ESSI canada.. contest mail !

so 2 days ago i got a email saying i WON a contest for 4 essi bottles !! yayay !!
so i was sent this link

http://www.essie.ca/bthcontestwinner...ContestWinners

in which it states "congratulations! you have been selected to win a set of 4 mini essie summer collection shades. please fill in your information below so we can send the essie love your way!"

and i filled out my address and all info ..
today i get a email saying "oops we made a mistake?! "

WTH ? !

in the email it says to make up for their mistake i was signed up for a chance to with up to 100 Essie shades..
and was told to call a 1800 # if i had a question.. so i did .. but guess what.. # is not working saying they are under training ..
BULL.. now i am NOT so sure if it was really Essie or some spam mail whom i sent my whole address to !

i feel so stupid!

This is not the first time they had something like this happen. A few years ago I cannot remember if it was through their website or facebook page but you could sign up for a sample offer only to find out it was trail size sample (which is fine) but you had pay shipping which was either $5.99 or $9.99 which is more then a sample bottle would cost you.

I was wondering why there were so many winners - too bad.

My mother got sucked into a very similar offer... if not the exact same one, I dont recall the name of the company now and it was several months ago.

She too received an email advising she had won a prize of cosmetics... then was advised that there was an error in their emailing system but that she could have 'free samples' instead, just pay for the shipping.

She ordered the "samples", paid the shipping, and then 20-days later her Visa was charged over $100 each for the samples she got.

She refuted the charges with them. They told her that the samples were only 30-day samples and that she had to return them if she didnt want to keep them, otherwise be charged for them -- nothing of which was advised up front, nor in any materials they provided, nor the costs.

However further argument was that if she supposedly had 30-days to return the samples, why was she charged for them after only 20 days of them being shipped?? They said it was done "in error" and would be glad to refund her the amount IF she returned the samples at HER cost of shipping.

She called Visa regarding the fraud (since they made an unauthorized charge). Visa was VERY familiar with the company and this practice. Visa advised her to cancel the card (which she did) and a new card be issued (done).

She did return the items, using a signature-required service to track the item and the larger refund was issued... but not the original shipping charges. Visa reversed that charge for her.

In the end, my mother was out only the return shipping costs, but a lesson learned.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bhlombardy

My mother got sucked into a very similar offer... if not the exact same one, I dont recall the name of the company now and it was several months ago.

She too received an email advising she had won a prize of cosmetics... then was advised that there was an error in their emailing system but that she could have 'free samples' instead, just pay for the shipping.

She ordered the "samples", paid the shipping, and then 20-days later her Visa was charged over $100 each for the samples she got.

She refuted the charges with them. They told her that the samples were only 30-day samples and that she had to return them if she didnt want to keep them, otherwise be charged for them -- nothing of which was advised up front, nor in any materials they provided.

However further argument was that if she supposedly had 30-days to return the samples, why was she charged for them after only 20 days of them being shipped?? They said it was done "in error" and would be glad to refund her the amount IF she returned the samples at HER cost of shipping.

She called Visa regarding the fraud (since they made an unauthorized charge). Visa was VERY familiar with the company and this practice. Visa advised her to cancel the card (which she did) and a new card be issued (done).

She did return the items, using a signature-required service to track the item and the larger refund was issued... but not the original shipping charges. Visa reversed that charge for her.

In the end, my mother was out only the return shipping costs, but a lesson learned.

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This is simply an error made by Essie.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

Just to be clear... I said in my first line, I dont know if it was Essie or not. However, the situation was similar, so it may have been.

I can assure you that whoever it was that my mother had dealt with, it wasn't a mistake.

Visa was well aware of the company (whoever it was) and it's practice of shipping "free items" followed by fraudulent charges. The agent from Visa practically finished the story for my mother as she was telling them on the phone, as they were familiar with the company and the scenario.

I just wanted whomever to be aware that this might happen, and to be on the alert.

...darn, got the same email... thought I won something...:-)
Thanks for the updates!

I think they fixed this, check their facebook for an update.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bhlombardy

Just to be clear... I said in my first line, I dont know if it was Essie or not. However, the situation was similar, so it may have been.

I can assure you that whoever it was that my mother had dealt with, it wasn't a mistake.

Visa was well aware of the company (whoever it was) and it's practice of shipping "free items" followed by fraudulent charges. The agent from Visa practically finished the story for my mother as she was telling them on the phone, as they were familiar with the company and the scenario.

I just wanted whomever to be aware that this might happen, and to be on the alert.

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That company wouldn't have been Essie, is what I'm saying to you. Essie is a huge, established brand. Again, merely a mistake on their part in this case.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

wow! that really sucks! :(
glad she got her money back.. less the shipping ..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bhlombardy

My mother got sucked into a very similar offer... if not the exact same one, I dont recall the name of the company now and it was several months ago.

She too received an email advising she had won a prize of cosmetics... then was advised that there was an error in their emailing system but that she could have 'free samples' instead, just pay for the shipping.

She ordered the "samples", paid the shipping, and then 20-days later her Visa was charged over $100 each for the samples she got.

She refuted the charges with them. They told her that the samples were only 30-day samples and that she had to return them if she didnt want to keep them, otherwise be charged for them -- nothing of which was advised up front, nor in any materials they provided, nor the costs.

However further argument was that if she supposedly had 30-days to return the samples, why was she charged for them after only 20 days of them being shipped?? They said it was done "in error" and would be glad to refund her the amount IF she returned the samples at HER cost of shipping.

She called Visa regarding the fraud (since they made an unauthorized charge). Visa was VERY familiar with the company and this practice. Visa advised her to cancel the card (which she did) and a new card be issued (done).

She did return the items, using a signature-required service to track the item and the larger refund was issued... but not the original shipping charges. Visa reversed that charge for her.

In the end, my mother was out only the return shipping costs, but a lesson learned.

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I received the same email and let Essie know just how I felt about the email fiasco.