Customers fuming after freebie fail

It was the deal of the decade: makeup fans just had to get themselves to their nearest MAC counter to receive a free lipstick.

Unfortunately for most of the punters who showed up, they were destined to go home emptyhanded.

To mark National Lipstick Day, MAC had let customers know they could come and collect a free full-sized lipstick "bullet" from any MAC store or counter last Sunday – all they had to do was follow the MAC Instagram page.

On the day, though, people ran for cover as a mob mentality overtook many of the freebie-hunters and most were turned away without the coveted $36 prize.

"Major fail @maccosmeticsaustralia townsville myer store only had 150 free lipsticks.... hundreds were turned away when they were all gone so quickly," one would-be customer said.

Some addressed their complaints to the department stores themselves for failing to manage crowd expectations and behaviour.

"If all the extra staff had time to be on their phones laughing and filming, they had time and resources to get people to form a line and prevent a mob," one consumer said.

"I don't think that's an unreasonable thing to want from a company or be disappointed about from a customer service perspective.

"I've been to conventions with thousands and thousands of people and don't mind missing out when things are handled well, but this was legitimately handled really badly."

A spokesperson for MAC apologised to consumers who missed out.

“Thank you to everyone who visited M.A.C yesterday to celebrate National Lipstick Day and collect a free lipstick of select shades,” the spokesperson told News Ltd.

“We experienced the most overwhelming response and due to popular demand, many of our locations ran out of stock early on in the day.

“We gave away thousands of lipsticks across the day but know some consumers have missed out and we are really sorry to those left disappointed.”

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