Disappointing in-store experience

[mhkness7]

Hi, I'm a regular online shopper at Sephora in Canada. Before I was in Canada, I used to shop at Sephora India. 

I'm currently based in Kingston, Ontario, and I have been trying to visit the Sephora store at Cataraqui Centre. 

Every time I've visited, I have never been greeted once by an employee or asked if I need help. When the store is busy, I absolutely understand why someone could miss greeting a customer. But today was a Monday morning, and the store was not very busy. I took the time out of my day to go in the morning.

The employees were walking around and chatting with each other. 

As I entered, two employees looked at me and turned away. One of them kept looking at me so I smiled at her, at which point she walked away but kept turning and looking back at me. 

Every other guest who was in the store was being helped by someone, and the same woman who walked away from me also greeted people as soon as they entered. It felt very odd to not be treated like any other customer, who were all locals and I guess did not look like they came from another part of the world. 

After walking around aimlessly for 5 minutes trying to get help, I made eye contact with another employee who finally smiled back at me. I asked her for help and she helped me find a foundation that I needed to match with my skin. After I was done choosing the shade, she asked me if I needed any more help and I said I was going to walk around a little to look at the Christmas deals.

This was my THIRD visit to buy a foundation when someone finally offered to help me. 

The foundation I was given was expired, which I guess was an oversight, so I went and found another bottle by myself. The employee who had previously failed to smile back at me threw me a dirty look as she walked away. 

The cash counter was busy with a line-up so I figured that they couldn't greet me nicely as I walked up with my basket. however, she also was rude, had nothing to say about the expired foundation that I handed over to her, and again, no smiles as I said thank you after paying and walked away. 

This was one of the most disappointing visits I've ever had to a beauty store. I'm a regular person, dressed in a tracksuit and a jacket, just a girl trying to make a visit to buy makeup fun. I feel so sad having dropped over $100 on something I was really looking forward to.

I don't know if the employees at Sephora need sensitivity training, or if they need to understand that being a woman of a different colour or nationality does not change the fact that I'm a customer who relates to a global brand like Sephora.

I'm done trying to enjoy my shopping experience at Sephora. It is not inclusive, it is not friendly, and it is no longer fun. If you don't even acknowledge someone, you can't exactly call it discrimination when you ignore them and throw them dirty looks, and refuse to offer customer service.

If you ever need someone to train your employees on being kind and inclusive, or if you want the perspective of a regular customer from another part of the world who used to like your brand, please get in touch.

I'm boycotting the store at Cataraqui Centre, Kingston, Ontario, and I think I might as well buy directly from brands instead of trying to feel like part of something that doesn't exist, like your beauty community. 

[keelybt]

@mhkness7 I'm so sorry to hear about this experience! I will be happy to share this feedback with our Stores team and have someone reach out to you to directly.  It looks like your private messages are currently turned off. Please send me a private message with your order number or you can contact us by phone at 1-877-737-4672 or through our live chat for assistance> https://www.sephora.com/beauty/customer-service You can adjust your account settings (the gear icon) on a desktop or mobile web browser, not the app.