Double Charging

[MMBeauty101]

About 2 weeks ago I visited the Hillcrest Sephora store to purchase some items that I thought would be more convenient to get in person rather than ordering online.  This was the first time in about 2 years I had stepped foot in a Sephora Store.  Unfortunately, the experience was less that lack lustre - I was ignored by staff when asking a question about a product I wanted to identify (person tried to get me to purchase Sephora brand item instead while telling me the product without much product information).  When I said I would think about the Sephora brand item, she quickly tried to leave our conversation without addressing my question.  I did not get approached by anyone else in the store until I had to pay - something I experienced a lot when I did shop at the store - and when I paid, I was charged 3 times for my one time purchase.

I have tried to rectify this with the store and customer service - I have been overcharged about $530 and do not know what else to do.  The last I spoke to a Sephora representative was from Customer Service who noted that they cannot do anything about my dilemma.

I am so disappointed with my Sephora experience - I am looking to get this problem solved and will not look to shop with Sephora again.

Signed,

a really upset, former patron.

[moobunny]

I just GOT DOUBLE CHARGED TODAY.  I have to drive all the way back to get my money they are annoying cashiers and unlikeable.  Sephora should learn how genuine and helpful people can grow business.  Why do more people now prefer Ulta???  There's never rude people at Ulta nor is there any double charging happening at least not all the years I've gone there.  Not going to Sephora if I have to be put out of my way for your mistake.

[ellisgirl13]

SAME... charged double. just got off chat window with customer service. They will no do nothing to make this right. They want me to call my bank to ask for pending charges to be dropped - spend another 30 minutes of my day trying to correct Sephora's wrong. 

I've been a customer since 1999. Rouge, VIB, etc. Not anymore. This is insane. 

[KendraChang]

Totally understand your feelings! The customer service couldn’t help anything!

I have purchased with Sephora many many years, and not only in the US, also in China, Hong Kong, all by online shopping, but lately I had happened the same thing! Sephora charged me twice!

Sephora charged me on 9th of Nov, which my purchase date, and then they Charged me same price on 16th of Nov. Today 19th,  I contacted the customer service would like to know when I could get the return, but the customer service just kept saying that wasn’t their fault, they only charge once when the item shipped.( BUT the fact is CHARGED TWICE on my credit card bill.)

and kept saying it would returned within 48 hrs, but the fact is already been passed 10 days, they didn’t return me the credit!

the customer service was worse! Their system and policy cause those problems, but I have to waste my time again to contact the bank! That was really an extremely awful experience with Sephora! 

[ellisgirl13]

Here's the entire conversation we had: (I even included a picture of my bank transactions)

Live Beauty Help
Hi there. What can we help you with today?
26 mins ago
Customer Service
26 mins ago

Live Beauty Help
Hi there. What customer service question can we help you with today?
26 mins ago
Something Else
26 mins ago

Live Beauty Help
Please provide your order number, otherwise type 'not available'.
26 mins ago
Order ######
26 mins ago

Live Beauty Help
How can we help you today?
26 mins ago
I have 2 separate pending charges from Sephora in my bank account
26 mins ago

Live Beauty Help
Please allow us one moment while we connect you with an agent.
26 mins ago
One for $231 (order total) and one for $205
25 mins ago
I would assume one is the charge without the item shipped separately
25 mins ago
And one is the total charge.
25 mins ago
Can you tell me why Sephora is making transactions in my account for $400+
25 mins ago
This is not right.
25 mins ago

Shanise, Sephora Beauty Advisor
Hello! I am reviewing your request and will be with you in a few moments.
20 mins ago
Once an order is placed, a pending authorization hold is placed with your Financial Institution. You are not charged until the order has shipped. I see that your order was sent in two parcels. This means that you have a charge of $205.34 and $27.38. Please allow up to 7 days for the original charge of $236.47 to fall from your accounts. This amount of time will depend on your Financial Institution.
19 mins ago
No
18 mins ago
I have a charge for $205
18 mins ago
and $231
18 mins ago
These pending charges affect my available balance
18 mins ago

Shanise, Sephora Beauty Advisor
I understand and apologize for the inconvenience. Please allow up to 7 business days for the original charge to fall from your account.
18 mins ago
No
17 mins ago
Can I speak with a manager?
17 mins ago
This is pretty egregiious
17 mins ago
egregious
17 mins ago
I've had a relationship shopping at sephora since 1999. I've never seen this type of transaction before, where Sephora reached into my account to take more out than I spent.
16 mins ago
This is not ok.
16 mins ago
This is twice the amount that I actually spent.
16 mins ago
I will not just allow it to fall off in a week. This affects my spending power NOW.
16 mins ago

Shanise, Sephora Beauty Advisor
I completely understand your frustration. Since your order was sent in two parcels, you received additional pending authorization holds. The original hold will fall from your account within 7 business days. For sooner results, you can contact your Financial Institution.
15 mins ago
No.
15 mins ago
I need a manager.
15 mins ago
asap.
15 mins ago

Shanise, Sephora Beauty Advisor
You can contact us via phone at 1-877-737-4672 to speak with a Supervisor directly if you would like.
14 mins ago
You have no access to a supervisor?
14 mins ago

Shanise, Sephora Beauty Advisor
One moment please.
12 mins ago

10 mins ago
You have been transferred to Emirce

Emirce
Hi Jeannine, thanks for getting in touch. My name is Emirce, I'm the supervisor on duty. I can confirm that the pending authorization on your account will drop any moment now. I recommend checking with your financial institution to see how much longer it'll take to reverse.
6 mins ago
Emirce, Something needs to be done to make this right. Saying that it will drop from my account does not suffice. I did not spend $440 on sephora products, yet that's how much has been taken from my available balance. Sephora had no right to put 2 pending transactions that total this amount. I will not spend even more time on the phone with my banking institution to correct Sephora's wrong. Something needs to be done to make this right.
4 mins ago

Emirce
Unfortunately, it's only the financial institution can drop the pending authorization. On our end, we've already taken all the necessary action.
3 mins ago
I'm not going to argue about it. It was wrong. Period. Something needs to be done to make it right.
3 mins ago
I need another supervisor if you cannot.
3 mins ago

Emirce
Unfortunately, no one in Sephora will be able to expedite the reversal of the pending authorization.
2 mins ago
That's not what I'm asking for.
2 mins ago
I'm saying Sephora needs to somehow make it right, other than to tell me it's frustrating.
1 min ago
This is not the company I thought it was, if that's the answer to my complaint. Which is clearly valid.
1 min ago

Emirce
If there isn't a different issue I can assist you with, I'll need to end this chat. If there's something else I can look into for you, then I'd be glad to.
just now
No that's the only issue. If you need to end the chat because you refuse to help further, that's been made clear. Thank you.
just now
type here

[MMBeauty101]

This is awful!  Please tell me you have received your money!!

I am sorry you have to go through this!!!!!

____________________________________________________________________

An update on my situation:

On October 20, 2021, I had called the store to see if there was any change in progress and was told that it was taken out of their hands and that someone from customer service was handling it.  They also gave me this anecdote that Sephora had tried to "refund" me but were experiencing "error" problems.

I asked for a contact number to speak with whomever was taking care of my problem and was told they couldn't give any information.  So I implored the store representative to contact the person to reach out to me.  For which I received an email from the customer service email (that I had emailed twice before with no response to those two emails) telling me they were trying to deal with the situation as of October 21, 2021.

I called my bank to see if there was any type of activity that they could corroborate with Sephora trying to refund me any money (I had made the original request for an investigation with my bank on October 3, 2021) to which my bank noted that from their end, Sephora had not tried to refund me and that they were waiting for Sephora to respond to their request for the money to be returned.  I have asked my bank to re-request the money to be returned ... obviously nothing has been resolved.

It is now October 24, 2021 and I still have not received the $530+ that they "accidentally" charged me.  They were put on notice the day that this occurred (October 2, 2021)... but still have NOT returned my money.

[LaurieBT]

Hi @MMBeauty101,

I am so sorry about this! I'll take a look further and I'll send you a message.

Warm regards,

Laurie 

[MMBeauty101]

Update on this for those of you who are having the same issue:

**Please note I have been waiting for more than 2 weeks for this problem to be resolved**

Response from Danee (same day):

Hi there, I'm so sorry to hear about your recent store experience and thank you for bringing this to our attention! Have you tried contacting the Sephora store directly and request to speak with the Store Director? If the Store Director was unable to assist, please provide me with your email address, store location, and date of your visit and I will forward this to our Retail Division and request to have someone reach out to you directly.

Response from Me:  (same day)

Hi Danee,

I actually returned to the store on same day and spoke to someone at the cash register who had advised me that this wasn't the first time this has happened to a patron.

I have tried on multiple occasions, October 3, 4, 6, 12, 15, and today to contact the store.  It is not a convenient place for me to shop or return to.

I have spoken to the Store Manager who advised on October 12, 2021 that the problem was flagged and it would be fixed within 24 hours (as her experience with other shoppers were that the the turn around for the fix was 24 hours).  But I have not received the balance of the double charge back.

I tried calling on Friday for which the staff advised that I would receive a phone call from the Store manager same day - I waited the entire weekend to give some time for a response.  I called this morning and was advised that the store manager is not in and would return my call.

My email address is [redacted information]. The date of my visit is October 2, 2021. Store location is: Hillcrest Mall.

I apologize for you having to deal with this problem as you and I have never interacted but I am kind of at a loss of what I can do to have this money returned to me. 

I appreciate you trying to help - I am hopeful that this will be resolved shortly but realistically - considering how everything has passed this past 2 weeks - I know you will probably not be able to resolve this yourself.

Neverthelsss, I appreciate your outreach.

Best Regards,

M

Response from Online Customer Service, Danee (Same Day)

Thank you for the additional details. I have forwarded this to our Retail Division and requested for someone to reach out to you via email. Someone will be in contact with you within the next 1-7 business days. I appreciate your continued patience!

[DaneeBT]

Hi @MMBeauty101,

I'm so sorry to hear about your store experience! I will send you a PM to further assist.

Always,

Danee