What's Wrong With You, Indie?

The Soctopus is angry. ANGRY! My favorite playground, indie make-up, is overrun with bullies lately. Make-up should be a lovely, sparkley, happy thing. Make-up should soothe and comfort. Make-up should bring joy and beauty. Make-up should NOT make you want to throw things around in a rage.

Right now, there are a few indie make-up sellers giving a bad name to the entire indie make-up community. This world is small, insular, and everyone knows/knows of everyone else. So there isn't a lot of room to fuck-up without the entire community knowing/hearing about it. The main issue most customers have with any company is poor customer service. It is no different in the indie make-up community, but it's much smaller, so CS concerns tend to make the rounds and reverberate, particularly when they are handled badly.

Today's issue lies with two companies, both of which have faulty or defective products, both of which have handled concerns about their products the wrong way. The first company has out and out lied to customers about the product in question, and recently has taken to banning customers from the company fan page, deleting unfavorable comments. This particular situation has gone beyond bad CS and become very ugly due to a rift between some of the people bringing to light issues with the product and the company owner. Company "A" has decided that any issue with the product in question is clearly either: (1) a malicious lie created by jealous "haters," or (2) "you're doin it wrongz!"

Company "B" recently had a customer publish pictures of a moldy lipstick, with clear growth all over the surface. When shown the pictures, the company owner responded that the lipstick was contaminated by the wearer, it *must* have been her fault, and also, vegan/organic don't need/use preservatives, so it was clearly past its shelf life. While they did offer the customer a refund, they also made a point of deflecting blame, essentially claiming "operator error." It's a lipstick. You put it on your lips. Not much room for error, is there?

Both Company "A" and Company "B" have had customers bring to light defective/faulty product issues. Both companies have chosen to blame the customer, rather than address the issues with the products. This attitude reflects poorly on ALL indie companies, unfortunately, and creates a culture of mistrust and fear, prompting people to stay away from indie make-up. Which is a damn shame, because the vast majority of indie formulators are talented, creative, honest men and women with excellent customer service.

How could these issues have been resolved? A simple "I'm sorry, let me look into the issue" would have been an excellent start.