Extraordinary Rewards Experience

[BeautyInsiderBT]

Hi Everyone,

We wanted to take a moment to let you know that we are hearing your feedback regarding today’s Extraordinary Rewards experience. If we haven’t been able to respond to you personally yet, please know that we have read your feedback and definitely understand your frustration. The rewards sold out much quicker than we anticipated, so we were unable to send out the planned email or post to our social channels. We’re sorry if you missed out on these exciting rewards. The response has been overwhelming and we are happy to announce that there will be more extraordinary rewards coming this year.

If you have specific questions or need assistance, please PM a moderator for help. We appreciate your understanding and value the helpful feedback you’ve provided here on BeautyTalk.

[redhope]

I just took a print screen of several different people bragging about how the got 3 different Extraordinary point perks ( so much for one per person) and they got there shipping notifications so Sephora let them get them. Let me get this straight the can have 3 each and I can't get one. It's official Sephora hates us!!

[Mochapj]

Are you meaning 3 of the same reward or 3 separate rewards?

The terms and conditions said it was a limit of 1 per reward per person.

[agenthal]

Yeah this. I refuse to feel bad about staying up late and managing to get more than one perk. I didn't get any of the ones I really wanted, but I'm happy I finally got to spend some of my points. But I didn't cheat and try to get multiples of each. Those people are jerks.

[fatimamummy]

In the morning when there were only two 1000 pt rewards were left. I put one of them in my basket and it option of multiple was working, I was able to make it 6 of same reward in my basket. It was frustrating that why the # option was working for these rewards when it usually disabled for any point perk and we can only add one of each in same order.

Since I wasn't at all interested in one stella top+perfume less 6 of them so I didn't proceed to checkout. I am not sure if people were able to order multiples of same reward in an order but I am sure they were at least able to put multiples in their baskets.

[redhope]

One person said she got 2 kat von d 1000 point and one Laura Mercia one. And she claims she got shipping notices for all 3. I print screened it bc there is a lawyer on here claiming to do a suit. And I'm mad enough to help.

[misscg]

I also have screenshots of the user immediately writing this long **bleep** message about what high end products she wants to trade her perks for. O and she admitted to being reseller

[MNSnowPrincess]

I really understand everyone's frustration, I REALLY wanted the KVD reward but let's not escalate everything. It's upsetting and frustrating as we all spend a lot of money at sephora and would like to be treated a little better but bringing in a lawyer, or suing for rewards that we don't even have to get. CMON. If you're that upset bring your business elsewhere as that is what will harm them most. 

[bratknits]

I disagree, I don't think Spehora is going to straighten out until the combination of regulatory complaints, small claims court cases, and class action filings forces them to do so.  You can't entice people to purchase and then make the rewards intentionally unobtainable by doing something other than your public ads state you are going to do.  

By the way folks ... remember, most of the time you don't need a lawyer for small claims court.

[misscg]

I agree Bratknits. People are too complacent and the fools running Sephora are making millions off of us. I want to see lawsuits filed and heads to roll. I have taken my business elsewhere but I still spent thousands at Sephora over the last few years. Sorry doesn't cut it....wait actually, there was no sorry, just more bs.

[annec322]

I agree with both ideas.  They should be sued and customers should also take their business elsewhere.  That's a great compromise I think!  Win-win.  😉

[grilledchz]

This whole fiasco sounds like a bad breakup. ("But I promise I'll change... I mean it this time!!!"). I'm just as frustrated as everyone else. I have over 5000 points just sitting around, because the point perks are crappy. I was hoping to have a chance to cash them in for an extraordinary reward, but I never got a chance. And here I am, one of your supposed top tier clients.

I feel like this is a constant occurrence with you, Sephora. I mean, really, for the size corporation you are, you can't get a competent IT staff? The IT professionals I know aren't the kind of people that are always making mistakes like this, so you need to stop blaming "glitches" for your poor marketing decisions. 

[mafalvey]

So hear are my thoughts
The point perk that i wanted was 1,000 more points that i had, thats fair, i didn't have enough

what i didn't like was that i didn't know what perk was withing my range ( i had 4,000)

I spent my points on 3 1,000 perks because i wanted to use my points and i knew i wanted to at least try the products.

however I didn't see the perks till 6am est. Everyone is grabbing the perks like mad because they just want to use their points. Im going to say that a good amount of people were going to use their points and didn't really care on what, just wanted their points gone. There wasn't enough time to even read what the perks were before buying because they were selling out so fast. So people are getting perks they don't even want because they DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGHT TIME TO READ ABOUT THEM. thats insane...

[misscg]

I only redeemed for one 1000 point perk even though I had close to 7000 points. I was on early enough to see the crappy 1000 point perks, the 2000 point perfume set, and the stella 5000 point perk. I could have redeemed for most of those things in any combination but didn't because I wasn't satisfied. I spent this money, accumulated these points, and wanted what I wanted. I don't want the consolation prize of a cookbook, t shirt, deluxe samples when I wanted a **bleep** blow dryer, complete set of UD products, and whatever else I wanted. Sephora I know we are stupid, dipsy, makeup hoarders in your eyes but I'm far from stupid. You had more of the crappy rewards than the hot ticket items you know people really want.

[Anonymous]

OK, it think this is worthy of me stopping my lurking trend.

Proper
Planning
Prevents
P!$%
Poor
Performance

Now what does this mean? It means that had this been planned by a proper marketing team, they would have run the numbers, gotten more stock based on past trends, and released at a planned time, with a planned way of controlling inventory to support their claims, and not thrown their customer service fully to the wolves by being honest and accountable. I don't buy IT error, this is one o the Meccas for us, only the most intelligent survive there, if someone threw the switch, it's because they were told to and scheduled the release on the site. This is too much to have been uploaded by a particular time by hand across all servers.

Secondly, the employees know nothing, they are told nothing, and are speculating as much as we are. This is why I left my last job. Despite being told they would be transparent, it was constant bait and switch and lies from the management. My hobby should not be like my job.

I am done playing games.

The reward system without decent GWP and negotiation teams to work with these companies are a joke. The tiers are not appreciated (I've been a rouge since the beginning, and was on BT full time for over a year) not one random gift has been sent my way, the promos for us have been meh and are totally nonexistent this year, there has been no return on my investment with this merchant. I am cashing out my points (as soon as I can) and I am done giving Sephora my money in return for teams dishonest, and poorly coordinated people.

Nordstrom has thoroughly won my business through innovative and well tested rewards plans, impeccable and personal customer service at every level (not to mention knowledgable)! My main staple brands have wonderful perks on their own sites. There is simply no incentive for me to stay here.  

I am not asking for a fix or compensation at this point. I am simply done paying these peoples' salaries for no return on investment.

[hackneyfl]

Well Said!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

TL;DR don't p!$$ on me and tell me it's rain, we're done here.

[IttyxBittyxMe]

Quicker then anticipated....that's kinda funny, seeing how this has happened for the past two years.

I don't understand why you {Sephora corporate, not that mods} feel the need to lie to us. 'Oh we weren't expecting...' Yeah right you weren't! I don't see how it was possible to not expect a large turnout, we the consumers were able to assume as much before this whole fiasco even went down but you mean to tell me the people in charge couldn't? Failing to learn from past mistakes or show any remorse or contempt for the wrong that has been done just makes it seem like, to me, that you really don't care AND makes you look incompetent. You have our money, which is all you really want, so everything else doesn't matter.

This whole rewards program needs a serious update and everyone knows it. Let's take a look at some of the point systems offered by your competitors:

Ulta

• One dollar per point spent
• Platinum only takes 400 points to reach and then you earn points faster and they don't expire
• You can use redeem points on anything, including high end brands for money off
• Multiple chances for x2, x3, and x4 points
• Lovely GWPs

Nordstrom

• Every dollar counts as a point
• Two points per dollar at Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, and Haute Look
• 2,000 points gets a $20 Nordstrom note
• Awesome GWPs

Now those are the only two near me, so I can't say what everyone else offers, but those all look pretty good. If they can offer money off for points on some of the same brands that you carry, I don't understand why you can't. Even if that means giving exclusions. Yeah your points can be redeemed on Urban Decay, but not CoverFX. That be totally fine with me, and others I'm sure, as something is better then nothing and these 'point perks' and laughable. You want me to spend 250 points ($250 if we aren't counting x2 or x3 point promos) on a tiny bottle of perfume? What the what? For spending $250 a Nordstrom I can get the following GWPS:

Anastasia Beverly Hills

• Receive a mini Brow Wiz in Chocolate, Base 1 Pro Pencil (0.08 oz.) and eye pencil sharpener with your $35 Anastasia Beverly Hills purchase. Online and in selected stores.*

Bobbi Brown

• Receive deluxe samples of High Shimmer Lip Gloss in Bare Sparkle (0.07 oz.), Extra Eye Repair Cream (0.1 oz.) and Extra Repair Moisturizing Cream (0.1 oz.) with your $95 Bobbi Brown purchase. Online only.*

Deborah Lippman

• Receive a full-size nail color in Shape of My Heart (0.5 oz.) with your $35 Deborah Lippmann purchase. An $18 value. Online only.**

Estee Lauder

• Receive a full-size foundation brush and samples of Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum (0.14 oz.) and Nutritious Vitality8™ Moisture Creme (0.17 oz.) with any $45 Estée Lauder purchase. Online only.*

FRESH

• Receive samples of Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask (0.67 oz.), Black Tea Age-Delay Eye Concentrate (0.1 oz.), Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream (0.5 oz.) and Soy Face Cleanser (0.68 oz.) with your $100 Fresh purchase. A $95 value. Online only.*

Which are all actually really good. And it's looking up all of these that I wonder why I continue to shop with Sephora when it comes to brands I can get elsewhere. I love NARS, but Nordstrom offers better perks and a better point service. Sooo much better. 

We keep hearing, 'Oh we'll change, things will get better, blah, blah, blah' but so far I've yet to see any real improvement. Now it would be completely different if you guys didn't say change was coming, but as you already have that kinda gives us something to look forward to, and so far we've only been disappointed by all that's happened.

[redhope]

I still haven't had a call back yet from my call to the Rouge line manager from last August when the last failed mega rewards happened. Save your breath Sephora you keep saying you will make it right and it's empty promises. You have completely soured me on the whole Sephora experience and being Rouge is a complete joke as well as the points. Go ahead and put another mega points thing out and when only a few people are given an opportunity to get them again you'll lose even more customers. I'm glade to take my money elsewhere where I'm appreciated and given rewards as promised and not on a lottery system. 

[Nicrohr]

I've been saving my points for years now to have a chance at an "extraordinary reward."

I'm annoyed that I didn't even have a chance (never got an email, etc) because of how this was handled.

If it wasn't for BT, I wouldn't even have know any rewards were coming out at all, let alone some vague idea of when.

Over and over whoever is managing rewards, perks, and the Rouge program in general seems to be out of touch and have the poorest customer relations skills.  As others said, I don't mean the employees I encounter when I contact CS, I mean the management of the program at the highest level as best I can tell (although my CS experiences as a Rouge have left much to be desired as well).

Just like other experiences with the Rouge program and perks in general, it is meaningless to say you're heard the feedback and value it, when nothing is done/nothing changes.  

Plus, come on, how could you be so unprepared/"blindsided" regularly at a multimillion dollar corporation?  Who is running these programs!?

[itscarin]

I agree that the "we didn't know/expect/anticipate" excuse is irresponsible.  We're all grown ups here.  I can't imagine telling my customers, "sorry, I wasn't prepared."  Be accountable for your shortcomings and don't apologize without a plan to remedy the situation going forward.  "I'm sorry" without a plan of action is just lip-service.

[jellybean917]

I think there's a difference between "I didn't anticipate" and "I wasn't prepared," and Sephora only acknowledged the former. I think it was more the case that Sephora wasn't prepared, but that still is not an excuse - there is no excuse. They had to have anticipated this and the problem is that they did not make the proper adjustments for preparation. I'd like Sephora to acknowledge that they weren't prepared, not because they didn't expect this (which is a lame excuse), but because they fell short and disappointed us once again. Then, going forward, they plan to do X, Y, and Z.