Nixxing Nyx - The Sale That Never Was...

NyxGate. Nyx Fail. NixedNyx.  NYX120Fail. NyxFailSale. NixNyx.

There's a whole mess of 'em out there. A lot of annoyed former customers of the popular cosmetics company, who are now pissed off and angry because of Nyx's failure to appease or fix the problem. Ok, there's many blog posts written now, lots of Tweets, many upset Facebookers. I'll tell you my ridiculous story of the time I spent trying to get in on this "deal". I'm not really complaining- my protest of this entire debacle comes in the form of me never again purchasing their cosmetics. Not even second hand.

Oh- but I did meet one girl online who says she was able to check out. I don't know her personally, but hey- if it's true and she was able to get in on the deal- great! Good for her! And I told her as much! Continuing on... This story is the majority of a comment I left on a blog yesterday. Because I'm exhausted, the rain is killing my back, and I just don't feel like typing all of it up again- I'm cutting, pasting, and taking some creative editing and wording into my story.

I knew I wasn't going to get to the site as soon as the sale started, so I figured what the heck. I'd wait for a while, and then try. That way- the mad mobbing of the site should die down and processing an order should be easier. How would you feel if I told you I was online at 9pm EST trying to get to the site. Constant refreshing. No pages.
Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.
OOOHH an IMAGE.
Timed out.
Shit.Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.
Nada. Nil. Not a thing.
OOOHH wait! A page loaded! Able to navigate for less than a minute... But managed to add glitter liner to my cart. While that was processing, it timed out. No glitter liner in my cart after all. Refresh. Refresh.

Refresh.

Refresh.

Nothing.

Refresh.

Oooohh page is back, add glitter liner to cart. Success! It went through! Now to go back and get eyeliner... No page loads. Server too busy. Refresh.

Refresh.
Server times out.

Refresh.
Server isn't responding.

Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

Score! Eyeliner page loads. Add 2 to cart. Processing, time out. (mad face)

No eyeliner in cart. Go back to eyeliner page. Wait 30 minutes, hitting refresh, finally loads. Try to add back to cart- finally it gets in to it. Alright now, jumbo pencils. Page not loading.

Server isn't responding.

Refresh x10.

No pages load.

Refresh x10.

Page half loads.
I could go on and on… And I did… From 9pm, to 5:30 am, I sat here at not one, but two of my computers and tried to get items into my cart.

A PC and a Mac.

Epic, huh?

I noticed a trend- the Mac had better luck refreshing and loading the pages. Better luck getting things added to my cart. I decided the Mac would win out, and went and camped out from about midnight to 5am sitting at the table. Yes, folks, if you remember correctly- I can't sit in regular chairs very long. So every 10 minutes, I'd have to come and sit in my recliner- put my feet up for 5 min, and try my best to unkink the knot forming in my back. It didn't help that it's been raining here every day.
I continued this behavior. Defended Nyx. Defended the fact the servers were probably overloaded. Hoped they would extend the sale, or put it off until they fixed the site.
5:30 am people.
I’m stupid. I sat here, thinking I could actually get in on this deal. I gave up at just before 5:30. The sun was coming up. I had $33 and change worth of products in my cart. Not much at all, and I was willing to spend it.
I slept until 10:30. Didn’t get onto the computer until noon, EST. Spent from then until just before 4pm EST trying to check out. Page kept stalling at checkout. My cart was fine, pages were still sporadically loading, and the mouse button has a dent in it from my finger hitting it around roughly a million times during those hours. Woah- checkout finally loaded everything, but the credit card entry area. Tried to re-load, crossed my fingers…

And proceeded to let loose a string of profanities that would send sailors running from a bar. I was ripshit. The page would not load. I could not get to the part where I enter my card info, gleefully hand over my money, and process my order.

I go out, get some hair dye at CVS… Come back and get back into the site because Mom closed out the window. Another string of profanities. My roughly $33 cart now housed a grand total of somewhere around $140 in product. Then this little gem below shows up on their site- click to see the big version.

Um, you think this is an appropriate apology?! A great deal? Your thank you to US was supposed to be an Anniversary Sale- meaning most products were a dollar and twenty cents. $1.20. Now, because you failed to take the site down and reschedule the sale, 50% off and free shipping is going to make us happy?! That's an apology for the site not being fixed, and hardly anything working?! Out of thousands of fans who were going to purchase an insane amount of products from you at this "Thank You Sale", we find out not only is the sale not extended in lieu of all these problems. But the 50%/Free Shipping is essentially a big "F**K YOU" to us customers. It's almost as if you expected problems throughout the giant sale, and your apology for it is B***S**T at best.Nyx, do you think I’ll be back for ANY of your products?!
That’s a guaranteed NO.
I won’t so much as buy a second hand product from you at this point. I’m disgusted, let down, and feeling just completely slimed.

And I’m gonna hop onto my IT Geek Horse here and say this:

This was not a convenient “crash” because of the amount of traffic which was on the site which overloaded the servers blah blah blah. The traffic volume right now? It’s probably much the same as it was last night. It continues, yet somehow currently runs without any problems for those who really want the measly 50% off. IF they’ve even received the code- which I believe in comments was promised sometime around the sale end (12pm PST, 3pm EST). As of today, Tuesday May 17th, after 9pm EST I still don't have a "discount code". Neither do any of my friends who have emailed, as you requested.

Nyx- you should have shut the site down after a few hours of THOUSANDS of complaints and rescheduled a “Rain Date Sale”. I guarantee there would be a LOT less enraged rabid former-fans of your product.

This was poor planning.
This was poor execution.
This was lame excuses.
This was horrendous customer service.
This was absolute chaos.

Me?
I’ll be happily resuming my limited spending with Indie Business. At least I not only make great friends that way, but I have personalized touches added to my order. I know what's in all my products. And I love their prices!

Do tell... What's been your experience with Nyx?
Do you know anyone who was able to successfully check out?
Do you plan on purchasing makeup from this company in the future?

Still not convinced? Check out other experiences from around the blogosphere:
Manda asks "Why you no honor sale?". Simple enough.
Wandering Thoughts of a Scientific Housewife has a great article... Especially the part about Nyx being famous for doing their $1 sale... Which hasn't crashed the site on this level...
Liz from Beauty Black Book also has a great read as to why this is about being heard.
Grey  and Phyrra had to deal with some seriously rude people.
Candace asks if they really pulled a big mistake?
FierceNerditude says she's done... Completely.


x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P

Getting NYX-ed Isn't Good ... So Much For the Anniversary Sale

Well, most of you probably know by now. The NYX Cosmetics "Anniversary Sale" has been a major bomb. Yeah, I'm one of those rabid fans who have been waiting patiently trying to place things in my cart...

I finally threw in the towel this morning (I won't name times, because I shouldn't have stayed up that late!) and figured I could probably wait to get it done this afternoon. Well, that was a load of fail too. I can't checkout. I've seen very few comments from people who have been able to successfully navigate, add to their carts, and check out from the site at this awesome $1.20 sale.

I only have a few things. I just want to check out. Frustrated, I just posted this on their Facebook wall:

1. Prepare your servers for the influx of millions of rabid fans who want your makeup and are willing to wait 24+ hours to get said items.

2. Set up a limited amount of people who can shop on the website at a time, this will control the submittable of simultaneous orders on the website.

3. Set up a queuing system for the customers, refresh every minute so they can see where they are in the (long) line of customers. An actual "You are customer number 1045"... Then "You are customer number 875". Etc.

4. If the site remains broken, shut it down completely. Send out a message to us that you've closed the site until ALL issues have been resolved. OFFER A RAIN DATE OF THE SAME EXACT SALE, and extend the time if need be.

5. Answer emails, phone calls, and any social networking services you have CONSTANTLY. If you do not have enough staff, I'll be more than happy to be hired for my services if I can work from home.

I'm unemployed. Why? Because I have Failed Back Syndrome from eating a telephone pole head on in 2007, on icy roads. Ruled not my fault- I wasn't speeding, it was just a really bad night and an awful hill. I don't have much money to spend. When I do, it's selective. I also have degenerative disc disease and arthritis in my back aggravated and exacerbated due to my accident, so needless to say- it's difficult for me to stand more than ten minutes. Think it's frustrating??? Yes, very. I want to cry nearly every minute of each day.

It's exhausting.
Makeup is my escape, my breaking out of this shell of a body that doesn't work the way it should at 30 years old. I play with color, and that allows me to feel better- even if it's just for a little while.
Sitting here the past day trying to get products into my cart I didn't mind. My back is screaming at me, my medications aren't really helping, and I really would like to just check out please and thank you.

Kindest regards.
But get your crap in order! 

What started as an incredible promotional sale on their end has successfully exploded into a huge controversy of anger, hate, frustration, and absolute chaos. I feel bad for NYX and the staff, but then again I don't. I kind of know what needs to be done on an IT level to avoid this kind of break down from happening. I don't know how to "fix" servers, but I know they must be prepared. There really needs to be an online queuing system in place for future sales though- that's a must. I think it would also be a great and smart investment for you to make.

So yeah, if anyone from NYX is reading this and is looking for help, I'm available to work from home if you'd like. Contact me for my resume if interested. I've always worked in retail settings, or on the phone, because I love to interact with people and have a good way of settling most irate people down. I have a knack for it.

I know my back is kinked up and in knots, screaming agony at me, not any of my meds are helping much other than taking the edge off, and I just want my glittery goodies from my dang cart to be processed as is and to let me have them!!!

As to all my other readers- what have been your results so far??

I think I'm afraid to see most of those answers!!

x0x0x0 ~*Snarky P