SEPHORA — Local services in Saskatoon

I went into sephora today with my girlfriend and 4 year old son. My girlfriend had purchased face cream for $50 yesterday and accidentally bought a refill that did not come with a lid. At the entrance of the store they asked if they could help us, we explained what happened and they took us s traight to the face cream and we were able to pick up the correct container that came with a lid and return the one that was purchased yesterday. We asked if they would like us to simply switch the containers so the store wouldn't be left with a container that was not sealed and wouldn't be able to sell it since all we needed was the lid that was not included in the refill package. The girl at the till said "no that's ok". She put the new container in a bag for us, and put a sticker on the opened container, and also put it in the bag. I had assumed she was giving us the opened container as we specifically asked if they wanted to switch containers after we had paid the few extra dollars for the exchange. She came running up to us seconds later as we were leaving and said that she needed the other cream back. She had taken it from our bag, which at this point I had realized she had put it in by mistake. Immediately another employee in the store commented about how she had a good eye, as if she had caught is shoplifting. These comments took us from being very pleased with Sephora's generosity for giving us the opened container, as it was clear it wouldn't be able to be resold, to us realizing we misunderstood and the girl at the till mistakenly put it in our bag, to feelings of humiliation and anger for being accused of shoplifting. There were other customers in the store and we were humiliated. I have never been accused of stealing anything in my life, but now in my mid 40's, with my 4 year old son sitting on my shoulders, I find myself and my girlfriend being accused of shoplifting. My girlfriend is black, and this situation makes me wonder if that had some part of the accusation. I am very disappointed that something like this would take place here in Saskatoon! There was no need for the comments made by the other employee which made us look like shoplifters to the other customers, it was humiliating and embarrassing. I will never step foot in this...

Honestly so disappointed about my in-store experience today. I was given a gift card for my birthday and I came in to look at the new laneige lip balms. Normally that should be a pretty easy experience except nobody cleaned up after someone has exploded every single lip balm. I couldn’t sample anything and the whole product display was a mess. I asked some staff for a kleenex for my hand and honestly just to do them a favour and wipe this lippie but after that they literally just sat there and watched me. There were three employees at the door that did literally nothing to help me sample the products I was interested in and swatch them, they didn’t help me clean up the area and they were extremely unhelpful about the fact that I ended up getting lip gloss/glaze whatever all over my hands and purse. I watched them sit there and gossip and make eyes at me while I was trying to do all of this. Again, instead of helping me. It should not be this difficult to try out products, I don’t know why they didn’t help me clean it, or atleast offer to open a different tester for me. But I guess it’s a lot more interesting to bully the customers than help them. I also really didn’t appreciate the attitude of Hilary after I was almost in tears at checkout because I literally just got my purse. The only person who apologized to me for my experience or seemed to care was the woman who got me some makeup remover (that I had to ask for). I’d understand maybe if I was at a drugstore where they’re understaffed and underfunded but this is literally Sephora. If I want to swatch a $30 lippie or look at a lip mask I should be able to do so without leaving sticky and upset. Special shoutout to Lush though for making my day right after though. The Lush employees always leave a smile on my face and are extremely welcoming and helpful...

I am a long-time Sephora customer, and yesterday was my birthday. Following my daughter’s suggestion, I visited the Midtown Sephora location to inquire if I could receive a birthday gift kit. When I asked, the staff member responded instantly, without even a moment of pause, saying there was no birthday gift kit available. Her dismissive manner, without making any effort to verify, made her response feel untrustworthy. I felt as though she treated me as someone begging for a small company-issued gift, making me feel uncomfortable and somewhat unwelcome. She suggested I should call in two days or even two weeks to check if a gift kit had arrived in-store and then come back to claim it. I was surprised by her answer and asked again, to which she responded in the same tone, saying there was no kit available. Feeling embarrassed, I decided to leave, saying I would return later. Typically, someone driving 10 minutes to pick up a small birthday gift kit wouldn't come to the store without good reason. Additionally, as a long-time customer, I know that birthday gift kits must be claimed by the end of October. It’s only three days until the 31st, and it felt quite unreasonable for her to suggest I call back in two weeks. In my view, Sephora should either improve staff training or address the supply chain issues affecting Saskatoon locations, as I felt let down by both the attitude of the employee and the apparent lack of...