My Worst Customer Service Experience: BH Cosmetics

This is a different post for me, but it's one that I feel is really important. The topic is customer service, and this post will detail the worst customer service experience I have undergone thus far and why I no longer feel comfortable recommending people purchase from BH Cosmetics.

If you've read my blog for the past year, you will know that I love the BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette. It was probably the biggest beauty surprise of the year for me to see such high quality shadows at a manageable price. I have enthusiastically recommended this palette to readers as well as people in my everyday life. When the Makeup Revolution The Emily Edit: The Wants palette came out and I was very disappointed in its poor quality, people would quip: "What do you expect from a $20 palette?" And to that, I would say, "I expect the BH Cosmetics Zodiac!"

So when BH Cosmetics announced that they were releasing a second iteration of the Zodiac palette (called Love Signs), I was curious. I feel like BH Cosmetics is a "hit or miss" brand, and I wanted to know if the quality of Zodiac was a fluke or not. After considering it for a few days, I decided to purchase the palette while BH was running several sales and promotions.

I purchased the palette on November 22, 2018, which was Thanksgiving Day in the US and part of Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. My package was not shipped to me until December 21—which was 29 days after I purchased it. BH Cosmetics packages are shipped from North Hollywood, California, and I live in a large city in California.

At the time of my purchase, the BH website listed shipping times as:

"Most orders are shipped out within 1 - 2 business days, with many orders shipping out the same day. During high volume periods like the holidays and new product launches, there may be a delay up to 4 business days to process your order."

I quoted this exact language to BH, and they have since changed this portion of their website to say:

This language was 100% changed because of the overwhelming messages they received on all of their social media platforms from frustrated customers like myself who never received their packages. I also reiterate that I live in a large city in California, not a "remote area."

I first contacted BH about the status of my order on November 30, which was 8 days after I had placed my order. I knew that the Black Friday sales likely slowed everything down, but according to the previous language on the website, it would take "up to four business days" to process the order. And that time had passed.

I did not receive a response until December 4, at which point it had been 12 days since I placed my order, and it had not yet been shipped. BH asked me to wait an additional 2–3 business days to receive a tracking number.

So, I waited. And it never came.

Three days later (December 7), I contacted them again and asked about the status.

They never responded to me.

Finally, on December 19, which was 27 days after I placed my order, I contacted BH again to say that if I did not receive a tracking number, I was going to call my bank and dispute the charge as fraud.

ONLY THEN did BH respond to me, and they claimed that my package was "lost or stolen in transit."

My order—to this day—still says that it is "processing" (photo below). That order was never shipped, and they had not sent me a tracking number. So there was no way for it to be "lost or stolen in transit." The fact that they blatantly lied to me made the situation that much worse and made me feel like this is a company that I can no longer support.

The following day, BH processed my order (picture below), and they sent me a tracking number (so I know my original order was never shipped because they didn't send any tracking information). On December 21, they shipped the package to me (picture below). It was delivered the following day since I live in California, and BH is based in California.

I have detailed the entire experience below, complete with screenshots of all conversations I had with BH Cosmetics.

I feel confident to say that had I not told BH that I was going to claim fraud on my purchase, they never would have sent my product to me. I also feel confident that had I not consistently emailed them, they would not have rectified the problem on their own.

All BH social media comments during the past month were littered with complaints from people who had never received their orders and were lied to by customer service. BH has since deleted these comments.

BH never apologized to me more than a standard greeting, and they did not offer anything in the way of coupons or anything else to try and make up for their poor service or retain me as a customer.

I have never been treated so poorly and unprofessionally by a retailer. I have never been so blatantly lied to.

As a consumer, I was beyond frustrated. But as a person with a blog and a semblance of a voice in this area, I have to say that I can no longer recommend purchasing from BH Cosmetics. This was the first time I had ever purchased from BH during a sale, and every other time I purchased from them, I had a great experience. But this experience was so bad and so unprofessional that I would feel irresponsible recommending the brand to others.

It is understandable to be swamped with Black Friday sales. However, a brand (especially one that has been established for several years) should prepare for the high volume. Ignoring customers, lying to them, and falsely accusing postal services of losing or stealing a package that they know was never sent is pretty appalling and egregious customer service.

For screenshots and text of all conversations I had with BH Cosmetics, continue reading below.

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I placed the order on November 22, 2018:

(The above screenshot was taken today, December 30, 2018. As you can see, my order has never progressed from the "Processing" phase.)

On November 30, my order had not been shipped, so I wrote to customer service (through the website portal) and below is my message. Note: You can click on the image to view the message in higher quality.

"I placed an order 8 days ago on November 22, and my order still has not been shipped. Based on this website info:
'Most orders are shipped out within 1 - 2 business days, with many orders shipping out the same day. During high volume periods like the holidays and new product launches, there may be a delay up to 4 business days to process your order.'
My package should have been shipped to me yesterday at the latest, but it still has not. Can you please let me know the status of my order? This is a very long time to wait before the order has even been processed and shipped." 

BH Cosmetics replied on December 4 (4 days later):

"Thank you for your inquiry. We have recently experienced a high volume of orders, and we apologize for the delay. We are committed to getting your shipment out as soon as possible. Please allow 2-3 business days to receive a tracking number via email. Please note you also have an option to cancel the order. Please let us know your preference.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and sincerely appreciate your patience. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email."

I responded on the same day (December 4):

"I would like to receive the product that I paid for. However, given that your website says to allow UP TO 4 business days for an order to be processed during holidays and new product launches—and mine has been processing for 7 business days at this point and you're telling me to wait an additional 2–3 business days, bringing that to at least 10 business days—at the very least you need to update the information on your website. It is not only misleading, it is downright incorrect." 

They responded on the same day (December 4):

"Thank you for your email. We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us. Every BH Customer's opinion matters to us.
And once again...thanks!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reply to this email."

On December 7, which was three days later—and is when BH said the product would be shipped to me—it still had not been shipped. So, I sent another message:

"I was told (in this conversation) to wait an additional 2–3 business days for my purchase to be shipped. It has since been 4 business days, and I have not received a shipping notification. Can you please tell me when my item (which was purchased 10 business days ago) will be shipped?"

I received no response. So, I waited. No shipment and no response. 

Finally, on December 19, which was 27 days after I ordered this palette, I wrote to BH again and said that if I did not receive a shipping notification, I would have to contact my bank and dispute the charge as fraud:

"I still have not received my package or a shipping notification and I have not heard back from customer service despite multiple messages. I purchased this product 27 days ago and it is shipping to [redacted] CA, which is local to BH. The fact that my product has not been shipped is unacceptable. The fact that customer service will not respond to me is appalling. Please contact me immediately and let me know when my product will ship. Otherwise, I will be forced to contact my bank and dispute the charge as fraud since I never received my product." 

The following day (December 20), I received a response from BH, claiming that my package— for which I never received shipment or tracking information—was likely "lost or stolen in transit":

"Thank you for your email. It appears that your package may have been lost or stolen in transit. Fortunately, we do insure all of our packages. Please let us know if you would like to have your order reshipped or refunded.
If you would like a reshipment, please verify your shipping address. Simply reply to this email."

I responded the same day (December 20):

"Yes, I want my package that I paid for 28 days ago. It was not lost or stolen in transit because it was never shipped to me. On my order, it still says "processing." Please do not blame the USPS for BH Cosmetics' problems.
My shipping address should be in my order, and the order number is referenced in this email chain. I purchased the new Zodiac Love Signs palette. My address is:
[Redacted]
If I do not receive a shipping notification with tracking in two days, I will call my bank and claim fraud on this order." 

BH responded the same day (December 20):

"Thank you for contacting us. Per your request we will be reshipping your order. We appreciate your patience.

You should receive a new tracking number within 2 business days

If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to reply to this email."

The package was then processed the same day (December 20), and on my receipt, it said that was the day my order was placed, not November 22:

My package was shipped the following day (December 21):

Weekly Looks: BH Cosmetics Zodiac and Singles

I've had an interesting revelation over the past few weeks, which is that for all the time I spent obsessing over eyeshadow palettes, looking up swatches, and watching reviews—and all the money I have burned buying them—I really just don't like many of them.

In every palette I own, there are colors that I don't like and don't use. There was a series going around YouTube for a while were people talked about their least favorite shadows in every palette. Because it is impossible for a brand to put out a palette where every single person will love every single shade. And it is also very rare to come across a pre-made palette where you love every single shadow and wouldn't change anything about the color story.

And I noticed that in the palettes that I have duped or put together myself, I don't typically have a least favorite shadow because I replace any shade I don't like with one that I do.

Because of this, I've been using my palettes less and less and favoring my singles or palettes I've made myself. But toward the end of this week, I used an old favorite and was reminded of how how great—and rare!—it is to find a palette you really love.

Here are six looks I did this week.

Look 1: Fyrinnae Aztec Gold

Lid: Aztec Gold

Transition: Viseart matte warm brown

Crease: Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear

Inner corner: Make Up For Ever Pearl

Brow bone: Viseart matte white

Lower lash line: Aztec Gold

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Fyrinnae's Aztec Gold is one of my absolute top favorite shadows and one of the most unique in my collection. It has been a while since I used this shadow (mainly because I haven't been doing as many "neutral" looks), but as soon as I put this on, I was kicking myself for not using it more often. I just love this shadow and think it completely complements my warm-toned olive skin. 

Look 2: Duped The Wants

Lid: Makeup Geek Mai Tai

Transition: Costal Scents Petal Peach

Crease: Viseart shimmer purple

Outer corner: Coloured Raine Queen Mother

Inner corner: Make Up For Ever Pearl

Brow bone: Viseart matte white

Lower lash line: Ardency Inn Violet

This was an experiment, and I liked the look more in theory than in application. I really liked Mai Tai paired with Violet, but the Viseart shimmery purple in the crease made the look a little too warm-toned than I was wanting. 

Look 3: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Cancer shimmer

Transition: Virgo matte

Crease: Cancer matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Taurus matte

I pulled out BH Cosmetics Zodiac by the middle of the week and immediately remembered how much I love it. I wanted to use some shadows that I hadn't used before, so I started with the Cancer shimmer. This isn't typically a color that I reach for, but I absolutely loved it paired with the lilac shades. The Virgo matte shade is easily one of my favorite shadows in the palette and most loved transition color, and I enjoyed how it gave a little warmth to an otherwise cool look.  

Look 4: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Capricorn shimmer

Center of lid: Center highlight

Transition: Aquarius matte

Crease: Capricorn matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Capricorn matte

This was also a look that I loved, though I partially wish that I would not have used the center highlight shade in the middle of my lid. I thought it was going to be more light-reflective and transformative, but it ended up making the olive look a little too gold. This was the most "neutral" of all the looks I did with this palette, but I still thought it was interesting and pretty. 

Look 5: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Aries shimmer

Transition: Virgo matte

Crease: Cancer matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Taurus matte

This look is a bit similar to one I've done before, but I typically use a blue with a lot of gold in it instead of one that is more cool-toned. I received a ton of compliments on this look, and people told me that they felt it really showed off my eye color. I found that interesting because if I want my eyes to stand out, I usually wear gold or olive colors, but I appreciated the compliments. I felt a bit like a mermaid when I wore this look, which is never a bad thing. 

Look 6: BH Cosmetics Zodiac 

Lid: Taurus shimmer (applied wet)

Transition: Virgo matte

Crease: Gemini matte

Outer corner: Taurus matte

Inner corner: Center highlight

Brow bone: Center highlight

Lower lash line: Taurus matte

For this look, I was inspired by the Taurus section of the palette, which has a shimmery champagne and a dark purple matte. I knew that I didn't want the look to be overly dark, so I went with a cool-toned lavender in the crease and darkened that with the deeper purple in the outer corner. This is a look that feels neutral to me but also bright and colorful, which I love. 

I'm glad to have "rediscovered" my BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette this week, and I feel confident to say that if I did a complete purge of all of my pre-made eyeshadow palettes (which I might do!), this would be one that would stay. 

This is also why I personally was so disappointed in the Makeup Revolution Emily Edit: The Wants palette. About the formula and quality, I've heard so many people say, "What do you expect from a $20 palette??"

Well, THIS is what I expect. 

I expect rich pigment, metallic shimmers, smooth mattes, and saturated looks. I bought BH Cosmetics Zodiac for $24, but at the time of writing this post, it is on sale for $18. This palette, I think, has phenomenal quality, and this is what I meant when I said that I was not going to spend time to make shadows in The Wants palette work when I already own great shadows that perform well on their own (even those from less expensive brands). 

This palette is such a winner for me, and I still love it close to a year after I bought it. 

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