Mini Fragrance Direct Haul & Rant

My haul was not so mini but it reached me as one...

OPI, Essie and a 10% discount are what pulled me to finally place my order at Fragrance Direct. I had read mixed reviews about them, many, mostly from UK raved about their dirt-cheap prices and discounted high-end/highstreet products especially perfumes and nail polishes. Non-UK buyers had some issues of delivery and packaging.

I was way too tempted with the nail polishes and decided to go ahead especially after seeing a Fragrance Direct Haul almost everyday. They were having a 10% discount on the day I finally decided to place an order. Unfortunately, there weren’t many Essie nail colours in stock so I quenched my nail polish thirst with some extra OPIs.

I ordered a total of 8 items, one of them added in the end just to avail the free shipping. Their shipping to Germany is more than a few pennies and I hate paying shipping charges, unless I more than desperately want something.

When the order came, yes, it was not very safely packed, everything was thrown in the box considering it had some nail polishes. Thankfully it reached me in one piece and I was excited at the thought of finally hoarding some OPIs and Calvin Kleins. I was quite bummed to find three whole items missing in my order even when they were marked in the order receipt. One missing items might have been acceptable, but THREE was quite disappointing and made me skeptical about their whole service. Sadly for me, the missing items were those I was most looking forward to, one of them being a Calvin Klein lipstick.

I emailed them, and I don’t know if I am wrong here, but the right thing for their customer service to do was too re-ship those items if they were in stock and two of them WERE. Or I at least expected a li’l extra compensation, since it was a mistake not a technical error or something. I may sound ungrateful, considering the fact that they refunded me the amount of those missing products but even if I re-ordered I would have had to pay about a frickin' 6.50 EUR of shipping charges or once again bring my total to their valid-for-free-shipping amount, neither of which were agreeable options. In reply to my emails, they kept saying that they have refunded and now could not re-ship or provide a free shipping code.

For simply the trouble and disappointment I had to go through, I am no longer so keen on buying from Fragrance Direct. No doubt, their prices are tempting but I feel their shipping to outside of UK is not well managed.

Well, enough of my rant. Let’s move on to what I ordered and what I received.

I got:

Calvin Klein Nail Polish in ‘Navy Sparkle’ - €2.33

OPI Nail Polish in ‘Dutch Just Love OPI’ - €4.67

OPI Nail Polish in ‘The Colour of Minnie’ - €4.67

Dainty Doll Cream Blusher in ‘Orange County’ - €2.33

Jergens Natural Ultra Hydrating Hand Cream - €2.33

I did not get/missing items:

Calvin Klein Delicious Luxury Cream Lipstick in ‘Ethereal’ - €2.33

Calvin Klein Nail Polish in ‘Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire’ - €2.33

OPI Nail Polish in ‘I Have A Herring Problem’ - €4.67

So before you place an order I advise you to read some reviews especially if you are not from UK and if you are than place a small order first rather than receiving a mismanaged box.

Have you shopped from Fragrance Direct? How has your experience been?