Problem with Lumiere pre-buy

[pearlkitty]

it's definitely irritating to have to wait for an order! But it's so clear that it wasn't Lumiere's. I'm puzzled at Kim's response that has been quoted here, the tone is very different from the exceptional service I've gotten from her. I can only assume that this is the first time that such a major mistake has happened to her -I mean, that touches so many customers- and that her first responses were perhaps tinted with her frustration (after such a letdown and upon receiving sharp criticism from a customer, I would probably done the same.) She has been very professional otherwise.

IMHO, Lumiere deserves understanding. When something out of my control happens to me, I always pray that I will meet understanding from others. She did this as a favor to us, these brushes are top quality and half price!!

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents.. I love Lumiere products, they are great quality! And no... I don't have shares in the company!

Happy Holidays!

 

[Ashley]

Originally Posted by tonkabeane /img/forum/go_quote.gif I feel the need to put in my 2 cents:
Note: I ordered Pre-Buy Brushes on October 20th and I got them two days ago. I swear I remember them saying something about the brushes being shipped out in mid to late November. (Oh wells. At least I got them right?).

I think they said they expected to receive them mid to late November and then ship out to customers from then. But I think they did not receive the brushes until December.
Regarding Kim's reply, I understand why people are upset and calling it unprofessional, but at the same time, we are really only reading half of the story. When she said, "deal with someone like yourself" perhaps the customer was being rude to her. I know that as a business, it's not the best way to handle rude customers, but can you imagine how many upset customers there are, and how many of them may be rude to the business owners, even though it was not their fault that they did not get the entire shipment? I'm sure she is frustrated that so many customers are upset with her when the situation was not within her control.

 

[JoyR]

I posted a few times today on the Lumiere Delphi forums, but apparently no dissent is allowed. To question anything = "bashing."

What's the deal with these fangirl sites and people getting so personally attached to a brand? It's happened on the Aromaleigh forums as well. When I posted that the lip gloss I bought from them seemed rather short on product, they were all over me.

 

[pearlkitty]

I don't know about the fangirl sites, but my input has more to do with common sense than with attachment to a product. Well, that's how I wish it to be perceived.

It's fine to be upset, impatient, and to express yourself. But is there ever a good excuse to be rude?

 

[Hoozey]

I ordered the entire pre-buy set on the very FIRST morning it was up because it was stated quite clearly that it was a first come/first served basis. I already had quite a collection of Lumiere brushes and I knew this was going to be good. The pre-buy is an excellent deal and for this deal, the customer has to give up certain things- like knowing exactly when the brushes would arrive because they were being manufactured for them overseas. It's rather harsh that Lumiere is taking a beating because a manufacturer did not get the order number correct. As long as Lumiere refunds those orders who will not be receiving the brushes, it's no foul on their part IMO- because they made it very clear that to insure your order, order early.

As far as CS, I have had nothing but great experience with them but I could see where their nerves are rather frazzled at this point. There are hundreds of brush orders and even though they've begged and pleaded customers not to email about the pre-order brushes, I am sure there were still many that did not listen. On top of that, you have the holiday shipping rush. A little empathy for their busting their butts to get these orders out as quickly as they can. The logistics of it is very daunting and once again, part of the reason these brushes are so cheap is because you do have to wait and there is some uncertainty involved.

I also see only the response from Lumiere when the order was cancelled- what did the original email look like? Maybe the response stemmed from the original email being a bit of an attack at a time when they don't really have time to respond to all these emails.

I am sorry that some of those who ordered brushes will not be receiving them because they are really wonderful, but there was fair warning. I can understand your disappointment but to be angry at Lumiere because you were one of the last orders is not entirely fair.

 

[goddess]

Originally Posted by JoyR /img/forum/go_quote.gif I posted a few times today on the Lumiere Delphi forums, but apparently no dissent is allowed. To question anything = "bashing."
What's the deal with these fangirl sites and people getting so personally attached to a brand? It's happened on the Aromaleigh forums as well. When I posted that the lip gloss I bought from them seemed rather short on product, they were all over me.

Yea you should beware of this particular member who is also a moderator. I think all these fangirls can happen with any company not just mmu. I stopped posting at lumiere because I didnt want to be attacked. Were you sassenach52? I cant believed they called you a troll just because you were voicing your opinion. I was accused of being a troll once when I was giving reviews about a product. I cant believe those people are going all out to supoort lumiere in that way. yikes.

 

[ondine]

This Pre-buy deal was definitely supposed to be a very good one for us, customers, I entirely agree with you, and I was personnaly completely aware of the workload this would give a small company like Lumiere.However concerning all the rules and regulations that were on the website and that you had to accept before ordering i totally agree with someone who said before (sorry can't seem to find her msg again, weird?!) that it is a little disappointing that those rules were only one-way and that at first when the bad news was announced kim didn't seem to have an appropriate solution for everyone. In the case of Aurelie's friend for example (we are on the same French makeup board that's how i know, in case you were wondering) her order was only for two brushes, one of them being missing, the cost of international shipping would have been more expensive than the brush itself (if I remember everything correclty). I believe everybody can understand at that point that because the mistake was nobody's fault, and especially not hers, she asked for a refund. The day after Kim made that announcement however she seemed to have found appropriate solutions for everyone, get a refund, get another brush or wait till february and get the rest of your brushes.

As for the "first come fisrt serve" rule, the thing I did not understand at the time and the reason why I was not in a hurry to order was that I didn't see how it was possible to have your brushes actually manufactured according to the quantity you ask for and have a risk of those brushes being out of stock. And I was not totally wrong since what has happened apparently was a misunderstanding between the manufacturer and Kim concerning the quantity, they (the manufacturer) were not short on them.

Finally concerning the attitude of some "die hard Lumiere fans" on other boards (yep, i've been reading them and have been carefully staying as far away from them as possible) I have only one thing to say: being so personnally attached to a brand of cosmetics is just incomprehensible to me.

 

[JoyR]

Originally Posted by goddess /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yea you should beware of this particular member who is also a moderator. I think all these fangirls can happen with any company not just mmu. I stopped posting at lumiere because I didnt want to be attacked. Were you sassenach52? I cant believed they called you a troll just because you were voicing your opinion. I was accused of being a troll once when I was giving reviews about a product. I cant believe those people are going all out to supoort lumiere in that way. yikes. That's me. I also got personal emails from her and another member telling me I was "rude," etc. I was going to forward them to Kim @ Lumiere, but then decided not to bother.

 

[Hoozey]

Originally Posted by ondine /img/forum/go_quote.gif As for the "first come fisrt serve" rule, the thing I did not understand at the time and the reason why I was not in a hurry to order was that I didn't see how it was possible to have your brushes actually manufactured according to the quantity you ask for and have a risk of those brushes being out of stock. And I was not totally wrong since what has happened apparently was a misunderstanding between the manufacturer and Kim concerning the quantity, they (the manufacturer) were not short on them.

Finally concerning the attitude of some "die hard Lumiere fans" on other boards (yep, i've been reading them and have been carefully staying as far away from them as possible) I have only one thing to say: being so personnally attached to a brand of cosmetics is just incomprehensible to me.

I don't know if the first come first serve rule was clear enough in the long list of rules concerning the pre-buy but I do remember in the original posting of the ultimate brush set- before Kim was even going to offer separate brushes- that there was a limited supply and she was only allotted so many of the sets. That's why it was very clear to me that if I wanted to be assured of the brushes, I shouldn't wait. I do agree with you that no one should be abused on any boards if their comment is negative. I am always shocked at how vicious and petty it all gets. The name calling and all is just

I participated in a smaller pre-buy and kind of learned the ropes there and also that I was getting a bargain on some high quality brushes. So I had an edge, and knew to order early and assure my order. That doesn't mean that I am going to attack those that are disappointed and upset that they didn't get theirs. I understand their frustration- it may not have been as clear to them that these orders were on limited quantities and now have the disappointment of either further wait or a refund.

 

[goddess]

Originally Posted by JoyR /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's me. I also got personal emails from her and another member telling me I was "rude," etc. I was going to forward them to Kim @ Lumiere, but then decided not to bother. erm I wouldnt bother. It makes me wonder what kind of person Kim is if she has that influence on her 'fangirls'. I mean I like lumiere and all, but I woouldnt be that defensive and aggressive to other people.

 

[babyanj]

i ordered sometime in October... i'm still thinking if i should get a refund. i don't really mind waiting, though. coz i'm like that, as long as i'm sure i'm gonna get it, i don't mind the long wait. especially coz i really want the brushes. but i might go out of the country and i don't know who'll take care of the package, etc.

 

[silveria]

Well, I supposed I will be affected since, I ordered all four of those, and on the last few days. I'm terribly disappointed, but I've always received excellent CS from Kim. I supposed this is where goodwill comes into place, so I'm going to see if there's another way to work it out, since Kim may come up with a better solution. However, I agree that some of the girls on the lumiere forums are extremely fanatic and bossy, it's like you can't express an opinion without them making it their business.

 

[agatapas]

I think that sometimes we should be more forgiving. We are all people and the situation with pre - buy problems may be also a hard problem to handle for Lumiere. I understand that they expected a upfront payment, but still they couldn't know such thing will happen. Even if someone is sometimes to emotional in an e-mail it doesn't mean anything.

I hope they will come up with some solution and sort this out. Till today I got no information from Lumiere about my pre buy status. I just hope I'll get all of my packages from Lumiere, my pre buy brushes and my order which is lost in space and was reshipped recently.

 

[Apple8]

Originally Posted by silveria /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I supposed I will be affected since, I ordered all four of those, and on the last few days. I'm terribly disappointed, but I've always received excellent CS from Kim. I supposed this is where goodwill comes into place, so I'm going to see if there's another way to work it out, since Kim may come up with a better solution. However, I agree that some of the girls on the lumiere forums are extremely fanatic and bossy, it's like you can't express an opinion without them making it their business. Don't think you are affected if you didn't order on Oct 30.

 

[Aataszi]

Wow... Somehow I am not surprised. I have had to cancel an order from Lumiere before due to it never arriving. Thankfully, there wasn't much fanfare surrounding the cancellation. It did teach me the lesson that I should not purchase from them ever again however. By the way, that email reply is simply heinous regardless of whatever may have been said by a customer. The owner of Lumiere is running a business, not a club. It is her JOB to provide the best customer service that she can. If that means that she has to suck it up when customers are being "mean" or rude to her than that is what she must do. And honestly, if orders are late or don't arrive, she can pretty much expect such a reaction. I wouldn't be too upset about your brushes though. Get through the situation as best you can for now and then count this as a lesson learned. You do not have to buy anything from them when there are alot of wonderful MMU companies who are better to work with. Good Luck!