Beauty advent calendars 2024 #3

[virgocatlover]

Have we made our decision(s)?

Thread 1 - https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/styleandd_beauty/5108657-beauty-advent-calendars-2024

Thread 2 - https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/styleandd_beauty/5156541-beauty-advent-calendars-2024-2

Just wondering if anyone here who ordered on September 10th is still waiting for the Space NK advent to be dispatched? They assured me that it would finally be dispatched yesterday, and it hasn’t, which wouldn’t usually bother me, except that I know people who ordered theirs last weekend have already received theirs.

It seems like there was some sort of glitch or problem with the earlier dates, but it’s very frustrating that they can’t just delay the later orders and work on sending out the earlier ones.

Sorry for being a moan. Also, I was charged for delivery, and shouldn’t have been, and have also contacted them to draw their attention to that, but got a generic reply back stating that they know “I’m very eager to receive my advent, we appreciate your patience” , ignoring the fact that it was the delivery charge I was contacting them about

Me too, I could also share quite a few with DH. But I'm still pissed off at Space NK, so I won't be buying. The end of the week has come and gone and still no shipping.

LIB is a good deal with the box but I've looked at the items again and the calendar isn't for me. JL and No7 are out next week along with a few others so I'm holding on. I'm still debating the OK one too, I think that's out Tuesday ?

Oh yes the tea and biscuits one looks lush, but too pricey for me

Snap @JudgeBurrito

I ordered on the 11th and the date keeps moving. On Thursday I got fed up and cancelled the whole thing - and lo and behold, part of the order (not the calendar) is then notified as 'being despatched'. I replied immediately, reminding them of my request to cancel and got their normal, knobbish, we have a huge influx of messages right now... and we're sure you'll be delighted with your order when it arrives' nonsense.

The part order arrived today. It's unopened and I have a returns note printed out (free post) for Monday. I've contacted SpaceNK again, told them I'm returning it and NOT to send the calendar because that will also be returned unopened. It's more for my own record really.

From what I can see and have heard from other people who've bought the calendar, the contents are hugely variable in size and quality and I imagine what's happening is that SpaceNK are scrabbling around looking for 'stuff' they can fling in to the calendars to fulfil the orders. I would never buy from them again.

For anybody following suit not wanting their order - if it gets posted to you, don't refuse it, you'd have no proof that you did - accept it and go through the returns process. That's my advice and what I'm doing.

That’s worrying @LyingWitchInTheWardrobe . I received my advent calendar on Thursday (ordered on 10th) and got DH to check everything was there and not leaking but didn’t think to ask him to check sizes and actual items!

Harvey Nics perfume advent for me - I don't like I Don't Know What and Escentric Molecule, Portrait of a Lady and Delina, Tocca Cleopatra and Gris Charnel. Maison Crivelli is very typical for the brand and not typical neroli - way too intense for me - my son has a sample of it.
3 are oud based and I don't like oud. 2 leather and I don't like leather.
Nichane Hacivat Extrait De Parfum - very masculine/ Xerjoff Naxos EDP strong tobacco and honey

I already have Byredo Bal D'Afrique, Creed Carmina is just ok and this leaves me with Aqua di Parma item I am interested in trying :). Just not enough for me in it

Harrods I know I don't like Oriana and Queen of Silk. I don't like oud so that's another 5

I would love to try Merchant of Venice Queen of The Night, Roja Elysium, the two Amouage and Thameen Peregrina as well as the Tiziana Terenzi so if available I may have been interested in it. At least compared to Harvey Nicks

I need some time to look into the details of Space NK

That’s terrible. That would be a serious thing for them to do because it would be considered false and misleading advertising.

I considered cancelling my order but decided not to when I watched a YouTube unboxing.

I just get a bad feeling and wouldn’t be at all surprised if my order ends up cancelled by them. It still doesn’t make sense to me why they are continuing to send out later orders first.

I feel like such a fool for falling for the whole “Early access” marketing thing.

Think I’m going for the Ok Hannah Martin one as will pretty much use everything and it’s a good price.

There's a 30 day money back guarantee so you'll be fine, whatever happens.

One of my friends ordered the SpaceNK calendar and some of the items aren't as advertised. I imagine supplier issues but, if they're comparable in value then it would be hard to dispute - but it can all be returned.

Their customer service is truly awful. You'd think that with 'unprecedented demand' they'd step it up with some 'overflow staff' who could handle these orders.

My calendar is deferred to 11th October now, no mention of cancellation. It's just the inconvenience to me, I don't care about them wasting postage, it's free to the customer.

Hope yours arrives soon, MyStylish40s and as is everything that you wanted.

Thanks for all that @LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

Re Space NK where does it say that they're putting different items in? That's terrible. If mine (ordered on 10th) does arrive, I don't want to have to open it early to check. It is supposed to be an advent calendar. I've ordered it because I'm looking. forward to certain items. If they're not there, I'll be furious.

Same @Housewife2010 but I think I’m going to check, and I’ll have it all forgotten by December. I’ve already watched an unboxing, anyway

Could you ask someone to check for you?

They’ve emailed me to say that once my order has been dispatched, they will refund the delivery charge.

I’m going to just try and forget about it, and will be pleasantly surprised if it does indeed get sent

No, I ordered on 10th and mine hasn't been dispatched either 😠

Last time I emailed customer services they told me that there had been a 'small technical glitch' at their warehouse and that orders placed on 10th and 12th would be dispatched by the end of the week.

Still no dispatch confirmation so I called Space NK. The person I spoke to was more helpful. She said that it should have been dispatched and that she was going to raise the issue with management today.

I mentioned that other people who ordered on 10th also haven't had their orders dispatched - so they know that it's a wider issue than just my order.

The SpaceNK ordering fiasco makes the Harrods Fragrance issues look mild! At least Harrods put in a concerted effort to sort it out relatively quickly after the initial mess, and we all got our calendars in the end.

I received my SpaceNK advent some time ago, but haven’t opened it to check as I really enjoy doing a proper day by day opening in December. I find it hard to believe they are putting in random/different items into the calendars - it would be very uncharacteristic of them. I did think the way the calendar was advertised on the site was misleading - the “doors” all showed full size products, even where the actual calendar listing stated clearly that they were travel sizes. I wonder if that is what has caused some of the issues?

Are those of you who are being messed about by SpaceNK getting anything in compensation? You really should be.

I would advise repeatedly asking to speak to the supervisor. That's what I did with a similar issue with LF in 2020 (I ordered day 1 and its dispatch was repeatedly delayed). I was given credit worth approximately 50% of the cost of the calendar by a manager I went up the ladder to. She did ask me not to tell anyone 😁.

Apparently management aren't there today because it's a Saturday, but the person I spoke to said that they were available online, and that she would contact them today.

They are at least more helpful on the phone. I think a lot of companies outsource email customer service to other countries (or possibly to students wfh) who are just given copy/paste replies.

@Housewife2010 and @LyingWitchInTheWardrobe re: SpaceNK, if you look at the part of the page where it shows the doors, there’s a bit that says:

All the products seen below are full size. Product sizes in our Beauty Advent Calendar will vary. Please note: some of the products shown are slight variations from what's in our calendar. This is due to new product launches... hopefully, it will make the countdown even more exciting!

Perhaps this is why the girl in the store I chatted to about the a/c was adamant that the lip pinch was the orange Joy not the better coloured Hope I think she said they’d opened the ones in store to check them.

On a related note to companies substituting items in a/cs:

I think I mentioned up thread that Clarins did the same thing with their 12 day calendar last year. Three of the best doors shown on their official unboxing video had been substituted for much less exciting items in the one I got online.

The one I ended up with is identical to this year’s offering - which is why I am wondering if the current 12 day Clarins calendar is last year’s second tranche, recycled. Very cheeky if so, especially as they have raised the price!

So I’ve just gone and checked my SpaceNK calendar after all, against the content list as posted on beautyadventcalendar.net. And it is all spot on and exactly as described - the products themselves and the sizes.

It’s also really good - so I hope those of you still waiting do eventually get yours.

I’ll now put it away until Dec 1 and try to forget what I have seen…

I am feeling quite pleased with myself this afternoon, after looking through my horde yesterday.

Having discovered that I had kept the M&S advent box from last year, (I thought I’d thrown it out, but it was buried in my secret Xmas cupboard), I spent this morning refilling it with a combo of items from my stash and things I had already bought as Xmas presents for my friend. I am now hoping she likes it, and doesn’t think it’s weird.

Hopefully you will get some form of compensation. Being messed around like this does take the shine off things.

Good to hear @AprilLady !