Help needed please!

[sparkles]

I run a little crafty sort of shop and am always looking to add to our range of sparkly pretty and craft things. Recently I came across an ebay seller who seemed to have a greeat range of home fragrances and bath and body products, hand made and cheap :) They don't look so great but I would be relabelling them anyway so that doesn't matter!!!!
I was a bit worried though as I've recently ahd problems with another supplier who was using USA fragrance oils which I've learnt is a big NO NO in body products in the UK and EU. So I asked her about it and at first she said she only used 3 USA FO, then when I said I saw a list on her website of loads of them she said she just called them that but actually made her own but called them the USA names, a long with some other excuses!!!The thing is, while I was waiting to hear back from her I thought I'd check on another forum where I know they talk about fragrance oils. I was amazed to find she has been posting about a girl I know off another forum(ya with me??? lol lol lol) , all lies and I was gobsmacked to say the least!!! She seems to have it in for this poor girl and accusing her of things that simply aren't true!!!!:o

So then anyway, having a icky feeling about this woman I did a few searches and to cut a long story short nothing she says seems to correlate with anything else or add up!!! She seems to be lying all over th e place!!!

I am quite angry that she seems to have lied to me and is deceiving her customers (possibly putting them at risk) and lying about someone she seems to be jealous of, and just generally seems to be a nasty peice of work.

Is there anywhere I can report her for her dubious use of fragrance oils, or get someone (trading standards???) to check her out? I certainly don't want to do business with her now and it doesn't seem right that people like her continue to both trade and pretend to be an expert and mislead people.

Sorry it got long, I just don't know what to do!!!

[craftyjan]

im no expert on anything but i would report her to trading standards and they can check out what shes using or if shes adhering to health and safety standards that are set for peoples safety

[girlyracer]

mmm it does make you wonder whether her soaps and stuff have been certified. Amongst all "proper" bath and body product people, it is common knowledge that you cannot use oils from the US as they haven't been tested for various allergens that EU regulations require.

I know it may sound mean but I agree with Jan about reporting her business to the local authorities. It is people like her who give other small independent soap makers a bad reputation.

I think a word in the DTI's shell-like wouldn't go amiss.


Ruby xx

[sparkles]

Thank you both!!! I think I will have a chat with trading standards next week.
Girlyracer I have been reading up about the USA fragrance oils on one of the UK sites that sells them and it seems very clear that they are not to be used in bath and body products, like you said. But now she is saying she makes her own fragrances from UK FO to be the same as the USA ones and calls them the same names as the USA ones...see it is getting very confusing and it just doesn't feel right!!!!! I am not sure I believe that, and even if it is true, why copy the names if they are not even meant to be used in the UK??
It gets stranger actually the more I think about it!!!!

[urbtaf]

If she sells on E-BAY then thats your route, contact them and tell them that she is not describing her product right, and is a potential health hazard. After being told this they are duty bound to investigate, and they will ban her if there is a chance that they may become liable.
We have done this with a couple of sellers describing silver plate as silver.
Internet buyers have to police ourselves as its too big a job for the tradeing standards ect.

[girlyracer]

Sparkles, she may well be getting them duplicated by a UK manufacturer. In order to do this she would send the UK firm a sample of her US fragrances and they would then duplicate them for her. Providing she tells them it's for B&B then that shouldn't be a problem. After all that's how all these designer fragrances get duped. They won't be exact but they'll come a close second.

As for naming them the same as US ones, unless the name has been trade marked there is nothing to stop her naming her fragrances to whatever she wants.

One thing that must be clear is that they must meet EU regulation standards and she should ensure that she describes them as such on any eBay auction or any website for that matter.

I can see how you are getting confused though. I think I would if I didn't know much about fragrance oils ;).

Ruby x