Rewards Bazaar is a JOKE

[osexyone339]

How is it that I can go to the rewards bazaar the minute I receive the notification of a new rewards and it's sold out as soon as it posts??? Something is not quite right, either Sephora is playing just to get you to log in and be tempted to make a purchase, or the good rewards are being given to employees who have first hand knowlege.  This reward system sucks!!!

[InkyTaffeta]

Just seeing this, but wanted to offer my two cents as a former employee. I began working there in September 2011 & departed on good terms just last month, and the Rewards model morphed significantly over those years. That said, I have a lot of insight as a consumer & fellow Rouge - AND I feel your pain! First, employees have never been eligible for perks valued at more than 500 points. Almost every new 500-point rewards set is shipped to stores ahead of time and held backstage until they “go live” - meaning, if you aren’t super-excited about the offerings on display at your local Sephora, or know/have seen an email teasing what’s coming, there’s absolutely no harm in asking the cast member assisting you if they can sneak you a perk that isn’t technically available yet. Be warned, though, that some perks/sets have “hard launch” dates and cannot be scanned/given out ahead of schedule, and this is taken seriously and closely monitored by Corporate. Aside from *possibly* having these on-hand prior to their launch date, employees receive no further communication about future Rewards Bazaar offerings. Also, the number of 500-point sets each store is allotted is largely based on their annual sales volume; locations are sent product based on that and overall traffic so as to maximize client satisfaction. Second, physical locations don’t get perks/sets valued at more than 500 points - the 750+ gifts are exclusively online, and I’ll reiterate here that employees are never eligible to redeem them. As a cast member, your .com profile is associated with your ID number so you can use the designated employee discount code online; purchases are strictly regulated & there’s even a monthly $ cap that employees cannot exceed (if you hit it, your discount is deactivated until the following month)! Third, employees who have reached elevated BI status (VIB or Rouge) are eligible for the special online-only perks & gifts with purchase - you know, the ones you get emails for, where you spend a certain amount and enter a code at checkout? Because the website only allows for one code to be entered/applied to an order, if a cast member wants to take advantage, they have to forfeit their employee discount on that purchase. Last, the website needs some fine-tuning. The fact that an “out of stock” message is the default display on items that HAVE NOT EVEN LAUNCHED YET Is maddening. Remember the Minnie Mouse Collection? I waited so patiently for the date because I NEEDED to get my paws on that full-size handheld mirror. Alas, all of the SKUs went live with the exception of that one, and it never changed from being out of stock (I checked religiously). I was beyond frustrated as an employee and could only imagine the frustration of our most loyal clients! There needs to be a clear differentiation between “Out of Stock” & “Coming Soon”. And if I sign up to be notified when something is back in stock, I don’t think a blanket message when the company receives confirmation that it’s definitely never returning is too much to ask. I didn’t realize until now that I had so much to say on this topic - I hope it helps!

[osexyone339]

Thank you for your reply.  I hope that changes will be made on their reward bazar system soon.  People are going to stop shopping at Sephora and going to Ulta”s to get their rebates in monetary rewards for “shopping sprees”!

[GG84]

To be honest, employees should have to forfeit their discount to get the Beauty Offers just like the two times per year we are given the 20% discount we cant use it in conjunction with a Beauty Offer. I interviewed @sephora headoffice in Canada, so i also have an understanding. Employees are gifted quite heavily with gratis, which you left out.

[InkyTaffeta]

Yes, gratis is absolutely a nice perk; the reason it was not mentioned is because it plays a far smaller role than the one you perceive it does. I noticed that you said you had *interviewed* in Canada; had you been employed, you'd have been privy to a peek behind the curtain and seen how the gratis system is structured.  Very infrequently does a brand send enough gratis to ensure each cast member receives the item. Sometimes they send a handful, or just enough to cover the cast-members assigned to that "world" - by this, I mean that if a Color brand were to send their hot new product as gratis, there is a fair chance that only the cast members in Color will receive it.  If there is additional product left-over, the hierarchy of disbursement takes over.  This process includes consideration for your assigned world, total number of hours (full-time first, then part-time), and occasionally tenure. Beyond all this, not every piece of gratis is suitable for every single person - in six years, I can't tell you how many times I received gratis designed for dry skin, smoothing hair, and deep wrinkles (none of which do I have/need, lol). I know it sounds glamorous, and although it was really nice to have things to re-gift to friends & family, at any given time, perhaps one-third of the gratis I received actually benefited ME. I was always grateful for the little collection I amassed over the years, don't get me wrong. But bearing all that in mind, the idea that cast members are "gifted quite heavily with gratis" is an egregious misconception.

[minibabt]

Sephora needs to do something about their rewards system. The better benefits at 750pts or above are never ever available. There is no point of being a VIB rouge if users cant even redeem the best offers. All points will go to waste once the membership is over. I wonder if they save the better rewards for the beauty vloggers.

[Rhonii]

totally agree, as well.....

[calibkk619]

I totally agreed. Even though you might be able to redeemed rewards doesn't mean you you will get it..Just happened to me yesterday. I redeemed my reward right at 9am on Tue 10/24 for benefit set and got confirmation email from Sephora then 2 days later I got another email it's out of stock and my order has been cancelled. I called Sephora rep. they offered me 200 pt. This is not the first time happened to me..it was really irritated. Hopefully this post won't get delete for a 2nd time.

[Bbweasel]

This happened to me as well! Scam city.

[texred]

This just happened to me and I am furious.

I was able to snag one of the denim trucker jackets , or so I thought.

After months of trying to redeem my points and end my affiliation with Sephora, I was thrilled beyond belief to be getting a beautiful one of a kind piece.

Three full days after receiving a confirmation for the order,  I get an email stating that my order had been cancelled because the item was "out of stock!"

How in the world could I add the item to my cart, check out and receive an order confirmation number and then be told 3 days later that the item is no longer available?

I will never order from Sephora again.

This is beyond pathetic.

I did get my points added back to my account but it does absolutely no good whatsoever. Nothing extra,  no apologies or no attempt to make reconciliation for my disappointment.

I'm done with this scam and with Sephora completely.

Ulta will get all of my business now, which is substantial.

[BeautybyJules]

we're you refunded the 3000 that you spent originally plus an extra 200? or

[calibkk619]

Yes, I got refunded 3000pt. +200pt. but for me it's useless if you have all those points but you can't redeem anything that you really want or once you redeemed your rewards it's not guarantee you will receive it even though you got confirmation email from them. I've gone through situation like this a few times. All they can do for you is giving you extra points.

[jojonm]

Yep I sent the same inquiry to Sephora. No answer. Yes I'm a rouge member. Would like to get some of the very good rewards. Yet since I'm not an employee or relative, you swine go away. 

[Stardustgirl]

I am over the illusion of Sephora's "Rewards". They COULD make more of the higher point, more desirable options available. There are obviously a number of us with 1000s of points and nothing decent to spend them on. I don't want to spend them just for the sake of using them up because that's not really a reward. They were on the right track when they offered the $50 gift cards (though still kind of lame as 2000 points at Ulta would get $125 in merchandise). Sephora "exclusives" rarely are. They just get it first, or a brand also has it on their site. I no longer choose Sephora thinking "rewards points!", I just wait for Ulta to get it, or use the brand's site (which often has better freebie perks right up front). 

[foxyinabox]

There was so much stuff when I had around 50 points as an "Insider" and couldn't even get a deluxe sample, but now there isn't anything in the higher ranges.

It is unimaginable how upset you all must have felt getting a cancellation DAYS after placing an order. Ugh! They should double the points, and then I bet that wouldn't be happening very often. 🙂

[mcelysium]

Amen, sister. Crock. Of. Shit.

[Indy701]

I've only gotten the smaller rewards. I was disappointed this month as I expected way more UD 100 pt items 

[Notyourbeyotch]

i agree- like its not bad enough that the rewards are basically a rip off but add in the difficulty getting anything halfway decent. ultas system is waaayyy better!!!

[usernametaken2]

Every time i tried to redeem a popular 100 point reward like the Marc Jacobs mascara it's always `out of stock' by the time i check out! Like it is sold out the 15 sec between i add it to my cart and go to the checkout page.

[Noosiekins]

The last order I had...it wasn't out of stock... then my rouge order took almost a week before it was rreleased..with notes saying the rewards items were out of stock and they had to adjust the order.... 

[mariamzahid]

Omg yes I placed three orders Tuesday morning didn't see the rewards listed on the page . Right after my order is placed I check my email see the Sephora email about new rewards go back online and lo and behold rewards are sold out. How is that even possible , I was online looking the rewards . Have over 9000 points saved up just ended up getting roller lash 100 point perk. 

[scorpiogirl17]

totally agree with you @osexyone339