Sephora
reviews and complaints

I recently hit Sephora Novato Ca!
Returned a few items that were not to my liking...
The girl at the counter was so rude to me that I've decided to never ever shop there again! She sneered at me the entire time I walked around the store and now I'm writing a complaint !

My two sisters and I walked into Sephora and asked if they would have time that day to do a consultation for one of my sisters. We were willing to come back when there was an available time. The woman we spoke to (yes, the MANAGER) said that everyone was on lunch at that time. I commented that we could come back when it was a better time. I started to ask if they would have time that day, and the manager interrupted me and just yelled out "NO!" We all stared at her in shock, she turned on her heel and walked away. I've never had good experiences at the Madison, Wi. store and now I know why. Because the manager is worse than all of them put together! Us girls walked straight out of Sephora, went into Boston Store to the Clinique counter, the woman (who happened to be alone at the time) gave my sister a full consultation, all of us little samples, and my older sister spent 200.00 there that she otherwise would have spent at Sephora. We have agreed not to "bother" the employees at Sephora anymore.

I was in sephora the other dayy and they made me very uncomfortable they acted like I was about to steal some makeup every where I went some employee was following me & the lady handed me a basket for two things! the last straw was when the lady looked in my basket to see if I had the same stuff I gave her the stuff and left!

I placed an order with Sephora .com 8 days ago, with 3 day shipping. As of today, the order still has not even shipped. I have e-mailed and called, only to be sent a generic e-mail (which made it obvious they had not even looked at my order) or told "it looks like its shipping today". 2 days later, it still has not shipped.

I was told I would be given 100 extra VIB points "for my trouble". Really? Any other business would have had the order at my house with normal shipping by now. How about just getting the product ordered (and paid for) to the customer in the posted time frame?

I will take my business elsewhere in the future.

I went to Sephora store at Chevy Chase, Maryland, to try to get some refund money I could not see back in my bank account.

After a few minutes between talking with a seller and the manager (Maria), the manager tried to identify the problem. Waiting for a few more minutes, she found that I received the refund in cash at the same day, thing I didn't remember and all of us- the manager, the seller and I- could not see that that information was written at the receipt.

The problem here is that the manager was really rude when she understood the mistake we all made. She was even sarcastic, when I asked if the product I just purchased (through a return) I should have used my Beauty Insider card. "Do you want me to use your card and you lose points in it? Because I can do that if you want to lose points...". Then she went back to the seller and both laughed, when she told the other woman about the cash refund.

My question here is what kind of preparation these people have to deal with public. And she was the store manager! I am very laid back (I am Brazilian), and she could totally have been nice about everyone's mistake: "Hey, just saw the refund was in cash...", instead of being rude or laugh at clients- or worse- calling me dumb when she asked if I wanted to use my card to lose points.

I was amazed, I confess. Recently I answered a survey about my experience at Sephora, and I would like to answer that again. In the last month I spent more than $400 in products there. My only reason to return would be definitely the products, not what the managers- such as Maria- has to offer to clients...

Please give better training to them!

The first of my complaints is with their pricing structure. Canadians are charged an average 15% more for items when converted to Canadian dollars (from their US base price). In case nobody at Sephora has noticed, the Cdn/US exchange rate has been either at or above par for nearly a year now. They are using a rate of exchange that that we have not seen since 2008. Do not be fooled by them telling you this price reflects taxes and duties on your order, because those charges are added IN ADDITION to the item pricing, at the bottom of your order. Price gouging much?

I wrote letter to Sephora's customer service, only to receive a boxed answer, that the Canadian pricing reflects the exchange rates, and taxes and duties, etc. Do they even READ customer complaints, or just pick any pre-constructed response to reply with? BS.

And now I'll address their joke of a shipping policy. First - Sephora seems to be the only online retailer who will NOT let Canadians choose a shipping address different from their billing address. Well guess what Sephora? Canadians work for a living too, and just like Americans, they're not always home during the day to receive a mail package. Why can you not ship my parcel to my place of work, so I don't have to waste 20 extra minutes at the end of my day driving across town to the post office and standing in a long line up just to receive my Sephora order.

And taking nearly 2 weeks to receive an 'expedited' package from the US to Canada is absolutely absurd. I've ordered from various online retailers all over the Continental US, and have NEVER had an order take that long to get here.

When I first started ordering from Sephora in 2007, I would get orders inside of a week. Now, it's pretty much 2 weeks. I call their customer service, and I get the privilege of talking to a robot, pre-formed answers they sound like they're reading out of a book, don't even listen to what the customer is saying. "Orders are shipped within 1-2 business days, then it takes that long to get through our Border Free service" yada yada yada. Someone over there in their shipping department is NOT doing their job - period.

I have even had a phone rep tell me if I didn't like the shipping times I could drive to a store in Toronto. Really now.

I've been an online customer for 4 years now, and spend an average $2, 400.00 a year in products, and generally enjoy the selection they offer -- but I see their level of customer service only deteriorating with time.

What they need is a little competition in the Canadian market, and perhaps they wouldn't be so arrogant.

This company has got to have the worse customer service I have ever dealt with. No longer able to make online purchases as they are trying to tell me that products I purchased last year were shipped to me and never paid for ($34). What? Have credit card statement showing the charge for the items and if the transaction had not gone through like they say, why would the items have been shipped? Totally rude customer service people (Val, April, Jody) and none will help resolve the issue or give me the name of a manager who will. Used to spend a ton of money with them but will no longer spend anything with them!

The first of my complaints is with their pricing structure. Canadians are charged an average 15% more for items when converted to Canadian dollars (from their US base price). In case nobody at Sephora has noticed, the Cdn/US exchange rate has been either at or above par for nearly a year now. They are using a rate of exchange that that we have not seen since 2008. Do not be fooled by them telling you this price reflects taxes and duties on your order, because those charges are added IN ADDITION to the item pricing, at the bottom of your order. Price gouging much?

I wrote letter to Sephora's customer service, only to receive a boxed answer, that the Canadian pricing reflects the exchange rates, and taxes and duties, blah blah. Do they even READ customer complaints, or just pick any pre-constructed response to reply with? BS.

And now I'll address their joke of a shipping policy. First - Sephora seems to be the only online retailer who will NOT let Canadians choose a shipping address different from their billing address. Well guess what Sephora? Canadians work for a living too, and just like Americans, they're not always home during the day to receive a mail package. Why can you not ship my parcel to my place of work, so I don't have to waste 20 extra minutes at the end of my day driving across town to the post office and standing in a long line up just to receive my Sephora order.

And taking nearly 2 weeks to receive an 'expedited' package from the US to Canada is absolutely absurd. I've ordered from various online retailers all over the Continental US, and have NEVER had an order take that long to get here.

When I first started ordering from Sephora in 2007, I would get orders inside of a week. Now, it's pretty much 2 weeks. I call their customer service, and I get the privilege of talking to a robot, pre-formed answers they sound like they're reading out of a book, don't even listen to what the customer is saying. "Orders are shipped within 1-2 business days, then it takes that long to get through our Border Free service" yada yada yada. Someone over there in their shipping department is NOT doing their job - period.

I have even had a phone rep tell me if I didn't like the shipping times I could drive to a store in Toronto. Really now.

I've been an online customer for 4 years now, and spend an average $2, 400.00 a year in products, and generally enjoy the selection they offer -- but I see their level of customer service only deteriorating with time.

What they need is a little competition in the Canadian market, and perhaps they wouldn't be so arrogant.

I went to Sephora Singapore in Great World City Yesterday, 12th March 2011 around 4 PM. Was looking at Make up Forever Aqua Cream Make up, i applied it on my lips to test and the Sephora staff walked up to me and said "You're not supposed to apply that on your lips, it is ONLY used for the eyes", I replied back and said MUFE site says this is a Multi-purpose make up that can be applied to lips, cheek and eyes and then the Rude [censored] employee said "It will make your lips very dry, its only used for the eye" and instead of helping me she just stood up in there and stared at me! What a rude dumb staff! Suggest Sephora SG to train your staff with the products that you're selling or improve customer service! If your staff is not there to help and instead tell me what I CANNOT do with a product that was advsertised for such, then better ask them to go home and do their homework!

I went to a sephora store at my local mall today with my sister and cousin, I always go there and they were always so nice.
But this time they were so disrespectful. Basically my sister was in the store and called over a employee to help her with her foundation and whether it would be good for her skin or not and she was nice and helped her and everything when my sister was at the make up remover station she was explain how she jus took her moisturizer off while she removed the applied foundation. I reached into my bag and grabbed a clinque moisturizer for her to use and she said no so i put it back in my bag. One of the employees ran up to me and got in my face saying "would you also like a brush with the blush?" I didnt get why she had said it at the moment so I asked her what she was talking about and she said the thing you just put in your bag. I pulled out my moisturizer and showed it to her and she kept nodding and being rude and she was saying how she always sees me in there( i spend hours when im normally there) and se was just going on and being so rude. My sister eventually talked to the manager about it. We stormed out of there.
I mean i could understand why she wouldve thought I was stealing but to get in my face being the ### she was disrespecting me with her "smart" comment was not necessary. I will never go there again they lost a costumer who spends 50.00 and more every visit forever.

I was just completely treated like garbage at the Sephora in Wauwatosa, WI! I am not rich, but I spend so much money there. No one was helping me (literally treating me like I was invisible when I did ask). I was looking for a replacement for my Kat Von D Lucifer Mascara. Well, none was on the shelf display, so I opened up the drawer underneath where all the extras go. I had been there multiple times where what I wanted didn't appear to be in stock, so when I asked a salesperson, they said, "Oh, well for the future, if it's not on display, you can open up the drawer and it almost always is down there!" Ok, so with no one helping me, even though there was a saleswoman directly behind me who would neither greet me or help me as I was hunting for someone to help... I opened up the drawer, not even putting my hand in it... just looking. So that got the saleswoman's attention immediately, as she jumped right behind me, and I quote... said the following, " MISS... YOU ARE MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE!" What just happened? I was treated by her like a common thief! Oh my goodness! I have NEVER in my life been treated that way by ANYONE! I didn't act, look, dress or behave as if I was anything BUT a paying customer! I am so appalled! I went to that store for the countless time to buy makeup and I was treated like garbage by one woman in particular! Everyone else was kind as usual! I don't understand! I had one young man one time assist me the entire time I was there, walking me around, helping me with everything! That is the kind of service I expect from an upscale store such as Sephora! I am so disappointed. I am going to purchase my makeup at the department stores where I used to from now on. I NEVER want to feel belittled like that again! I kept my cool to save for an email, but it took everything I had to walk away without saying anything after my purchases!

This is a two pronged complaint against Sephora citing a behavioral pattern and a one time incident.

Sephora's return policy calls for returns within a 60 day window. Magically, they don't seem to process credits until the 61st day, at which point they issue only store credits not refunds to your credit card...hmmm. I know this because I started paying for returns using Delivery Confirmation which shows the exact date and time when returns are received at Sephora. Literally across the board this has happened a handful of times. I've had to send numerous requests for refunds rather than merchandise credits and provided the delivery confirmation information...FYI, this is a total hassle but has been worth it...so far.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Sephora is now refusing to issue a refund or credit for a product I returned citing I had used too much of the product...nevermind their return policy doesn't state that condition anywhere, and nevermind the product had to be used as directed to determine whether or not it worked, and when it was clear it wasn't going to work for me I returned it. Yes, I had used it. No, I hadn't used all of it, in fact had used enough only for a month. The product wasn't an instant results product, so of course it took time to determine its viability. I have exchanged numerous e-mails with Sephora and am now awaiting the results of a formal comlaint I filed with the BBB. With every other company I have filed complaints against, the BBB has always helped to resolve a situation. The jury is still out with Sephora, but I'm hopeful. I encourage all of you to try the same and, in this way, perhaps we can effect a change where customer service issues and unfulfilled adherence to self named policies will be adjusted. This is quite plainly an unfair business practice and fraud. Just for fun, I may take it even further, but we'll see. Stay tuned!

I had a very bad experience with my purchase at sephora. I purchased a cheek and lips stain at their place couples days ago. and I just opened the package. found the item was being used, as quite a lot of the liquid was missing. I emailed them and asking for a replacement. but they keep passing me through different dept. to follow up. it was very frustrating. at the end I had to call to the store and the girl told me all of the bottles are like that. thats impossible as I checked online and also the original brand store of the product. it was not missing that much.
I'm very very disappointed that sephora was selling me a return products that has been used by others and quite a lot. that was not so hygiene for lips products.

their staff is not helpful and rude. I will never buy anything there again.

I have been trying to get a refund since I returned 2 products October 2009. The purchase was made September 2009. First I was told that they never received the package. Then they found the package. Then they said the products were empty therefore they could not do the return. I disputed this since I knew for a fact that they were not empty. I was told they would mail the package to me so that I could see. I never received the package and then they claimed they did not know what I was talking about. After this no one could ever help me everytime I called back. My order#[protected] for $90.83. I am still pursuing this refund and will continue even though every time I call I am told that no one can see that a return was processed.

OK so b-day gift offers! Well each year they send you a little free gift thing... But every single year it's actually something different then what they advertized that you get! I mean really why bother sending a gift if it's going to be something totally different that you will be getting?! I know it's free and all but the one that they actually sent as the gift seemed really too good to be true and it was!

I recently hit Sephora Novato Ca! Returned a few items that were not to my liking... The girl at the counter was so rude to me that I've decided to never ever shop there again! She sneered at me the entire time I walked around the store and now I'm writing a complaint!

I returned an item over 41 days ago, when i phone them, i get the same response, "wait a few days more"!. Sent over 7 e-mails, they responded once! I used the label that was included with my order, and mailed it at my local post office.They will not help me in this matter.

I wish I read the reviews on this site before I bought from Sephora. They shipped my order (my birthday present to myself) minus my free Sephora birthday present, perks, or free samples and then didn't answer my emails to the help department. So I finally called and the "help" line rep basically said it must have been my fault and offered nothing in the way of help. Not even to ship the items at a later date. The perks and freebies were pretty much the only reason to order from sephora. They are pricey and the stuff is almost always readily available elsewhere. My advice...go elsewhere. They just don't care about their consumers.