Communication with Customers

In 1994, we set up a Customer Relations Division as a general contact point for receiving customer feedback. After reviewing the feedback received, we add information to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) & Inquiries section of our website as part of our efforts to ensure the supply of information.
Many inquiries from customers are about shop information and purchasing methods. About 30% of those inquiries are in regard to products that we no longer make, with people telling us they do not see the product in the store or are wondering if we still manufacture the product.
Listing discontinued products in a section of the FAQ on the website is one way to save customers the trouble of making an inquiry. We do this as part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the provision of information.

The Customer Relations Division at Mandom receives a large number of inquiries from customers, many of which are in regard to the ingredients in products used by consumers.
Sometimes customers would ask about ingredients that were not displayed in full on the container itself for space reasons (only being listed on the mount, outer box, or the like). At other times customers had discarded the container after using a refill. Up to this point, the Customer Relations Division had dealt with each request individually, but situations have arisen where customers could not get the information quickly enough, such as in an emergency when a product had been swallowed accidentally or a person had an allergic reaction, and a phone call was made after business hours, when the answer could not be provided immediately.
Because of such circumstances, on April 28, 2017 full lists of ingredients were published on Mandom's official website to help customers, with the following objectives.

[Objectives]

• To allow customers to quickly obtain full lists of ingredients when seeing a doctor after the occurrence of a health problem (such as dermatological symptoms, accidental ingestion, an allergic reaction, etc.)
• To reduce time and effort required to answer inquiries from customers (by phone or email)

To prevent the misuse of products and ensure safety, as well as provide safe, trustworthy products and services, the Customer Relations Division compiles feedback from customers into a database. Using this database, we share information from customers to related departments and top management through internal meetings so that the information is utilized in product development and in efforts to improve products.
Mandom also participates in activities initiated by the Association of Consumer Affairs Professionals (ACAP) (Japanese only) , a public interest corporation made up of specialists on consumer issues. Our goal is to help realize a sound society of citizen consumers, through further advancing consumer-oriented management and working to build a healthy, safe, and reliable consumer society.

Based on the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) and guidelines from the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association, Mandom is promoting the adoption of universal design to enable the safe use of our products by people with impaired sight.
Until recently, only shampoo and conditioner bottles were made with tactile cues on the container that enable users to distinguish between them. In 2014, the JIS provision, "Packaging, Accessible design, General requirements," was revised to incorporate package design on liquid body wash containers. Following these new standards, Mandom began to add straight line tactile cues to our body wash containers to aid in identification.
In November 2015, along with the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association and other companies that have also taken a lead in implementing these standards, Mandom received certificates of appreciation from the Japan Federation of the Blind and the Japan Braille Library.

On October 23, 2015 the Consumer Safety Investigation Commission (of the Consumer Affairs Agency) published its "Report on the Causes of Accidents, etc. Based on Article 23, Section 1 of the Consumer Safety Act," with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare presenting a recommendation on measures to prevent the onset and exacerbation of skin disorders caused by hair coloring products.
The report recommends that manufacturers and distributors take various steps to promote a correct understanding of hair coloring products to prevent the onset and exacerbation of skin disorders caused by hair dyes. The report recommends that information on the risk of allergic reaction to oxidative hair dyes be supplied to consumers and emphasizes the importance of encouraging consumers to take measures to avoid risks, such as conducting a skin allergy test (patch test) prior to use or discontinuing the use of a hair coloring product if any abnormal reaction is detected.

Based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's notification to the hair coloring industry and the recommendations of the Consumer Affairs Agency, Mandom has added information in the Frequently Asked Questions section of its website and product information sections of each product in the hair coloring category to properly inform customers how to safely use hair coloring, particularly the importance of conducting a patch test 48 hours prior to using a hair coloring product.

On September 2, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that antimicrobial soaps, body soaps, and other "consumer antiseptic washes" that contain any of 19 types of antibacterial ingredients, including Triclosan, will be banned from sale in the United States. Four weeks later, on September 30, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issued a report encouraging manufacturers to quickly switch to substitute ingredients for the production of medicated soaps that contain any of the 19 types of antibacterial ingredients.

Mandom does not sell any of the medicated soaps referred to in the MHLW's report, but some of our other products did contain Triclosan previously. Triclosan, as an antimicrobial ingredient, has long been in use in a diverse range of fields, and is presently used in many cosmetics sold in Japan and other countries around the world. We would like to state that the safety of their use is not in question.
However, in light of this global trend toward stricter regulation, Mandom has completed the switch to substitute ingredients for all products that previously contained Triclosan. We have also established a policy of not using any of the above 19 antimicrobial ingredients, including Triclosan, in any of our products in the future.

Mandom has a privacy policy. and social media policy ; we carry out periodic business audits and provide employee education on an ongoing basis regarding these policies.

Details concerning the handling of personal information at Mandom can be checked on the Mandom website.