There are few things as frustrating yet oddly satisfying as catching someone in the middle of a bald-faced lie. Small business owners aren’t magically immune from being lied to by their customers, but an eye for detail can help protect them. The CEO and founder of Sydney-based cosmetics business Khaila Beauty Bar, which specializes in water-activated eyeliners and body paints, learned this the hard way.
Aatikah Santos, the owner of Khaila Beauty Bar and a mom of two, went viral after sharing a video on TikTok which showed how she figured a customer of hers was trying to trick her into sending a replacement order or giving her a refund. The woman spotted part of the box she sent the customer in her Instagram stories and realized that she was being dishonest.
The video got a whopping 2.3 million views and over 175.5k likes and you can find the full version below. What’s more, the owner of Khaila Beauty Bar had a few more updates about what happened next. In one video, she called the customer out and in another, she spoke about how the customer’s former friend contacted her and warned her that she’s a chronic scammer.
In an exclusive interview with Bored Panda, Aatikah opened up about her business and being a TikTok content creator, why she thinks some customers resort to tricks, why the customer isn't always right, and what advice she has for new business owners.
"I think the handful of customers who do this to small businesses may think it’s a lot easier to get away with rather than doing it to bigger companies because sometimes we don’t have the resources needed to catch people like that girl. It can be quite hard to find ways to protect your business, but I protect my business by paying for extra insurance when sending out orders, I pay for these extra charges myself," Aatikah told me via email. "I also like to keep track of any conversations I’ve had with customers. Another great tip is to check the Fraud analysis if you are a small business using Shopify however sometimes these aren’t completely accurate." Scroll down for the full interview.
Business owner Aatikah, who runs Khaila Beauty Bar, called out a customer who was trying to scam her
Image credits: khailabeautybar
The customer pretended that she didn't receive her order
Image credits: khailabeautybar
However, a small detail gave away the lie. Can you spot it?
Image credits: khailabeautybar
Aatikah saw through the customer's lies in an instant
Image credits: khailabeautybar
She noticed part of the package she sent in the customer's Instagram stories
You can watch the full viral video below
Aatikah shared with Bored Panda that she named her business, Khaila Beauty Bar, after her son Khai and daughter Layla. "My children are the reason why I turned my dreams into reality, I want them to grow up knowing that they can do anything if they believe they can!" she said about the inspiration behind her project. "Growing up I have always had a passion for makeup and creating wild and fun looks, but water-activated makeup was always out of my price range. So I decided to start Khaila Beauty Bar and make affordable prices with a generous amount of product."
I wanted to get Aatikah's advice on what new business owners should know and what the hardest parts of being an owner are, in her experience. Here's what she said: "My biggest advice for new small business owners would be, 'Don’t be afraid to defend yourself and your business.' When you are just starting out you often worry about the negative impact this will have on your business, but letting someone walk all over your business is not right!"
She continued: "Sometimes, the customer isn’t always right and when you are a small business you do rely a lot on a stranger making a purchase. But as you grow in your business, you realize it isn’t just about making sales. Seeing your brand being sent out all over the world is an amazing feeling and hearing good customer feedback makes you keep pushing forward."
According to Aatikah, the hardest part of being a small business owner is going through situations like the one she described on TikTok and trying to reason with those who want to get their money back.
She also shared that she gets a lot of questions about why she does storytimes about customer experiences. "I do them because of the impact they have had on other small businesses. I receive many messages from small businesses all around the world asking me for advice because they don’t know how to deal with difficult customers, and believe me I’m no customer service expert but I think when you are trying to build your business the last thing you want is for someone to tear it down," she revealed to Bored Panda.
"In a lot of my TikToks, small businesses have said in the comments how they were too scared to tell a customer they didn’t qualify for a refund so they processed it rather than saying, 'Sorry it can’t be done.'"
In a follow-up video, the business owner shared how she called the liar out
Image credits: khailabeautybar
Image credits: khailabeautybar
Instead of staying silent, Aatikah wrote back to the customer
Image credits: khailabeautybar
Here's what she said in her email
Image credits: khailabeautybar
However, the customer didn't reply. Instead, she deactivated her Instagram account and went radio silent
Image credits: khailabeautybar
Aatikah is a fairly new business owner. She founded Khaila Beauty Bar back in April 2021, so it’s been just over half a year that she’s been sending out cosmetics to people all around the globe from Australia. She also advertises her business as vegan and cruelty-free. Aatikah is no stranger to the world of makeup. She’s been passionate about how it can be used to create “wild and fun looks” ever since she was small. “As I got older, my passion for makeup only grew, creating a product line was something I dreamed of doing but never believed I could," she writes on her website.
Something that she probably wasn’t expecting was that some customers might be intent on taking advantage of her. One of them sent her a message stating that she hadn’t received her order. However, she photographed the corner of the box in one of her Instagram stories by accident while bragging about her (allegedly legitimate) Louis Vuitton purchases.
Here's the full follow-up video
It was this clue that led Aatikah to believe she was being taken for a ride: the order had been delivered and the customer had opened the box, using the products. What’s more, Aatikah actually had the receipts that the package had been delivered. She later clarified that the customer had, in fact, placed two orders, 20 minutes apart.
The business owner then called her out by sending her a long message. “Your tracking number said it has been delivered about a week ago,” she wrote in the email. "You posted this on your Instagram social but you may want to check the background before you post. Our packaging can be seen in the background so I can only assume that you, in fact, received the order. We don't appreciate being lied to, especially when we accommodated your needs by sending out all the items in bulk. We even refunded your shipping on the second order that you made."
Meanwhile, in another video, she opened up about the email she got from a woman who knows the would-be scammer
However, the customer, perhaps realizing that she was neck-deep in hot water, deleted her Instagram account and shut off all other paths of communication.
Later on, however, the would-be scammer’s former friend sent an email to Aatikah and explained that tricking customers is what the woman does, along with an accomplice. What do you think of the entire situation, dear Pandas? Would you have spotted the small clue like Aatikah did? How would you have responded to the lying customer? Share your thoughts below.
Here's how people reacted to the business owner's videos
