Sometimes we have to be grateful when companies fuck things up. Mistakes happen, and the measure of a company is how they deal with those mistakes. Not just their actions, but also their attitude toward acknowledging the mistake and trying to move forward. It's great when companies deal with these things admirably, but if you haven't noticed, all of my posts lately have been very positive ones. All the ones I have scheduled are positive, too - everyone's been doing really great!
Which is fantastic, except that when everything is positive you lose the perspective and it makes those positive reviews seem less glowy, which is unfortunate for the companies that deserve their glowy. So, thank heavens for Sleek, then, and their giant-ass fuck up that makes everyone else look much better in comparison.
I already posted about their fail sale, but in closing I was trusting the company to sort itself out. I figured it would take them a while but they'd eventually sort out everyone's orders and make sure people got what they paid for in the end. I couldn't have been more wrong if I'd been going the wrong way down a wrong way street.
Remember, this was a sale organised to thank the fans because they'd reached over 21,000 on Facebook. A sale they initially forgot about and only remembered they promised after multiple reminders from the fans they were so grateful to have. So, how did they thank us? By throwing together a sale with little stock, no preparation, the result of which was people spending two days trying to make an order and checkout, dealing with servers crashing, baskets emptying, items deleting, only to then have the transaction time out during their credit card being processed, or have the 50% off code appear to work but then be charged full-price, or to be charged twice, have orders duplicate, or fail entirely.
Sleek were completely unprepared and overwhelmed with the response to the sale and were suddenly drowning in unhappy customers who saw their money disappear, had no order history, had duplicate orders, or faulty codes that left them being charged too much, et cetera et cetera. They acknowledged that they were unprepared and overwhelmed, and despite the insensitive tweets about pizza, appeared to be trying to work through the huge mass of problems the event had created.
They didn't try very hard. On November 26th, less than two weeks after the sale ended, they posted a note to their Facebook fanpage declaring that anyone who didn't get a specific confirmation e-mail the day before "unfortunately" wouldn't be getting anything. Yeah, you read that right, this note was published to their fucking Facebook page. They had everyone's e-mail address, sent out one mass e-mail to the people who were successful, but didn't bother with the others. To date, there has been no mass e-mail telling people about the note or the contents of it, and only if they e-mail repeatedly do individuals get a personal e-mail brush-off. I only became aware of the note thanks to Lena's excellent and similarly outraged post.
The note was incredibly long and incredibly complicated. I've reproduced it here in its entirety but cut into chunks to make comment and explanation on each section easier.
So, they start off with an apology and explanation of all their efforts to fix the problem. They're not apologising for the problems, mind you - just apologising for the delay in providing a general update. There's a team of more than 14 people including the marketing director and the general manager all helping to sort the problem out. Great. They're also either writing the date wrong, three days in the future or edited the original note posted on the 26th entirely - I do not know which.
This starts out explaining that a very important mass e-mail went out to confirm successful orders on 26th November. Demonstrating, then, their ability to send a mass e-mail. This is not utilised again, however.
It then explains that this e-mail confirming successful orders is only to customers who either paid by PayPal (which was not an option on the website during the sale, I am given to understand it was offered as an option to some customers whose payment on the website failed - my website payment failed, but I was neither informed nor given this option despite e-mailing them repeatedly) or customers whose "payment was not rejected initially or subsequently" i.e. whose orders went through fine anyway.
That's not much of an achievement, is it? If payment went through fine, then, well, your order is fine! Well done you! What? What, exactly, have you fixed, then?
It goes on to say that all the past confirmations were incorrect. They might have 'confirmed' things, but they're going out the window. No matter what you thought your order status was, either from talking to staff or getting confirmation e-mails or checking the information on the website, unless you got one specific e-mail on the 26th November, then your order isn't "successful". And if it's not successful, it's...
It then explains that this e-mail confirming successful orders is only to customers who either paid by PayPal (which was not an option on the website during the sale, I am given to understand it was offered as an option to some customers whose payment on the website failed - my website payment failed, but I was neither informed nor given this option despite e-mailing them repeatedly) or customers whose "payment was not rejected initially or subsequently" i.e. whose orders went through fine anyway.
That's not much of an achievement, is it? If payment went through fine, then, well, your order is fine! Well done you! What? What, exactly, have you fixed, then?
It goes on to say that all the past confirmations were incorrect. They might have 'confirmed' things, but they're going out the window. No matter what you thought your order status was, either from talking to staff or getting confirmation e-mails or checking the information on the website, unless you got one specific e-mail on the 26th November, then your order isn't "successful". And if it's not successful, it's...
I'd like to point out that I really hate the terms "successful" and "unsuccessful" in this instance. It makes it sound like it's your fault your order hasn't gone through. Bad luck, but you didn't manage it, try again next time. "Unfortunately" as well is employed multiple times to avoid taking any personal responsibility or blame for the problems.
This is the brush-off paragraph, it contains the most important information but is buried beneath statements of how well they've been doing and how all the orders that didn't have problems have been successful thanks to their titanic efforts. This is the only place this information is posted, despite how important it is and the huge number of customers it effects. This information is only found in the facebook note and was not e-mailed to anyone and is not on the website. Remember where they said their director of marketing had been working tirelessly to solve these problems? S/he's the person who should have thought that maybe this information ought to be e-mailed, or on the website, or anywhere fucking other than buried as an obscure note posted in the evening on their fanpage. It's not even visible on the front page - you have to look through the notes to find it.
This paragraph basically says that, unless you got their e-mail on the 26th November, or have been told by a staff member on or after 22nd November, you are not getting your order.
If you spoke to a staff member on the 21st November or at any point before - fuck you, they lied, you're not getting shit. If you got eight thousand confirmation e-mails before the 26th November, but not the 26th November one, well, then - fuck you, they lied, you're not getting shit. And whilst it is unfortunate that your order has not been successful, it's not their fault and they aren't sorry.
This is the brush-off paragraph, it contains the most important information but is buried beneath statements of how well they've been doing and how all the orders that didn't have problems have been successful thanks to their titanic efforts. This is the only place this information is posted, despite how important it is and the huge number of customers it effects. This information is only found in the facebook note and was not e-mailed to anyone and is not on the website. Remember where they said their director of marketing had been working tirelessly to solve these problems? S/he's the person who should have thought that maybe this information ought to be e-mailed, or on the website, or anywhere fucking other than buried as an obscure note posted in the evening on their fanpage. It's not even visible on the front page - you have to look through the notes to find it.
This paragraph basically says that, unless you got their e-mail on the 26th November, or have been told by a staff member on or after 22nd November, you are not getting your order.
If you spoke to a staff member on the 21st November or at any point before - fuck you, they lied, you're not getting shit. If you got eight thousand confirmation e-mails before the 26th November, but not the 26th November one, well, then - fuck you, they lied, you're not getting shit. And whilst it is unfortunate that your order has not been successful, it's not their fault and they aren't sorry.
This part seems to suggest that when payments didn't go through, some customers were allowed to pay via Paypal for their order, as Paypal wasn't accepted as a payment option on the website during the sale. This wasn't announced anywhere and I am assuming that the option was extended to individuals from sleek staff members. I don't know why, or how, or on what basis. I sent numerous e-mails about my order and its status and didn't receive a single response until a month later, so this option was never offered to me.
It goes on to say, though, that this option isn't being offered anymore. It's clear that it worked, because when they described successful orders, people who paid by Paypal were on that list. This looks like a way for people whose payment was declined or interrupted to be able to pay and get their orders, but no. They say that if you knew you could have paid by Paypal sooner than yesterday - bearing in mind this is the first time they have mentioned the ability to pay by Paypal on their facebook/website/anything - then you could have, but now it's too late.
Why? Well, they told you in paragraph above. It's "due to the sheer volume of orders" they've had to process. So, the ones which went through successfully, those are fine, by virtue of not having any problems to begin with. But despite being told previously that your order will be honoured, it won't. Why? Because there are too many of them.
It's not impossible - after all, they've shown that they can process them manually with Paypal, but they're not offering the option to pay by Paypal anymore. They didn't tell the general public that it was an option beforehand, but by the way, it was, only not anymore, because... well, fuck you. There's too many orders. Too many people want to buy the things they sell and that's just unacceptable.
Maybe they just can't be bothered, or are too busy eating pizza, who knows. They don't tell you who was offered this option in the first place, or why it wasn't offered to everyone, or why we weren't made aware of it, just that it was and it isn't anymore because fuck you, there's far too many to do and they don't care about you or honouring your order.
It goes on to say, though, that this option isn't being offered anymore. It's clear that it worked, because when they described successful orders, people who paid by Paypal were on that list. This looks like a way for people whose payment was declined or interrupted to be able to pay and get their orders, but no. They say that if you knew you could have paid by Paypal sooner than yesterday - bearing in mind this is the first time they have mentioned the ability to pay by Paypal on their facebook/website/anything - then you could have, but now it's too late.
Why? Well, they told you in paragraph above. It's "due to the sheer volume of orders" they've had to process. So, the ones which went through successfully, those are fine, by virtue of not having any problems to begin with. But despite being told previously that your order will be honoured, it won't. Why? Because there are too many of them.
It's not impossible - after all, they've shown that they can process them manually with Paypal, but they're not offering the option to pay by Paypal anymore. They didn't tell the general public that it was an option beforehand, but by the way, it was, only not anymore, because... well, fuck you. There's too many orders. Too many people want to buy the things they sell and that's just unacceptable.
Maybe they just can't be bothered, or are too busy eating pizza, who knows. They don't tell you who was offered this option in the first place, or why it wasn't offered to everyone, or why we weren't made aware of it, just that it was and it isn't anymore because fuck you, there's far too many to do and they don't care about you or honouring your order.
If you didn't pay by Paypal you paid by SagePay, which was the only payment option on the website when I ordered. SagePay is their credit card processing company. When you did order, you, like me, may have noticed that your funds were debited from your bank account. So you think - excellent, OK, my payment went through, I'll just wait for my products.
Only then they don't arrive and you're being told that actually, your payment didn't go through. You think well, my bank balance says otherwise, mister. But it's OK because as they say, they only take payment when goods are dispatched and not when you ordered - wait, oh, they only started doing that on the 18th Nov? A week after the sale? Oh. Well, that's not really relevant then.
Turns out what actually happened was instead of you paying for goods and then receiving those goods, SagePay just decided to hold onto your money for 30 days. Isn't that nice of them? Instead of you spending the money on the things you wanted, instead, you just get to see that money be held for 30 days, so you can't see it, or touch it, or use it, over the Christmas period.
What, you wanted your money back so you could spend it? On presents and stuff? Well, too bad. It's not really gone, after all, and because of that you can't do dick about it. It's just being held for 30 days and after that it will re-appear in your bank account, and, well, fuck you if you needed it, because it's not gone - it's just gone for all intents and purposes and will be back after a month, so that's fine.
Only then they don't arrive and you're being told that actually, your payment didn't go through. You think well, my bank balance says otherwise, mister. But it's OK because as they say, they only take payment when goods are dispatched and not when you ordered - wait, oh, they only started doing that on the 18th Nov? A week after the sale? Oh. Well, that's not really relevant then.
Turns out what actually happened was instead of you paying for goods and then receiving those goods, SagePay just decided to hold onto your money for 30 days. Isn't that nice of them? Instead of you spending the money on the things you wanted, instead, you just get to see that money be held for 30 days, so you can't see it, or touch it, or use it, over the Christmas period.
What, you wanted your money back so you could spend it? On presents and stuff? Well, too bad. It's not really gone, after all, and because of that you can't do dick about it. It's just being held for 30 days and after that it will re-appear in your bank account, and, well, fuck you if you needed it, because it's not gone - it's just gone for all intents and purposes and will be back after a month, so that's fine.
So, if your order was successful even though your money wasn't taken, it still could be. Anytime in the next month. Better keep it in your bank account just in case, because by this point you probably have no fucking idea if your order is "successful" or not.
This is untrue, as I know at least one person who was charged full price, got her order, had been in contact with Sleek and still never got a refund to cover the faulty discount. But maybe she will eventually.
It sold out online and the website didn't update, allowing people to order it even though it wasn't in stock. Instead of those orders being cancelled, people were just sent something else instead. This didn't just happen with the Bad Girl palette, but also other items, to the point where I know of some international customers who received orders that contained nothing they ordered. Considering those people paid over $13 shipping to get the items they wanted, it seems a little ridiculous that they would be substituting items without consent. Comments on the facebook page reveal people who want to return these items which they didn't order and get a refund have been e-mailing for two months and not gotten replies.
Also, you're allowed to return the stuff you didn't order for a refund, but you're not allowed to swap it for something else that you actually want. Why not? Who the fuck knows.
Also, you're allowed to return the stuff you didn't order for a refund, but you're not allowed to swap it for something else that you actually want. Why not? Who the fuck knows.
They say here that because they didn't realise that funds were simply being held by SagePay, and that transactions hadn't actually been successful (i.e. paid for) that some packages were sent out initially having not been paid for, with the funds simply held which would be released back into the person's bank account after 30 days. This is why there are complaints on the facebook page of people getting 3 e-mails a day from Sleek demanding that they haven't paid for their packages and need to do so, however, their e-mails aren't answered when they try to ask them what the hell considering that their money is missing. No one is going to pay again when they have no assurances that their missing money will be released after 30 days.
So their solution was to stop sending out orders until they were able to accurately verify who had and had not paid. The people who had not paid were most likely having their funds simply held by SagePay without their consent and had no ability to get them released before the 30 days were up. I understand them stopping at this point to sort out who had and had not paid - but we already know they could request payments manually but are simply refusing to because it's too much work.
If they got word of the errors 5 days after the sale's end (the sale began on 11th Nov and ended on 13th Nov) that places this around 18th November.
Why did it take them another week to tell anyone and then summarily dismiss everyone's orders whose payment wasn't successful?
So their solution was to stop sending out orders until they were able to accurately verify who had and had not paid. The people who had not paid were most likely having their funds simply held by SagePay without their consent and had no ability to get them released before the 30 days were up. I understand them stopping at this point to sort out who had and had not paid - but we already know they could request payments manually but are simply refusing to because it's too much work.
If they got word of the errors 5 days after the sale's end (the sale began on 11th Nov and ended on 13th Nov) that places this around 18th November.
Why did it take them another week to tell anyone and then summarily dismiss everyone's orders whose payment wasn't successful?
Once again, they apologise for the delay. Not the delay in shipping orders out, just the delay in telling you that your orders, actually, will not be honoured. That's all they apologise for. They don't care if your money was held for a month, if they lied to you repeatedly and told you your order worked when it didn't, if they charged full price and still haven't given you a refund, if they took your money and then shipped you items you didn't want or order and refused to let you swap them for ones you did, or if you don't even know any of these because they couldn't be bothered to post this information anywhere other than an obscure note hidden in the note section of their facebook fan page. But they're really sorry it took them so long to tell you just how much they just don't give a shit.
In addition, their Christmas orders have come in - people paying full price for things, not like you plebs - so those have all been packed up and sent off and they'll deal with you when they fucking feel like it.
In addition, their Christmas orders have come in - people paying full price for things, not like you plebs - so those have all been packed up and sent off and they'll deal with you when they fucking feel like it.
But don't worry! If you were one of the unlucky ones who failed at ordering and thus were unsuccessful (unfortunate, but not their fault at all) you'll have another chance! Lucky you! At some undefined point in the future, if they can be bothered, feel like it, or remember, you'll get an individual 50% code for your very own. Because this is an experience you definitely want to repeat. It should be noted that as of this post, 3rd February 2011, Sleek have still not begun to send out these promised 50% off codes or given any indication as to when they will be appearing.
There look, they admit they fell short of their own high standards and they've learned their lesson, but remember, it still isn't their fault and they aren't sorry. But it definitely won't happen again. Everything is fine now.
Nice of them to provide a TL;DR "fuck you" for everyone who got lost in that massive pile of shit. It says your order "cannot" be processed manually despite the fact that we know some orders were processed manually because some were offered the chance to pay by Paypal - but they're not doing that anymore because, well, it's just too much work, okay? Perhaps "will not" would have been more accurate.
Astonishingly, this note has no comments! Look:
Astonishingly, this note has no comments! Look:
Wow. Really? 32 people are super happy about that and no one has any comments? That's funny. Oh, wait, maybe this is why.
Wait, what was that? You mean...
You really do mean you deleted all the hundreds of comments from people complaining and reporting problems with their order. That's because everything is totally fine now, right?
...Right?
...Right?
I took these as the first few comments off their latest post, which has 123 comments. Another has 70-ish. The vast majority are complaints and problems with orders, either from the sale or from orders placed much later. I thought everything was fine (by virtue of telling everyone that if they haven't got their order, they aren't going to) and that they were never going to fuck stuff up again?
But, let's be fair. They're probably e-mailing customers individually to explain the situation, right? Surely they wouldn't just leave that note up there and then ignore repeated e-mails completely?
Well... sort of. I placed an order on 11th Nov after spending several hours trying to get everything in the basket and get through the checkout. I checked my bank account and the money was missing, I got a confirmation e-mail and personal assurance via the company's Twitter account that my order would be processed and just fine. I sent off an e-mail on the 11th Nov just to check everything was OK. I received the following automated response:
But, let's be fair. They're probably e-mailing customers individually to explain the situation, right? Surely they wouldn't just leave that note up there and then ignore repeated e-mails completely?
Well... sort of. I placed an order on 11th Nov after spending several hours trying to get everything in the basket and get through the checkout. I checked my bank account and the money was missing, I got a confirmation e-mail and personal assurance via the company's Twitter account that my order would be processed and just fine. I sent off an e-mail on the 11th Nov just to check everything was OK. I received the following automated response:
Scenario D was me, so hooray! My order will be honoured.
However, I didn't hear anything else. I sent another e-mail on November 11th to update with an order number after I managed to login to the website. I got another automated e-mail confirming my order on 13th November, but no personal response and no dispatch confirmation. I waited, thinking they would come, but they didn't. On December 1st I e-mailed again, explaining the situation and asking about the status of my order. No response.
The first, and only personal e-mail I ever got from Sleek arrived on December 16th, over a month after I ordered, and it was as follows:
However, I didn't hear anything else. I sent another e-mail on November 11th to update with an order number after I managed to login to the website. I got another automated e-mail confirming my order on 13th November, but no personal response and no dispatch confirmation. I waited, thinking they would come, but they didn't. On December 1st I e-mailed again, explaining the situation and asking about the status of my order. No response.
The first, and only personal e-mail I ever got from Sleek arrived on December 16th, over a month after I ordered, and it was as follows:
Excuse me? That's it? It took you a month to tell me that UNFORTUNATELY MY ORDER HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL, that you took my money and held onto it without my consent for thirty days, ignored my e-mails for a month and then DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING APOLOGISE?
Sleek have still not apologised for anything other than the delay in telling us in an obscure hard-to-find note that we wouldn't be getting anything and that all their previous confirmation e-mails were lies, and that if our money was missing it was because it was being held and there was nothing we could do about it.
After spending hours trying to order, sending them repeated e-mails, watching them fucking tweet about rewarding themselves with pizza and cheesecake, and all the promises that orders would be honoured, having my money held, unusable, over Christmas, they don't even apologise, to me or to anyone else. They're so sorry it took them an extra week to let us know that they were giving up and couldn't be fucking bothered to honour any of our orders despite all their promises to the contrary earlier, but they're not sorry about anything else. It's incredibly unfortunate that this wasn't a success, but it's clearly not their fault.
Before I get accused of being pissy because it was, after all, a generous sale, I'd like to remind you all that this was a 50% off sale originally promised and then forgotten about, which was designed as a way to say THANK YOU to their fans.
Sleek, if this is your idea of gratitude; thanks, but no thanks.
ETA 03/01/11: The final word.
Sleek make some great products at great prices. Their excuse for this mess is that they were overwhelmed and only had 14 staff to try and sort it out, but their response was to deny blame, break the promises they made originally and just write off the customers they were supposed to be thanking - and never apologise for any of it.
Being a small company doesn't excuse that. Fyrinnae are a small company. They're just two guys who are always flooded with orders and they have to also spend time making everything they sell, not just packing orders and shipping and answering e-mails. They still do it, though. They apologise for mistakes, try their best, go out of their way to make sure the customer is happy and got what they paid for. When they're flooded with orders, they tell people it's going to take a while and they take the shop down.
Sleek has a history of terrible customer service, and although they make some lovely products, they aren't so lovely that they're worth putting up with all of this. They might argue that they simply couldn't do anything else because of the number of orders, but then I'd love to see them explain why this notice was hidden away in the note section on their Facebook fanpage; not on the website, not in the news stream, not in an e-mail, and why they then deleted and have been systematically deleting negative comments about order problems ever since.
Despite all their talk about appreciating and thanking their fans, I have yet to see any real evidence of it. If they really want to thank us, I suggest they start with an apology.
Sleek have still not apologised for anything other than the delay in telling us in an obscure hard-to-find note that we wouldn't be getting anything and that all their previous confirmation e-mails were lies, and that if our money was missing it was because it was being held and there was nothing we could do about it.
After spending hours trying to order, sending them repeated e-mails, watching them fucking tweet about rewarding themselves with pizza and cheesecake, and all the promises that orders would be honoured, having my money held, unusable, over Christmas, they don't even apologise, to me or to anyone else. They're so sorry it took them an extra week to let us know that they were giving up and couldn't be fucking bothered to honour any of our orders despite all their promises to the contrary earlier, but they're not sorry about anything else. It's incredibly unfortunate that this wasn't a success, but it's clearly not their fault.
Before I get accused of being pissy because it was, after all, a generous sale, I'd like to remind you all that this was a 50% off sale originally promised and then forgotten about, which was designed as a way to say THANK YOU to their fans.
Sleek, if this is your idea of gratitude; thanks, but no thanks.
ETA 03/01/11: The final word.
Sleek make some great products at great prices. Their excuse for this mess is that they were overwhelmed and only had 14 staff to try and sort it out, but their response was to deny blame, break the promises they made originally and just write off the customers they were supposed to be thanking - and never apologise for any of it.
Being a small company doesn't excuse that. Fyrinnae are a small company. They're just two guys who are always flooded with orders and they have to also spend time making everything they sell, not just packing orders and shipping and answering e-mails. They still do it, though. They apologise for mistakes, try their best, go out of their way to make sure the customer is happy and got what they paid for. When they're flooded with orders, they tell people it's going to take a while and they take the shop down.
Sleek has a history of terrible customer service, and although they make some lovely products, they aren't so lovely that they're worth putting up with all of this. They might argue that they simply couldn't do anything else because of the number of orders, but then I'd love to see them explain why this notice was hidden away in the note section on their Facebook fanpage; not on the website, not in the news stream, not in an e-mail, and why they then deleted and have been systematically deleting negative comments about order problems ever since.
Despite all their talk about appreciating and thanking their fans, I have yet to see any real evidence of it. If they really want to thank us, I suggest they start with an apology.
45 comments:
BURN.
3 February 2011 11:32(Real response: Thats fucked up. thanks for warning me against these colossal douches)
I love inept companies! Well, reading about their monumental failures, that is - not doing business with them.
3 February 2011 11:50Oh dear, this has to be the longest post in long blogposts history! This gave me a headache... I'll remember the short version :"stay away from sleek makeup" and I'll be fine, I think.
3 February 2011 12:19Is there some sort of authority, similar to an State Attorney General, in the UK that a complaint can be filed? What they did seems to be shady and devious since they messed up big time.
3 February 2011 12:20@Suzanne - Lmao, thank you.
3 February 2011 12:32@A - I don't :(
@Marie-Ella - Haha - brush post was quite considerably longer! Although if you also had to read Sleek's TL;DR note then I guess it gets pretty lengthy.
@Zadidoll - There's trading standards, and someone on the facebook page is advising people who haven't gotten either their order/a refund/contact in over 30 days to report to trading standards, since it's breaking distance selling laws. I'm not sure if they report to anyone else.
What a complete and utter shambles!! I wonder how much money Sleek made in interest alone on all the payments that they took for 'unsuccessful orders' that just sat around in their account for god knows how long??? Hmmmmmm...I smell a big fat rat!! Surely they are in breach of a few distance selling laws as well.
3 February 2011 12:44x
I wasted hrs trying to make an order. And I remember one person complaining how long it was taking because she had to get up for work the next day and this other twatbag said "you need to have patience!" in some snarky ass way as her post before this other girl said something like "YES!! MY ORDER WENT THROUGH!"
3 February 2011 13:15Fuck Sleek, and fuck that braggy twatbag. People like that, I hope THOSE orders fucked up.
Thanks for this post any ideas of buying from them has just gone out the window
3 February 2011 13:18O_o
3 February 2011 13:26When I read the first posts about the problems, I thought they are being taken care of, and that everything'll be alright in the end. After a long, long, shouldn't-be-there while, but in the end.
After reading this, the only thing I can imagine is hundreds of people blowing steam from the top of their heads, like they do in cartoons.
Great post (as always)!
3 February 2011 13:34I tried to order from them during that time too... for hours sitting here trying to get my order to go through and I finally got sick of it and bought some Fyrinnae instead. :p
I did end up getting TWO of those e-mails confirming my purchase even though I didn't put in any payment info lol. One of the Sleek people told me via twitter to e-mail them when I was complaining about how I got the e-mail and didn't put any credit card info in. I'm so glad I didn't because I would not have wanted to deal with this BS and I feel sorry for everyone who had to. :(
I tried to use sagepay to buy with them before the sale. The superdrug nearest my house doesn't stock sleek, so I thought I was being clever. Sagepay would not accept my card. I emailed to ask if I could pay by paypal, and they emailed back and said no, paypal charges them fees, and although they used to accept it, they no longer do. They are such a confusing company. I really don't understand.
3 February 2011 13:55I ended up finding a couple of other superdrugs that does stock their products, and I have a blush, two palettes and a contour/highlight compact. I feel that ordering from them offline just isn't worth it, and now I can see I'm not alone. I like that.
I'm curious to see if the 50% off codes will even be honored. I'm stunned that a brand like Sleek would respond so ungraciously, I have a tough time believing that this mass-distributed line is so small that they couldn't afford to put together a dedicated team to sort this out.
3 February 2011 13:56Of course, appologies don't cost a thing.
That was meeee posting about the UK Trading Standards and how they should request a refund after 30 days if the packet has not arrived!! lol
3 February 2011 14:51This is so sad to see -- and what's even more sad is that Zoya had their 3 Free promotion that pretty much went through without a hitch, and I am willing to bet they have the same (or less) amount of staff. They had some issues with timing out and such, but I don't know of anyone who hasn't gotten their polishes if their money was taken. One set I got for a friend were delayed but considering how many orders they had... I wasn't concerned. They were constantly responding to people on FB and Twitter, trying to keep up with any issues, and their customer service was impeccable (I had to use phone once, and online twice just to ensure things went through).
Sleek looked bad enough and then the Zoya thing happened... now they look really bad. I tried to get on their FB and tell people to request refunds and such from their credit companies/Paypal, but I think some of them weren't english speaking and thus didn't understand me. I've also heard that local stores' stock is ridiculously low, like they're not restocking. Something is wrong... I wouldn't be surprised if Sleek goes under in the next year.
"...too busy eating pizza"- I LOL'ed :D
3 February 2011 15:01I am so glad I decided not to place an order during their sale; Lord knows I spent enough time trying to get on their site, and then on their site, trying to put stuff in my cart. HOURS. In the end it was the ridiculous US shipping rates that made me say "thanks but no thanks" and leave. I don't remember exactly but I think they wanted $13 to post a single palette here to the US, and I really wasn't in the market for more than 2 of them anyway. It was a good deal but what I was going to pay in shipping kinda negated the whole awesomeness of the deal for me... and now reading about all the nonsense they've pulled, I'm super psyched I decided to pass.
I guess one day, if they make it to US stores, I might grab some of their stuff, but until then, Sleek will be something I don't even worry about. Sorry you (and SO many others) were given the runaround by them, there's no excuse for this level of fuckery.
Wow, Sleek fucked up. Big time. I won't order from them. They owe you and a TON of people an apology. How awful.
3 February 2011 15:12Ruthy - Last I checked, credit card companies charge fees to merchants, period. I don't see how they wouldn't pay fees with SagePay, because SagePay has to make their money somehow. Just another BS lie courtesy of Sleek.
3 February 2011 15:23Ana - Well f**k me sideways. I knew about most of this, until you hit the part about them deleting negative/help request comments on Facebook to completely ignore the problem. The UK doesn't have something like a BBB, does it?
I love your writing style Anastasia. I didn't exactly buy Sleek stuff religiously but I have a feeling I won't be replacing my acid palette. My money would clearly be better spent on something like Shiro or Geek Chic.
3 February 2011 15:45Maybe if I was feeling under-fire I would eat cheesecake, but I certainly wouldn't rub it in the faces of people feeling intense bewilderment because of what I'd done.
The marketing director is either a marketing idiot or detail-hiding expert. Not *everybody* has Facebook. She was either stupid enough to think that an exclusive Facebook note would get news to everybody, or she did it because she wanted as few people to see it as possible. Neither of those reasons sit well with me.
This whole shambles must surely have broken a few laws?
xoxo
This does not make me want to buy anything from Sleek (as in neverever!)
3 February 2011 15:57Saying sorry isn't that complicated after all if you only have to write it down. I mean, they could'e at least tried to come up with a sappy note that they're so sorry.
Ugh. PR HOW DOES YOU WORK?
Anastasia, I love your commentary <3
shattered: Makes sense. Sagepay wants money just as much as paypal. I would have bought a lot more of their products if they accepted my card! I have changed from maestro to visa now, so it'd probably work. But they've lost me, because they're crummy. I can't believe a legitimate, -and very popular- company, would offer something and then back out of it and on top of that NOT EVEN APOLOGISE.
3 February 2011 16:11Wow, that's awful! I remember trying to get to their page during that mess and was so busy, it wouldn't upload. I'm glad it didn't, or else I would've been across the pond and pissed as fuck! No more Sleek on this wish list.
3 February 2011 16:22Blooooody hell, what a mess! I almost ordered in the sale and I'm glad I didn't both now. I'd heard a bit about folk having problems bit I had no idea it was this ridiculous. What a shameful way to treat customers :-\
3 February 2011 16:22Oh, just FYI, SagePay does charge big time to merchants. I work at a law firm that used to use them and their fees were outrageous. They charged us a base $40 per month just for using their online terminal, even if we didn't do any credit transactions. Ridiculous. Either they lied or weren't paying attention to what was getting deducted from their account every month.
3 February 2011 16:40I had to wait my order for ages to arrive, and when it did, there was no Bad Girl palettes (I ordered three). Yet earlier, they told on FB that each order number before 8500 (or something) would include it. Er, no no. The Bad girl palettes were removed from the receipt, as if I never ordered them. As if I wasn't below the 8500 (or something) they themselves announced. I paid for them. No palettes. No refund. No answer to the emails.
3 February 2011 17:01Anyway, what bugs me the most, is the fact that based on what other people have said, they had same sort of issues with their site on their grand online opening.. Wait.. WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Would think they would've learned from the first fail, updated servers etc.. No. So, basically, they don't give a flying fuck.
Also, one of the Sleek customers had twin towers drawn within the box.
Fail after fail. I do love the product quality in general, but Sleek products aren't something I couldn't live without.
Thanks but no thanks.
I agree with those that have said how can a company that's quite successful run a promotion so poorly and avoid responsibility for the mess? I would've also assumed they had more than 14 staff members. The shipping fees alone made me reconsider buying since a friend was coming back from the UK and bought me the pallets for christmas from superdrug. I felt so bad for those that spent hours trying online I even suggested to my friend before she came to get as many Sleek products from the store and sell them in he US for a tiny profit, but less than the cost of shipping.
3 February 2011 17:23This just made my day.
3 February 2011 17:28I just LOVE it when entire systems fuck up and collapse and BURN into a glorious pile of ASH in the end.
Part of the reason for this is that I hate being part of organized entities, but still have to do it, otherwise I starve.
But still, gotta' love it when everything just DESTROYS itself.
Space Dementia and The small Print by Muse come to mind in times like these.
Ffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....
3 February 2011 17:34@Ms. Wedgie - I don't think the money went to Sleek, it was held by SagePay apparently. It didn't really leave bank accounts - it was just reserved so it couldn't be spent on anything else. Helpful =/
3 February 2011 17:35@KittenMittens - XD Yes, very succinct. I just can't believe they haven't apologised. They WILL NOT BE ABLE to process our orders because uhm, just, you know. BECAUSE.
@Bold N Beautiful - They're definitely not the most reliable of brands...
@Ana - I thought that, too, until I read the note and realised that actually they were just going to give everyone else the finger because it was easier. Just. I. Everytime I see them on twitter now I want to fucking choke someone.
ARGHHOWDAREYOUHAVETIMETOTWEETINANETHINGSYOUUSELESSFUCKWITS.
Something like that.
@Amy - Buh, I wish I'd given up! It wasn't even really stuff for me. It was Christmas presents and a couple of things to review. Well, Sleek, since I didn't get my review products, you can have this post instead <_<
@Ruthy - That's kind of stupid, particularly because if you COULDN'T order with Sagepay their options were not letting you order or letting you order with Paypal and whatever fees. But they clearly do use it ._. ugh.
I'm inclined to go to eBay if I actually want something Sleek now.
@Jessica - I doubt it. The lack of apology is what absolutely floors me. The fucking attitude. Some "thank you".
@Cydonian - You know lots! I think you did a good job and hopefully your advice helped some people out. I saw the French girl though, yeah. A lot of French people there, weird. They're certainly not the ONLY COMPANY EVER to do a huge sale and considering they had 21,000 facebook fans, getting 20,000 e-mails shouldn't have been such an overwhelming surprise.
@Becca - I swear everytime I see them tweet anything now I want to smash things. I'm so glad you decided not to order. Which palettes were you after?
And yes, ahaha. No excuse for that much fuckery, indeed.
@Phyrra - Seriously. HOW HARD IS IT TO SAY SORRY.
@Shattered - Yeeeah. That was actually when I decided to write the rant - when I saw that helpful little note about everything being fine thus comments deleted in the sidebar. Mmmhm.
@Articuno - Thank you :D I actually started this post three weeks ago and have been struggling to get the anger to finish it. And then I read the note again.
Sleek has just been at the IMATS and has been tweeting it all over and other crap, it's like they're oblivious to their MASSIVE FUCKUP. I put it in caps to help point it out to them.
I agree with you on the marketing director - she's either an evil genius or an incompetant hack.
@Sperrfeuer - I knowwww. It annoys me because they have some really great products, truly, but ARGH. TOO MUCH FUCKERY. Seriously, how do you do all that and then not apologise? How? They didn't even accidentally apologise, it's like they were purposefully trying not to admit ANY blame whatsoever.
@Ruthy - Lucky for us they were dicks and didn't accept it. The apology thing is really astounding.
@Rachel - Yeah, seriously. Ugggghhhhhhhhh. I wish I'd not ordered ._.
@Hannah - Absolutely. There's no excuse for it at all.
@Cydonian - Sheez. Maybe Paypal is just too much effort for them =/
@Melly - Sleek responded about the cartoon thing so I left it alone. I was pretty irritated at the original blogger/comments insinuating that England was planning a terrorist attack on the basis of a doodle.
3 February 2011 17:37But yeah, it's pretty fucked up. They could have just told the people whose Bad Girl palettes weren't in stock and asked if they wanted a sub or a refund, but it seems like they just took the fastest, least-effort action and did whatever the fuck they wanted and cancelled everyone else's orders without even bothering to tell them.
Arrrghhhraaaage.
Anastasia, in the US this company would be turned over to the Better Business Bureau, do you have anything like that in England?
3 February 2011 18:12You posted the rant! You are good job.
3 February 2011 18:48Also, thanks for the link!
I also noticed there were many a French person to be found on the Facebook page. Italians, too, though I think they have their own now? I didn't realise Sleek cared about anyone but the UK and supposedly Africa.
This sales fuckery really lowered my opinion of them. They don't have time to reply to emails but they can spend all day on Twitter, talking to bloggers and being unhelpful at IMATS (or so the word around the Internet has been....)
If they'd apologised and made a greater effort to reply to emails, I would have been happier. At least I have a refund now. *shrugs*
Saif eventually contacted me about a week ago, offering me to pay via. PayPal for my order. Unfortunately, most of the things (i.e the Eye Dust set, brushes etc.) that I'd ordered, I'd ordered for a giveaway, and the ones for my own personal use (Bad Girl/Good Girl palettes) were sold out and discontinued respectively. I'm hoping that they'll offer the codes again, this time staggered, but I'm not holding my breath - as one commenter mentioned above, they're acting like a company in trouble, money wise. I don't know if that's true, but it's the impression I'm getting.
Their products are good, but nothing I can't get anywhere else.
Wow. Just wow. This is absolutely disgusting! Having seen their sale advertised way back in November I was so tempted to buy having read your stellar reviews on their products. I am SO glad I didn't though!
3 February 2011 18:56I went out and bought one or two things from superdrug however as presents/to see what all the fuss was about and was impressed. Then I read your follow up blogs and felt disgusted (again) that I had parted with my hard earned cash for this companies products.
They should not be allowed to continue trading both online and on the highstreet. They have treated their loyal 'fans' appallingly and need to apologise to them, to the bloody world and anyone who was happy to help this company grow.
They were arrogant, unprepared, obnoxious, greedy and 1,000,000 % unprofessional. I really hope try see the error of their ways, but I very much doubt it!
Well written post, I had no idea it was this bad and affected so many people.
3 February 2011 21:48A perfect example of how not to run a business.
I only have 2 products from them which I no longer use after the way they treated me and won't be handing over any of my hard earned money to a company that thinks it's alright to treat their customers like this.
Holy freaking shit. My mind is blown by the pure amount of stupid. Guess I'll be crossing off a few of their palettes from my 'want' list.
3 February 2011 23:14The only thing I can add besides that is referring back to the thing I did with Phyrra and Sigma's douchery-- That mail order rule where if they send you something you didn't ask for, it's considered a gift and yadda yadda. So to those who receive the sparkle palette in place of the bad girl one, I suggest looking up that rule and enforcing it if it applies, which I think it should. That shit should be yours to keep along with a refund.
Thank you for sharing this. I had a bad experience with Sleek as well. They held a giveaway on twitter, which I won, but I was not sent the prize for over a month, even though I emailed them several times. They even went so far as to blame one another for the delay. But in the end, it was a giveaway, so I didn't lose anything. This sale was such a let down to many girls, and they don't even apologize for the mess up. Wow.
4 February 2011 06:45I'm insanely glad you made another post about their BS. I missed their sale, but many of my friends caught it, and the results have all been different, but all HORRIBLE. I've been helping file so may claims on Paypal it isn't funny. Sleek hasn't responded to a single one of them to my knowledge. They seemed quite content remaining quiet about it, and it's not until all Hell is risen on one of their status updates that they make the normal "e-mail us" response. Half the time when I politely point out that they do not respond to e-mails they end up deleting my comments. I am absolutely shocked something horrible hasn't happened to them over this crap yet. All that missing money... Hell even Paypal is probably arching a brow at this crap by now.
4 February 2011 06:47i hate sleek now. Bad BAD costumer service and liars . i could make my order due that 50 sale, so i made it after , in december. then two weeks of silence from Sleek . no dispatching no emails, when its gonna be dispatched...
4 February 2011 09:33i wrote them and got email that says , that we got annual stock check or something like that , well dispatch your order this week. 2 weeks of silence again.
i wrote them and asked to cancel my order and return my money . they did cancel order but they charged my creditcard .
Now im fighting to get my 70 $ back. they ignore my emails . BEWARE OF SLEEK ! . if you want their products, buy them from third seller , not from them.
im so dissapointed .
Uggg so glad I was so broke I didn't even think about taking a look at the Sleek page back then!
4 February 2011 10:04There are wrong ways to handle things and theirs has crossed the line of wrong. That's having no fucking shame at all!!!
Reading the note made me angry, so full of empty words which could easily be translated as fuck you fuck you fuck you... Plain nasty.
I've only bought fromn Sleek an Acid palette at my local Sephora counter, but don't think I'll ever will, I don't like supporting any shabby business.
I hope everyone gets their money back and those who received wrong items receive a full refund.
It really is hard to believe all of this. Reality surpasses fiction ¬¬
The whole sleek business was handled so badly. I can't believe they didn't even apologise for their cock-up and just updated it on facebook with a note! It's more like a slap in the face rather than a gesture of gratitude!
4 February 2011 11:15I had so many problems with my huge order. In the end I researched online and rung them up to get everything sorted. Speaking to them on the phone took minutes instead of days using their annoying website and crappy email system and thankfully I had no real problems after that and they shipped my package out quickly. I wanted a couple of other bits recently but waited till IMATS because I don't want to use their website ever again.
Oh dear, that's awful! I used to be a huge Sleek fan and even though I was very disappointed at how bad the sale went and at the huge mess they made (I didn't even try to make an order but I'm so sorry for all those who did) I thought in the end they would sort everything out. And now, they are just deleting comments, ignoring people and don't even bother to apologize?! That is disgusting!
4 February 2011 21:31I'm still gonna buy their products but they won't be one of the first companies I turn to when I need a new blush or lipstick anymore. I'll buy from them only when I really really really want something (which won't be often cos it's just makeup and there are other great brands out there who don't treat their customers in such a disgusting and disrespectful manner anyway) but I'll get them either in shops or on ebay. It's so not worth ordering from their website. What a shame!
Sleek definitely won't be getting my money, ever.
5 February 2011 08:23That is shocking! Probably the worst customer service I've ever heard of!
6 February 2011 12:13I am currently so grateful I never have to deal with Sleek directly, as their products aren't available where I live I buy from a local etailer and I've never had a problem.
I hope you never have such a bad service again :c
Ugh what a hideous shambles! I placed an order but couldn't pay so I emailed them and got a response saying they would send me a paypal invoice. I never got it. At that point I was so frustrated I didn't bother chasing it up so I never got a discount code. Still it could be so much worse, I'm so sorry you had your money held for a whole month.
7 February 2011 02:20It's so annoying, I love their products but I'm really not happy about supporting a brand that does this sort of thing. Even if it really was out of their control they could flipping well apologise!
Also have you seen about the American woman whose Sleek order arrived with a doodle of an aeroplane flying towards the twin towers?
@Jbrobeck - We have Trading Standards, here. They've probably been reported several times by now!
8 February 2011 00:10@Lena - Your post was great, it's why I didn't really post the rant sooner, until it was all over. They're in Sephora in France and Italy I think.
It's their attitude which throws me - I know I keep saying it, but I'm going to keep saying it until they fix it - THEY DIDN'T EVEN APOLOGISE. It's like they don't actually think anything is their fault and they didn't handle anything badly.
Arrrghhhh.
@Leah - It is kind of a new level of fuckery, isn't it? It baffles me that they don't realise that and just apologise for it. I, too, hope they turn it around and own up to the mess.
@Erline - I agree; I like the products but I'm torn, because I certainly don't want to reward their awful behaviour.
@Jezebel - XD Yes, the stupidity was pretty mind blowing. I considered adding that text and in some cases I'm sure it's valid, but I wasn't sure - if you order something but they fail to take your payment and ship it to you, are you still legally obligated to pay for it? Since you DID order it, even if shipping before payment was their mistake.
@K - It's incredibly unprofessional for a corporate company not to follow through with a giveaway, though! Blaming other employees is really unclassy. Ugh.
@Anz - I just hate how they're written all this off, deleted the comments and moved on to IMATS and new product launches and just pretended none of it happened! Argh! Simply not responding to customers is... not... okay.
@Naktsmeita - I don't blame you, I'd avoid them, too. Their customer service is... well, missing. You should report them to Trading Standards to try and get your money back.
@Belén - I'm jealous you get Sephora >:[ I hope they sort it all out eventually, but honestly their "lalallala we're not listening" attitude to it all makes me seriously doubt it.
@Chicky - Seriously. I think we'd ALL be a lot more thankful if they HADN'T done the sale at all. I'm glad they sorted it out for you! Maybe it's just the website staff who are utterly useless?
@Gio - I agree; I still want to try the molten metals and some other stuff, but I'll buy it on eBay or from another beauty blogger/website, and I don't think I'm going to review their stuff anymore. I don't want to encourage people to deal with those dickwads.
@Emily - I don't think anyone makes products good enough to put up with all that crap, imo.
@Frankie - I've heard of worse - but it's definitely pretty bad. It's probably the worst corporate response to a fuckup I've heard of.
@Lillian - I have exactly the same dilemma. Yeah, I did see that, Sleek responded to her and said they had nothing to do with it and gave her some free stuff though.
Sorry this happened. But thanks for posting about this. I am new to reading so many fantastic beauty blogs, (and I LOVE yours) and have heard of Sleek and was going to place an order. I am SO glad I found this post before I did. I am in the USA and can only imagine a screw up, so it thank you for saving me from that. There are plenty of other companies that treat the customers well that I will shop with.
12 March 2011 10:12I WISH I would have read this before I ordered from them - I'm in the US and they sent my order to a completely WRONG city! And my address was correct in their system, I double checked. Haven't seen a thing for 21 days now AND they took my money. Tried to get ahold of them 3 times, haven't heard a thing yet. Today is try #4. I'm SO MAD!!!!!
7 September 2011 00:30Post a Comment