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Fri May 19, 2006 6:54 am  |
As you all know I'm on a constant quest for the absolute best organic skin-care out there. I give them all a try, and the latest line I tried called "Anna Bellina" was a real disappointment. I wanted to warn you about this line;
First, I ordered a sample of the firming serum, when I opened the box that arrived in the mail- there was no serum. I emailed Anna Bellina and she told me that I should have read the policys and that because I had not put the sample at the end of the cart contents, she did not mail it out. I thought this was a little crazy, so I went on the site and checked the fine print- sure enough it states that if you do not put samples in your cart last, she will not ship them out. Fine- weird, but fine. Now this is the bothersome part, SHE STILL CAHRGED ME FOR IT!
I emailed her again and in a friendly joking way told her that I'm Swedish, that I might not have understood this correctly and gave her the benefit of the doubt that it must have been a misstake on her behalf to charge me for an item she did not intend to send me. She wrote me back that I should get an interpreter!!! Well, let me just say that I am very friendly when I write emails (you know, good karma...) and her responses have been, to say the least, not so friendly.
Apart from the fact that this woman has no return policy, will charge you for products that she does not mail out (if you make the misstake of not putting them in the correct order in the shopping cart), has horrible customer service, is unpolite etc. let's go to the products.
I ordered the pore-minimizing line, some mineral powder, cotton swabs and the a sample I did not recieve, and payed about $117. The pore-minimizing line looked nothing like on the website. There were small plastic bottles with no labeling to differentiate them (later found it hand-written on bottom of bottle), nothing like the fancy bottles on the pictures online, no pump to dispense the serum like on the picture online, and no ingredients list, nothing. The treatment that looked like 2 bottles online, came in a small plastic jar(probably 1 oz) of powder and a 1oz plastic bottle of liquid. The serum wass a grey liquid in a 1 oz cheap plastic bottle with no pump, and the toner in a 4oz spray bottle. These 3 products for about $73! Add on the mineral powder, cotton pads and a sample- again, that I did not recieve, and there we have the worst $117 I have ever spent.
If you are into organic skincare with GOOD vibration, Evan's Garden is simular, but better. Eminence organics have great masks and cleansers. Dr. Hauschka of course and Jurlique. Sea-Chi, Shankara, Primavera, Real Purity, Aubrey organics, Terresentials etc. are also other good organic/natural lines.
It's sad when people in the holistic/organic business do bad business, it gives a bad rep for all others that try to make a difference here in the world. If you've read this warning all the way til this line, please take a moment to send some healing thoughts to Patricia- owner of Anna Bellina skincare, so that she will improve her business.
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Fri May 19, 2006 7:23 am |
Wow, that really sucks! I guess some people don't realize how it really hurts them when they do such bad business, they're just motivated by the initial greediness not realizing how much more its actually causing them. I take it this is something that has not been resolved? If it were me I would send her another email informing her that you've spread your experiences with her company. You could even send her what you've posted. Tell her if she rectifies the situation you'll update the situation, but if she doesn't MANY people are going to go on thinking she has poor business skills. At least that's what I'd do... you may just wish to let it go. If she doesn't rectify it, it's pure stupidity on her part.
Btw, your English and understanding of it seems perfect to me. |
_________________
24 years old...Please click to Fund Food for Animals at the AnimalRescueSite! http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3 |
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Fri May 19, 2006 7:35 am |
Wow. I'm so sorry that you had such a bad experience. It sounds like she's out to take advantage of people.
And I agree with PheobesMeow - Your english is fine! She must be lacking some skills on her end...gesh. |
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Fri May 19, 2006 8:37 am |
I was gonna order from her...... 
good thing i did not. |
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Fri May 19, 2006 8:39 am |
| oh, also, on top of the brands taht happyhippie mentioned, I want to add ilike. It is from the former maker of eminence. My local spa just starts carrying it. Hm... maybe it will be my next month purchase. |
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Fri May 19, 2006 10:05 am |
Wow...happyhippie I'm so sorry you had this experience! I agree with PhoebesMeow...some companies just don't get it that they are hurting themselves in the long run by being greedy and not working resolve issues like the one you had. I really hope you can get your money back or work something out with this woman...she really needs to do some damage control before even more people hear about how bad her service level is!
Hearing something like this makes me all the more grateful for companies like PSF and EDS that really know how to treat their customers!
Mary  |
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Fri May 19, 2006 10:29 am |
I'm glad I prevented someone from ordering! Yes, there are way better companies out there. Thanks for all your support. I told Anna Bellina they could keep my money, that it's a gift for future improvments! I care more about ethics then about the lost money.
Thanks again girl for all your support, you make my day!
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Fri May 19, 2006 11:49 am |
| Im so sorry to hear that! I will never purchase from them, thanks for sharing your story and letting others know about their bad customer service. |
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Fri May 19, 2006 11:55 am |
| It always amazes me when you get such poor customer service like that. After all, (as my mum used to say), we, the customers, are her bread and butter. Without us she wouldn't have a wage and she should want customers to come back. |
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Fri May 19, 2006 3:04 pm |
That's incredible HappyHippy . I'd also be annoyed that the product presentation was also mis-represented. By any chance did the fine print say something like "actual products not as shown" ? I'll bet not!!
Anya |
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Fri May 19, 2006 5:23 pm |
| I have read horror stories over the years about that company. There were products that I was interested in and did not order because of the customer service issues. I called Remergent to ask a question today and the lady that answered the phone was rude and abrupt, so I decided not to order anything. Customer service is a big thing for me. |
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Fri May 19, 2006 6:12 pm |
happyhippie, I'm so glad that you brought this company to our attention. I went to their site and checked out their policies. Customer service is definitely not their #1 priority.
http://store.annabellina.com/policies.html |
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Sat May 20, 2006 5:11 am |
Yes, it's almost funny to read the policies... can't believe it! No return policy, but she'll mess up your credit just in case you decide to call your creditcard company to dispute her charges. What a bitter woman she must be!
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Sat May 20, 2006 12:27 pm |
| what a bitch!! |
_________________
Combination - dehyrdated, acne, sensitive, late 20's. |
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Sat May 20, 2006 2:15 pm |
I love this bit...
9. Email Courtesy
It is rude to send an email without a subject in the subject line. SPAM and internet viruses are a constant threat. Emails received with [none] in the subject line are automatically spammed and deleted.
And she's talking about being rude???
Makes you want to email her just to say how rude she is and that you'd never comtemplate ordering from them! |
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Sat May 20, 2006 6:24 pm |
| sarahb wrote: |
I love this bit...
9. Email Courtesy
It is rude to send an email without a subject in the subject line. SPAM and internet viruses are a constant threat. Emails received with [none] in the subject line are automatically spammed and deleted.
And she's talking about being rude???
Makes you want to email her just to say how rude she is and that you'd never comtemplate ordering from them! |
I agree! I love the top part about getting an interpreter. I wonder if that's a responce to happyhippie directly |
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Combination - dehyrdated, acne, sensitive, late 20's. |
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Sat May 20, 2006 10:30 pm |
That's illegal for her to charge you for an item that she never sent or intended to send. It's called fraud and mail fraud. I would write her that.
I love #8
"* service fees ~ up to a $25.00 service fee will be charged for declined credit cards, NSF, multiple samples, not selecting a shipping option, etc., 6*+anytime we have to take time out to manually correct an order because a customer did not follow policies"
So if their customers accidently place 2 samples in their cart instead of 1 or forget the shipping option, or even if their system and servers get an error, they charge them $25! Unbelievable. $25 for each time they have do to what all companies have to do on a daily basis like customer service and corrections. I'm surprised she didn't charge you by the minute to respond to your emails. Maybe you will be receiving a bill in the mail shortly! LOL!
I never even had considered ordering from them before. First the products are deff. not vegan, they are overpriced, and I wouldn't trust products hand blended in some woman's house who I don't know. Who knows how safe they are or the sanitary conditions or quality control etc. etc.. I guess anyone can do it since it's unregulated, but I wouldn't really trust it.
You might like this organic company though. They answered my emails nicely. Horrible site though.
http://www.thevitalimage.com/SkinProd.htm
This company has most of their products too rebranded in their own packaging, but from the same manufactor.
http://www.zenbiotic.com/
The guy, Robert who runs it is very nice and patient and answered all of my dozens of questions in detail. His office is only half a mile from me and he was very nice in person too.
And of course when I can afford it I love Alkaitis.
http://www.alkaitis.com |
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Sun May 21, 2006 4:59 am |
Check out RosaYFruta Organic Skincare - AnnaBellina pinched some of her original recipes - and was subject to legal proceedings I think.
Elizabeth who runs and owns RYF is fab - really helpful and has very high standards. Her product line isn't huge but it is VERY pure and her Ambrosia Moisturiser is the best winter moisturiser I have found.
www.rosayfruta.com |
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Lucia, VERY fair (ghostly so!)redhead, combination skin prone to dehydration. |
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Sun May 21, 2006 8:02 am |
i've always found her product descriptions & product ingredients lists sketchy...they don't really seem to match.
i agree that elizabeth from rosa y fruta is great...i've only ordered from her once, but she is very friendly and prompt with her emails.
a line that i've found recently is www.simplydivinebotanicals.com
barabara was very friendly & helpful, and when a sample was left out of my package, she was very apologetic & sought to remedy the situation immediately. |
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Sun May 21, 2006 8:30 am |
| This woman! I think she needs to be reported to the Better Business Bureau--- some of the things she's doing are just flat-out unethical! |
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27, sensitive/reactive/acne prone skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes, possibly the palest woman alive... |
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Sun May 21, 2006 8:56 am |
OMG her policies were a HOOT.
Yes, I had heard some rather horrid things about thiscompany. Fortunately when I discoveredit a couple years back I asked around here on the boards before ordering.
For good organics, have a look at The Organic Pharmacy (www.theorganicpharmacy.com/ ) as they have great customer service and great products!! |
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SKIN: combination, reactive to climate changes and extremely fair. "Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself." --Roseanne |
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Sun May 21, 2006 9:10 am |
| Lucia wrote: |
Check out RosaYFruta Organic Skincare - AnnaBellina pinched some of her original recipes - and was subject to legal proceedings I think.
Elizabeth who runs and owns RYF is fab - really helpful and has very high standards. Her product line isn't huge but it is VERY pure and her Ambrosia Moisturiser is the best winter moisturiser I have found.
www.rosayfruta.com |
Ditto, Sam.... 
Maria (who is channeling Patrick Swasey and Demi Moore with her response!) |
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Maria, early 50's, post meno, normal to dry skin, more dry in winter, some sun damage... |
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Sun May 21, 2006 11:07 am |
| Report her to the BBB. |
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25, very fair, dry/sensitive, mild rosacea, otherwise good skin! |
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Sun May 21, 2006 11:35 am |
BYRG- zenbiotic.com sounds awesome! I'm looking at the zenserum and the lift& firm treatment...wow... have you tried any of these or any of their other products? Is it less expensive ordering via thevitalimage.com?
Thanks for the tip!
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