Why are beauty salon owners complaining?
When the beauty industry has an issue with a beauty product, the response is often the same: “I’m not buying it!
I just want a refund!
I don’t want my money!”
It’s a familiar refrain, and the industry has been under fire for decades.
But, what if beauty salon owner Julie Cramer thinks she is a victim?
“I was actually told by a former customer who was disappointed with my product,” she said.
“She was concerned about her skin, that it had been damaged and had caused her dry skin, and she had told me she didn’t want the product.”
That customer, however, wasn’t a customer of a beauty salon.
Rather, she was a customer with a similar problem.
Ms Cramer had spent years researching the industry and was confident she knew what she was getting into when she chose to sell a product she had heard of before.
She had researched the ingredients and the brand and knew that they were safe.
But then, when the store she worked at stopped selling the product, she said she decided to take her concerns to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC).
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is the federal agency that is responsible for regulating the retailing and advertising of cosmetics, as well as regulating food and drug safety.
The ACCC has a very strong stance on cosmetic products and believes that consumers have a right to know what is in their cosmetics and the risks associated with them.
So Ms Cernkreis decision to go public was not a surprise.
“I felt like I had to do something about it,” she explained.
“We’re not trying to be sneaky here.
We are taking the consumer’s safety very seriously.”
She says she’s not alone.
In the past year, the ACCC and other consumer organisations have been contacted by more than 300 people who have contacted them about cosmetics they have purchased or used in the past six months.
“Our contact point has been in more than 70 per cent of our customers’ consumer accounts,” Ms Cermack said.
That means she knows that many of them may be upset and have been misled.
“The fact that it’s an Australian consumer and not a customer overseas has made us feel that there’s a level of concern about the safety of cosmetics in Australia,” she says.
“This has prompted us to go to these customers and try to talk to them and get their feedback and let them know that they should be concerned.”
The company is working to provide a refund to those customers who have received a product that does not meet their expectations.
“These are the kinds of things that can cause people to feel a little bit upset,” Ms Fauci said.
The cosmetic industry is known for its high turnover and high turnover costs.
The cosmetics industry is a major source of revenue for the Australian economy.
“There is a lot of pressure on the industry from consumers and people in the media and consumers in general,” Ms Egan said.
But consumers can also choose to have their concerns taken seriously by taking action.
“If you want to get a refund, you should be able to do that,” Ms Koechlin said.
This is where the beauty world needs to take a more proactive approach.
“You need to have your own research.
You need to look at the ingredients, and you need to be aware of the potential risks.
You should take that information to the authorities and let people know about it.”
Ms Fausco agrees.
“Consumer protection is about ensuring consumers are aware of their rights and responsibilities,” she told news.com.au.
“In this case, the beauty product was not marketed in a way that consumers could have been deceived and that they might be affected by the product.
It was marketed as a safe product, and that’s why it’s been so successful for so many years.”
She believes there needs to be an awareness campaign and more awareness on the risks that are associated with cosmetics.
“When consumers think they’re going to be duped, they will take the risk,” Ms Molloy said.
