Word of Caution...

Recently I watched an awesome review (and then some) on the ghd stylers and thought of getting one myself.  It heated up quickly, has a safety feature (it turns off if left idle for 30mins) and not only straightens hair perfectly, it also curls (or creates soft waves).  I checked online and it sold for RM600 and above but I remembered that a store sold it locally.

So there I was excited to get my hands on one and dropped by the store to check it out.  The salesgirl was relatively nice and convinced me that I needed to be aware that there are China made fake ones out there and I should be careful not to be fooled.  She reiterated what I'd already known, that the product was top of the line and was highly popular.  After some negotiating, I managed to get the price down to RM320 from the original RM360 (~11% off) and a 1 month warranty (?).

What I purchased: The ghd Styler IV Pure

I went online to register my new purchase (pictured above) on the ghd website for the 2 year warranty that comes with all ghd products and an error kept popping up at the end of the registration process informing me that there was a problem with the codes I entered.  So I took the next step of ringing up their customer service to talk to on of their representatives and she confirmed the codes won't register because the product I'd bought was a fake and she suggested I returned it to the store and demand a full refund.

Furious, I went back to the store a few days later with the item and when I told them that I've tried registering it on the website and called CS and was told that the item was fake, the owner of the store told me that it was made by the brand but at their Korean factory.  She said that it's true it's not China made but like all other stores selling ghd here in Malaysia, they're the Korean made ones which is not exactly fake and is of better quality than their China versions.  This was information withheld from me (the consumer) and subsequently she tried to keep twisting the facts and convincing me that it's not fake (nor was it genuine).  She'd even sarcastically implied that it would cost me RM1000 and above to purchase online and get it shipped here and probably wasn't even worth the warranty period guaranteed by the company.  I was blatantly refused a refund supposedly because firstly I'd paid by credit card (which was complete BS because these days you can get refunded even when paid with credit cards) and secondly because it was their store policy to not give a refund to their customers regardless.  She kept saying that many customers had bought the same item and never had a problem using it.

After much talk, she seemed clearly annoyed and simply said that if I really didn't want the ghd Styler, I could exchange it with a different product and she showed me some BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium products (the whole range).  She pushed for me to buy the hairdryer (dries hair faster and costs RM400+ I think) and the straightening iron (which costs RM500+).  Being left with not much choice, I opted to get the curling tong which she was selling for RM310 (RM10 less than what I paid for the fake product) and she threw in a cheapo who knows from where soft touch curling mousse (RM17.90) for free.  She wanted me to pay for the friggin mousse which I didn't even need but after looking at my hesitation and again her obvious annoyance with the whole situation she gave it FOC.  I would've expected her to suggest a good heat protectant since I was purchasing hot styling tools but she kept insisting that I needed the mousse to create beautiful natural curls.

The infernal store:

Au Yong Trading Co., City Mall (behind Guardian)

So the above is the store where I'd been fooled by misleading information and all the above mentioned.  One of my aunt's had also purchased a facial steamer from the store and the steamer was defective and had water dripping from it when in use.  I would imagine it being a steamer that the water would be on the hot side too.  She complaint and sent the device back to the store for repairs since it was under warranty.  Of course, when it came back the problem persisted and by then my aunt wasn't too happy with the purchase and the after service.  Needless to say she too will never buy anything from that store again.

Just thought I'd share that piece of information and put it out there so any of you thinking of making a purchase there would be more cautious.  Also, I was looking at a make up train case at a nearby beauty store at City Mall (e.Noveal) and saw the exact same BaByliss Pro styling tool that I bought that was retailing for RM280 (before discount) with a 6 months warranty (Au Yong gave 3 months).  That was pretty disappointing.

On a lighter note, I'd just gotten back from my office's Family Day event which was held in Beringgis Resort last night.  The preparation works were exhausting but worth it seeing that everyone was pretty happy receiving their doorgifts and hampers (as well as goodies for the kids).  The lucky draws were a success as well and went pretty smoothly despite all the rush behind it what with not having a ready MC until right before the sessions.  All the staff who'd attended that night had a 75% chance of winning and everyone was excited and happy including the kids who had their own little lucky draw session as well.  Now that that's done, it's back to fully concentrating on work and deadlines and the million urgent things to tend to with everyone chasing from every which way as usual.

Tonight the whole family went to watch Salt at Suria Sabah and it was awesome!  The action and amazing genius that is Salt (the character -- and yes, Angie was wonderful as Salt) was just a pleasure to watch.  Of course there were sensitive issues touched in the movie such as the US-Russian relationship and the attempt to deploy nuclear missiles to Tehran (Iran) and Mecca (Mekah) both of which are Muslim areas.  Personally, I'll take a more liberal note on it.  I'd much rather not politicize a movie and take it for what it is -- a movie.