Woman stuck with $400 face cream after hard sell in mall
One woman spent hundreds of dollars on pricey cosmetic items and then learned she couldn't return them -- even though she never opened the jar.
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One woman spent hundreds of dollars on pricey cosmetic items and then learned she couldn't return them -- even though she never opened the jar.
Salespeople lure shoppers with free samples
Teresa Tipton said she had just arrived at the mall for a day of shopping. As she walked by a cosmetics store, she said a woman approached her with a free sample.
"They put the cream on your face, give you a talk, it's all wonderful," Tipton said.
Tipton said the woman talked her into buying two tubes of expensive wrinkle-reducing cream and serum retailing for over $900.
But, just for her, the saleswoman said she would sell it for half price. "Don't tell my manager, it's just from me today," Tipton claimed the woman told her.
So Tipton put $395 on her credit card and left. But, once outside the mall, she got a queasy feeling.
"I got to wondering and got out to the car and said that's an awful lot of money," she said.
When Tipton went back inside the mall to return the cream, she was stunned to learn she was stuck with it.
"I said I just purchased this, I haven't even taken it out of the bag, and I just left the mall," Tipton said. "But she told me sorry, there's no refund, no return on it."
Surprise! No returns
With some cosmetics retailers, there are two reasons you may not be able to return items. The first is if you open the bottle and use it. The other, which is what apparently happened to Tipton, is if that item happened to be on sale.
"They pulled out the receipt in the bag and it was printed really, really tiny. It said 'No refunds on sale items.' And I said you didn't tell me it was a sale item!"
Tipton insisted the saleswoman never explained she was buying a non-refundable sale item, telling her it was just a one-time special deal for her.
Don't Waste Your Money checked the store, and it appeared everything they did was according to state law. A sign by the register said "no refunds on sale items."
Tipton said she now just wants other women to ask questions when purchasing expensive beauty products.
"I am mad at myself," she said.
After Don't Waste Your Money got involved and contacted the store manager, he agreed to refund Tipton's money.
The store was not named because it did nothing wrong under the law -- but this is a caution to anyone buying mall cosmetics, so you don't get stuck and you don't waste your money.
