Here’s a novel way for Mary Kay consultants to get rid of those old, expired products: put them all in a basket and raffle them off at a home show!
Here’s a story I received from one of our visitors:
On 4/18/10 I attended a Home & Garden Trade Show. There was a Mary Kay Booth set up by an Mk Rep, where she was raffling away a Mary Kay Basket. One of the team members of this Rep called me on 4/21/10 and turns out I was the winner of that
basket. I picked up my basket and When I got home I did that first thing a girl that just won make up would do start playing with it,well when I inspected the products I noticed one of the lotions was rancind, seperated and smelled really bad. I then got suspicious that these products are old and I called the the Mary Kay corporate head quarters 1-800 – Mary- Kay and explained my suspicion Emma the Customer Service Rep asked me for the 4 digit product code on each item and what we found was that half of the products were indeed expired. She explained to me that these products only had a shelf life of three years from the manufacture date and then they go bad. These are the results.Mary Kay Affection LotionKF31 – 2006 MAY (expired 2009)
Shower GelKH05 – 2006 JUNE (expired 2009)Private Spa Collection Embrace Harmony
Mist KM31 – 2006 August (expired 2009)
Lotion DC27 – 2003 March (expired 2006)Creamy Cheek Color FT27 – 2004 October (expired 2007)
Downtown Dazzle Color Collection – HC10 – 2005 March (expired 2008)
The customer rep then told me that their Demonstrators are not supposed to give away or sell old products that are old that they need to be claimed as a lost and that MK rep needs to exchange them for fresh product for me. She asked me
for the information of the lady that raffled the basket away and found that she is a Director for the company. The customer service rep takes my information down and tells me she is going to call MK rep and have Mk Rep contact me. I get
a call back from the Mary Kay HQ and tells me they talked to the MK Rep who denies knowing me. The Mary Kay HQ Customer service tells me there is nothing they can do for me since they don’t control the Directors or any of their
consultants.I do feel that they should be held accountable and replace the products for me since their Director is representing and using the Mary Kay name and knowingly gave products that are old and expired and could be potential health risk.
And what about this whole god first, family second career third. She sure as heck wasn’t acting godly by giving away old products. And then to top it all of her Rep is still calling me to have a facial done.
That is funny! Dude you just left the most horrible impression on me and you still want me to give you the time of day.So now all I have is a basket because the products were useless and had to be thrown away. LOL
Any Mary Kay Consultant is able to exchange those products and give you new ones and all that is required is your signature. She then returns them to head office and gets new replacement product for what she gave to you. If you are in Canada, I will exchange them for you. If you are in the US, go to http://www.marykay.com and use the consultant locator OR ask the consultant who keeps calling you to exchange them.
We’re not all shady, cheap business women. I’m sorry you were treated badly.
Angela
While this is true, who the heck wants to take the time to do this?! She “WON” a basket of outdated products because the consultant herself was lazy and selfish. Why should the “winner” have to hunt down a consultant to make it right? Ridiculous.
And if I hear the “all consultants/directors aren’t all like (fill in your favorite adjective or descriptive phrase) I may scream. No one is making blanket statements, they’re sharing experiences.
It is a shame that that happened to you. Unfortunately, there are some women who are not honest Mary Kay consultants. I definitely would not do something so selfish and lazy. I am very honest with my customers. I hope that your problem gets resolved, and that you can find an honest consultant such as myself.
I had the exact thing happen to me. I didnt know it until I read this post but I bought a gift bag at a make up and face care booth at a market. I just looked at my product and it expired in 2005 if my eyes are not fooling me!!!!!! I cannot believe that someone would be so irresponsible. I wonder if what I have used could be dangerous to my skin and I would love to have the product only fresh! I looked for a name on it and I dont see one. Big suprise huh? This is my second negative experience with Mary Kay and I am beginning to wonder about the comapny and those who work for it!
Hi Diane,
I think your case would be a little different since you actually PAID for the product. I would call the company and talk to them about the issue. Were you given a receipt? Consultants are not supposed to be able to sell their product at a show so they are already in violation of their contract. The number is 1-800-627-9529 according to the website for you to contact the company directly. Also, just to give benefit of doubt, but are you sure it’s expired? Mary Kay uses codes on the bottom of their product and it doesn’t make sense if you don’t have a way of converting the code so it might not actually be expired. You could post the code here and I’ll be glad to check if the codes are for fresh or expired product.
The codes are posted here too, you can actually check yourself.
Interesting story! It just goes to show you how MK directors can be and I will bet that she trains her recruits the same way. MKC as usual dropped the ball on this one. I thought that if you can’t find your original consultant then you contact MKC and they do the product return themselves? What’s up with that? Also do the products all have her name on them? I agree with LJ that you shouldn’t have to do all of this work but I would get it in writing that this director was at the show and document everything and send copies to MKC and let them know that you will be sending copies to the FTC, BBB and anyone else who will listen! MKC needs to reprimand this director and make it right to you!
Great post, Cat…and some very good ideas!
That is not the Mary Kay way! I’m sorry that happened to you and I’m really surprised that it was not made right. Any product that my customers buy from me will always be fresh product! http://www.marykay.com/sherrypedroza you always can request that consultant mail it through customer service, which comes right from the company. I would be happy to help anyone that needs product
Oops, I used my real name above! HA!
I fixed the name it WWIT 🙂
It is a terrible thing for this to happen. I would definatley do what Angela Bobier said, and return it to her. Wish more people were like her… the world would be a better place!
This is horrible!! I just realized about the expiration dates….. I was a buyer of MK, but I’m not thinking of changing to another brand where I can purchase directly from the store.
Just to let you know about the expiration/shelf life of cosmetics. It is an industry standard for products to have a shelf life of 3 years unless the product has sunscreen in it. If it does have sunscreen it should have an expiration date printed on the product per FDA regulation & usually expires w/in 1 year. It doesn’t matter if you are buying Mary Kay, Cover Girl, Avon, MAC, Clinque or any other brand out there.
Mascara should also be thrown out 3 months after 1st use, regardless of brand.
Was there a label on the products with her personal information? Happened to me, I just know for future reference I will buy products on line or from a different company
I am so sorry this has happened to anyone. I recently started with Mary Kay & a new customer to me asked me to exchange a product she had gotten that was expired from her last consultant. I did because it’s only right. Some people just don’t think about the old saying “Treat others as you’d like to be treated”
This is interesting information. I just recently became a Mary Kay Consultant and my Director gave me the same advice above. She said all the old product I still had from my first Mary Kay experience had expired, but I could write off as a tax deduction and give away as gifts. This was a telephone conversation that I didn’t record, so it would be my word against hers if it ever became public information.
During my first go at this, I was a new mother and unable to find babysitters for less than $12 an hour, if at all, when living in Colorado Springs. This basically means you cannot attend Mary Kay meetings, per Mary Kay’s rules, but not according to my new Director. She said she takes her baby with her everywhere. This is posted on-line and I will mention this to her.
Last week, after several weeks reconsidering the initial investment, I decided to purchase inventory of $600 – not the family jewel I purchased the first time around. I thought I would give Mary Kay a second chance. It wasn’t the company’s fault, but a misinformed Director and possibly my own for not doing my own research. She still is my Director, and I will mention this to her.
With the most recent experience, I had placed a call to the legal department after attending my first Mary Kay meeting because one of the women was dipping a new cosmetic applicator brush in the powder from the powder holder and then applying this to a person’s face. To me, I thought the powder should have been emptied from the holder into something else for hygiene purposes. Additionally, when I asked this person if she recommended microdermabrasion to someone w/acne, she said absolutely. Advice from the Mary Kay web site recommends advising customers to consult their doctor first for skin conditions.
After reading and posting this message, I will make my second call to the Mary Kay legal department (the first call I didn’t hear anything for several days and never did connect w/them) to get clarification on what Mary Kay is responsible for in terms of legal obligations Directors have to their new consultants that are their trainees.
The Mary Kay Guarantee is that you can return the product back minus the shipping with a letter of explanation, if you are unhappy for any reason. You cannot sell Mary Kay again after doing this. You do, however, lose what you have invested.
I’m sorry to the guest and winner of the basket. I have a booth at a Home & Garden Show every year for the last 10 years. I’m not a director, but someday it would be nice. My basket giveaways are usually worth $50 dollars and are filled with Satin Hands sets, and a gift cert for the difference. We also offer a $50 gift cert. The winner gets to choose. We offer our services of a facial, and a makeover to everyone that enters the giveaway.
Its bad that there are many out there that are not well trained, or informed. The 3-yr self life thing, I have always thought it was a scam from the company, to make consultants purchase more and move their products faster. I try hard to do whats right. The new technology is what kicks my tushy. I like to be face to face or talk on the phone. Texting is really for the birds. What happened to customer service with out dollar signs?
Anyway I’m sorry the winner got a bad deal, from the director and the company.
Although I never used Mary Kay myself, my morhee used it for 16 years or more until she came across Artistry cosmetics and skin care. They are a prestige line from Amway. They guarenttee their products for 180 days and no letter of explanation needed. Just call whether bottles are empty and get your money back or a new product of choice. Anyways my mom switched cosmetic companies after trying Artistry, which is all organic by the way and the official sponsor of Miss America. Plus, there are NO mandatory meetings to attend. For more info contact me at nancyperez319@hotmail.com.
Artistry is NOT all organic. I don’t know where you got that information from, but it is a bald faced lie. If you sell Amway and market your products that way, you really need to take a look at yourself for misleading your customers.
Hi Kimberly, Thank you for posting this! I got bullied by Mary Kay regarding quality control and shelf-life. If there is anyway to talk to you to know more regarding your experience and if it go resolved I would highly appreciate it. Please email me if all possible.