Ulta GWPs

[itscarin]

This thread will be for Ulta GWPs only.  Share ulta promos here.  

Please do NOT post requests for the spreadsheet in this thread.  Please post requests for the Ulta GWP google spread sheet in this thread: http://community.sephora.com/t5/Off-Topic/Ulta-GWP-Google-Spreadsheet-Request-Thread/m-p/2753063#M11...

A list of in store coupons is here: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Savvy-Shoppers/Ulta-GWP-Coupons-no-chatter/td-p/3866521

Let's keep this thread on topic!

Ulta points refresher (because yes, it is that complicated):

Spoiler

Item #1 - $53.50

Item #3 - $108.50 (and is eligible for a certain item/brand 5x multiplier)

* There is also a 5x all purchase multiplier and you are platinum so you get 1.25x

Total Spent - $162

Base Points Earned - 162

Platinum .25x Earned - 41 (162 * .25 = 40.5, and rounding up)

5x All Purchases Earned - 648 (it ends up being 4x because you don't count the base points)

5x Item/Brand Earned - 434

Total Points Earned - 1285

Links are not allowed.  In lieu of links, please read this:

Spoiler

Please add product id numbers and sku numbers so people can find items on ulta.  

Just to clarify, there is an item number that Ulta lists on the website, right under the picture of the item.

The product id is the number given to the item in the URL.  So Ulta's site follows this formula of having the url and then the very last part of the url is "productId=xlsImpprod" followed by an 8 digit number.  If you use that "productId" number you can get to the page of any item on ulta. 

It's not a search, but the direct url to the page. 

Click on any product, and then view the url in the address bar.  It will look like this: ulta's website (not using the actual domain because BT admins don't like that) /prep-prime-fix?productId=xlsImpprod15921204  Replace the 8 digit product id of the item you want to see with the id of the product you're looking for.

My very unofficial Ulta point multiplier to approximate percent discount chart:

(This is a number where I use the multiplier to divide by 2000 to see how many dollars I would have to spend in order to redeem a $125 reward.  E.g. 2000 points divided by 1 point multiplier means I have to spend $2000 to get the $125 reward.  Adding how much I had to spend ($2000) + the reward ($125), and then using the reward ($125) to divide the total purchase ($2125), I get a discount of approximately 6% based on the total purchase.  Note: the total purchase is based on the concept that you are spending just enough to reach the next $125 reward and combines the reward value with how much money you had to spend to get that reward.

Spoiler

Multiplier	1	1.25	1.5	2	2.25	2.5	3	3.25	3.5	4	4.25	4.5	5	7.25	7.5	8	8.25	8.5	9	9.25	9.5	10	10.25	10.5
Spend	2000	1600	1333	1000	889	800	667	615	571	500	471	444	400	276	267	250	242	235	222	216	211	200	195	190
Points	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000
Redeem	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125
Total Purchase	2125	1725	1458	1125	1014	925	792	740	696	625	596	569	525	401	392	375	367	360	347	341	336	325	320	315
Discount	6%	7%	9%	11%	12%	14%	16%	17%	18%	20%	21%	22%	24%	31%	32%	33%	34%	35%	36%	37%	37%	38%	39%	40%

[Titian06]

@civ2ru - Mine is $15 off $50.  Not as good, but better than nothing!

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Titian06 that's what I got, too.  I can't remember how many 20% I got this year...maybe one?

[RGbrown]

New gwp item 2616827

 

[RGbrown]

The Dash to Beauty code has been released, 585102 for half off Strivectin Peptight neck serum roller through tomorrow

 

[RGbrown]

Beauty Break item 2616980

 

[RGbrown]

New Member Love multiplier, today only 

 

[greeneyedgirl107]

Does Ulta ever offer free shipping with less than a $35 purchase?  I wanted to order my sister LoveShackFancy Perfume Library Eau de Parfum Discovery Set and it's OOS.  I thought that I'd get her the Clinique Happy mini set, but only Ulta seems to have it.  I'm not going to pay for shipping for a $13 product.  And I'm already sending her so many things, that I'm also not going to buy $35 worth of stuff to get to the threshold.

Thanks!

[RGbrown]

@greeneyedgirl107 

Sometimes, though it's not super common. Looks like at least a few stores carry it if you wanted to try for a BOPIS order with the 10% coupon, or if your store doesn't have it, you could ask them to do a Store to Door order for you (shipped to your home, free shipping).

[greeneyedgirl107]

@RGbrown you're brilliant!  Store to door!  I knew I was missing something!  Hoping to go after work and get it done.  Thanks 😊 

[WinglessOne]

Sooo, as expected, the FALL23 code (10% off BOPIS order) isn’t working for me. I’m shocked that I got a live customer service rep via text past 11 PM CT. 😄 He’s trying to tell me my cart contains brands that aren’t eligible for that coupon. The brands are Benefit and Essie. Never mind that product pages for those 2 brands advertise this BOPIS offer. 🙄 Or that this coupon code doesn’t include those 2 brands as “excluded” in the offer terms. 🙄🙄 

Sure, I could just get both items for free from Ulta (I still have a mountain of points). But I wanted to use up the rest of a gift card and get 4x points while I was at it. Now I’m too annoyed to do that. Instead, I’m taking screenshots of my cart, the coupon code error, the product pages that advertise that coupon code, and tonight’s frustrating customer service chat. Then I’ll decide whether or not to sic the FTC on Ulta, if this is how they’re going to handle coupon codes from now on. Because ffs Ulta, get your crap together already—and that includes making sure service reps give out correct info, because I can imagine getting a different answer if I contact Ulta again. 

Anyway, if anyone else has trouble with the FALL23 code, maybe your items are ineligible despite what the offer terms say. I assume that what happened with the recent $15 of $50 coupon that also didn’t work for me and other folks. 

[mwg1]

What's hilarious to me is that I used that code last Friday with no problem--I didn't even realize it wasn't supposed to work yet.

PS I was buying Avene because it's on sale for 30% off right now, although I don't think it's part of Fall Haul. It's second time it's been on sale but you wouldn't know unless you looked at an item.

[WinglessOne]

@mwg1  I just now tried the code in the app for the heck of it and haha, now it works. Guess that’s part of what Ulta was fixing this morning. Maybe from now on, I’ll wait til after a maintenance window (site/app shutdown) to try using any coupon codes. Good grief. 

Good deal on Avene! Sure would be nice if Ulta had advertised it. To be fair, I haven’t kept up with all the ads so hey, maybe they did once and I missed it. But I’m done giving Ulta the benefit of doubt. 

[RGbrown]

@WinglessOne 

Just tried a mixed cart with drugstore and prestige, and got the message the code has expired. Considering it's supposed to run through 10/14, uuuuuuuuuuuuugh with your BS, Ulta 😠

They have been nothing short of a comedy of errors for 6 weeks now. IT effed up royally, CS is swamped and has no idea what's going on, and no one seems to be in a hurry to fix it. According to some folks over at Reddit, Diamond codes stopped working at least a couple of hours early, sale prices stopped working, gwps stopped going free (but never went oos)...it's a hot mess all around. Some folks have no problems and can order fine, but I still see sooooo many reports of issues trying to check out that I'm seriously surprised that the bottom line hasn't been affected enough for Ulta to make their IT issues a priority. 

In the mean time, I say report 'em. I dunno how much of a hurry the FTC makes to clear up stuff like this, but Ulta doesn't seem to care, so maybe a little govt action will nudge them along. Can't hurt to get some complaints on the record in any case.

[WinglessOne]

@RGbrown  The downside of reporting to the FTC is that agency’s speed, or lack thereof. 😂 If you look at some of their public announcements of action against companies, you’ll notice the original complaints/reports happened at least a year before the public announcement. IIRC, it took them 2 or 3 years to announce legal action against Sunday Riley.* The FTC spends a lot of that time gathering evidence. A former employer of mine had action levied against them; prior to public announcement, the FTC officially requested lots of info from us. That was fun times. 

But of course, the upside is getting the FTC’s eyes on a consumer-facing problem. Something tells me I won’t be the only person who’s contacted the FTC about Ulta lately. But yeah, I think I’m gonna do it anyway. FYI, if anyone ever plans to file a complaint with the FTC, be sure to have screenshots ready. They love screenshots as proof/evidence. 

And yeah, it’s very strange that Ulta’s so riddled with web and system issues, and that it’s such a longtime thing with them. I know I (and you, and others) have said that before, but still. That’s partly why I was shocked to get a live CS rep tonight: I was certain their reps would be too flooded with complaints to handle any new ones. Though I use the term “handle” very loosely regarding tonight’s chat. 🤦‍♀️ I should’ve at least commended that guy on bravely answering a new complaint. 🤣 

Pink’n’Blossom (a Canada-based online K-beauty retailer) recently had a sale and their site crashed due to high volume. They emailed customers one of the funniest and most genuine “yeah, we messed up” admission emails I’ve seen in a long time. It made me appreciate them more. Plenty of other retailers—some as large as or larger than Ulta—have sent apology emails when their sites or coupon/promo codes don’t work. Ulta doesn’t seem to like taking responsibility, at least not publicly, when things like this go wrong and many customers are impacted. They need to change that attitude. 

*I still can’t believe the FTC let Sunday Riley off with a “don’t do it again” warning—not even a hefty fine! That agency LOVES to fine the heck outta companies. I mean, what Ms. Riley and her employees/interns did was heckin’ shady, and you cannot convince me that slap on the wrist will stop them from other kinds of shadiness. 

[RGbrown]

@WinglessOne 

the closest Ulta has come to acknowledging the problem...posted nearly a month ago, claiming all is well.

Sigh. Well, at this rate, if the FTC does start investigating, they'll have plenty of time to gather their own evidence since Ulta has no sense of urgency. Unless things change drastically for the better soon, I'll be figuring out my cheapest strategy to get ~250 more points (to round out another set of 2k) and then spending them all with the holiday 20%. I mean, I generally spend a big chunk of my points then anyway, but I doubt I'll be doing much shopping with them after that this time around. 

I still can't add things to my loves list. Mayhaps that's a minor issue in the grand scheme things, and it certainly isn't FTC actionable, but dang, what the heck is it there for if I can't use it? What "upgrade" was worth the dumpster fire it spawned? I'm so disappointed in the whole thing...Ulta has had their foibles over the years, but they were mostly dependable, outside of gwps being short (more often than they should be, really, perhaps something I and others should have been pestering the FTC about for years now). But now it's luck of the draw if you can even order in the first place, and heaven help you if you want to use points and a coupon on an order with gwps and pay the balance with a GC...you might be chasing lost points and missing GC funds for an order that didn't even go through, while your coupon gets voided and now the gwps aren't free. Ugh, it's just disgusting. 

[civ2ru]

@RGbrown @WinglessOne Frustrating, ridiculous after 6 weeks, unacceptable. And this morning this… 🤣

[WinglessOne]

@civ2ru  Ha, I just saw that a couple minutes ago: I was trying to pull up my abandoned cart to grab the “bag ID” for customer service. Because I emailed Ulta (after pulling together screenshots of tonight’s idiocy) and they responded with this email: 

Spoiler

Thank you for reaching out in regard to the coupon you tried to use placing an online BOPIS order. We are sorry to know you had trouble. Please rest assured that providing guests with a great experience is our top priority, and we're incredibly sorry that your experience fell short of amazing. We are happy to clear things up. 

We are still in the process of migrating our system or performing regular updates on our website, mobile app, and service booking sites. We are able to confirm that some of our guests are dealing with several kinds of issues brought on by the enhancements we have implemented, while others have had their problems fixed or were not impacted by particular issues. There have been no updates as of yet on the completion date of the maintenance. But be assured that we'll keep you informed as soon as we get the latest update regarding the progress we've made. 

For us to further check the concern, we would like to ask the the Bag ID which located at the bottom part of your cart. Thank you for your understanding. 

We appreciate your continued patience and support of ULTA Beauty. We look forward to hearing back from you soon. 

My original email to them mentioned that they’re in violation of FTC law if what their text CS rep told me is true, and that I haven’t contacted the FTC yet but do have evidence ready. I also asked them to confirm what their rep told me about the coupon in question. They didn’t do that in their email, but they reeeally want me to feel “assured.” If they have to tweak my account to fix whatever might be blocking certain coupons I get, and they also have to do that on a case-by-case basis for all the other customers with the same problem, well… I dunno, maybe whoever’s doing IT/web dev/content management for Ulta needs to rethink how they operate. All I can think of right now is my time at [the IT/digital design orgs of a rather large company] and how quickly heads would’ve rolled—how far those heads would’ve bounced down various streets in the US and abroad, and not just ours but also a few in customer service—had this crap ever happened to a big chunk of our customer base. I’ve seen people get fired for less than whatever’s internally wrong with Ulta. 

*deep calming breath* 

@RGbrown - ah, I forgot about that statement Ulta posted. So at least they did say something. Kinda wish they’d get all branches of customer service on the same page while they’re at it. (I know that’s asking for a lot.) It’s so frustrating to see Ulta ruin themselves like this, considering their reward program is (overall) still among the best in the beauty retailer space. I used to wonder how long it’d take their seemingly random system glitches and internal ops processes to snowball and backfire en masse. Now I know. I might be right behind you, cashing out my mountain of hoarded points this holiday season. 

[RGbrown]

There's a new Dash To Beauty open for signups, Ulta dot com/flex 

 

The Gorgeous Hair event is Oct 1-21, and the preview is up ulta dot com/promotion/gorgeous-hair

[WinglessOne]

Both my diamond codes are up for grabs: 

Spoiler

Polite Society duo: 132RLD3Z9WXT4

Sacheu lip liner: 132RLT4Z9WV4H

Wish I’d checked email earlier, but there they are if anyone still needs ‘em. 😄 

[Imightneedthis]

@WinglessOne Thanks for the Diamond codes. Unfortunately, the website wasn’t working. again.  But, I do appreciate your kindness in sharing the code. Thanks again.

[WinglessOne]

@Imightneedthis  Aw, you’re welcome and I’m sorry you missed out. Those codes might not have worked anyway while the site and app were up, considering all the trouble folks are having with Ulta coupons lately. 🤦‍♀️