A woman was threatened and told to 'drink bleach' when she asked a Facebook seller to refund her for a $55 bag that didn't show up

• Emily Downey bought a second-hand bag from a Facebook group for $55.
• But the bag still hadn't arrived after nine weeks, so she contacted seller Lidia Lee for a refund.

A woman described a Facebook seller cussing her out and threatening her after she asked for a refund on a bag that never arrived, the latest consumer drama to take over TikTok.

The buyer, Emily Downey, noticed a vintage bag she liked on TikTok in June, and went hunting for it.

She told Insider she found a seller who had a Facebook group called Westernique LLC with around 3,000 members, who was selling it for $55.

"I just kind of pulled the trigger," Downey told Insider, expecting an easy transaction.

"When you have a Facebook group of nearly 3,000 people, from previous experiences, you think you have a good business going. But that was not the case."

Nine weeks later, Downey's bag still hadn't arrived, exceeding a supposed maximum turnaround time of six weeks. She sent a message on August 10 to the seller and group owner Lidia Lee, asking for a refund.

What ensued was an angry email exchange, and a furious back and forth on TikTok, which has been dubbed "PurseGate." Videos with that tag have been viewed more than 800,000 times.

Lee also spoke to Insider, seeming to dispute that Downey deserves a refund. She also criticized her for escalating her grievance so publicly.

Downey said that while she was waiting for the bag she had been watching Lee interact with other group members, and noticed some "red flags."

She said Lee seemed rude when customers asked after their orders, and that she seemed to block anyone that raised questions.

But Downey thought she would still manage to get a refund, since the bag seemed not to have even been sent out.

In response, Lee said she had posted a message in the group stating the bags had been sent out the previous day, and that Downey would know this "if you would read."

Lee also said she didn't "give refunds," appearing to contradict a policy posted in the Facebook group saying that refunds were possible if the turnaround time for an item had passed.

Downey then told Lee her customer service was "disgusting" and she would get a refund from her bank instead. (She told Insider this came through quickly.)

"That's fine," Lee responded, alongside a threat of legal action which Lee declined to elaborate on in her messages to Insider.

The argument continued, with Downey stating again that she had in fact read the rules, and she was entitled to a refund.

"Your lack of customer service will ruin your business," she said.

Downey received just one line in response from Lee: "Bitch u are dumb as fuck," with laughing and crying emojis.

The response "blew my mind," Downey said. She told Insider that she has anxiety and did not relish the idea of going public, but wanted to warn other people

She posted a TikTok explaining the ordeal, from an account which at the time had just 38 followers.

"I didn't think that it was gonna go anywhere," she said. "It was a little bit fueled by rage."

Over the past week, Downey's video was been viewed 1.3 million times, and she amassed over 9,000 followers.

And Lee started to fire back. In one TikTok, she said since Downey was "so obsessed" with her, "do y'all think she would like a pair of my underwear?"

"I'm really thinking about mailing her a pair," she said.

Downey said the whole experience was "almost comical" and left her "in shock." She said Lee also posted another TikTok which publicly showed Downey's address — which got one of Lee's accounts removed.

In a further one, Lee claimed Downey had sent emails "harassing" her.

Downey posted another response video with screenshots of their emails, to argue against that claim. In one, Lee said "I wonder if u can run your mouth from under ground," and in another she threatened to "pull up" to Downey's house and "drag your ass."

"Go drink some bleach and do everyone around u a favor," she wrote in another, calling Downey "obsessed," and saying she lacked "brain cells."

"It just blew my mind that is a business owner I bought from," Downey told Insider. "I've never experienced a business like this."

In an email to Insider, Lee said Downey was aware that the shipping of the bag had been delayed, and said that she had proof that she had created a tracking label. (She didn't show Insider the proof.)

"I sent her proof of that which she never posted and next thing I know she's blasting me all over TikTok," she said. "And now some other girl is harassing me and people have like been sending me like very derogatory comments threatening my infant child."

Lee said she couldn't comment further because she was "talking to an attorney" about suing Downey. But in further emails, she said she didn't regret anything she said to Downey, saying: "she can die for all I care."

Lee then threatened to sue Insider.

Since Downey's video, other people came forward claiming to have had similar experiences with Lee and Westernique LLC.

Westernique LLC has a D- rating on the Better Business Bureau website. The page includes a formal complaint from February, where a customer says they still hadn't received tracking information of two purses they ordered a month prior.

"I've been watching my email and her page, numerous people have been complaining of not receiving their purses," the complaint reads. "She will respond with rude and short answers and then blocks the person."

While Downey never received her bag, something positive has come from the experience, she said. Another small business owner, called La Vintage Petite Mamann on TikTok, reached out to Downey because she had a Louis Vuitton purse similar to the one Downey had been looking for.

The company sent it out to her for free as well as a few other vintage items. Downey was thrilled with the gifts, but insisted she pay $100.

Downey told Insider she saw La Vintage Petite Mamann grow from just 30 followers to over 12,000 thanks to PurseGate. She said she wants to remind people that small businesses are still worth buying from.

"People are definitely going to think twice before they order from a small business or they're going to find it on Amazon, you know, and that can be damaging for a business," she said. "This happened to me — but it's not all small businesses.

"I'm still supporting small businesses and I don't want them to be hurt from this."