Just say NO to HerStyler Kiosks

2/4/2009: The Moral of the Story

2009-02-04T13:37:00.001-08:00

So my story draws its curtains.

The moral of the story...

If you're going to buy something expensive from a kiosk, make sure you read over EVERYTHING. Don't sign for something and find out that you're stuck with it.

Make sure you ask all necessary information.

If they offer some crazy warranty, make sure you have that warranty in writing. Make sure that the warranty is actually coming from the manufacturer of the product and not the kiosk/store that is selling it.

If they actually give you the warranty in writing, READ IT before buying it. If you see something fishy, DON'T BUY THE PRODUCT.

If you're thinking about buying it, go home and do some research on the manufacturer of the product and read reviews before buying it. Reading other people's opinons may weigh in on your decision factor.

Also verify to see if they have it posted in a visible place on their kiosk/store and even if they have it displayed, ALWAYS ask what it is. By law in California, any business that sells products MUST display their return policy in a conspicuous place.

I have learned a lot during this ordeal. And I hope that for the small number of people who will come across this blog will learn something from my ordeal too.

And thus, this closes my blog.

Love, Janey.

2/3/2009: The Triumph!

2009-02-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

Kari called me today and informed me that Sharin would be stopping by to drop off the money. Kari said that she would be out of the office starting at 2:00PM today and wouldn't be in until Monday... so if the money comes, she'd keep it with the receptionist.

I needed to bring in a copy of the receipt and then the receptionist would take the copy and make a copy of the cash.

Kari then called me back and told me Sharin's accountant said for her to write a check. I hesitantly accepted but asked Kari to have her make it out to CASH and on the memo portion to put my name.

I didn't want to jump through hoops in case Sharin decided to be a complete ass and put a Stop Payment on the check as soon as she wrote it out.

So as soon as I was informed that the check was there, I took off from work to make sure I could get the check and verify it.

Thankfully the check was from Bank of America, my bank.

So we walked across the parking lot to the Bank of America.

Of ALL the tellers there, why did I end up with the one that knew Sharin? I was incredibly annoyed.

He started asking me how I knew her... if I worked for her... (as if I'd work with that scamming psycho!) or if I was friends with her.

I just smiled through my teeth and told him that we were just "acquaintances". He beamed back and said he knows her because she's a customer at their bank. Aren't we ALL customers of Bank of America? Idiot.

None the less, I am satisfied.

I feel triumphant!

2/2/2009: The Outcome

2009-02-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

While working, I got a call from a phone from Kari. Kari told me that the manager of the kiosk was now Sharin and that they turned over the ownership of the kiosk to her.

Regardless, Kari explained that they agreed to refund my money.

Kari mentioned that Sharin had brought up the idea of giving me store credit to the online store. However, Kari stood her ground and told her that I wanted m money back.

In the end, Sharin was a bit put down but she agreed to refund my money.

Kari also stated that she told Sharin that she needs to have her return policy posted so that she wouldn't run into this problem again. Sharin replied by stating that by law, she cannot accept human hair. Kair said that this wouldn't have happened if she had her return policy posted.

Sharin was supposed to call me directly and speak to me and arrange a way to get my refund. I told Kari that I'm okay with it, however, I would like a representative of the mall management to be present if this were to happen. I'm afraid that Sharin may change her mind or something that may be discussed could go wrong... and I would just like a witness there who would have an unbiased opinion to everything.

Kari said she could call Sharin and call me back.

Shortly after, Kari called me back and said that she left a voicemail for Sharin in the context of indicating that it would be probably be better if they used Kari to help facilitate the refund.

Kari told me that she wasn't aware of how strongly I felt about this whole situation. I told her that when I intially went there for my refund, my husband was with me... as he was during this entire ordeal.

I went on to explain that as I was talking to Sharin she would 1) cut me off while I was talking and explaining something and 2) when my husband finally interjected himself into the conversation, she immediately said "I can't help you guys if you are attacing me."

We tried to explain to Sharin that we weren't trying to attack her by any means... and so this is why I am extremely uncomfortable being around her.

Kari said she understood and that she would be out this Wednesday through Friday... so it might take longer... or she can leave everything with their receptionist and then I can come to the information desk and do everything there.

For me, either way, I don't care if it'll take a few days or a week or two; as long as I get my money back.

1/29/2009: Missing Phonecall

2009-01-29T17:42:00.000-08:00

So, it is now 5:46PM.

I have yet to hear back from Atir Dadon, the sales representative for HerStyler's Elite Extension, about my written agreement to honor my 5 year warranty from the Cerritos Mall's kiosk: Ultimate Lengths

Maybe because he got wind of the fact that Kari is trying to help me get a refund?

Which brings me to another point. How was Atir so certain that the kiosk had a return policy posted by the register when he's just a wholesaler who sold it to Ultimate Lengths? He was quite adamant about it too.

Interesting!

1/29/2009: The Follow-up

2009-01-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

At 10:00AM today, Kari, the manager in charge of special leasing at the Cerritos Mall called me today.

She stated that she got my voicemail and my e-mail and was following up with the situation.

I won't go into much detail about what I wrote/said to her since the jist of it is already in my previous entries.

Simply put: I felt as if I got scammed.

However, I told her that in the end, all I wanted was my money back because I felt that I bought a great product with a great warranty and now I am unsatisfied with my product and I wasn't informed or aware of the return policy as it was not present on my receipt or on the kiosk at the time of purchse. I also indicated that I even had other people check the kiosk to see if the return policy was there and that I even went in myself to check for it but the end result was that I did not find anything at the time of purchase or at the time of return.

However, I noted to her that I did see it stamped on the receipts that were still attached to the receipt pad but I did not have one on mine.

Kari stated she will assist me as much as she can in helping to facilitate a refund for me as she believes it is my right to a refund due to their lack of notice.

She also stated that she was sorry and apologized that I had to experience this at the Cerritos Mall. I give her great kudos for this. She told me that it was her job to make sure the consumers have a good experience while shopping at the mall and that she wishes more consumers would come and inform her of problematic situations if they arise so that they can help out in any way they can.

Although Kari could not guarantee anything for me, she said she will try her best to get my money back for me.

Also, if she is able to get a refund back for me, she indicated that she will collect the money on my behalf and that I just need to go see her and do the exchange. This way, I don't have to ever see them again.

Even if Kari cannot get my money back, I appreciate the time she took in calling me and making any sort of effort to assist me in my cause.

I think I love the Cerritos Mall even more now.

1/28/2009: The Afterthought

2009-01-28T16:35:00.001-08:00

So I was talking to my good friend, Miki and she pointed some things out. So here is my afterthought.

Even if he does write this written notice out, there is no telling if he will still be with the company. So here is my list of required information to be on that written statement in order for me to accept it:

1. Must be on a company letterhead
2. Must state that if Atir Dadon is no longer with the company, the manufacturer will still honor the 5 year warranty that was verbally given to me from the kiosk in Cerritos Mall even if the kiosk no longer exists
3. Have it signed by Atir Dadon and the CEO or someone of equal stature in the company
4. Not only do they have sign off on it, they must have CLEARLY printed names of both people and date of the document signing
5. AND IF BOTH OF THE DOCUMENT SIGNERS ARE NO LONGER WITH THE COMPANY IN THE CASE I WISH TO CLAIM WARRANTY ON THE PRODUCT, THEY WILL ACCEPT IT THE WARRANTY ACCORDING TO THE DOCUMENTATION THAT IS IN MY POSSESSION.

1/28/2009: The Return Call

2009-01-28T15:54:00.001-08:00

At 2:34Pm, I get a call. On my cellphone the caller ID called it "Call". My gut told me it was either 1.) the boss that Sharin referred to or 2.) some stupid telemarketer.

Atir, a representative of HerStyler called me. The call lasted 15 min and 5 seconds according to my phone's timer.

"Hello? Is this Jane?"

"It is. Who is this?"

"This is Atir of Elite Extensions."

And so the conversation continued.

He first started with telling me that he got my number from Sharin. Then he asked the the problem was. I told him exactly what I told Sharin.

He told me he cannot refund the money to me but he can give me credit to their website. (Gee, Sharin told me the same thing.) I declined. He said he cannot accept the hair because of their policy and that legally he cannot accept a return on human hair.

He also stated that the kiosk has a return policy by their register.

I informed him that it was not posted by the register. In fact, I had 2 people go there in the afternoon to check yesterday, and I went in myself as well and found no notice of a policy being posted there, none the less about anything with no exchanges on human hair. He insisted that they did and I told him I saw nothing. (Yeah, sure, maybe they put it up now, but I know what I didn't see. And the fact is me and 3 other people saw NO return policy posted anywhere.)

He said that they would just throw it away because it is human hair. This is also the same exact thing Sharin told me.

Being curious, I inquired what the warranty was on human hair. He said that human hair cannot have warranty because it is human hair.

I informed him that the lady at the kiosk told me the 5 year warranty was from the Manufacturer and not the kiosk. So then I asked who is the one giving the warranty: the kiosk or the manufacturer.

He told me it was the same thing.

Me: "How is it the same thing? If you're a distributor and you're selling the products wholesale to the kiosk and the kiosk tells me my warranty is through you, then how is it the same?"

Atir: "Because it is the same... the kiosk gives the warranty."

Me: "I don't think you understand what I'm saying..."

Atir: "No, I understand. And I am telling you...."

Me: "Okay. Look. I'm not done talking. So you stop talking and listen to me." (He's exactly like Sharin. Both are SUPER rude and won't shut up. Oh yeah, the above conversation about the warranty probably went on for about a good 10 minutes.)

Me: "I asked the lady at the kiosk if the warranty comes from the kiosk or from HerStyler. She said it comes from HerStyler. I asked her if the kiosk is gone then HerStyler will still grant my warranty. And she said yes. So, what if the kiosk disappears in 6 months? Who will honor my warranty?"

Atir: "We will"

Me: "And how will I prove to you that I have this warranty with that kiosk that disappeared?"

Atir:"Have them write a paper saying that they gave you a 5 year warranty."

Me:"And you will accept it if I have this paper?"

Atir:"Yes."

Me: "Can I have that in writing from you as well then? Signed by you with your information on it so that I know exactly who to contact if something were to happen to my product?"

Atir:"Of course. I can do it by tomorrow. I will attach my business card as well."

Me:"Okay. I expect to hear back from you tomorrow with this."

Atir:"Of course."

Me:"How will you get this information to me?"

Atir:"Any way you prefer."

Me:"Okay. What's your name again? Spell it for me."

He spelled his name for me. I then asked him what his position was with HerStyler. He informed me that was the sales rep of HerStyler.

"So you're the one that sells HerStyler products wholesale?"

"Yes..."

I also asked for his number and he gave it to me.

Once more I reiterrated to him, "I will wait for your call tomorrow in regards to what we spoke about."

He acknowledged me and we hung up with him saying "Have a nice day."

Maybe he thinks that I am happy with the result.

I think it's rather funny that he told me that the human hair has no warranty... but he quickly changed away from that and said that he will honor my 5 year warranty with a written notice. He also told me that it is legal issue to accept human hair as a return. I'm going to have to look that one up.

Also, I should note that after the phone call I checked HerStyler's website and googled their listed phone number. It turned up with the same phone number as http://www.polachecksjewelers.com/index.html. Interesting.

1/27/2009: The Attempted Return

2009-01-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, during lunch, Rico mentioned about Consumer Rights and how in California, Consumers are well protected. This inspired me to go on a rampage and research about the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Federal Trade Commission as well as the Los Angeles County of Consumer Affairs.

I spoke to the California Department of Consumer Affairs and I also spoke to the LA County Department of Consumer Affairs. Both parties informed me of the return policy.

Turns out that all stores in California must place a return policy in a conspicuous place if it is different from the common exception. (Civil Code section 1723). The common exceptions are:

"• The retail seller gives a full cash or credit refund, and equal exchange, or some combination of these, and
• The customer may return the merchandise for at least seven days following purchase, if it is returned with proof of purchase." (http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/s-6.shtml)

Of course there are exceptions to the rule.

"The requirements of Civil Code section 1723 do not apply to any of the following kinds of merchandise:...

• Goods used or damaged after purchase." (http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/s-6.shtml)

Well, according to my knowledge, I don't even know if she put in used, opened box pieces into my hair and sold it to me or if it was new. She never indicated it as she started to place them in my hair.

Rico asked his cousins, who live near the mall, to go buy and see if the could see a return policy posted anywhere on the kiosk. They were not able to find anything indicating a return policy.

So, we went back last night to the mall. First, we stopped by the Information Desk and obtained information to file a complaint against kiosks in the mall. We then went to the Ultimate Lengths kiosk and found that the actual manager, Sharin, was working.

Sharin was dealing with a possible customer and I noticed how she used a flat iron on the girl's hair... also clip-in extensions in the girl's hair. She was taking about 15-20 minutes trying to sell either the flat iron or the clip-in hair extensions or maybe both to the girl and her mother. After their declines, she promptly removed the clip-in hair extensions and came over to us.

I explained how I was no longer satisfied with the product and would like my money back. She smiled and said "Sorry we do not give refunds. We can only exchange."

I took out my receipt and showed her that my receipt never stated anything about their return policy nor was I ever told of it. She asked if she could see the receipt as she struggled to grab it out of my hand. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she saw that there was no stamp with the return policy on it. Rico then took hold of the receipt as she stated that all she wanted to do was view the receipt. Rico firmly stated that she can see the receipt while he was holding it.

"Due to hygenic reasons, and this is human hair, if it used, we cannot do anything with this. We have to just throw it away. So we cannot give you a refund. Only Exchange. But we can exchange color out for you if you dye your hair... you just have to pay for shipping costs and the box...." She continued on but then her voice started trailing....

Whoa, wait a minute. I was NEVER told about having to pay for shipping or boxes if I wanted to exchange the color of the hair...

She also went on about how all her customers LOVE it and she has never run into a problem about customers wanting their money back. She said she has been working for this company for 2 years and she had never seen this problem.

WOW, 2 WHOLE YEARS. GOOD FOR YOU. DO YOU WANT A COOKIE?

She then proceeded to ask why I didn't want the product. I explained to her that first, the product was too heavy after being worn for a period of time, which causes a lot of headache to me. She then asked why I didn't notice it when they put it in my hair.

I told her that in my intial excitement for the first 20 minutes as she put it in my hair, I didn't notice the heaviness of the product.

She told me the best offer she can give to me was to take the hair back and then give me $500 credit at Herstyler's website. Now why the hell would I want that?!

Then I asked her about the warranty... if the warranty was from the manufacturer or from the their kiosk. She said it was from the manufacturer. So I asked why on the website it stated that the products only have a 1 year warranty. She said because they don't have the 100% human hair for sale on the website.

Then I said, "Well unless you can provide that for me, how will I know you are the ones giving me the warranty and not the manufacturer. Also, if that's the case how will I know you won't be here 4, 5 or 6 months from now... or even 2 years from now. In any situation, if you're not here before my 5 year warranty is up, then how can I trust you? The kiosk at the Lakewood Mall told me the same thing... and they were only there as far as I can remember... for 6-8 months and now there are completely gone."

She responded with "Well we are all owned by different owners... The Lakewood Mall Kiosk and this kiosk has no relation. We are all different owners."

(In the blog titled "Scammed..." or "1/25/2009: The Purchase" I wrote:

When I got in the car and drove off, I noticed that I she also gave me another business card that was blank on the back and that I still had the old one from Rafael. I looked at both and compared them side-by-side and noticed that they had the exact same phone number… It was so weird to me that Illianna told me that the Lakewood mall’s kiosk was shut down for shady, unethical business and yet the Cerritos Location and the Lakewood Location share the same number. )

Then Rico asked her "How would you feel if you got sold something and you were told about a wonderful warranty... but when you get home, it's not even a paper that states how to claim your warranty?"

Shiran responded, "I read everything people try to sell to me."

So, theoretically speaking, she knows that they're selling it away without letting people reading anything or having them write/sign somewhere that they acknowledge the return/exchange policy... Especially since she said she reads everything people try and sell to her.

Admist the conversation, she really wouldn't let me speak or would cut me off while I was trying to explain something. So I would always pause and look at her and told her "You need to stop talking and finish listening to what I say because I'm not done talking." But she would do it anyway.

Finally, I asked her "You're the manager of this kiosk, right?"

"Yes."

"So you're Illianna's manager, right? She's your employee?"

"Yes..."

"If you're her manager, you should be held responsible for the actions of your employees."

"No... these girls work purely on commission... we teach them what to say to customers... so they know what can be said or not. If you want, I can call her and ask her what she said to you."

"Of course she's going to tell you she told us of the return policy." Rico interjected.

"I cannot help you if you two come and attack me like this."

"Attack you? How are we attacking you? We're just trying to get our money back because we're not satisfied with a product and you don't have a return policy posted and we weren't informed of one."

"Well I need to hear my girl's side of the story too."

"Yeah that's fine. Go ahead. Call her."

"Oh my phone is dead..."

She then stated she would call the sales girl, Illianna and her boss after work. She said she would go in her car and charge her phone and then call Illianna and her boss and give me a phonecall between 9:15 and 9:30PM.

Rico then asked for her boss' contact information but Shiran said she couldn't do that. She insisted that she would call them right now but her phone was dead so she couldn't call. I told her that she could use my phone but since she didn't remember her boss' number, she couldn't use my phone either.

Rico then asked if he could take pictures of the store for evidence.

"Yeah go ahead do whatever you want.... OH wait, no. You can't. I will have to ask my boss, first."

"But how do I know you won't change things around after you get your boss' permission?"

"You cannot unless I get OK from my boss."

"How would it be any different if I stood way over there or over here and took pictures in your general direction right now and me just taking pictures of your booth up close?"

"Well go ahead and do whatever you want. I am just asking for you not to do it unless my boss Okays it."

Rico and I both looked at each other and just left it at that.

"Please, can I call my boss and Illianna and call you back. I promise I will call you back as soon as I talk to them both. I want to help you out."

Reluctantly, I wrote my first name and my cellphone number on the card.

"I will call you between 9:15 and 9:30PM."

We took everything and left.

At 9:32PM, Sharin called me and told me that she spoke to Illianna. Illianna was "shocked" to hear that I didn't want it anymore because I was so happy when I tried it on.

HELLO?! I said I was happy initially when Illianna put it in my hair!!

She continued on saying that Illianna did explain to me that she was opening new boxes of hair to put into my hair.

Uh, no she didn't.

And in the end, Sharin said she couldn't get a hold of her boss but that she left him a message, telling him that it was an emergency. She said she is sure he would call her back soon. Sharin then asked if it was okay for her to call me later tonight. And I asked how late would that be? She then said, Oh, well when I hear back from him I will text you. If you are still awake you can call me back or call me tomorrow morning.

"That's fine. Bye." And I hung up.

It's not 12:00PM. She still hasn't texted or called me. Figures.

1/25/2009: The Purchase

2009-01-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

This post is a copy and paste from my wedding blog found at http://janenrico.blogspot.com

I hope people will join me and help me make the people aware of the scams these Kiosks perform pertaining the product manufactuered by HerStyler.

-------------

For those who know me, you would know that I am one to never keep my hairstyle the same for too long. I get bored and go off to my hair salon to do something… ANYTHING to make it different!! So here begins my horrible drama-fo-yo-mama deal.

Since we live near the Lakewood Mall, Rico and I would frequent there.

During one of our visits, a man by the name of Rafael approached me. He worked for a kiosk named “Elite Extensions” made by Herstyler. He sold these clip-in hair extensions. And of course, being the person who buys wigs and gets extensions, I immediately loved the idea of these clip-in extensions because then I can change up my hairstyle whenever I pleased!

Rafael razzle-dazzled me as he put in the clip-in extensions of real human hair. My hair looked long and it was so fun and different! I liked it! However, at that time, Rico and I had to pass up on the deal because it was something that we couldn’t afford at the time. So Rafael gave me a business card with the hair colors that were more appropriate for my hair and his name.

Well, since it’s getting close to our wedding date, I was trying to figure out what kind of hair style I wanted. Jenny told me I should go with something that I will look back from the future and not think “Oh god, wth was I thinking when I picked that hair!?” Well with my current hairstyle, I don’t think I could possibly style it to make me not say that… so I remembered the hair extensions! Rico agreed that it wasn’t a bad idea.

So on Sunday, January 25, 2009, we went back over to the Lakewood Mall so that I could finally purchase those clip-in hair extensions… Only to find that the kiosk was gone! It no longer existed!! Rico and I walked around just a little bit just to make sure it was really gone. I was a little disappointed but then I remembered that a new location recently opened up inside the Cerritos Mall near Macy’s.

So we rushed over there and found it. The girl who helped us was Illianna. I took out the business card I had from Rafael and she looked at it and said “Oh… yeah. They shut down because they were caught selling fake hair.”

I was in shock! Rafael told me it was real hair and he was able to use a flat iron on it! I know that fake hair cannot withstand the heat of flat/curling irons… so I asked her “They can make synthetic hairs that can style like real hair?”

“Yeah, they can.” She replied.

“Well that sucks.” I commented.

“Also, he was telling everyone who bought from them that they can exchange at any location but the truth is you can only exchange it from the location you bought your product from… but our manager, Shiran, is very nice and she’s trying to accommodate everyone who bought from them because she feels bad.” She added.

“Oh… is that right? Okay.” I shrugged it off.

She had me sit down on the chair and then she proceeded to put the clip-in extensions in my hair that was made from real human hair.

I really liked it… I mean… I REALLY, REALLY liked it.

I loved the idea of being able to change my look with so much ease with just these clip-in extensions. S

o she told me the cost was $270 after tax for one box of hair which came with 7 pieces. ( I needed two because I have so much hair.)

I asked her if she could do it for $500 if I paid cash.

Illianna then said she would call her manager to verify. She called and asked her manager, Shiran, and she Okayed the price for $500.

So she wrote out on a one of these really generic, carbon paper receipt books for a receipt. In the fields located on the receipt all she put was her name and for the address: Cerritos. On the description, she put the hair color that I bought and the price.

That was it… that was my receipt.

She then attached the receipt to my “warranty” paper with tape because she was out of staples. She also gave me a business card and put her name and phone number on the backside of the card and put it with the “warranty” paper.

She then proceeded to explain that the paper was my “warranty” paper and I just needed to bring it in with the receipt and that I would have a 5 year warranty at the Cerritos location. I nodded and handed over the cash.

When I got in the car and drove off, I noticed that I she also gave me another business card that was blank on the back and that I still had the old one from Rafael. I looked at both and compared them side-by-side and noticed that they had the exact same phone number… It was so weird to me that Illianna told me that the Lakewood mall’s kiosk was shut down for shady, unethical business and yet the Cerritos Location and the Lakewood Location share the same number.

So on Monday, I proceeded to check online for information on the company and even visited the manufacturer’s website, http://herstyler.com. Herstyler, the manufacturer of the Elite Extensions clip-in hair extension only has a 1 year warranty. So I Googled the company and found nothing by complaints and bad reviews on the company from different cities and states.

What made me feel really scammed were not the reviews…

I was rather upset after reading the reviews and was trying not to think about it… but last night, a feeling kept nagging at me so I woke up and took out the “warranty” paper with the receipt and business card. I looked over the paper and tried to find something… anything written about a warranty.

And I found nothing about a warranty at all on that piece of “warranty” paper. Instead I found myself reading about how to care for my product and also why Elite Extension is the way to go. I couldn’t even find the manufacturer’s warranty disclaimer…

Whether the hair is real or not isn’t the case… to me it’s the principle of the matter. How can I believe that the particular kiosk that sold me the hair will be there even a year from now, none the less 5 year from now… Especially when Illianna told me that I can’t get my 5 year warranty granted at any other location…?

So today, Rico and I will go back to the mall and ask for a refund. Simply put, I am not satisfied with the product nor am I satisfied with the business morals and ethics of the company.

If they refuse then we will take it to the small claims court.

*Sigh*

Why am I such a dummy and fall for these infomercial-esque deals so easily?

And with this... this is why I feel as if I got completed scammed.

Note: I should add that the salesgirl, Illianna never mentioned anything, not once, about a return policy, nor did she explain it to me, have me sign anything about me understanding their return policy nor was it anywhere on the papers she gave to me after I made my purchase. She never said "Exchanges Only" or "All Sales are Final"...

One thing she did mention is that they will exchange out the hair if I dye my hair or my hair color changes to match my current hair color... no questions asked.

So yeah... One can only hope...