Scammed...

For those who know me, you would know that I am one to never keep my hairstyle the same for too long. I get bored and go off to my hair salon to do something… ANYTHING to make it different!! So here begins my horrible drama-fo-yo-mama deal.

Since we live near the Lakewood Mall, Rico and I would frequent there.

During one of our visits, a man by the name of Rafael approached me. He worked for a kiosk named “Elite Extensions” made by Herstyler. He sold these clip-in hair extensions. And of course, being the person who buys wigs and gets extensions, I immediately loved the idea of these clip-in extensions because then I can change up my hairstyle whenever I pleased!

Rafael razzle-dazzled me as he put in the clip-in extensions of real human hair. My hair looked long and it was so fun and different! I liked it! However, at that time, Rico and I had to pass up on the deal because it was something that we couldn’t afford at the time. So Rafael gave me a business card with the hair colors that were more appropriate for my hair and his name.

Well, since it’s getting close to our wedding date, I was trying to figure out what kind of hair style I wanted. Jenny told me I should go with something that I will look back from the future and not think “Oh god, wth was I thinking when I picked that hair!?” Well with my current hairstyle, I don’t think I could possibly style it to make me not say that… so I remembered the hair extensions! Rico agreed that it wasn’t a bad idea.

So on Sunday, January 25, 2009, we went back over to the Lakewood Mall so that I could finally purchase those clip-in hair extensions… Only to find that the kiosk was gone! It no longer existed!! Rico and I walked around just a little bit just to make sure it was really gone. I was a little disappointed but then I remembered that a new location recently opened up inside the Cerritos Mall near Macy’s.

So we rushed over there and found it. The girl who helped us was Illianna. I took out the business card I had from Rafael and she looked at it and said “Oh… yeah. They shut down because they were caught selling fake hair.”

I was in shock! Rafael told me it was real hair and he was able to use a flat iron on it! I know that fake hair cannot withstand the heat of flat/curling irons… so I asked her “They can make synthetic hairs that can style like real hair?”

“Yeah, they can.” She replied.

“Well that sucks.” I commented.

“Also, he was telling everyone who bought from them that they can exchange at any location but the truth is you can only exchange it from the location you bought your product from… but our manager, Shiran, is very nice and she’s trying to accommodate everyone who bought from them because she feels bad.” She added.

“Oh… is that right? Okay.” I shrugged it off.

She had me sit down on the chair and then she proceeded to put the clip-in extensions in my hair that was made from real human hair.

I really liked it… I mean… I REALLY, REALLY liked it.

I loved the idea of being able to change my look with so much ease with just these clip-in extensions.

So she told me the cost was $270 after tax for one box of hair which came with 7 pieces. ( I needed two because I have so much hair.)

I asked her if she could do it for $500 if I paid cash.

Illianna then said she would call her manager to verify. She called and asked her manager, Shiran, and she Okayed the price for $500.

So she wrote out on a one of these really generic, carbon paper receipt books for a receipt. In the fields located on the receipt all she put was her name and for the address: Cerritos. On the description, she put the hair color that I bought and the price.

That was it… that was my receipt.

She then attached the receipt to my “warranty” paper with tape because she was out of staples. She also gave me a business card and put her name and phone number on the backside of the card and put it with the “warranty” paper.

She then proceeded to explain that the paper was my “warranty” paper and I just needed to bring it in with the receipt and that I would have a 5 year warranty at the Cerritos location. I nodded and handed over the cash.

When I got in the car and drove off, I noticed that I she also gave me another business card that was blank on the back and that I still had the old one from Rafael. I looked at both and compared them side-by-side and noticed that they had the exact same phone number… It was so weird to me that Illianna told me that the Lakewood mall’s kiosk was shut down for shady, unethical business and yet the Cerritos Location and the Lakewood Location share the same number.

So on Monday, I proceeded to check online for information on the company and even visited the manufacturer’s website, http://herstyler.com.

Herstyler, the manufacturer of the Elite Extensions clip-in hair extension only has a 1 year warranty. So I Googled the company and found nothing by complaints and bad reviews on the company from different cities and states.

What made me feel really scammed were not the reviews….

I was rather upset after reading the reviews and was trying not to think about it… but last night, a feeling kept nagging at me so I woke up and took out the “warranty” paper with the receipt and business card. I looked over the paper and tried to find something… anything written about a warranty.

And I found nothing about a warranty at all on that piece of “warranty” paper. Instead I found myself reading about how to care for my product and also why Elite Extension is the way to go. I couldn’t even find the manufacturer’s warranty disclaimer…

Whether the hair is real or not isn’t the case… to me it’s the principle of the matter. How can I believe that the particular kiosk that sold me the hair will be there even a year from now, none the less 5 year from now… Especially when Illianna told me that I can’t get my 5 year warranty granted at any other location…?

So today, Rico and I will go back to the mall and ask for a refund. Simply put, I am not satisfied with the product nor am I satisfied with the business morals and ethics of the company.

If they refuse then we will take it to the small claims court.

*Sigh*

Why am I such a dummy and fall for these infomercial-esque deals so easily?

And with this... this is why I feel as if I got completed scammed.

Note: I should add that the salesgirl, Illianna never mentioned anything, not once, about a return policy, nor did she explain it to me, have me sign anything about me understanding their return policy nor was it anywhere on the papers she gave to me after I made my purchase. She never said "Exchanges Only" or "All Sales are Final"...

One thing she did mention is that they will exchange out the hair if I dye my hair or my hair color changes to match my current hair color... no questions asked.

So yeah... One can only hope...