Sparkled Beauty

I Live to Shine

1/18/2010

Calypso Minerals disaster!

Posted by Halifax @ Sparkled Beauty

I don't know whether you have ever heard of this company or shopped with them before, but I have had a really bad experience with them. I have been very patient and gave the owner lots of time to make it right, but it only got worse, so I'm telling the story.

As you probably have known, I love mineral makeup, and Calypso Minerals has been a brand that got quite good reviews. So I placed an order July 21, 2009 for a duochrome stack, and...

After more than a month waiting, I tried different ways to contact Jen to check on my order. All she said was she would check.

September 2, I followed up. Jen asked for my paypal email address (which meant she hadn't checked anything since last time I asked). She offered either resend a new package or refund me. I asked for a refund.

September 7, Jen found the paypal payment notice and emailed me to ask what I had ordered. Obviously the order had never been processed (and therefore nothing had been shipped out). I asked for a refund but she said she had gone ahead and shipped my package already.

October 1, I received a package, except it was a rainbow stack (plus a few freebies) instead of the duochrome stack that I ordered. I contacted Jen again.

October 5, she said she shipped out the replacement and I could keep the rainbow stack.

October 27, still nothing. I asked her again.

November 2 and 3, followed up, again.

November 4, Jen DM'ed me. She said she closed the order because she got the delivery confirmation and forgot that I received the wrong item. She said she would send a package out the next day PLUS a refund. I said I don't need any package anymore, just wanted my money back. She said she wanted to make it up to me.

January 3, 2010, back home from vacation. Was hoping the package arrived while I was away, but nothing. Seeing Jen's tweeter account hasn't been active since November, I emailed her and got an auto reply saying someone would get back to me shortly and never heard anything else.

January 14, vintageortacky posted a video. And reading the comments, I realized that I am not the only victim of this company and I would probably never see my money back :-(


Found a few victims on tweeter and they suggested to file with paypal for a refund. I tried, but paypal said it cannot solve this claim (without stating the reason), so I don't know what else to do. Even her website is down, so the business is going AWOL.

January 17, Jen postd a short message on her blog saying she'd be accomodating people who haven't received their stuff. I don't want anymore stuff, I just want my money back and to be done with this.

Does any of you know how paypal deals with claims? Is there a time limit when I can file for a refund as obviously it didn't let me do this now. I don't know what else to do. It might not be a large amount of money, but it's my hard earned money and I hate to see my faith in small makeup business going down hill, because of this painful experience.

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25 comments:

  1. shexiliciousJanuary 18, 2010 at 11:41 AM

    yikes, that's annoying! I myself haven't dealt with any "bad businesses" per se, so I wouldn't know how paypal deals with stuff, but hopefully you get your money back because I def. would be livid.

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  2. LJanuary 18, 2010 at 12:03 PM

    You all need to report her to the Better Business Bureau.
    I have never had good luck getting my money back from paypal.

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  3. watercolourskyJanuary 18, 2010 at 12:04 PM

    Did you pay with credit card via paypal or bank? the CC company may be willing to help you out. Not sure about banks but no harm trying them too.

    I had an experience ordering with just CC from a website. They processed my payment but never sent anything out to me, so I called my CC company and they refunded me. How much was your order value? Mine was small, like $10 so I'm not sure if it would be the same for you but good luck! :)

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2010 at 1:25 PM

    ^ blue normally would be right, but there is this weird clause in paypal, that if you have a CC paypal, and ask for them to do a refund (a forced refund) that they can cancel ur account...or some crap like that, look up on that just in case,
    cause yes otherwise if it was just a cc (not with paypal cc) then you could have asked the cc company to deal with it...

    personally after my issue with the watch company, I would never let it go on for this long, cause they don't follow up (the sellers). but don't let one bad experience deter you from buying MMU, its one thing that you love~

    anyway hope that something gets through w this.
    I was thinking, when she sent you the rainbow...do u have her address from that? you could always send a letter to her, asking that she please refund all the other ppl she scammed money out of. and yes, this is basically a scam, seeing as she never followed up.

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  5. UnknownJanuary 18, 2010 at 2:17 PM

    I have been through a refund problem with PayPal, not PayPal's fault btw. But your best bet is to phone and speak to customer services. When I phoned for another reason, I have never spoke to such a polite person ever!

    At the end of the day you have asked for a refund of your money many times and she has failed to do so. PayPal have the right to to take the money from her if they find in your favour. And by the sounds of it, she's spent your money hence avoiding giving you a refund.

    Hope you get it sorted ASAP.

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  6. ArezuJanuary 18, 2010 at 6:00 PM

    I'm sorry to hear about your experience. That sucks that it's taken 6 months for you and you still haven't recieved anything.

    From what I know, you have 45 days to file a claim with PayPal, but if you paid with a CC you can also contact your CC card company. I would contact PayPal and let them know about the situation and that you're not the only one with this problem, and they might be able to do something.

    Thank you for posting this though, it really helps with anyone who was planning on ordering from this company.

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  7. CitrineJanuary 18, 2010 at 10:54 PM

    I have filed 2 complains with paypal (the total amount was less than 20 bucks but I don't tolerate eyesore even when it's 2 bucks.) and I believe it's sometime around 90-100days within the date of transaction, which mean you might be a little late to file a complain.

    Anyway, if you still have time, you go to paypal account and file a disput over there (where you imput the transaction number) and explain your case, someone will review you claim and try to make you and the seller "communicate" (which normally doesn't go anywhere consider paypal is usually the last place you go), but if they didn't get any explaination from the other side, they will put a ruling (takes forever) and force the refund (i.e. take the money from the seller's account and give it back to you)if they ruled in your favor. The worse thing can happen is that the seller dissapear into thin air, even paypal can take the money for you, there is nowhere to take...

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  8. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyJanuary 19, 2010 at 11:52 AM

    Thank you so much everyone for leaving me comments. I was really frustrated. I'll post an update on this problem

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  9. BrigitteTFebruary 1, 2010 at 9:45 PM

    I am dealing with the same issue: placed an order on November 11th. Almost three months later, after sending Jen numerous emails, I still have not received my order.

    I filed a dispute on Paypal, and am still waiting for a response. It's been a frustrating experience to say the least.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyFebruary 2, 2010 at 10:35 AM

    BrigitteT, I really hope you can get a refund from paypal, as it's the best way when you're still able to do that (I was too late). Good luck!

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  11. mindfulmamaFebruary 24, 2010 at 11:07 PM

    Paypal should guarantees you yr money back.

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  12. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyFebruary 25, 2010 at 10:02 AM

    mindfulmama, if you read my post "Calypso update", you'll see that I passed the time limit where paypal could intervene any purchase, so that option is out

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  13. kaliMarch 10, 2010 at 3:30 PM

    OMGOSH.. I did NOT know that this happened to other people too. It happened to me also. I ordered from there last summer 2009. She said she shipped my items out several times and kep giving excuses on why or how the items got "lost." She then said that she sent another package and since I didn't get it quickly, I could keep it when it came and also keep another package that she sent out. I only got one package that contained a free rainbow stack and some samples but not the singles that I ordered. She kept saying that she sent another package out.. I waited months for it. Finally, she gave me a phone number where I could call her and everytime I called, the line didn't work. I emailed her so many times until she closed her Etsy account. I emailed her new site too and got no reply. I was so disappointed because people on Etsy are usually so wonderful. I'm so sorry this happened to you too. I wonder how many other "Calypso Minerals victims" are out there.

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  14. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyMarch 11, 2010 at 11:34 AM

    kali, this happened to a lot of people out there :-( Your story is as sad as mine, but not the phone number part. That's new, but sadly it's useless if the phone doesn't work.

    Thank you for sharing your experience. Hugs!

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  15. AnonymousMay 24, 2010 at 11:32 AM

    almost this EXACT thing happened to me back a year ago when I ordered a rainbow stack!!! It was taking forever to get there and then i contacted her and she sent back a reply saying she would check it out then nothing still and she said she would give me a refund because at that point i just wanted my money back (like yourself) she said she had already sent the item and THEN it still wasnt getting there and she also said she wanted to make it up to me. give me all the free stuff and everything we finally got everything settled but she never refunded the whole amount.

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  16. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyMay 25, 2010 at 9:25 AM

    literarynonsense, sorry you were in this too, but at least you got a settlement. I'd doubt anybody would get a refund

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  17. Mich CoccaBeneNovember 3, 2010 at 7:05 PM

    I had once been refunded by paypal because of a bay ebay purchase (never rec'd item), however when dealing with this Calypso minerals I did not receive neither the order I placed nor a refund from paypal despite many emails. This person Jen who owns Calypso minerals should really be ashamed of herself, how can she sleep at night. Paypal was also no help, 've since closed my paypal account because of this issue!

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  18. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyNovember 4, 2010 at 11:51 AM

    Mich, was your claim with paypal within 45 days of the payment? If not, paypal cannot help. I tried. I'm sorry for what happened to you (and me) :(

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  19. MellyOctober 15, 2011 at 9:51 AM

    Their etsy store is open again. I'm glad I googled before ordering.
    Sorry you wen't through bollocks :(

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  20. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyOctober 20, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    I'm glad you did too, Melly

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  21. JMJanuary 24, 2013 at 8:09 PM

    She is still up to the same tricks but also now under the name POP ROX cosmetics. If you've been a victim of this company please come over to our Facebook page & share your story!!! Spread the word about this business so that others don't get scammed too!!! http://www.facebook.com/CalypsoMineralCosmeticsVictimsPage

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  22. UnknownJuly 13, 2013 at 11:42 PM

    She is now labeled as "pop rox cosmetics" and is still continuing to rip people off.... It saddens me to hear about how someone can legally get away with this. :(

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  23. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyJuly 15, 2013 at 11:07 AM

    I feel the same way, but I guess if the business is gone, nothing BBB can do :(

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  24. UnknownApril 11, 2014 at 6:46 AM

    Your lucky you even got anything!

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    Replies
    1. Halifax @ Sparkled BeautyApril 11, 2014 at 11:42 AM

      I think the point was their way of doing business was all wrong and I wanted to voice that

      Delete

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