SEPHORA STOLE $237 FROM ME

[Anonymous]

I placed an order back in July 2018 for $237 with a debit card from a non-U.S. bank.  Sephora canceled the order for "security reasons", but the money was still removed from my account.  

I emailed them, got a generic robot response.

I emailed them again, got a generic robot response.

I called customer service (which is always fun), was told that there was a hold on my account, but it would clear in 3-5 days.

I waited 3-5 days.

I emailed them, got a generic robot response.

I called customer service, was told again that there was a hold on my account, but it'd clear in 4-6 weeks.

I waited.

I called again, was told the hold would take 8 weeks to clear.

I waited.  Still nothing.

I called again, was told the hold could take 12 weeks to clear. 

I waited.  STILL NOTHING.

I called.  They told me to contact my bank.

I contacted my bank; they said the issue was on Sephora's end.

I went in person to my bank.  They told me to contact Sephora.

I called Sephora again. They said, in one call, that the money was returned to my account on July 24th.  I told them I had bank statements proving it hadn't been.  Then they (the same person) told me that there was a hold, and I should contact my bank.  I told them I had.

Then they offered to re-submit the order for me for 20% off.  (Are. You. Kidding. Me??)

At this point, I've spent hours on the computer and hours on the phone over the past three months, I've made three trips to my bank, and...nothing.

Sephora canceled my order and somewhere between my bank and Sephora the money just got trapped, and I'm out $237.

[DaneeBT]

Hi @Anonymous,

I'm truly sorry to hear about your experience and for the length of time this has taken to get resolved! I'm going to take a look into this then send you a private message.

Always,

Danee

[Anonymous]

I don't know where the DMs are here, so I'll just reply to your email here.

Yes, the money is still missing from my account.  I can offer three months' worth of bank statements to show as much.  

As an aside, I don't understand why it is that some customer associates are able to see what happened and some aren't...every time I've called or reached out to Sephora, I've gotten a different story for what happened, and have been given a different course of action to take.  It's very frustrating, and absolutely insane to have $237 be taken out of my account and never returned...and then to be given the runaround for three full months.

[ZakiyaBT]

Hi @Anonymous,

We are sorry to hear this. You can view your private messages by clicking on the bell icon on the upper right hand of your screen. Once you have a message a red dot will appear notifying you that there is a message in your inbox. For your account security we ask that you reply via private message. 

Best, 

Zakiya

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't write anything that would put my account at risk; although I recognize that it does run the risk of embarrassing Sephora. 

Which, you know; fair.  This level of confusion and runarounds on a simple billing error *should* be embarrassing. 

But no, I won't be censoring myself to avoid embarrassing corporate, hashtag sorrynotsorry.

[Anonymous]

T minus less than 24 hours until my post disappears from this forum, I would guess.