This is not an internet hoax. Because of a class-action lawsuit settlement, several big-name department stores are handing out $175 million worth of free cosmetics. The free gifts are from companies such as Boucheron, Chanel, Christian Dior, Conopco, Clarins, Estee Lauder, Guerlain, L'Oreal and Givenchy.
The stores giving them away include Macy's, Nordstroms, Dillard's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. The seven-day giveaway began on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
The Associated Press says:
A 2003 California lawsuit filed against department stores and cosmetics manufacturers alleged the businesses conspired to keep prestige cosmetic prices high.
The case was settled with no wrongdoing admitted. The result was a $175 million giveaway. Eligible customers will get one free piece of make up or fragrance worth from $18 to $25 -- on the honor system.
Anyone is eligible if they purchased department store cosmetics between May 1994 and July 2003.
Cosmeticssettlement.com has more
details about the settlement and the products involved.
Women in Texas said it was pretty easy to get the cosmetics they wanted; they just signed in and chose their loot.
The
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that
even though folks were only supposed to get one free gift, some got more:
Around 10:30 a.m., a Saks saleswoman, visibly annoyed that so many people lined up so quickly for something free said, "Where was everyone at Christmas?"
The clerk and several other Saks employees did their best to persuade consumers to sign up for the store's mailing list.
Customers had to print their names and then provide their signatures on a legal document saying they had purchased certain cosmetics between May 29, 1994, and July 16, 2003, to receive a product. No photo ID was required.
That didn't stop customers from getting more than one freebie.
A couple of customers who passed through Macy's rapidly moving line made a beeline to Saks a block away on Smithfield and got into that line.
So . . . how are the women who are...
