A lifestyle influencer has shared the shocking threats a brand made against her after she was late sharing videos promoting their product.
Joanne Romarate, who has nearly 37,000 TikTok followers, struck a deal with Rugsstyle to create content about their rugs in exchange for a free copy.
But when the Texas student and mother of two missed her mailing date by two days, the company flooded her email with harsh and violent messages.
Romarate documented the situation on her TikTok page to warn her followers about the brand and the overall risk of working with TikTok Shop companies.
She wrote in a post: ‘POV: You forgot to post a product on TikTok and the Chinese company wishes you dead.’
Joanne Romarate, a lifestyle influencer, posted about a heated email exchange she had with a brand
Rugsstyle sent her death wishes and threatening comments
Rugsstyle employee Ping Xu sent several harsh and threatening emails to Romarate because she missed the agreed post date by two days
Romarate then showed an email from a Rugsstyle representative that sent shockwaves through TikTok.
The cruel email reads: ‘You liar. Didn’t your parents teach you to be honest? Or are you an orphan without parents?
“Do your children know they have a mother who has no dignity and lies to others?”
Xu also said that if Romarate did not post a video promoting their carpets within 24 hours, Rugsstyle would report all of its videos through more than twenty different accounts.
The messages resulted in death wishes.
“You live so pointlessly, why don’t you die sooner? As someone who has deceived you, I sincerely wish you a speedy death,” the email read.
Romarate posted a TikTok about her terrible experience with carpet company Rugsstyle
Xu threatened to have all of Romarate’s videos reported, calling her ‘shameless’
The video has approximately 4.8 million views.
In a follow-up five-minute video, styled as a “get ready with me” post, Romarate said Xu also told her, “F*** you and your family, your whole family will die.”
Addressing the confrontation, she said she was sorry for being late in posting the content she promised to the company, but was ultimately glad she got to see their true colors.
Romarate said in the TikTok, “Honestly, I didn’t care about me, but then they started adding my family to it.
“If it’s about my family, yeah, don’t go to family.
“I have two small children and this is not okay.”
After Romarate posted her first TikTok on the threatening emails, Rugsstyle immediately sent her an apology.
Rugsstyle sent Romarate an apology after they started receiving backlash for the way they treated her.
They wrote in a direct message: ‘We are very sorry. We greatly appreciate our cooperation with you and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.
‘I am sorry that this was my employee’s fault and that I did not catch her problem in time, we have taken her seriously. I fired her.”
In the conversation, Romarate told the company that the email correspondence was extremely unprofessional and that she hopes Rugsstyle learns from their mistakes.
The influencer will no longer support the brand or their products.
Rugsstyle publicly apologized for the employee’s behavior in a statement on their TikTok page.
It reads: ‘We recognize that the employee’s inappropriate behavior was disturbing to the creator and to everyone else, and we regret it.’
The letter, signed by Rugsstyle founder ‘James’, outlined the steps the company plans to take to ensure this never happens again.
These steps are intended to fire “irresponsible” staff members, apologize to people the brand has been rude to, and retrain employees on how to interact with influencers.
Rugsstyle has issued a statement of apology in response to the controversy
After this sour experience, Romarate said she will no longer participate in TikTok store partnerships.
People supported her in the comments.
One user wrote: ‘Wow, so inappropriate. I hope this video goes viral and no one orders anything from Ping Xu!’
“If this is the way they treat people they have done business with, imagine how this company treats employees,” another added.