And the award for Poorest Customer Service of the Year goes to.. Michael Todd True Organics.
Yes.. This is the brand which countless YouTube beauty gurus have raved about, and I did my full research on their products before I purchased. Great review, great review, great review.. So I finally took the plunge and placed an order of approx. $50 on 23rd May, and received an automatic confirmation with a delivery tracking number. After waiting almost 2 weeks, and with the tracking service proving absolutely useless, I emailed them on the 5th June to find out where it was and they told me I'd receive it on 28th June at the latest. I thought, "Crazy, but fine - maybe it'll come earlier.."
Forward to 12th June, I returned from a brief visit up North to be greeted by this..
Naturally, I freaked out. Over the next few weeks, business became pretty hectic so I didn't have time to chase this up but on 28th July, I emailed Michael Todd customer services saying that I was very unhappy, I refused to pay the fee and wanted a refund, and that Royal Mail would return their item shortly. However this was BEFORE I found out that they will not accept responsibility for any customs fees nor give a refund - and to add insult to injury, I didn't find out from their customer services, but instead by reading the T&C's on their website, because they had not responded to my email in roughly 3 weeks. Eventually I emailed them to complain that my first time experience at Michael Todd had been an absolute nightmare and that I was appalled, disappointed and would not purchase from them again. They DID respond to that (!), and insisted that they had responded to my my previous emails. One of their staff emailed back telling me that Royal Mail had overcharged me, and also stated again that my previous emails had been attended to - which seems highly unlikely considering that I check my emails everyday and my Junk folder every few days. She also said that I received a notice to collect my item, and when I asked her about that, she said it was the customs fee slip itself. Oh, charming. No email notification, no alert on the tracking service (which I checked everyday), just a polite fee slip through my letterbox. At this point, I was fed up and felt cheated (not to mention frustrated because she kept insisting that they replied to my emails when they didn't - believe me, I had no reason to lie!) Michael Todd, what a sham.
In the end, they decided to ship the item back to me and I received it almost a week later, without any fee added. I guess they just wanted me off their backs and heck, I wanted the product I had paid for.
Onto the product itself.. Michael Todd Antioxidant Carrot Serum. Was it worth the roughly $45 price tag? Worth this hassle? Absolutely not. Sorry, but to me, it's a product which has been over-hyped - don't get me wrong, it's a nice product, feels nice on the skin but honestly, nothing special. This verdict is not based on my awful customer service experience but is an honest judgement for the product itself; it is a glamorized moisturiser at best. It does feel very soothing and moisturizing, smells like carrots and tea tree oil, and I appreciate the hydration it gives - but I didn't see any amazing results after using this at night a few times and it is far too heavy as a day cream. I would price this at about $25-30 maximum, and I definitely will not be going back for it again.
There were several other products in the MTTO range that I really wanted to try out, but after this experience, I will not be buying from them again.