Dear Sephora Management: 3/23/18
Normally I write to companies when I have praise to give but sadly this is coming to you out of sheer and utter frustration. I have never felt so bullied or mistreated by a company that I spend THOUSANDS of dollars a year with. I have received rockstar, stellar, amazing service from smaller companies who want happy customers.
On November 14, 2017 I purchased two Sephora Favorites Cologne Sampler sets, one for each of my teenage sons. This is item number 1961846. Your website describes this item as follows:
“Exchange the included voucher for a FREE FULL-SIZE featured cologne.*
Inside this classic faux leather travel bag, you’ll find 12 samples of some of our most sought-after modern men’s fragrances. Choose your favorite, and then take the included scent certificate to any US Sephora store* to redeem for a full-size bottle of your favorite featured fragrance at no extra cost.”
It then goes on to list all of the samples included - which I did not list here because quite frankly, it doesn't matter. My order number for this purchase was.
Fast forward to sometime in January, my boys had received these for Christmas and had both decided what they wanted. I took the vouchers to my Sephora inside JCP to exchange for the full sized bottles they had chosen. Son #1, no problem, the cologne was in stock. I exchange the voucher for his cologne. Son #2, Sephora inside JCP did not have in stock. They assured me this is not a problem, they’d order from a stand alone store. (I live 2+ hours from the nearest stand alone Sephora so I could not go and do this myself.) The sweet employee ordered it for me and thankfully wrote the order number (2018-0256-2024-8354) on a piece of receipt paper “just in case something happened”. 3 or more weeks later, I thought to myself, Hmmmm, I wonder where that cologne is. I called the number she also wrote on the receipt (800-233-2111) which is the phone number for JCP. I go through the whole incident and give them item number and they tell me they can’t help and to call Sephora. Ok, fine. I call Sephora. They were able to track this order and tell me the manufacturer was no longer going to be making this cologne so they could not fulfill the order. Ok, fine. So let's pick a different one. Oh, I can't do that because I turned the voucher in to the JCP sephora and you're the real sephora??? At this point my frustrations are growing because once i turn that voucher into you or JCP I no longer have any way to get my money, my cologne, none of it. The voucher is gone and I am left with nothing. Oh and NO ONE NOTIFIED ME THIS ORDER WAS CANCELLED!! I had to call after a few weeks of wondering. That's not good business. Why didn't someone call me and inform me of the situation and ask if there was another cologne he would like? I had to do all of this work myself.
I was literally in tears at this point out of sheer and utter frustration and to be completely honest the stupidity that Sephora and the Sephora in JCP couldn't communicate with one another or even with me. No one said the words “Sorry lady there is nothing we can do, but really what everyone was saying was sorry lady there is nothing we can do.” I know I am VIB Rouge and have been for years but $65 still means something to me. We work hard for our money and I appreciate when companies see and respect that. I know I’m not your number one buyer and never will be but I have been very, very, very loyal and planned to continue on with that. Any free money i get…..75% of the time it’s spent in your store. I digress, at this point my husband comes into the room and i have tears running down my face out of the anger I’m feeling and how I feel stolen from. No one was offering any solutions to this mess and it felt like they were throwing their hands in the air like “we don't know what to do” I felt as though that $65 of my hard earned dollars just *POOF* was gone. So my husband (being in the finance world) went in and disputed the charge on his Discover card.
I was not aware of that and my quest to figure this out and get my money or product continued. I took to Twitter on February 6 with the hopes they could help - and they were the most helpful of ALL of your previous employees. On February 7, they assured me that someone from my store (inside JCP) would be in contact with me in the next 5-7 days. Great, We’re going to get somewhere. On February 9th I did receive a call but was unable to answer and i tried to call her back. They said they would deliver the message and she’d get right back to me. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. February 18 - still no call back. (I am totally willing to recognize when things are truly accidental. The area code for Tyler, Texas where this is all occurring is 903. I moved here from Alaska a few years ago and my area code is 907. I 100% understand and believe them when they say they kept trying to call and then realized it should have been to my 907 number and not 903. Reasonable explanation and not the first company here to do it. People assume 903 and dial.) February 28th and still…...NOTHING. Shortly thereafter a manager from Sephora inside JCP emailed me and things got rolling. Tiffany Beal worked with me over this issue. She asked if I wanted a replacement cologne (I don't even know what he wanted at this point) or a gift card for the $65 and I had already purchased him a $90 bottle of cologne in the meantime because he was going on dates to school dances etc. About a week later Tiffany sent me a very sweet card along with a gift card for $100 for all i had been through and for how long this took.
Cool. I think everything is good. Everything is behind us so i placed an order using gift cards in the amount of $32.47. This order number was 9250251631. Tonight I was sitting in bed, happy as a clam and someone posted a photo of a highlighter palette that i ordered and i had not received and so i wondered what was happening now. I log in to find that this order was not processed due to an “Unsuccessful Authorization”. OKAY. Since I used two gift cards I knew there wasn't a problem there. My order even showed a zero balance. I call Sephora and talk to a sweet girl named Kenny, who tried her hardest but was unable to handle this situation. I feel like there are easy solutions and she isn't powerful enough to override things or actually fix them. She explained to me that because I had a claim out for the original $65 (which I forgot all about) that my account was locked up and I am not allowed to order online. WHAT? IS THIS A JOKE? AM I BEING PUNKED? No?? So I file a claim with my bank on something that was SOLELY Sephoras fault and now I’m be retaliated by not being allowed to order for up to 6 months?!?!?!? Seriously Sephora, not a phone call to me, not an email telling me it was cancelled, just dead air like the initial cologne order. My jaw literally hit my desk I was sitting at. YOU BLOCKED ME FROM ORDERING ONLINE? A customer who has been VIB Rouge for at least the last 5 years. That means I have spent over $10,000 with you and you’ve cut me off for a $65 misunderstanding? At this point I am FURIOUS but trying to keep my cool with Kenny because it was quite obvious that her hands were tied. She did tell me the money was refunded to my gift cards i used. One of them we were able to verify and handle but the other one i threw away because HELLO i placed an order and paid, what could go wrong???? Ok, so for the second card that I threw away was a Sephora gift card purchased by my family at a Kroger 200 miles away. i was told to call (877-246-6255) and tell them what happened and they should be able to somehow re-issue me the $15.36 that I am owed from the purchase. I asked Kenny why these people would care about a Sephora issue and she said it was the only way. Ok, (insert eye rolling) i call them. Tell them the story, tell them the gift card number that Kenny gave me and the amount and guess what,,,,,.??? THEY CANT HELP ME. I was told my parents have to go to the actual store they bought the card from and have that store call this phone number. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? That's not happening. Its $15 but from the inception of this entire thing SEPHORA has messed up over and over and over again but has punished me, the consumer, for their lack of communication, software, or i don't know what. Why aren’t you able to put a credit on my account like you’ve done when I had a broken item come to me?
So, again, realizing that our bank card is in a “fued” with Sephora over this initial $65 I, your loyal VIB Rouge consumer, is cut off from being able to purchase. THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME but i go with it. I ask Kenny if I am able to pay the $65 since my Sephora did finally give me a gift card. I’m not trying to steal $65 from your billion dollar company. After all of the nonsense I have gone through I would think Sephora would call it good and not block me but I guess not. She puts me on hold comes back and says I can only do this with the card I used with the original order. SSSUUUUPPPEEERRR. That's my discover card that was stolen over the holidays and cancelled. I ask if i can pay with my replacement Discover, same account just a new card with new numbers. She says no. At this point I am equal parts laughing at how absolutely absurd all of this is, frustrated with how I’ve been treated since i have been such a loyal customer for so many years, irritated that I am the one trying to come up with solutions and getting no after no after no. YOU GUYS MESSED ALL OF THIS UP. KICKED ME OUT OF MY ACCOUNT. AND NOW WONT EVEN TAKE MY MONEY SO I CAN ORDER FROM YOU AGAIN!!!!! On what planet does that make sense?
I am livid over the treatment I’ve been through with Sephora. I have several hundred dollars in gifts cards, ebates, and money I've been saving for the sale you usually have in April and now I am blocked and cannot even order.
Basically at this point, I am so mad that I need this email to get to the person who can push the unblock button so I can order. I would also appreciate the $15.36 to be applied to my account and I want the $65 bank battle dropped. I am trying to do right by yall but it is not being reciprocated. Kenny was sweet and did add 200 points to my account for all these problems. Yep, to the account I am blocked from using.
Hoping for a resolution that makes me want to remain loyal to you, my favorite store until today…...
Tracy Skipworth
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