Secunda woman apparently sells fake make-up

A woman from Nelspruit bought MAC make-up for her daughter’s birthday from a woman in Secunda, but realised it was not the real deal.

She saw an advertisement for the make-up on the Facebook page Nelspruiters.

The make-up was advertised for R1 000 for a se,t plus R99 for courier costs.

“I sent her a message on Facebook and asked whether the product was a knock off.

“She said it was real MAC make-up. We discussed colours and so forth and I placed my order and did an Internet transfer to her bank account.

“When I received the make-up though, I saw she had sent the wrong colour of lipstick and gloss and I arranged with her for my colleague to exchange these because he was going to Secunda for business.

“My colleague returned later that week with the products, but I realised the woman got it wrong again.

“However I did not have enough time to exchange it again because it was the day before my daughter’s birthday on 16 December.

“I went to MAC at Ilanga Mall in Nelspruit to buy my daughter an additional lipstick in the right colour.

“That was when I noticed the difference.  I checked all the make-up that I received from Secunda and found they were all fake.

“I discussed this with the shop assistant at MAC Ilanga Mall who also showed me the difference.

“I contacted the woman in Secunda and told her the make-up was fake, but she said that she would never sell fake make-up because it would be put her reputation at risk.

“After much deliberation she gave me her head office’s email address and said she does not give refunds.

“I sent the email on 18 December and later that day received a phone call from a man who said he worked for an engineering company and wanted to buy the make-up that I bought from the Secunda woman.

“However he said the Secunda woman insisted on a bank transfer first and he wanted my opinion on the product.

“I found this to be very suspicious and asked him where he got my number from and he said the Secunda woman gave it as a reference and I told him to rather send me an e-mail.

“He never sent me an e-mail, so I dialed the number he was calling me from a few days later and asked who I was speaking to.

“He said they sell make-up of all sorts.”

According to the woman from Nelspruit, the Secunda woman is refusing to refund her and to acknowledge that she is selling fake make-up.

However when the Ridge Times contacted her for comment, she said the Nelspruit woman knew it was fake make-up as stated in her advertisement.

The advertisement that the Ridge Times saw on Facebook however does not state that the make-up is a replica.

The Secunda woman blocked the Nelspruit woman on WhatsApp after she asked for a refund again and was told that no refund would be given.

“I can see I have been caught by her scam and will probably not get my money back, but I do not want other people to get caught by her as well.”