify if they intended something else, but as I was the blogger that PMG reached out to and said they’d send a replacement to (I’m not aware of anyone else, actually!) and they said it was to ensure I’d say positive things about the brand in the future – which suggests that my reviews could be bought and that goes right to my integrity because I take a lot of pride in my reviews and try to be transparent on how I review.
Yes, I what Kriss said was exactly what I meant. I’m sorry if it came out like I was questioning your integrity, Christine, as this was 100 percent about the Pat McGrath brand. They are engaging in random acts of “kindness” like replacing broken products for some people (and not others) and saying “PM me” (then not responding to the PMs) to manipulate people into thinking they are taking care of their problems, when in reality they have not done anything about their unfulfilled orders from November. Coincidentally, these acts of “kindness” occur where they are most likely to be noticed online, which is why I think it is manipulation. In reality, the response to their problems has been callous and opaque. My hard and fast line is taking money and not sending product and refusing to communicate, which is fraud or theft – a whole different level from broken products. I have had to make a claim against a company that went bankrupt via their liquidator and I saw many of the same problems, which is why I am so alarmed. These include 1. running huge sales to rapidly get revenue. 2. Ultra-limited releases, because suppliers have cut off their credit and require payment up front for products 3. Not having sufficient staff to handle the sales. I see all of this with Pat McGrath right now and they are gearing up for yet ANOTHER soon-to-be-disastrous ultra-limited release. Buyer beware for sure! What Natasha Denona’s site did was also unforgivable and I won’t be purchasing directly from them again, either. So many of these newer pseudo-“luxury” brands are striking me as operationally problematic. It is all the more amazing when true indies like Sydney Grace can run sales and meet their projected deadlines, communicate, and have adequate stock. I appreciate your perspective on the customer services issues with other companies as well, which I was not aware of. I didn’t know about the Ulta in-store return requirement, which wouldn’t work for those of us in rural areas. I am fine with shipping damaged product back, but not driving hundreds of miles. I saved screenshots of the unfilled portion of my McGrath order and I paid via Paypal and credit card, so hopefully I have recourse to get some of it back, though the order was partially filled so there was a tracking number, which may be problematic. I had some of her products before from Sephora, which were okay, but nothing special, but had no idea that my first purchase from the actual brand site during the sale would result in being scammed. Hard lesson learned and I will be much more careful about only purchasing from Sephora or established brands with good reputations in the future.
I actually received a DM yesterday from PMG asking me if I needed any assistance. I did not contact them so I assume they did so because I placed an order. I responded back and asked if my order for the Decadence palette would be fulfilled (was concerned that it would be canceled since my lipstick order was not fully shipped). I was assured that my order was being processed and will be shipped to me. Trust and believe that PMG and her team are thinking about the mayhem that these releases have caused her loyal customers. It is unacceptable that people purchased tons of palettes and are selling them for jacked up prices on eBay and other sites. Unfortunately, we live in a society where some folks are just downright greedy. In spite of this, I will strive to be optimistic and hope that PMG will take the necessary steps towards a positive resolution. Who knows maybe she will do another release or make Decadence permanent. In any case, life will continue to go on and I choose to make the best of if going forward into 2020. Thank you Christine for your positive vibe and creating a space where people can express their thoughts. I love makeup and this should be fun for all of us. Happy New Year! XOXO
Thanks for sharing, Tammy! Happy to hear that your order is being processed and will be shipped to you. I’m definitely interested to see if they make any changes going forward, both in terms of dealing with more frenzied launches from a shipping/processing/checkout process but also just in whether they’ll communicate launch times and dates better, too.
“I have received plenty of broken products over the years, and whether a brand replaces it, refunds, or does nothing, it does not change how I review that product. They don’t get a better or worse review for it.”
What causes the product to break? Is it the packaging, and thus only a customer service problem? Or something else? Is it the formula, and thus a product quality problem? Or something else? What if it’s a mixture of the two? How do all these questions affect a blogger’s review? And the customer’s resultant buying experience? Should it affect either, or not? If the blogger mentions it, should the manufacturer assume that that will affect the review? What is the reason the blogger is even mentioning it in the first place? Did it make their review impossible? If not, then why? What does that information or lack of it mean to the customer?
So many questions, I know. They’re all just food for thought.
Short of having a real understanding of the formula itself, it would be difficult to determine, and accidents happen – you could drop a palette once from six feet over hardwood floor and it survives perfectly and then knock it off onto carpet and you could have a shattered shade (I know, I’ve done it). It’s like if you fall; you could fall just wrong enough to be seriously injured or be mildly bruised. Barring multiple readers expressing issues with their products, then I would not assume it’s a formula issue.
Most of my broken products have been because of poor shipping – e.g. Ulta, which packs with a thin layer of bubble wrap at the bottom of the box, a large box, and then a couple of air pockets on top… so as long as 14 days in transit means a lot of opportunities for that product to be bouncing around. There have been instances where everything seemed fine but there was devastation inside. It could have been an issue with the product when it came from manufacturer to the brand/retailer, too; it could have been a box of palettes that took an unusual tumble or hit at a vulnerable spot etc.
There are some powder formulas that seem more softly pressed so it might be a more fragile formula, but most of the instances where product arrives broken, it is an issue with how it was packed. In a case of a replacement, if the replacement also arrives broken, one might start considering it is a formula issue (which is also why if multiple readers report issues with it, then it could be a formula issue).
If a product is broken, then it is shown in my photos, and if it was a shipping issue, I dropped it (has happened, I’ve definitely nicked some products opening them), or if I actually suspect a formula issue, I will note as much in the review – readers can see it so readers will ask what happened. Depending on the product, if I feel like I can’t adequately review the product because the state it is in, then I will either do my best and then update when I receive the product fully intact (assuming a palette) or wait for a replacement (assuming a single product, like a highlighter). If there is enough product still pressed, then I don’t need a full pan to test for my purposes.
I’ve had brands ship nail polish (glass bottles) in a cardboard envelope and have them arrive 100% intact and then have had nail polish wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap in a bubble envelope arrive shattered. It’s really all over the map, so unless there is some additional information – others reporting the same issue with the same shade(s) or an obvious issue with the formula (like a softer lipstick is more likely to bend at the base!) – I certainly wouldn’t have any expert knowledge into why since there are so many possible reasons (and could have been a combination of factors).
As someone who has received a lot of products… I have been impressed by how much has arrived wholly intact with the worst packaging jobs and then equally impressed by something arriving in poor condition despite adequate packaging!
The shattered eyeshadow is highly worrisome. My Dark Galaxy is still in transit and I am dreading shattered eyeshadows. Due to the palette being sold out for some time now, replacements seem unlikely.
Galactic Gold arrived okay, and it seemed packed fine – like I’m not sure why it was shattered based on how it was packaged/shipped!
I got mine last night and it was in perfect condition. I’m in Arizona just like Christine.
Mine arrived yesterday with the shade Saturnalia shattered. Unfortunately PMG customer service said the item is no longer available, so they couldn’t offer an exchange or replacement. Fingers crossed that everyone’s package arrives safe and sound.
Are they offering a refund, Beanie?
They did offer a full refund thankfully! I’m sorry I forgot to mention that in my comment.
I’m glad they did that at least!
WOW! Christine that looks really bad! Mine came from the US to the UK and in perfect condition. Oh, interesting they are able to replace your broken palette that must mean they do have more stock.
Cannot wait for your review.
Well. I was pretty bummed about missing this palette, but I have dupes for all these shades. Yay! Like, I still wish I had the packaging but oh well.
Must be nice that they contacted you. I got a shipping confirmation email on the 20th with no tracking number and no package and no response after 2 emails, multiple messages through Instagram and Twitter. I’m SO frustrated.
Am I the only one bummed that PMG keeps has extra stock on hand for influencers, but not regular folks who just want to buy something pretty without having to get up at 5am?
Many readers left comments on my Instagram post talking about customer service, including instances where they received broken product and were given full refunds. There were also readers who DM’d the brand via Instagram earlier and were told the brand would send them palette that they missed, but I imagine that was on a very limited basis so not everyone is going to get something.
I understand that there is likely preferential treatment in their response, but just a FYI, I was up just as early as I purchased this palette along with Galactic Gold. I was up every hour to check Selfridges for launch for days to pass on that information to readers if I happened to catch it in time. I purchased to provide photos, swatches, dupes, and to review the product for readers – it was by no means just to “buy something pretty.” I’m not upset about the time I put toward the launch as I know that several Temptalia readers snagged their palettes, but I definitely paid my dues as it were on this launch, LOL!
I love this palette. I’m doing a lot of cool pink/red tones paired with bronze and copper as my eye looks. This plus the Corruption shadow from the Galactic Gold palette.. Oh mon dieu!
Happy to hear they were worth the ride! 😉
There are different treatments to different customers. This is just how reality works, ladies, and saying marginally mean thing to Christine cannot change how the brand behaves, no to mention that it is not Christine’s fault that many of you feel mistreated by PML. I am glad to hear that Christine can receive a replacement since she did get up very very early (every hour in fact) to grab the thing and she got it mostly to review for us.
I was really disappointed to find that my Dark Galaxy arrived damaged as well (the shade Saturnalia had shattered). I reached out to Pat McGrath customer service last night and they said they no longer have any stock to replace it with. I’m so bummed!
Sorry PMG – but this looks a lot like her many other palettes – a gold shade, a red shade and a purple, plus a couple of others.
It’s good to know that the brand will honour any broken or damaged eyeshadows and I think there will be some lessons learnt about how to release a product in a timely fashion and have plenty of stock.
I have a feeling that the customer response to the palettes’ release was overwhelming to the brand and they never expected this level of demand.
Are they having you send the broken one back? If not would you possibly sell it all prices ive seen are 200$ plus for a pallete that sold for 65$ such a shame it’s a beautiful palette but not worth that much of a markup
Hi Amanda,
I’m not sure, though from what readers have said about their past experiences indicates they CS processes a replacement or a refund but doesn’t ask for the original pack – they said they’d get everything squared away after the new year. I don’t sell any products that I review, whether purchased or provided by the brand, though.
Thanks anyways could you please delete the previous comment I didn’t realize it would show my last name ?
I updated it to “Ag” – let me know if you still want it deleted!
Mine arrived Monday in perfect condition. I’ve used it 3 times and absolutely love it. I’ve paired it with Divine Rose and La Vien Rose. Can’t wait for Decadance to arrive.
im one of the lucky few who didn’t have that bad of a time ordering from her.. sure, the lipsticks took forever.. and my Instagram order got cancelled almost a month late (kind of understandable why it got cancelled though as the site already said they weren’t in stock) and my star wars mini palettes took a while but i got them in perfect condition. the decadence palette order was even better, i got a shipping update that same day. so hopefully that means they’re learning from the experience.
I’m glad they reached out to you right away. I’ve had good and bad experiences with PML. With the hype going into her launches and the rate in which her launches sell out, the volume that her brand must process would be incredible. So response rate to questions and shipping delays are understandable. Not appreciated but understandable. I guess I will just sit back and wait patiently for my shipment.
This is very pretty but by the swatches, not all that unique. I hope everyone who is waiting for it gets it!
If so many pallets were arrived scattered, within the US, I do not want to imagine in what condition will arrive mine in Greece. I have faith!
So sad I missed out on this palette as a huge fan of Star Wars and PMG. Their inventory control seems to be a mess though. When I ordered the Obsessive Opulence Everything Kit and Noir Kiss Duo order was confirmed but then I didn’t receive Blitz Astral Quad in Nocturnal Nirvana or Noir. They refunded me for those items at full price instead of the “kit” price. Which was nice, but disappointing especially because my order was confirmed and parts of the kit were missing.
When I ordered three lip balms from the Star Wars collection because I missed out on the palettes, I was only sent two. They said one sold out but it’s still available online to purchase which makes no sense. I told CS “hey, the item is still available for purchase online how is it sold out?” They simply replied there’s none in the warehouse.
With the Decadence – Star Wars edition order I added back the missing lip balm. So I’m no longer getting it for 10% off but since they over-refunded me previously I’m ok with it. They have not ever sent me a order shipped notification in my last 3 orders so now I’m just waiting to see if I even receive the palette or not. I give PMG money and see if anything shows up now, which isn’t the greatest shopping experience for a luxury brand.
I really hope they A) change merchant platform from Shopify to something that can actually handle the volume of orders they receive B) change their inventory control system C) get a better inventory & merchandise planner D) pay for additional server bandwidth during high traffic times to avoid “glitches” people experienced. PMG seems to have problems scaling right now and with a little work her brand can be so much bigger!
I had issues with the “add to bag” button hours after the launch was done – I have no idea what caused them, but there was something going on in general (not just the one page). It almost seemed like a cache issue as a hard refresh seemed to fix it. I was wondering if they had something that tracks active carts, because it’s clear that putting it in your cart doesn’t actually reserve it since people got sold out while in that process, but perhaps they had something where if there were 1,000 active carts and only 500 units in inventory then they started to show it as sold out?? but it definitely seems like they have an issue with over-selling inventory and need to… produce more or figure out a way to minimize overselling.
It might work better if they went with a reservation system, so if it’s in your cart, you’ve secured that product. They definitely need a hard frontend limit on quantity, which I was surprised they did not have (it let me add 17 Midnight Suns to my cart, though obviously I didn’t risk checking out!!). I heard they cancelled orders that were higher up, which is good, but it makes more sense to force a limit (like 2 or 3) on the frontend to mitigate them having to even look for/deal with those later on. People can place multiple orders, use different addresses/email addresses, etc. to get around it, but it does make it a little harder and may allow more inventory to be bought up by customers vs. resellers when we are talking about 10-15 minutes of stock!
I definitely think there are scaling issues (which I glean from how much orders jumped from my 11/15 order of Divine Rose to my 12/12 order of Galactic Gold, which accounts for Black Friday/Cyber Monday), but I wish we heard more from the brand that they ARE having scaling issues and really own the problems – like they can’t go back and fix them, but they definitely could be (and should be) more transparent about delays and backlogs and how that’ll move forward.