So you may know that I'm in love with the Bobbi Brown Corrector, after reading my rave about it here. In short, it's my Holy Grail dark circle obliterator and no other product has come close to giving me the same results. However, I wish I didn't love it so much, because after a disappointing customer service fail, I'm reluctant to hand over any more money to Bobbi Brown.
I'll start by saying I do love the little collection of goodies I acquired, and it was a great deal. I basically needed to replace my adored Corrector (yes, already!) and when the email offer of a free eyeliner and shadow stick with any BB purchase plus free shipping popped up, I was in! I was also pleasantly surprised to be able to choose four free samples to accompany my order as well. Having never ordered from the Bobbi Brown site before, I wasn't sure if this was right, but that's what happened during the ordering process, so who was I to argue? Here's what I got:
Corrector in Porcelain Bisque ($40)
Long Wear Eye Pencil mini in Jet (free)
Long Wear Cream Shadow Stick sample in Golden Pink (free)
Extra Repair Moisturizing Balm SPF 25 7ml (free)
CC Cream SPF 35 in Blushed Nude 5ml (free)
Extra Repair Moisture Cream sachet (free)
Hydrating Face Cream sachet (free)
And now for the complete lack of customer service. I received the obligatory automated email confirming my order, saying (and I quote) "we'll let you know as soon as your package ships in 1-2 days." Well, 7 days passed, and nothing. No email. So I called the 1800 number from the 'Have questions about your order? We can help' section of the email mid-afternoon (which goes through to Estee Lauder, who own Bobbi Brown), only to be put in a queue (normal), waiting, then hearing the message 'all our operators are busy, please leave a message and we'll call you back'. Annoyed, I hung up. I decided instead to ring again right on business opening hours the next morning, when surely not all of their operators would be busy. The same thing happened! This time I left a message with my name and phone number. Well that was 5 days ago and I have yet to get a call back, and I won't be holding my breath! Luckily, my order arrived in the meantime. They really shouldn't include "we'll let you know as soon as your package ships in 1-2 days" in the order confirmation email if they aren't going to, because when you still don't have the promised email a week later, that's when you start to worry (or I do, anyway!).
I also posted my review of the Corrector on their Facebook page in April and they never commented or liked it, but many brands ignore bloggers in that manner, so that was pretty much expected and only mildly annoying. LOL. More disturbing was when I contacted them through the Contact Form on the Bobbi Brown website in May and never got a reply. That's their official contact form on the official BB Australia website. It is unacceptable and extremely poor customer service to not reply to the queries they get through that form. I'm so glad I haven't had an issue with my order, because trying to contact and get a response from these clowns is an absolute fucking nightmare.
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| I wanna divorce! |
Disclaimer: This post details my actual experience with this company with 100% honesty. As always!
Have you had a bad customer service experience recently?
Argh! Good thing you like the product but yeah sucky service!
ReplyDeleteI know, right? They should be treating their customers better.
DeleteI am a big BB fan as well, it was introduced to me during my trip to Hong Kong (and it was much much cheaper), so I've never really dealt with any AU BB service reps - I'm glad though after reading your post. feels like you're banging your head against the wall scratching to get a response from those lot. I had an awful experience at tiffany and co earlier this year, I had to visit a construction site for work that day and had my boots etc on, thought I'd drop by to get mum a bday present. I did laps in the store and stood around for 20 mins waiting for service, there were a couple of vacant staff and they chose not to serve me. They looked at me like I was some sort of street rat wearing a potato sack. One even made the effort to look over me and serve the person behind me. They really take judging books by it's cover to heart. I made a complaint on their face book page and received a phone call from their sales manager with verbal apologies and invited me back to the store.There is no way I will ever spend a single cent at tiffany's again, talk about snobby.
ReplyDeletesorry that was a huge comment!!!
Deletehaha! That's OK! I love hearing people's experiences. :D
DeleteWow, that's so bad! They are meant to make you feel comfortable and appreciate your patronage, so awful that they ignored you just based on your work boots! They lost a sale and a customer, so their loss! Glad you complained.
Deleteohhh yikes. that sounds like really bad service. I had a similar experience with MAC believe it or not. Lack of communication was just horrendous. The products are always so good but why do brand not care enough?!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've just seen my bog here on the right -----> You are way too nice :) thank you my dear xxxx
Pam Scalfi♥
How disappointing with your MAC experience! Yes, it sucks when the products are great but the service isn't. My pleasure re listing your blog :) xx
DeleteAny part in particular?
ReplyDeleteThat is terrible!
ReplyDeleteI also placed a small order with the GWP promo, I was surprised that it took so long, I never even received a confirmation of my package being shipped, it just finally turned up yesterday!
Im very disappointed to hear that the customer service has gone down hill, in 2012 they where very helpful, I had been purchasing Bobbi Brown overseas, and the shade I was using wasn't available in OZ however they assisted with shade selections via the website.
I emailed Clinique a month ago with no response to date......lost customer there.
Huh, so it's not just me with Bobbi Brown. Don't they realise our opinion of their company is greatly effected by their bad customer service? And Clinique, too! I've ordered online with them and they are usually good, but I've never emailed them. So annoying when you don't get a reply isn't it?
DeleteIt's always disappointing when a brand has no idea about effective communciation with their customers. They really can't afford to do so now with the power of the Internet. I don't own nor have ever owned any Bobbi Brown items but seeing this post makes me think, "meh, I certainly won't be rushing then if that's their attitude." (even if you did get a great haul). That's all it takes and that's why I put faith in blogger reviews!
ReplyDeleteYes, they probably don't realise about word of mouth. Or maybe they just don't care! Either way, it's frustrating and really makes me want to find a dupe for the Corrector so I don't have to buy from them again. I put a lot of faith in blogger reviews, too, it's where I find out about the best products :)
DeleteIts really disappointing when big companies show such a beahaviour, esp one of your favorite brands. Effective communication and good customer service is so important and can make such a difference in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It's so unprofessional and as a consequence, my opinion of them is terrible.
DeleteI cannot stand bad customer service like that, especially from a brand as well known and well established as Bobbi Brown, you'd think they would be able to do a lot better than that. It's a good thing your order did arrive in the end because it would have been a very stressful experience trying to get to the bottom of that. I've been really wanting to try the Corrector, but I'll definitely be picking it up from a store!
ReplyDeleteThe Velvet Black // UK Style & Beauty Blog
I'm thinking the same thing - will definitely just be shopping in store in the future. I am harder to ignore in person. LOL!
DeleteI bet sending this post to them would get a response!
ReplyDeleteHaha! It might, although they've got the 'ignore our customers' thing down pat!
DeleteHow disappointing! I've been fairly lucky lately with no bad service to report!
ReplyDeleteOh that's good! I went into the city yesterday and got wonderful customer service at every counter and shop. Just goes to show, it's not that hard. :)
DeleteThat's very slack, particularly as they specifically say they'll be in contact when the package is shipped. Usually that stuff is automated nowadays anyway. I know with other services I get constant emails to tell me what's happening each step of the way.
ReplyDeleteYes, same here! I do a lot of online shopping and pretty much everywhere else is great with the notification emails and answering queries if I have one.
DeleteWhat a disappointing experience. I agree with Deborah, the online shipping and tracking service is usually automated but given all your online dealings with them so far seem to follow suit, it doesn't say much about the company.
ReplyDeleteYeah, very disappointing. I agree, all the emails are automated. Weird, then, that I received the first one but then nothing after that.
DeleteI just don't get why big companies don't listen to their customers. Don't they realize it's so much easier to keep them happy, than have bad service talked about?
ReplyDeleteWonder what they would think of your post, may make them listen.
Yes, I don't get it either. Word of mouth is a powerful thing. I don't think they'd like my post very much, who knows if it would even change anything.
Delete