I have a professional acquaintance/friend whom is currently a licensed cosmetologist in the state of Texas and previously in Colorado. (I currently reside in Colorado and she currently resides in Texas.)

I met this person when we both lived in Colorado and we had a mostly business related relationship. I babysat her kids for some time and she would occasionally do my hair. She moved to Texas in early 2020 and we kept in casual contact.

In late December of 2021, I asked this person if she would be willing to purchase some professional hair care products for me that I cannot access without a professional license and mail them to me. The person agreed.

We finalized the shopping list and she asked me to send her $65 via Venmo. I sent her $75 to cover shipping as well.

From January 2022 to mid April 2022 I messaged this person roughly once every week or two for an undate on my products.

At first she claimed the package was shipped, but then returned to her because she forgot to include my apartment number. Then she said she was just really busy and couldn't get back to the post office quickly. Then she claimed to have sent it again and the package kept getting delayed. I asked for a tracking number but she ignored the request. Then she told me the package was lost and she was waiting for a refund from USPS.

I never once received the receipt from the original product purchase or the two different tracking numbers.

At this point I politely told her I would just like money back. This is now mid April, and after requesting to have her send the $75 back via Venmo, she ghosted me.

Since April 25th I have left her a voicemail, three text messages, two Facebook chat messages and a Venmo pay request without any acknowledgement or response. (I have been professional in all communication, only relaying my disappointment in the situation and my desire to resolve it and move on.)

Because we live in different states, I don't believe I can do anything via small claims court. Do I have any real recourse? Does this possibly fall under criminal theft by deception? I'm partly convinced the products were never purchased to begin with. I know it's a very small amount of money, and I'd prefer to just get that back and be done, but since she won't respond I want to know if I actually have any legal options worth thinking about.

I appreciate any and all guidance.

Thank you.