Cosmetics: Return and Exchange

All along, I thought that we cannot return or exchange makeup we bought that have something wrong with them and/or does not meet our standards. Last Sunday, I bought a tube of Maybelline Hypercurl Volum' Express Mascara at SM North EDSA Department Store. I usually get my Maybelline fix in Landmark Trinoma (who has the nicest BAs that let me hover and check out their products without following me around or looking at me like I'm going to steal). Yeah, I hate it whenever sales people watch my every move, and whenever that happens, no matter how much I love the product, I would never buy it from that place. Because I was lazy to walk to Trinoma, I bought from the Department Store in SM (something I would never do again).

I got a tube of this Maybelline Hypercurl Volum' Express Mascara. I was so excited and happy because it was just P249.00! Maybelline has been my HG brand for mascaras and other cosmetics. If you peek into my kit, majority of the products are from Maybelline. I opened it and found the mascara formula to be dry, with a consistency of a mascara that has been opened for 5 to 6 months. I let my sister check it, as she has used tubes of this same mascara (before it was marked down from P399.00), and she agreed with me. I went back last Tuesday to the counter to have it replaced, but the BA said that it was a new stock and that the formula was really like that. She said that it was manufactured February 2011 (as marked by the sticker on the price tag).


When I checked it at home, I saw the true manufacturing date which was November 8, 2010. I wish that the BA just made an honest mistake and that she really meant that this stock arrived February 2011 to their store shelf. Really, I don't care even if it was manufactured last year as long as it worked fine.


So that Tuesday, I asked for this to be replaced, but the BA did not want to because she said there was nothing wrong with this. I had to seek Maybelline's help through their Facebook page and hotline, and they advised me that if a product did not meet my standards, I could really have it replaced. They told me to try having it replaced at the same counter (within 7 days from the receipt of purchase). I like their fan page. The admin was really nice, and the page is really interactive in that members and the admin interact with each other all the time.

Today, I went there again to have the mascara exchanged. Sorry I had to name drop and say that "the head office already knew about this" and the BA immediately replaced the mascara without any question. However, the replacement stock was just the same. I don't know if there is something wrong with me, or with the mascara, but I really did not like it. I even showed it to the lady on the customer service counter and she said 'Ay bakit ganyan?" upon looking at the formula. In the end, I returned the mascara and decided to just use the P249.00 (in the form of a receipt) returned to me (that I had to consume within the day). I decided to go for Covergirl! :D This one was P625.00, less 10% because SM had a one-day sale today for SM Advantage Card/BDO Reward Card members.


Lesson learned, you don't have to settle for something that you feel shortchanged for! As long as the reason is valid, you can have it exchanged for something better. :)

On a lighter note, what mascara do you currently use? :)

Love,
Helen