Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Aromaleigh and Customer Service.....a Story of hope

I thought I'd tell you all my Aromaleigh story in regards to customer service.  This has to go WAYYYYYY Back though to start.  Let me take you back......

Way back in '03 I think it was I saw a Bare Escentials Infomercial.  It totally appealed to me because I have sensitive, acne prone, oily skin that's very finicky and I wanted to try something more natural.  Then I saw the price and decided to research online mineral makeup companies instead.  One of the first ones I found was Aromaleigh, and all her colors and the fact that Kristen doesn't use Bismuth Oxychloride in her powders (Makes me itch and more sensitive) drew my eye.  I researched other companies though in case I found something else as well, but eventually decided to give Aromaleigh a try.  So I placed my first order and promptly fell in love. 

At first I was Exclusively Aromaleigh.  Pretty soon I had a veritable collection going.  Eyeshadows, Eyeliners, Foundations, Primers, Glow powders, Blushes, and lippies when she offered them.  Aromaleigh covered my acne scars, took care of the oilies, and didn't bother my sensitive skin for the most part.  I still have to be careful of primers even now; occasionally a primer, depending on what is in it, will bother my skin.  Anyway, I was a staunch defender of Aromaleigh against those that had said at the time that they had Customer Service issues....I hadn't experienced it for myself at all, only good CS anytime I had an order issue. 

Then the bad CS experience.

Bear with me; this isn't a bashing Aromaleigh story....quite the opposite.  I hope my story gives some of those out there hope that things have been corrected now on the CS front.  I'm a staunch AL lover, and a staunch AL defender, and although I'm not exclusively AL now I'm darn close.  Let me finish my story for you but I wanted to clarify that point.

My bad experience happened....Oh, I don't know....maybe in '07?  Around that time.  First of all, my bad experience wasn't with Kristen herself, it was with a now former employee....the very same employee that a veritable truckload of people had customer service issues with.  The issue I had with her?  Honestly I don't remember now, it's been so long, but I'm fairly sure it had to do with attitude.  I do remember I contacted her with an issue about an order and she got attitude with me, but I don't remember specifics.  LOL I can sometimes overreact to things like that, at least at that time I did, and I overreacted then.  But even though I now realize I probably overreacted, at the time my feelings were very real to me and I was not a happy camper.  However, as was my wont at the time to avoid issues rather than confronting them (I'm much better about that now) instead of contacting Kristen and giving her a chance to help me through the problem I just stopped ordering from AL. 

So I was on the search for a new company to buy my makeup from.  I tried any number of them and none of them had the quality of products that Aromaleigh does, and I never did find a good match for my skin in them.  I got close, but just not that HG that everyone looks for.  I even had my moments of going back to liquid makeup because I was so frustrated. 

Fast forward to this past fall.....during some online searching I came across some blogger's blogs with mineral makeup posts and it whetted my appetite for more.  So I decided to search for a new company again.....and kept coming across posts about AL.  All the beautiful looks made me want to check out the site again, which I did....and so I thought "WHAT was that reason I stopped buying???? Oh yeah....CS issues....." But in ruminating over my experience up to that point with AL I realized I probably overreacted and so I decided to try Kristen's stuff again.  I started by dropping her an email to say hi, and told her I'd soon be placing an order.  I also emailed the former employee as well...so imagine my surprise when Aromaleigh Steve emailed me instead.  Aromaleigh Steve is the customer service BOMB......he's so awesome!  He welcomed me back and said if there was anything he could do to drop him a line.  Then Kristen herself emailed me (one thing I love about AL is the personal touches.....Kristen didn't have to take time out of her busy day to email me personally but she did) as well.  I placed a new order....then another....then another and I haven't looked back.

I've had a few small issues with orders....most notably getting a shipping notice that said it was sent the wrong carrier, which Steve answered and took care of for me promptly.  Like so promptly that it surprised me actually.  Since coming back to AL I've had nothing but good experiences again.  I'm happy to be back and proud to say I'm an Aromaleigh Afficionada.  Anyone who asks me what makeup I use gets led to the Aromaleigh site. 

So the moral of the story is this......SOMETIMES THINGS WORK OUT FOR THE BEST IN THE END.  I went looking for greener pastures....and realized in the journey that the greenest pastures were right under my nose.

So I hope my story gives some of you hope who have had those similar experiences in the past, that it's been taken care of now....and it's time to start grazing in those green pastures. 

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