As a continuation of my shady influencer collabs post, I’m going off on another rant about why working with brands can be a complete waste of time. I’m not shy to admit that my time is valuable. When running a business, time is of the essence. Every email I waste sending out to an unreliable brand is an email I could be sending to someone who matters. Ugh. The fact that shady brands and flaky people can survive—and even thrive—in life completely blows my mind.

I’m going to tell you three more stories about experiences dealing with brands that, honestly, I wish I didn’t have. Unfortunately, it seems like these extreme annoyances aren’t going anywhere. And the longer I’m in the blogging business, the clearer that becomes.

Attention Shady Brands:
Please Stop Wasting My Time

The animal print obsessed brand who refused to reply

I was contacted by a brand who loved animal prints as much as I do. Hell, maybe even more! (Just kidding. That’s not possible.) They said they wanted me to be a part of their print-obsessed team and would love to send me some garments. I was thrilled. I’m always looking to expand my leopard collection, so this was perfect. I picked out my items and started dreaming about the looks I could put together. Then, they disappeared. I followed up three times via email and twice on Instagram. (Btw—they left me on read.) After I contacted customer service, they finally responded. But not before sending me on a wild digital goose chase.

The brand who took six months to send product

A Toronto-based brand reached out to me in November and asked to send me a couple of outfits. There were no strings attached (meaning: I didn’t have to post about them if I didn’t absolutely love them) so I was all in. Two weeks went by before they emailed me again asked for my sizes. Then, another couple of weeks went by before they emailed me again asking for sizes and apologizing for a delay. It’s now been six months and I have yet to receive anything. Super punctual. 

The brand who said “pick anything you want” & then said no

This accessories brand told me that I could pick anything I wanted from their site for a collab. I’ll be straight up: it was a watch brand. I don’t wear watches very often but one style caught my eye and was about to change me into being a committed watch-wearing fashionista. However, after I picked my style they told me that oops, when they told me I could pick anything I wanted, they didn’t mean that one. Um, okay? Then it was my turn to tell them no. Oh, and another catch? They ended up telling me that this wouldn’t be a paid collab—it would be a “trial run” to see if they liked my work. Excuse me, but I’m pretty sure you can see my work from my page.

Turns out, shady brands love The Disappearing Act too.

Three other brands just haven’t responded after I responded to them. And again: These brands reached out to me. It’s not like I’m emailing them out of the blue and asking to work together and they’re not interested. No. These people have taken the time to contact me, tell me I’d be a great fit for their brand and asked to work together. And then they disappear. Why bother to email me in the first place?

Anyway, rant over. I just have to say again—shady brands, please stop wasting my time. The same goes for shady people, but that’s another story.

All “Shady Brands” photos by Evangeline Davis.