Anti-Diversion en Español

As we continue our efforts to educate consumers about the risks of purchasing products outside of authorized salons, I received the feedback that we needed to reach out to Spanish speaking clients and salons because they are unaware that diversion is a problem. I worked with my team to translate the anti-diversion information that we have been sending to salons and clients to spread the word. The Spanish information is now available on L'Oreal websites like Matrix & L'Oreal Professionel.

We hope that you share with all of your friends, Spanish speaking or not, what you have learned, so that they can be informed shoppers and protect themselves from diverted professional products.

Thank you YouTubers

I was very pleased to discover that consumers are helping spread the word about Diversion. A great example of this was a video recently posted on YouTube by the user pinkiecharm. In her review of Matrix Biolage Smoothing Shine Milk, she explains that she recently found out about Diversion and encourages her viewers to purchase the product from a salon. Watch pinkiecharm’s video.

I hope that more users like pinkiecharm help spread the word. I encourage you to create a video of your own and recommend to your friends to watch my video.

Purchasing Products on eBay

I was browsing at Staples, and noticed their price matching guarantee sign for all new computers EXCEPT for those purchased on eBay. I did a little online research and found that HP is experiencing some of the same issues as our salon professional brands, as many of their products are being counterfeited or sold at unauthorized online dealers and in some cases, customers are being scammed and not shipped products at all from eBay sellers.

While I realize that cost of a laptop is much higher than a bottle of shampoo, I want to stress the importance of what it means to purchase products from an authorized retailer and what that means to you. As exemplified by the Staple’s policy, they not only match pricing but they also provide servicing and a return policy for products as an authorized retailer of HP. If you buy a computer from eBay and it blows up or doesn’t work, chances are HP won’t guarantee your product. We also do this for our salon products purchased at our authorized salons. While you may think that you are finding a great deal on eBay, you may be purchasing a fake, defective or in some cases unsafe product. We simply do not offer our professional product brands such Redken, Matrix, Kérastase, Mizani and PureOlogy to be sold on eBay. Purchase them from your salon professional!

Is It OK to Purchase Professional Products Online?

I’ve received some comments asking me about online purchases of professional products. With the exception of www.kerastase-usa.com, all other websites are not authorized to sell professional products and we cannot guarantee the quality or legitimacy of professional products purchased from them.
In the instance of www.Kerastase-usa.com, Kerastase has developed a partnership site that allows consumers to buy online while supporting their salon. This provides a quality service for consumers who may travel a lot or who may want to purchase between visits. This practice is completely normal for luxury brands who have limited distribution.

Other than www.kerastase-usa.com, no other websites are authorized to sell professional products. There are sites that mask themselves as salon websites, have fake anti-diversion statements or claim they obtained products from a manufacturer. Please beware of these websites. Clients might be tempted to risk the purchase from eBay.com, for example, because they believe that they are getting a better price. In instances like this , it is especially important to remember the 4 Cs (cost, counterfeit, contaminated & crime) which are the dangers of buying diverted products both online and offline.

I urge you to visit a salon near you, or www.kerastase-usa.com to purchase your professional products.

Your Questions Answered

Dear Esteemed Readers,

Thank you for your comments and your questions. Here are the answers to some of the questions I have received lately:

1. Why doesn’t L'Oréal buy out its products from the Diverters?
If L’Oreal were to purchase all of the diverted products from unauthorized retailers, we would actually be fuelling the demand for products in that location, funding more demand and more purchases, and consequently, drive further diversion.

2. What happens when I report a Diverter?
When you report a diverter through an email to nodivert@aol.com or by calling the Diversion Hotline (1-800 503.3997), our strategy is to log the location and send an investigator to purchase samples and then use our coding technology to track the product. We can then determine if the product is counterfeit, and if not, who was responsible for diverting it to that location. Through our national buy-back program we have been able to cut down over $30 million dollars in product sales by cutting off diverters.

3. Why doesn’t L'Oréal take legal action?
We have. Please read my Quality King Story post from August 19th. We have filed and appeal and will keep you posted on our status.


Have more questions? Please submit them as comments and I will do my best to address them.

Thanks!
David

Updates to our Anti-Diversion Hotline

Recently, I was disappointed to learn that our anti-diversion hotline was not as responsive as it could have been. We had too many people involved in the process and I wanted to confirm with you that we have now harmonized the functions.

Chris Lyden has taken over the role of leading our anti-diversion team as Sr. Director of Brand Equity Protection. Chris joined the professional beauty industry 17 years ago as a Distributor Sales Consultant and has worked closely with salons over the years. Throughout his career, he has visited nearly 8,000 salons so he understands what stylists care about most, and fighting diversion is at the top of their list.

If you spot diversion occurring in your area please report it.

You can call 1-800-503-3997 or email nodivert@aol.com and be assured that your concerns will be responded to and addressed.

Bloggers Unite

Recently, I have been browsing blogs where I see bloggers write posts and comments about purchasing professional products. Unfortunately, since a lot of people are still not aware that diversion is a problem, they encourage readers to purchase these at unauthorized outlets. This concerns us.

We know that if they knew the facts about diversion, they would not post this type of information. If you spot a blog like this, please take the opportunity to help protect your fellow bloggers. Write a comment and let them know that if they buy professional products from unauthorized retailers, they could be contaminated, counterfeit and even cost more.

I strongly believe that if we work together we can help spread the word.

Thank you for your help.

David