Wednesday 1 February 2012

Hi Fi Cosmetics - MIA or AWOL?

So I mentioned that I was having trouble with an indie company. Unfortunately nothing has been fixed yet and there's nothing I can really do about it. The company in question is Hi Fi cosmetics. I've reviewed them in the past and absolutely love their products and the owner, Veronica, was always really nice and helpful so I'm really saddened to have to write this.

I ordered from the companies artfire page on the 27th of November and paid via echeque which cleared on the 2nd of December. It was during their black friday sale so I made a rather large order coming to about £40 ($60) Since then I've heard nothing. I know that earlier in the year they'd had a big problem keeping up with orders because of a Heartsy deal but that seemed to have calmed down. I expected to have a bit of a wait with the turn around time and then international shipping so, even though I got other Black friday orders in a couple of weeks, I didn't think much about it. But then New years came and went and there was no sign of my order. No shipping confirmation, no apology for delay, nothing. So I sent Veronica an email, just enquiring politely when my order was. No reply. I asked around on some facebook groups and was told by several people that while Hi Fi orders often take a while to arrive they always DO arrive. I also heard that Veronica was pregnant so i thought maybe that was why she hadn't replied to my email and thought I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and wait a while longer.

Since then I've sent two more emails and a message over artfire and have had no reply of any kind. The Hi Fi cosmetics facebook page has been deleted and their twitter hasn't been used since Christmas but the Artfire shop is still up without any kind of announcement about delays etc.

For some reason I  thought I'd ordered later than i actually did so when I thought I was coming up to paypals 45 day limit to make a claim I was actually over it :(  so now there is nothing I can do to get back my money (and £40 is a lot of money for me) and as I can't get in contact with Veronica I very much doubt I will ever see my order.

So... yeah that sucks! If anyone has any ideas what I could do please say. I can't file a claim with my bank by the way as I can't use the phone and my bank doesn't seem to have email customer service :( I really don't mind long TAT times, I'm in no rush to get my makeup, I just don't want to be ripped off!

The thing is, while of course I am pissed off and want my order or my money back part of me is worried about veronica. When people just disappear from the internet I can't help but think that something bad has happened, especially as the last few tweets from Veronica (from December) say that she's been sick and had
other problems to deal with. So it's really hard to know what's happening. Veronica could be ill or something bad could have happened but there's no way of knowing!

So I'm out £40 and  very unhappy. As I said before, if I knew my products were still coming I wouldn't even mind waiting this long but as my emails have remained unanswered and the company has basically disappeared I can only assume that my money has been stolen. And because of this I do not recommend Hi fi Cosmetics. Their products are genuinely great but there's been too many problems with TAT in general and now my order has not been honoured. If you are going to order then please at least wait until Veronica reappears because if you order now then who knows if it will even be acknowledged?

Just a word to indie sellers, if you're ill or have some kind of problem then announce it. Most people are going to be fine to wait for their stuff if they know you're having a hard time, or at least will want to know what's going on. Just disappearing without any explanation is frustrating and suspicious. Perhaps give someone you trust the log in to your facebook account or similar so if any emergency happens they can take care of the business.

26 comments:

  1. Could you contact Paypal anyway? They might be able to do something if there have been lots of problems/complaints against the account. Also, did you try contacting Royal Mail? (you can email them) They might have the parcel...since you spent £40 there could be a customs charge.xx

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  2. What a shame, I really like Hi-Fi. I hope that Veronica is okay and there's an innocent explanation, but it still doesn't change the fact you are down £40.

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  3. Ohhh I really hope you get your money back somehow! On the other hand I hope she is OK :S Maybe someone will see this post and have info of some sort! Fingers crossed x

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  4. That sucks! It seemed like Veronica has always run a good business. Hopefully someone has been in contact with her and can give you some info.

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  5. Eh, I ordered from her several times, no problems, and then I had a loooong 2+ month wait for an order, with no replies, no nothing. File with PayPal anyways, they will often go past the 45-day limit in cases like this. I have no sympathy for Veronica, as she has a pattern of getting in over her head and then ducking out on her customers. Bad business. Good products, but bad customer service.

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  6. Awww this is so disappointing. I was hoping that maybe your emails would get through but it completely sucks that she's not answering. From the looks of her facebook (and what I can see of it since I'm not her friend) she honestly seems fine and it's so irresponsible that she hasn't said anything about the status of your order or the potential problems with any future orders on her Artfire. I would understand having issues more if she actually communicated about it, especially since she's holding onto your money!

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  7. I'm so sorry Lillian, I hope this gets sorted out :( What rubbish service... not responding to customers? Ugh.

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  8. I have ordered several times from Hi Fi as anyone on my blog can see I love the colours but yeah I had a feeling about this.

    I ordered from the Black Friday sale (im in the UK too) and so did my friend at work. I got my order no problem in about 3 weeks from when I ordered it which I found was normal.

    However my friend hasn't had a thing and just like you only realised recently. I got her to email Hi Fi and yeah the same...no response.

    When I used to email I always got a prompt response so I feel like a total tit for recommending them to my friend

    I just don't get why mine was shipped and hers not (I can only assume it wasn't? could have been lost in the post but meh)

    Biggest shame is I adore the shades. Why must this happen!!

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  9. The amount of reviews that come up saying "the products were great but I wouldn't order again due to the bad communication and the fact it took so long for me to get my order" is really disheartening. I didn't even google for reviews either, just the company name. Hope things work out for you Lillian :(

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  10. UGH, not what I wanted to see. I love Hi-Fi's products and don't want the company to go down the crapper. The loooooooong turn around times with little to no communication have really kept me from ordering as much as I want to.

    She needs to hire some help, seems her business is growing faster than she can keep up. I hate when this happens to indie companies, it seems to ruin a lot of good ones.

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  11. As far as I know, from what other customers have said and what Veronica gave as a reason (and from what I saw, Veronica said something very different than the customers), the facebook page was taken down because people had started posting TAT/missing order complaints there because they weren't getting a response any other way.

    I love the products too, but the last time I ordered was Black Friday 2010. Apparently a whole ton of her orders from that sale got lost and damaged in the postal system, then got returned to her, so she did eventually get me my stuff plus some bonus full sizes, but it was January 2011 by then. Between the problems since and my financial issues, I've been reluctant to order again.

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  12. From what I know Veronica is on complete bed rest due to medical issues with her pregnancy, and to make things more complicated they're moving again because her husband lost his job a while ago. The company's Facebook page was deleted because she can't handle the added stress.

    While I understand that all those factors would make it really difficult to keep in touch with customers, I agree with you that the least she could do is to make an announcement. If she's unable to make one herself, she can perhaps ask someone to do it on her behalf. Her Artfire page was put on vacation mode today, so I guess that's a good start.

    I love their products and I certainly don't plan to stop purchasing from them, but I do think I need to keep a very open mind, be aware of the risks, and prepare a lot of patience. In any case, I hope everyone gets their products (or refund) soon, and she can work out her health and location issues.

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  13. Eeesh! Sorry about that. That's the one thing that keeps me from pursuing Indie brands of makeup - I hate hate HATE waiting for makeup! It's so, so, SO annoying.

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  14. I was wondering the same thing since she hasn't even logged in on Artfire for weeks.

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  15. My last order was Nov 24, 2011 & my shadows arrived on a timely basis. I can't remember quite how long it took but I think I had them just before or just after Christmas. Hope this helps.

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  16. Ugh I'm so annoyed and frustrated that you're still going through this. I love Veronica's products but this is just appalling behaviour. I know she's having personal and health issues, but it's not hard to close down the shop and answer emails, even if you're stuck in bed. I hope you get your money back *hugs* I certainly won't be ordering from her again.

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  17. I ordered in Feb 2010 and had the same issues with my order so this isn't a new thing. I had to email and ask where my order was. Eventually it turned up.

    I did plan on ordering again but the constant blog posts of people having the same issues put me off for the 2 years since my order. Shame really as the shadows I got from her are stunning.

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  18. I am sorry to hear this. :(

    I'll be honest, this is the primary reason I don't shop indie. I know there are plenty of good companies, this is just completely off putting. :(

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  19. That sucks. Their products are really great too. I'm thinking possible family emergency?

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  20. The Artfire page now says: "Hi-Fi Cosmetics is currently closed due to moving and medical issues related to pregnancy.

    Estimated re-open: August 2012"

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing this with us and giving us all the information. I think everyone tries to get a cheaper insurance if possible. That is one of the fixed cost which people find it expensive.Thanks for sharing us.

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  21. I've had the same issue! I spent roughly $50 back in early December and haven't heard anything from Hi-Fi even after many polite, then increasingly threatening emails. I've seen that her Artfire shop is closed until AUGUST and that she is having medical issues, but really? You can't even announce what's going on or reply to angry emails when you check in?

    I'm going to go after her for mail fraud. Hope we both get this resolved.

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  22. I ordered the christmas shades samples back in... November 1st, I think. I e-mailed after a month, not a word, e-mailed again after some weeks, nothing. When I recently checked the Artfire I saw the notice about it being closed but it isn't that complicated to set an autoreply on the mailaccount.

    I'm so pleased that I didn't buy more because then I would have been really pissed off.

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  23. I had a terrible experience with her during the summer; it took nearly three months to get my order - and I live in the US! Not a word from her the whole time. I just shoved my eyeshadows in a drawer and left them there, because I can't wear them without thinking of how frustrating an ordeal it was when all I wanted was to support a small business.

    While I know health problems can be daunting, as a small business owner myself (and a person living with a heart condition) I take the stance that if I'm going to run a business I am going to do it professionally, so it bothers me to see someone else only choosing to operate in a professional manner when it suits them. Customers have every right to information about their purchases, and a business has no right to keep their product AND the customer's money - no matter how big or small that business might be.

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  24. She's back: http://www.facebook.com/hificosmetics
    I hope you get something more tangible than excuses from her!

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  25. I'm curious - now that Veronica has been back (seemingly) for several months - was any of this ever resolved? I love the products I've purchased from her in the past, but I'd really like to know whether I can trust to actually RECEIVE a new order, if I should place one.

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