SEPHORA — Attraction in Edmonton

I just want to share a very UNPLEASANT experience i had at Sephora located in West Edmonton Mall.

I attempted to return an item and did not have the receipt- which I was never too worried about returning since all of my receipts can be seen in my beauty insider record. I purchased the item sometime in November and decided to return as I found something cheaper online.

A cashier said that there was no record found in my beauty insider that I purchased this item therefore I wasn't able to return the item. She tried her best looking at my past purchases and no records was found. She ended up calling the manager to see what she can do, i spoke with the manager and she said that there is nothing they can do if no proof of purchase is provided. After at least 30 minutes of talking with the manager. I went home and luckily found the receipt. I ALSO found out that WHOEVER rang me in at the SOUTHGATE location had entered a different beauty insider (that is the reason why this item was nowhere to be found). I am not the type to keep any receipts as I EXPECT that it would be under recent purchase in the beauty insider. I was happy that I even found the receipt which I thought I would never find as I am not the type to keep receipts.

After that incident, I went back in to West Edmonton Mall to return WITH THE RECEIPT explained that I was just at this location yesterday to return the item but they were not able to find it in my beauty insider because the cashier entered it to the wrong person. The reason why I know this is because the points on the receipt currently only had 500 points and have 2300 points. As she was getting ready for the return I mentioned that the last 4 digit of the Scotiabank number will not match as 3 of my credit cards had been frauded and I recently received a credit card with a different account number. The cashier called the manager and this time a different manager was on shift-spoke to a different manager this time and explained the situation. Then, he said he cannot process a refund unless it is going to be processed to the same card number. He asked for any documentation about the fraud, which I thought was so stupid as credit card companies never provide documents or emails regarding fraud? or at least I didn't get one. Everything was done over the phone so I didn't have documents to show. I then suggested to call the customer service at Scotiabank visa to verify the last 4 digit of my account number as that is all I can do to prove that I am the cardholder. I just wanted to share my experience as they somehow made me feel that I stole this item and the struggle to...

I’ve never felt the need to write a review before, but after today, I feel compelled to warn others—especially Black women—to be careful.

I was browsing in Sephora with my headphones in and three bags on me. One was a dollar store bag filled with items I’d picked up in preparation for an upcoming trip, and another was from a different store. While I was minding my own business and sampling perfumes, three different employees came up to me to ask if I was okay. I didn’t think much of it at the time and kept browsing.

I had three Sephora items in my hand and was putting everything into one of my shopping bags to stay organized. I picked up a Burberry perfume, placed it in the same hand as my phone case, and continued browsing. At some point, without thinking, I used that hand to reach into my bag to grab my wallet, accidentally leaving both my phone and the perfume in the bag.

I was checked out, mentally exhausted from a long day at work, and was mindlessly browsing—this was an honest mistake.

Suddenly, a man in a black shirt approached me and said he was with Loss Prevention. He told me he saw what I had done. I was confused at first, but then it clicked. I immediately took the perfume out, apologized, and asked if I could pay for everything.

He told me no and that I needed to leave the store. He then accused me of stealing other items in my larger bag. I told him there was nothing else and that he could go through the bag if he wanted. Right in the middle of Sephora, he began making me pull out all of my personal belongings. He was pushy, aggressive, and kept accusing me of stealing more items even after I explained the situation was a misunderstanding.

I told him I felt I was being profiled and asked to speak to a manager. The manager came over and was apologetic and understanding, but the Loss Prevention officer remained aggressive. He constantly interrupted me and refused to let me explain my side of the story. I had to raise my voice and make a scene to simply just be heard .

As a Black woman, you’re already hyper-aware of how you’re perceived. To be publicly humiliated over a misunderstanding like that was dehumanizing and incredibly disappointing.

I paid for my items—money was never the issue—and left.

Overall, this was the most humiliating and disgusting customer service experience I’ve ever had. I understand that Loss Prevention has a job to do, but he took it way too far. His behavior was rude, excessive, and completely unnecessary. Sephora, I sincerely hope you take action. I’ll be making sure others know just how disrespectfully I...

Unbelievably rude staff.

I visited this location today to test two foundations against one another. The foundations in question were on the bottommost row, so I crouched down on the floor so that I could see them, picked up the two that I needed and began applying them to my hand. Whilst I was doing this unbeknownst to me a staff member and a customer had walked behind me, and were discussing the products. Specifically they appeared to be discussing the foundation I was browsing, and instead of doing the normal polite thing and saying "Excuse me, would you be able to move?" Or literally anything else, this woman decided to say "Well, we will be able to see it after this woman is done waffling" in the single snobbiest tone I have ever heard from a customer service representative in my entire life. I had literally been sitting down for not more than 15 seconds, and was drawing two simple lines of foundation down the back of my hand. This is absolutely ridiculous behavior from a staff member, and the staff here clearly need to take some basic customer service training. Even if I had been being obnoxious and had sat there for a solid 30 seconds, that is no way to treat a customer.

I determined the colour that I needed to purchase, and then left. I will be purchasing it at the Southgate location, where the staff members treat the customers with respect, and I won't be revisiting this location.

Also just to add, aside from their terrible staff, the location was filthy. Most of the foundation bottles had product all over their lids, and many testers were missing. In general even disregarding the staff interaction, I would not recommend this location at all.

Edit: I reached out to the provided email months ago and they...