A Message to our Clients about Epic Rewards

[sephoraadmin2]

Sephora is committed to offering our valued Beauty Insiders exceptional rewards to thank them for their loyalty and for being part of our community.  Yesterday we held an Epic Rewards promotion, and while we have held similar promotions in the past, yesterday’s promotion was the largest number of Epic Rewards we have made available to date.

Despite our best efforts to predict the response, demand was overwhelming, resulting in our being out of stock very quickly. We deeply regret this and apologize to our Beauty Insider clients who did not get a chance to participate.  

At Sephora our first and foremost priority is to give our clients an exciting and fulfilling shopping experience.  Those Beauty Insiders who were unable to get one of our limited quantity Epic Rewards, please email us by Tuesday, August 25, 2015, to epicrewards@sephora.com and include your Beauty Insider account number or email address associated with your account. 

Beyond that, please know that we are committed to learning from this experience. Thank you for your ongoing support. We greatly appreciate you.

Sephora is committed to offering our valued Beauty Insiders exceptional rewards to thank them for their loyalty and for being part of our community.  Yesterday we held an Epic Rewards promotion, and while we have held similar promotions in the past, yesterday’s promotion was the largest number of Epic Rewards we have made available to date.

Despite our best efforts to predict the response, demand was overwhelming, resulting in our being out of stock very quickly. We deeply regret this and apologize to our Beauty Insider clients who did not get a chance to participate.  

At Sephora our first and foremost priority is to give our clients an exciting and fulfilling shopping experience.  Those Beauty Insiders who were unable to get one of our limited quantity Epic Rewards, please email us by Tuesday, August 25, 2015, to epicrewards@sephora.com and include your Beauty Insider account number or email address associated with your account. 

Beyond that, please know that we are committed to learning from this experience. Thank you for your ongoing support. We greatly appreciate you.

**********************

Updated August 17

Thank you to everyone who has been reaching out to us about Epic Rewards. We value your feedback and recognize your ongoing loyalty to us, and we are working to get back to you quickly.

To that end, please know that if you have contacted us you will hear back from us in direct response to your inquiry during the period between Tuesday, August 25th through Tuesday, September 1st. The timing of the response to you will depend on when we received your initial contact regarding Epic Rewards.

If you haven’t contacted us yet, please email us at epicrewards@sephora.com. We’ve set up this dedicated mailbox to collect the right information quickly and accurately, separating you from the queue for general Sephora inquiries. When you email us at this address, it will generate an automated response that confirms we’ve received the message. You can then expect to hear back from us as quickly as possible with more information.

Please know that our team is listening, and we take your concerns to heart. We value your support, and we will be in touch soon.

With our sincerest thanks,

The Beauty Insider Team

*************************************

Updated September 1

Thank you to everyone who reached out to us about Epic Rewards. We have reached out to all of those members who emailed us on or before August 25th, and are no longer accepting new submissions. epicrewards@sephora.com has been closed. Please contact us at 1-877-SEPHORA (1-877-737-4672) regarding any other questions or concerns. We have reviewed your feedback and are taking it into consideration as we plan for future promotions. Our loyal Beauty Insiders are enormously important to us.

[dasharks]

Unfortunately I didn't even see this from Sephora until today - the day after the emails were due!  So not only did I not get an Epic Reward, I didn't even get a chance to let them know!  I have been VIB Rouge forever, but will likely start shopping around at other places where you get $ for points that you can actually redeem

[agenthal]

Haven't received anything yet. I don't feel like $50 is equivalent to 10k useless points, but I definitely think it's better than them throwing more points at me. I appreciate the effort. 

[grayreb]

I don't get why it should be equivalent to the amount of points you have. You are not exchanging them for the credit...

[Libellules]

No, but if you were able to redeem for an epic reward, the value of those was much higher than any of the "standard" rewards. Plus, there was an excellent point that those with 1000 points got the same credit as those with 10000. Those with 10,000 points have spent quite a bit of money to get those points with no way to "cash in" (So to speak) on the points in sight!                         

I stand by my original sentiments. Thanks Sephora for the $50, but I just don't think $50 credit solves anything except appeasing those with a short sighted view on things. What about those who have historically chosen to purchase from Sephora for the points? Points that were supposed to have value, but in reality don't. Rewards still aren't desirable below the "epic" level and there are too few at the epic level to even satisfy what.. 1% of those with points? Don't you think the palette sets (unsigned) should be available at all times for redemption? Even just having a couple of options that are rotated in and out.

[trishavt]

I think its a good gesture given that re-executing the epic rewards promo would have been another potential disaster. It just doesn't seem feasible for them to pull off.

A lot of people are also "cashing out" their points for 100/500 rewards but I realize that those really dont compare to those 1000+ point gifts....i think they should review their rewards system and find a more balanced set of gifts to give away at various points of the year. That way there isnt this heightened frenzy to get an epic reward that happens once a year.....

So instead of their current system they could have a system whereby a customer can redeem points at various times of the year at various levels.

They could structure their point system by offering rewards at 100, 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1500, etc levels and revamp the types of gifts they give at each level. So instead of a sample of origins moisturizer for 100 points they could instead offer something that's more enticing like a perfume sampler. A good 500 point reward would be a full sized lipstick from any brand that retails for less than $50. That said, I understand its a business so giving away this volume of merchandise at this value would probably eat into their profits and isnt a likely option.

[OhSailor]

The entitlement amazes me

[trishavt]

I'm not sure I would characterize her sentiments as entitled. She made a valid point in stating that the $50 gift card doesn't take into consideration the amount of points one has in their account when the basis of epic rewards was predicated on the total number of points a customer has in her/his account as a means of obtaining an epic reward

[OhSailor]

So because I have 13,000 points I should get, what, $200? This is not a realistic expectation, at all.

[agenthal]

It's not entitlement, it's basic customer service. I can take my business to pretty much any other retailer and for the thousands I spend, I'd get loads of GWP. Sephora NEVER does GWP. The rewards system is their version of it, and as it is now, it's a joke. What they have as their lower level rewards is what everyone else gives away for free as a sample anyways, let alone their GWP. You can continue to think people have no right to "entitlement" from companies, but newsflash, that's how the industry works and how companies pull in customers. Have fun getting crap all from Sephora when all their competitors would be giving you full size products and extra perfumes as gifts!

P.S. Last week I bought an Atelier Cologne full size bottle at Bergdorf Goodman, and as a GWP they gave me the miniature version, valued at $80, and also personally monogrammed the leather case. Now THAT is customer service!

[OhSailor]

They do GWP all the time in the form of something much better IMO- a code I can use, even if I didn't buy that brand. Expecting me to get a $200 gift card because I didn't get the 10,000 point perk is absurd and unrealistic, I'm sorry. That ISN'T how it works, and I know because I work in the industry. I don't think Sephora should have even given the $50 gift cards, really. It's like saying "I'm sorry for warning you over and over again that quantities were extremely, extremely limited but you decided to use your entire day on our website anyway."

Also, you spent $250. You could have gotten 25 codes if you'd spent that amount of money, and it wouldn't come out about the same.

[meecheroo]

I sent an e-mail on the first day, but I haven't received anything. I checked my junk folder too.

[sabby88]

haven't either!

[jadeann]

I sent an e-mail on the first day as well, and I haven't received a reply yet.

[missjulied]

Thank you Sephora ! This is truly impressive and I am more than happy !

[QueenBee007]

Super annoyed, didn't know I had such a short deadline, now it's passed and still zero response to my email to the regular sephora customer service line...really upset....

[Tracib1981]

The emails to the regular client services were bounced back with a response to email about the epic rewards. At least that is what I got when I sent my email.

[MUAStephM]

Hey everyone! Just FYI, mine came to my junk folder. I wouldn't have know if I wasn't a member of this board, so thank you for the heads up! Those of you who haven't received yet, make sure to check junk mail.

I wasn't ticked at Sephora like so many, that my reward got taken out of my cart, because sometimes life is that way lol. I have shopped Sephora twice since the epic rewards fail.

 I was just wanting to put my input in for change to a more comparable rewards program, and I hope this helps them to revamp it!

Thanks Sephora! I am super excited about my $50.00 credit, completely unexpected and very much appreciated. The challenge will be to keep my purchase at $50. Just kidding, that isn't possible lol. 😉

[Alexia123]

Mine came to a select folder with gmail, so I agree, check all your folders!

[Adriadne]

Thank you Sephora for making this right!!

[lucyshnoosy]

This was an impressive way to make it up to your loyal customers.  Thank you; I feel like Sephora really heard the feedback this time.  Well done.

[SimplySharee]

I truly was not expecting this and it was an awesome surprise. It's good to know that someone was actually listening. It was more than what I expected and truly appreciated. Thanks, Sephora!