Customer Complaints?

[SoapDiva]

Hi all,

This is embarassing, :embarasse but I need to get some wisdom from you all.

There is a lady in town that has been claiming that my body butter "burned" her. She also states that either herself or her "friend" had heart palpitations after using my product (I'm getting this 3/4/5th hand...). I don't know yet which product she used or any other information, I plan on calling her this afternoon and meeting with her so I can hear this from her first hand.

I'm in a small town, so info like this is like the telephone game. It's also very hard to discern if the source of the information is reliable. The person I heard it from tends to be a bit wild and crazy with the truth most of the time.

On one hand I have a hard time beleiving that my product hurt someone, one would think that I would have more simular complaints if I were doing something wrong. Oh geeze, I'm upset about this.

I suspect that the "burning" was actually just very dry skin as she ONLY had that sensation on her thighs. She used the butter everywhere else with no problems. If it had been a "reaction" of the product, it would have been all over, same goes with an allergic one. As for her "friend", I need to get her information and talk to her as well because IMO she needs to see a doctor. I have a hard time thinking it was a product and more likely timing. If indeed this person exists.

I know that before I started making my own butters, most creams would "sting" the backs of my hands - that was just life for me. Since then I haven't personally had that experience.

I ALWAYS follow the FO/EO guidelines. Should I contact the maker of the FO to let them know? What about the company of the base that I used?

What do/would you guys do in a situation like this?

HELP!

:embarasse

[Kelly]

Until you get some actual facts from these people I don't really know what you can do to be honest. I wish I had some better advice for you, but you need to deal with facts and not 3rd and 4th hand stories.

They should discontinue use and see their physcian if itching or redness persists.

Best of luck to you. Hang in there!

~Kelly

[RobinInOR]

Get the information first hand, and if necessary refund her money if indeed she did have a reaction. I wouldn't contact the base manufacturer or the FO manufacturer - they won't do anything anyway. Everyone's skin is different, and it is totally possible that it would be fine on an arm but not on a leg. A butter shouldn't sting. Maybe ask her about any allergies and see if you can figure out what she is sensitive to. Then she'll have the knowledge to avoid other products.

[dovestudios]

The only thing I can think of is if she had just shaved her legs then put the butter on. I sting if I put anything with fragrance oils on my skin after I have shaved. I also can't use any frgrance oil on my face in any product or it stings. Oddly I am ok with essential oils on my face and if I have just shaved my legs.

For the friend, it sounds like a coincidence. Maybe she had just had a double latte and her heart was starting to jump just as she applied the product.

I hope it all turns out well for you. You get get very far with a little concern and a refund, but some people enjoy the attention they get while complaining.

Donna

[LynnS]

Yes talk to both first.Also I am sure you check on the SKIN SAFE FO's.Sounds like you have been testing on yourself too.A slight problem at first but now fine.

I always make sure Skin Safe and have read that cinnamon is not to be used.Like Apple Pie is spicey and other cinnamon scents.Then I read where you can use some cinnamon that are SAFE. Just have to check.I prefer not to use anything with spice or cinnamon.Just want to be safe.It may not bother some and is tested to be skin safe but I will stick with the mild florals and the many other choices.

As for the heart palipitations.I suffer from those but take one pill a day for over 26 years.Not many problems now.Some scents will bother me and also some cleaning things.Hot Buttered Rum is the worse and even my husband cannot take that.I thought after making it I might be able to use it on my candlewarmer.Didn't work.I had to shut it off immedieatly. Again talk to both but for the heart problem that lady just might already have heart palipitations and maybe it was the scent that made it act up.That could happen.If I haven't taken my pill and it is about time I can get a slight fast beat but not like I used to.Now it can be 90(not bad) but before being diagnosed my heart beat once was 120 beats a minute.Very scary I must say.

LynnS

[sockmonkey]

At this point I don't think it would do you any good to contact a manufacturer about their products. From what I gather, this lady has not confronted you directly, which I find odd.

If I have a reaction, I will contact the manufacturer, not gossip to the town about it. If a manufacturer contacted me, I would be alarmed--it seems to indicate they know there is a problem or a potential problem. If you have not received complaints from anyone else I wouldn't contact her about the gossip you have heard.

But, be prepared if she contacts you. Be ready to tell her it's the first complaint you've received and that you can't imagine what caused her reaction.

Ask her if she's had reactions to other skin care products (she may or may not lie about it). If she says yes, then tell her there's probably a common ingredient that she's allergic to. Ask her if she knows what she's allergic to. Tell that although to your knowledge no one has experienced an allergic reaction to YOUR products, your research into lotion ingredients indicates that things like lanolin, parabens, etc., are the most common offenders. At that point you can review your ingredient list with her to see if any of those ingredients are in your lotion.

If she says she's never had a reaction, tell her that some people simply have skin that is more sensitive than others--especially during colder months when skin is drier, more taught and prone to small cracks

[blazerina]

My sister is a bit of a health nut, not exactly a fanatic but she definitely trys hard to live a healthy (pure) life. She is convinced- because she has researched it and experienced it herself with enough pedictability that her body reacts to - I beleive it's the parbens. She says they mess with her hormones and cause her to palpitate... and she just starts to feel sluggish and yucky overall...IF she uses them repeatedly. But she will still use something that has them in it if it intrigues her enough . If someone gifts it to her for instance or she just can't resist the smell or affect she will use it/buy it. But you would have to be VERY allergic to parabens or such to have instant reactions like that, as they are said to 'build up'. And we all know that sooooooooo many things have them in it- it would be extremely difficult to pinpoint unless she was willing to make a lifestyle change.

When/if you get the chance to talk to her, ask if she still has any of the offending product. If she has it, tell her you will refund her and that you need the product back so that you can inspect it and check it for problems. (which really just means sniff it, give it a good look over and maybe try it on yourself a bit- you need to be confident that you are aware one way or the other of if there is an issue or not.) Either way, if she doesn't have it- or even if she does.... tell her you would love the opportunity to make it right with her and offer her free samples of anything else you make so that she can find something that works for her with out the risk of committing to a full size product that she can't use. There is nothing wrong with playing into the falsity of her delusion if in fact thats what it is, - as long as you play on the 'people can be allergic to so many things and everyone's chemistry is so different' angle...most likely as someone already said, she just wants attention for it and if you hear her out and if she feels you are willing to bend over backwards to 'make it right' she will have a hard time finding something negative to say about you/your product. Since it is a small town, I would think it is worth it to salvage each and every customer that you can. It's easier for me to say than to do, I hate kissing butt, lol... but I at least do realize you will get so much farther that way and it helps keep the drama at bay. I've lived in small towns alllll my life- I know how all that goes, lol. So I say just be the ever so concerned crafter and seek her out to pucker up, 'because you care.' Which is the truth right?

[cindym]

Also check and see if the base has Urea in it. Some people have a sensitivity to that as well. I won't use bases with this ingredient in it because of that. It bothers my skin for some reason.

[sockmonkey]

Here's a question: Do you have insurance?

[SoapDiva]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. I havent been able to reach her yet as she is apparently out of town.

Do I have insurance? Yes and no. My insurance carrier knows that I have a home based business. They will not cover me for the "goods" but will carry for liability. No one can buy from me, from home. But I can leave the house and sell someone something.

The only reason I can get that much is that they were already covering me before I started this business.

I'm in Canada and I talked to my local supplier after I had been turned down by every company I called. According to her (who has been a soaper/bb maker for 20 years) no one will cover me. Our laws state that if I were to be sued, the other person would have to prove that I went out of my way to hurt them. I've tried to verify this, but I get all different answers from insurance companies.

I've talked to other soapers out there doing the circuit and they all tell me that they can't carry insurance either. Crazy. Or they were stonewalling me.

The odd thing, is that I can get insurance to cover the car I take to shows, so that my product is covered there.

(If there are any canadian soapers reading this, and you have insurance, please let me know who your carrier is)

[SoapDiva]

Geeze I hate gossip!

I finally talked to her last night. She told me that she has trouble with fragrances, and dosent wear perfume (which, I wonder then why she chose THAT scent - Chinese Osmanthus) because of it. She said that she felt a burning/tingling on the tops of her thighs and had to wash it off.

She also said that she had tried it everywhere else, and had been using it a lot, but hadn't put it on her thighs.

I told her that I thought it was best to discontinue use of it, and I would exchange her a Goats Milk Butter. She said she wants to keep it though as she likes the scent and will only use it on her hands. I will give her the GM butter anyway. She said she was convinced that it was just the sensitivity coming through.

About the heart palpitation thing. She said it was a woman in town that is heavy into MK stuff and the woman said that she had been having trouble over the SUMMER (she bought my butter in November) as well and that she wasn't sure what had caused the HP. So, I think it was a timming thing. She wouldn't tell me WHO it was, which makes me think it was BS. I told her to tell her to see a doctor immediately and discontinue use. Again, I think it was just talk.