At least two Bee & Co. skincare stores in the Los Angeles area have closed after a report examined allegations of high-pressure sales and restrictive refund practices. A Sherman Oaks location reopened under the name LUME, with the same workers and products observed inside, while Westfield says it is taking further steps but has not explained what they are. Former employee True Tetrault described pressure on customers to make costly purchases and difficulty obtaining refunds. Customer Linda Merrill said she spent more than $11,271 and was denied a refund after returning to the store. Mazal Group denies directing retailers’ sales or refund policies and says it condemns aggressive selling. The report identifies no new government rule, formal deadline, or oversight schedule.
TLDR: Store closures followed reporting on alleged aggressive skincare sales and refund barriers, while one location reopened under a new name. Consumers and former workers describe costly purchases and denied returns, but the allegations do not establish that every retailer acted alike.
At least two Bee & Co. skincare stores in the Los Angeles area have closed after a CBS California Investigates report examined allegations of high-pressure sales tactics. A former employee said she saw salespeople press customers to spend money. A third location, at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, reopened under the name LUME, with the same employees and products observed inside after the change.
No official explanation for the store closures was provided in the available account. Westfield Group said Bee & Co. was no longer a tenant at Westfield Topanga and that it was taking “similar appropriate steps” regarding the newly named operation at Fashion Square. The spokesperson did not explain what those steps involve. The report’s central finding is a set of consumer and former-worker allegations, not a final legal determination about each store.
The closures followed a report that aired in August. Bee & Co. locations at Westfield Topanga in Canoga Park and Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance have since closed permanently. The Fashion Square store also closed, then quickly reopened as LUME. CBS California Investigates reported seeing the same workers and products there after the name change, leaving the status of Westfield’s stated response unclear.
The investigation described consumer complaints involving hundreds of beauty retailers around the country. Consumers have accused some stores of aggressive or coercive sales and restrictive or deceptive refund policies. The investigation focused on businesses tied to the Mazal Group, a Chatsworth-based distributor whose products are sold by Bee & Co. and other beauty stores and kiosks. Those broad allegations do not establish that every retailer or product distributor acted in the same way.
Linda Merrill, a 77-year-old Orange County resident, described one sale at a Lionesse Beauty Bar in Las Vegas. She said a saleswoman offered her a sample and promised more youthful-looking skin before taking her to a back room to show her skincare products and devices. Merrill, who uses a mobility scooter and needs oxygen around the clock because of chronic lung ailments, said the presentation lasted about 90 minutes. She recalled feeling woozy as her oxygen supply ran low and said the sales pitch continued after she expressed discomfort and asked to leave.
Merrill said she paid after being told she could return the products. Back in her hotel room, she discovered a charge of more than $11,271.52, she said. She returned to the store the next day to seek a refund and was denied. She also described making dozens of calls to sales representatives, mailing back unopened products after an attorney sent a letter, and receiving no response. These are Merrill’s account of her experience and the steps she says she took.
Former Bee & Co. employee True Tetrault said that during eight months as a receptionist at a store in Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, she saw workers pressure customers who hesitated over expensive purchases. She said employees sometimes shamed customers and that she was instructed to reject returns. Tetrault recalled customers being pushed to spend more than $600 on a jar of cream. Her account describes what she says she witnessed at that location; the excerpt does not establish that the same practices occurred at every Bee & Co. store.
Other consumers told the investigators they felt trapped until they agreed to buy products, then learned about restrictive return rules after getting home. Some said “no refunds” appeared on receipts. Several former employees of stores selling Mazal-distributed products recalled seeing or enforcing such policies. Some asked to remain anonymous because they feared retaliation. The complaints include serious financial consequences, but the material provided does not state a total amount of disputed purchases or identify a single refund policy covering all the retailers.
The Mazal Group said it is an independent cosmetic-products distributor and has no role in the retail operations or refund policies of stores selling its products. The company said many reported complaints did not involve brands it distributes, condemned aggressive selling, and expressed regret that its products had been connected to the conduct described. The report also noted that a 2020 court complaint included a licensing agreement suggesting Mazal exercised oversight in some areas, including online sales, store locations, and advertising. That document alone does not resolve who controlled the sales and refund practices described by customers and former employees.
For consumers, the reported practical effects include purchases allegedly worth thousands of dollars, denied refund requests, calls that did not produce help, and, in Merrill’s case, the cost and effort of seeking an attorney’s help and returning unopened goods. The excerpt identifies no new government rule, fee, required form, compliance deadline, or enforcement schedule tied to the closures. It also does not say that Westfield has set a timeline for its Fashion Square steps. Those missing details remain unclear rather than established parts of a policy plan.
The next known step is Westfield’s stated action regarding the LUME operation, but the company has not described what that action will be. The report provides no formal oversight schedule or deadline, so none can be confirmed here. Any further response from the property owner or retailers will be necessary to clarify what happens next; the available information does not support a promise that the matter is already handled.
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