Former Bee & Co. employee recalls high-pressure sales tactics

At least two Bee & Co. skincare stores in the Los Angeles area have closed following a CBS California Investigates report that exposed alleged high-pressure sales tactics targeting vulnerable customers. The closures came as a former employee spoke out about observing salespeople pressuring customers to spend money.

The investigation has identified hundreds of beauty store retailers around the U.S. that have been accused by consumers of using aggressive — and at times coercive — sales tactics and deceptive refund policies.

The investigation focused on businesses tied to the Mazal Group, a Chatsworth-based company that distributes products to Bee & Co. and numerous other beauty stores and kiosks.

Since the investigation first aired in August, Bee & Co. stores at Westfield Topanga in Canoga Park and Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance closed their doors permanently. A Bee & Co. store at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks also closed but quickly reopened under a new name, "LUME." CBS California Investigates observed the same employees working, and the same products on display, inside "LUME" as before the name change.

In response to an inquiry by CBS California Investigates, a Westfield Group spokesperson confirmed in an email that "Bee & Co. is no longer a tenant at Westfield Topanga and Westfield is taking similar appropriate steps regarding the [newly named] operation at Westfield Fashion Square." Westfield did not provide details on what these "appropriate steps" might be. 

Consumers across the country have described to CBS California Investigates, and in hundreds of online reviews, their unpleasant experiences at the stores, alleging they were pressured to make purchases worth thousands of dollars. 

Customer describes high-pressure experience 

Linda Merrill, a 77-year-old Orange County resident, said she spent more than $11,000 on Mazal-distributed products at a Las Vegas skincare store and was unable to obtain a refund.

"I want to save someone else from going through this," Merrill said.

Merrill, who uses a mobility scooter and needs 24-hour oxygen because of several chronic lung ailments, said a saleswoman lured her into a Lionesse Beauty Bar at the Venetian Hotel's Grand Canal Shoppes on the Las Vegas Strip in February 2025 by offering a sample and promises of more youthful-looking skin. She said she was taken to a back room and presented with various skincare products and devices.

The saleswoman claimed to have graduated from MIT, Merrill recalled.

After about 90 minutes, Merrill said, she realized her oxygen supply was running low and she was feeling woozy. She said she told the saleswoman she needed to return to her hotel room.

Merrill said the sales pitch continued, even after she expressed discomfort and told employees she wanted to leave. She said she only handed over her credit card after being assured she could return the products at any time.

"[The saleswoman] said, 'You know, we don't want anyone to walk away and not be happy,'" Merrill said.

Merrill explained that it wasn't until she returned to her room that she discovered she had spent more than $11,271.52. She returned to the store the next day seeking a refund but was denied, she said.

She said she made dozens of phone calls to sales representatives who told her they could not help. After having an attorney send a letter and mail back the unopened products, she said she received no response.

Merrill also traveled back to Las Vegas to stage a one-woman protest outside the store, sitting on her mobility scooter for hours with a sign accusing the business of elder abuse, to no avail. 

"Now I have nothing," she said.

The allegations are similar to those of many other customers who described to CBS California Investigates feeling trapped by salespeople until they agreed to make a purchase, and who say they only found out about restrictive return policies after getting home and seeing "no refunds" stamped on their receipts.

Former Bee & Co. employee speaks 

Several former employees of beauty stores that sold products distributed by the Mazal Group, some of whom asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, recall witnessing and enforcing such policies in some cases.

True Tetrault, who worked for eight months as a receptionist at a Bee & Co. store at the Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, said employees regularly pressured customers who hesitated over making expensive purchases.

"They would always kind of go for elderly people," Tetrault said. "The whole store was just, 'Let's make people waste money, let's lie to everybody.'" 

"If the person felt tentative about buying the item, they would shame them," Tetrault recalled, describing salespeople suggesting that customers could not afford the products. She described customers being relentlessly pressured to spend more than $600 on a jar of cream.

Tetrault said refunds were generally unavailable unless customers became confrontational or threatened legal action. She recalled one woman arriving at the store in tears and saying her husband would divorce her if she did not receive a refund.

"One of my first days working there, this guy comes in with two bags of items filled to the brim," she recalled. "He's like, 'My wife came here and spent this much money — we can't afford this."

Tetrault said her employer instructed her to reject the return.

"It was disgusting," she said. "I wish I would have had the [financial] means to leave earlier than I did, because you feel so bad seeing these things happen and not be able to stop it."

"I hate when people prey on others," she added. "Especially now where money really is tight for so many people."

Mazal Group operations 

Mazal Group is managed in part by Eli and Daphna Weingarten, who are listed as officers of the company in corporate filings. Public records reviewed by CBS California Investigates show the couple owns the company's Chatsworth headquarters.

A 2009 trademark application identifies Eli Weingarten as an owner of OroGold, a skincare brand sold at "OroGold" stores and other beauty retailers that have been accused of using aggressive sales tactics.

OroGold was among the brands mentioned in a 2016 federal indictment charging Omer Gur, an Israeli military veteran, with operating a visa fraud scheme that illegally brought Israeli nationals to the United States to work at beauty stores and kiosks in seven states.

Gur was sentenced to six years in federal prison. A promotional video from 2015 encouraged young Israelis to sign up for the work, according to the investigation.

In 2011, the U.S. Embassy in Israel released several public service announcements on YouTube warning young Israelis that illegally working without proper visas would lead to detention, deportation and a "multi-year ban on future travels to the United States."

CBS California Investigates has repeatedly asked the Weingartens and their attorneys for an interview, but has not received a response.

The activities of stores that sell products distributed by the Mazal Group recently have prompted legal scrutiny.

In July, Mazal Group reached a settlement in Hawaii with more than 100 plaintiffs after they filed a class action lawsuit alleging coercive and deceptive sales tactics at a number of skincare stores and kiosks. The court ruled that the details of the settlement be sealed and attorneys representing the plaintiffs did not respond to requests for comment. A company that provided research for the plaintiffs alleged that "the Mazal Group owners are involved in every step of the process."

Mazal Group Responds

In an emailed statement to CBS California Investigates, a spokesperson for Mazal Group responded to the allegation, saying "Mazal Group is an independent distributor of cosmetic products. It has no role at all in directing retail operations or the sale and refund policies of stores that sell our products. In most cases, reported complaints are not even related to brands we distribute. We unequivocally condemn predatory and aggressive selling behavior by any retailers and regret that this inappropriate action was tied in any way to products we have distributed."

According to its own website, Mazal Group offers its store partners a list of services that is unusually broad for a distributor, including new lease and lease renewal services, marketing and advertising, client services, research and product development, accounting, customer relations, and new client and client expansion services.

In a 2020 court complaint, Mazal Group submitted as evidence a licensing agreement that suggested close oversight of its retail partners, including implementing restrictions on retailers' online sales, requiring Mazal Group's consent to change locations and requiring approval of advertising and promotional materials.   

New Mexico AG fights back 

In 2024, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued the Santa Fe Spa Center, which sold products distributed by the Mazal Group. Torrez said tourists and older customers were drawn into the store and persuaded to buy devices or creams, sometimes discovering charges that were thousands of dollars higher than expected when they reviewed their credit card bills.

His office argued the retailer violated the Unfair Practices Act and secured a $350,000 settlement last December. The agreement included a commitment by the retailer to discontinue high-pressure and deceptive sales tactics and a requirement that the business notify the state if it planned to rebrand, according to the attorney general.

The Santa Fe Spa Center has since closed its doors permanently.

"This is one of the most egregious and most aggressive operations that we've ever encountered," Torrez said.

At Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, the store now known as LUME previously operated as Bee & Co. and, before that, Lionesse, another retailer that carried products distributed by the Mazal Group.

Lionesse changed its name after settling a lawsuit filed by a woman in her 70s who accused the business of elder financial abuse, alleging she had been coerced and deceived into spending more than $61,000 on beauty products.

Before "Lionesse," Vine Vera, also a brand distributed by the Mazal group, occupied space at Westfield Fashion Square. Online reviews of Vine Vera salespeople in 2017 and 2018 described similar aggressive sales tactics. 

Torrez said his office is actively sharing information about its investigation and settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office. The discussions could signal potential scrutiny of the businesses in California, although no enforcement action by Bonta was announced.

Federal oversight also remains a question. Before 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was one potential avenue for federal action involving companies accused of harming consumers. Since early 2025, the Trump administration has defunded and restructured the agency.

CBS California Investigates' findings raise questions about how regulators can address alleged misconduct across multiple states when businesses change names, reopen at the same locations and operate under different brands.

For consumers who say they have lost thousands of dollars, obtaining a refund can remain a challenge even after they complain or seek legal assistance.

If you'd like to share your experience at a skincare business, as a customer or employee, please email klazar@cbs.com.