Sephora — Local services in Toronto

Hello,

I am writing to express my concerns regarding Sephora’s handling of returns during the ongoing Canada Post strike and the resulting challenges faced by rural customers like myself, who spend a significant amount with your company.

On October 25th, I purchased the Huda Beauty Icy Nude Palette (Order #639216006474). Unfortunately, the product caused irritation to my eyes, and I sought to return it. However, due to the Canada Post strike, I was unable to mail the return within the standard 30-day window. When I contacted your customer service team for guidance, I was advised to wait until Canada Post services resumed, with the assurance that my return would still be honored.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the strike’s duration, I made a special trip to the city to return the item in-store. Upon arriving, I was informed by a staff member that my return could not be processed as a refund because it was past the 30-day period. I explained the situation, including the fact that my return label was generated within the original timeframe, and that I was advised by customer service to wait. However, the response I received was unsatisfactory, and I felt compelled to accept a gift card instead of the refund I had originally intended.

Following this, I reached out to customer support again, only to be told that the return period would not be extended despite the extenuating circumstances caused by the Canada Post strike. This response is both frustrating and disappointing, especially as a loyal Rouge-status customer who frequently shops with Sephora.

Sephora is a highly successful and profitable company, and I would have expected a more proactive approach to accommodate customers impacted by the postal strike. For rural customers like myself, who rely heavily on Canada Post for returns, the lack of alternative options is particularly challenging. It is not reasonable for customers to bear the burden of logistical issues outside of their control, and it feels as though rural shoppers are being unfairly disadvantaged in this situation.

I urge Sephora to address this issue and consider implementing a fair resolution for customers affected by the Canada Post strike. Specifically, I request that you honor my refund as originally intended and review your policies to better serve rural customers during unforeseen circumstances.

Thank you for taking the time to address my concerns. I look forward to your response and a resolution to...

FRUSTRATED.

Tried to purchase a gift card for my sister for XMAS but my card was strangely declined. This shouldnt be the case and thought it was a system error so tried the purchase again. Same deal: Declined. I decided to check my bank account and both of those transactions went through!

I did phone tag between my bank and vendor. Here are the details:

Bank: Approved Transaction, provided REF # and code for transaction to share with Sephora. Sephora: No data regarding my purchase. No confirmation number, order number, my email address, recipient email address.

Then the agent said that because I'm angry (i let him know politely I started to get frustrated with all the transfers I went through (4) with them and the bank. He also said not to worry that no one will want to steal my money because it's only 100$. I corrected him curtly, "with all due respect sir, of course I want my money back, but this is about buying something and not getting the product."

Anyway, they couldn't do anything with the confirmation code and essentially left me hanging with with essentially x2 the money I originally wanted to pay.

Terrible customer service and this was my first interaction trying to buy something from them. At least that I remember as I dont shop at Sephora.

All this right before the holidays. Its been over a week that I've been trying to get more information and get this corrected. Fortunately the bank will escalate this to a dispute but this is not the frustration I needed when trying to do some shopping.

You would think that since this error has been around since 2021 (allegedly from sephora forums), that they would have corrected this. From my POV, even though I may get the money back, Sephora is stealing my money. Im sure some people may give up rather than deal with so many phone calls, but I am upset. It's not like Sephora NEEDS the money.

Advice/has this happened to anyone else?

Anyway heres a TL;DR Purchased Sephora Gift Card online but system declined and still charged me, twice. No evidence of purchase on their system, but...

I got my wife gift cards for our anniversary and her birthday, when she went to use them they were both at $0. When she contacted customer service they said they were used at a mall in Richmond Hill, which we have never been to. They said since it was a gift card that it was treated like money and they could do nothing.

How does a gift card that was in her wallet get used in a mall over an hour away?

We got a “terms and conditions” answer from customer service, but the terms and conditions say the physical card needs to be present at the time of use, which it clearly was not. Reading online this is a common issue that is happening with Sephora gift cards, and it continues to be a problem.

Is anything being done about this? What is happening to everyone who have been scammed of their gift cards? I am saddened that part of my wife’s Anniversary and Birthday presents cannot be used. She is upset, and we get the run around and are treated like idiots by customer service.

Personally, we are done with your brand until as a whole it figures out the issues with so many people losing out on...