The perils of swapping in the blogging world

Hi Beauties!

Before I start with my post let me make it clear this post is harsh and rough but nonetheless the truth with proofs. We are our own judges which makes us differ from each other. What maybe right for me may not necessarily be right for someone else and we should respect the difference of opinion as individuals and not make it a battle ground. 

So let me start the post by reminding you of the little swap that was held in the month of Ramadan right before Eid (Muslim festival). The secret swap was held by a community of few beauty bloggers by the name of PBBC. The process of the swap was, the admins of the community paired up beauty bloggers randomly and collected everybody's wishlist items. The bloggers were assigned a budget of Rs. 2000 in which they had to buy items of their partner's choice as a priority. I was supposed to send out presents to Rabi makeup glitz of Rabi makeup glitz blog. And I received return swap gift from Areej Usman of Areej usman's blog. Now I would like to share an email sent to me by PBBC as a proof of what was conveyed to me. 

I placed an order with just4girls.pk for the items in her wishlist. I got the MUA palette and maybelline colossal kajal but unfortunately Catrice gel liner was out of stock which I substituted with essence gel liner. So all these items amounted to Rs. 1675. To meet the target of Rs. 2000 I had to buy something of Rs. 325. I went to Victoria departmental store and purchased a few items. I sent her a hair crimper set, a face mask, 2 nail polishes, nail stickers and a nail art stamping kit for starters. When she received her swap gift here is the email I received from PBBC.

To which I replied the following. Interestingly the items I purchased for her, I purchased a few for myself too. I was a fool not to take pictures before sending her the items. However I took the pictures of the items I had purchased for myself and replied back to PBBC admin spontaneously along with the pictures taken right after I read the email just to prove that I did not send her just any random items. I use them personally too.  

After all this I was able to convince PBBC that I have not sent her used or fake items. My fault I admit is I did not send items of renowned brands. However I did not send her anything that I myself had not tried before from the same store. The face mask is my repurchase for the fourth time. The nail colors I sent her are being sold at Facebook online sotres for double the price. The hair crimper is being sold at many shops and online stores. As for the stamping plate being used, the stamping plate had a protective film over it which I wonder, how can be used if the film isn't removed. I personally made sure the plate was brand new. The plate had scratches over it but they were over the protective film. Just because the items were of a brand unknown to the receiver does not give her the right to label them as fake. I remember when I started blogging 2 years back I was one of the first beauty bloggers from Pakistan to post about Essence brand. It was unknown to many. Does that mean that if you have not tried something particular it has to be fake? 

I have with me the conversation that took place between me and PBBC admin over facebook where she tried to make peace with Rabi but to no avail. If the situation demands that conversation could also be shared but at the moment I would like to show you all the screen shots of the conversation that sprouted yesterday. 

The conversation started last night with her confirming my address. Since my office boy dropped the courier for shipping so I guess he provided his address which is unreachable at the moment. So she asked me to give her my correct address stating that she wants to send me a return gift for the swap goodies I sent her. Now after all the fuss she created at the time of swap, after 2 months she suddenly wants to settle down the things and send me something in return as a surprise. That sort of ringed a bell in my head as to why??? My suspisions were confirmed today when I came to know she wants to return the goodies I sent her. For what reason? I have no idea. So she lied about the gift as a token of appreciation. Great!!!

As a natural courtesy it is taught to us to be humble. When somebody gifts us something whether we like it or not we can at least make the show of accepting it with a polite thanks. We should understand that people and their choices differ and we should respect this basic human fact. From my end I tried my best to send her something nice. I publically apologize that it was not upto Rabi's standards and choice. I am sorry Rabi I sent you things which were beneath you and I am sorry for sending you non branded items. But at least acknowledge that I sent you items of Rs. 1695 of your choice. Rs. 300 were not a burden on my pocket, trust me. 

Secondly in my whole conversation, like you accused me that I am trying to pose it as a favor that I sent you items as a gift, it was never my intention. I do not wish to receive the items back. You don't like them you can do whatever you want with them. Since you have no respect for my choice or me, please feel free to do whatever you want to do with them. I said what I had to say. Once again I apologize to you for not meeting your expectations. I sent you the things I liked and found to be best and wanted you to try them out as well. I have now understood that being a blogger trying out new items that are unknown or new or unbranded is not your cup of tea. Trust me the lesson is well learnt and in a hard way. 

Stay healthy and beautiful. Take care!