Terrible terrible terrible customer service experience with a return/refund - wrong product shipped and Sephora refused to refund me :/

[Sudsudsudio]

I ordered a $600 Dyson Dyson Airwrap™ Styler Complete Long # product as a gift last month. I received the item but never opened the box since it was meant to be a gift. I ended up not having to gift the item and started a returns process after a few days. Sephora received the item I returned on 3/14. I then receive an email from them this morning stating this

"Greetings from Sephora!
We have been notified that our Distribution Center has received your return.
We are unable to offer a refund or return the item(s) to you because we were unable to locate the item in your purchase history.  If this item was ordered with Sephora.com please reply with your order number or if this item was purchased at a Sephora store, please reply with your Beauty Insider information used to make the purchase.  
To view our entire return policy, click here.
We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding."

I call the customer service and talk to an agent - they ask me what product I ordered and I confirmed. All through the conversation, they didn't mention that they received the same item but in a different color. Apparently, I had received a different colored item Dyson Limited Edition Airwrap Multi Styler in Ceramic Pop  instead of the one I ordered. I would've known if I had opened the box and verified. It definitely wasn't a priority when I was going through a relationship breakup

Anyway, after my call with the customer service agent, I receive the following email:

"Thank you for your inquiry reporting issues with your return.

After review, we are not able to assist with a refund for this return, as our warehouse did not receive the same Dyson that you initially purchased. In order to receive a refund for your return, please return the Nickel and Copper Dyson that you have purchased. The warehouse has received the Ceramic Pop edition of the Dyson and we are unable to refund this at this time, as this is not the Nickel and Copper that you confirmed that you have ordered and received.

We will not offer a replacement, refund or accommodation for any potential order issues at this time.
We appreciate your understanding."

I was like WTF - this is absolutely ridiculous. Not only are they denying me the refund but also not sending back the product if they seem to have an issue with it? I call back the customer service and escalate the issue with a CS manager (Leslie). She asks for more information and assured me that the refund would most likely be issued. A few minutes later, I receive the following email.

"After a second review of this order, we are not able to assist with a replacement or refund for this order.

We will not offer a replacement, refund or accommodation for any potential order issues at this time.

We appreciate your understanding."

I was just furious at this point in time. I work for an e-commerce company and understand the nitty gritty of the supply chain and potential manual errors that could result in something like this. However, the customer service provided in this instance was just horrific. I call them back again and escalate the issue with another CS manager (Marion). Same process all over again - share all of the information I had and provided as much clarity as I could. This person was probably the best CS agent I've talked to at Sephora. She was understanding, empathetic, and ensured that I had a better experience with customer service than what I had the rest of the day. She was finally able to help me out and issue a refund, which hopefully goes through in the next 10 days.

I just wanted to share this experience for anyone purchasing an expensive product on Sephora and hoping to start a return - please make sure that you've checked the product and flag any inconsistencies, including the wrong item, with the refund/CS team when starting the return.

[DaneeBT]

Hi @Sudsudsudio I'm so sorry to hear about this! I'm sending you a PM.