Ulta Beauty — Local services in Colerain Township

This was my third or fourth visit to the Northgate Ulta location and unfortunately, I've always had a not-very-great experience. This time, I decided I had to write a review.

First things first, I appreciated the associates roaming the store asking shoppers if we need assistance. That's a nice touch, and I'll give this location kudos for delivering in that area. The issue is the checkout, and I've had a similar experience each time I've been to this location, but today was just wrooooong.

I found my items and waited patiently directly in front of the associate who was ringing customers up. There was another associate behind the desk not ringing anyone up, not sure why. There is a wall of product displays in front of the multiple registers (that no one covers), and it's very unclear where to queue, so, again, decided to wait in front of the only worker on a register. When it was finally my turn, I began to approach but she put a finger up and suddenly, to my right, a customer who was not previously there cut right in front of me. I looked at the associate and she literally scolded me, telling me I was waiting in the wrong place but nonetheless took a customer who had not been waiting at all but apparently walked up to the proper, sort-of arbitrary waiting spot that the individual associate preferred?? I put my products down and walked out the door.

So hey. If you're going to pay the same price for high-end cosmetics as you would at a more high-end retailer, just go there. I'll happily pay the same price at Macy's or Nordstrom and receive actual customer service instead of being talked down to by an associate who allows shoppers to cut in front of those who patiently wait their turn. Why would I ever spend hundreds of dollars over a few months at Ulta to be treated poorly when there are so many other choices in retailers who actually appreciate their customers?

I imagine Ulta will respond (if they even care?) with another "Thank you, we will use this information to improve our service and experience" canned, cut-and-paste bored blow-off instead of actually doing something about their stores, their training, or, dare I say it, apologizing to a customer. All brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling at the moment and will continue to, unless something changes. I will not return to this location or any other Ulta, and reading the reviews here, it's clear I'm not the only one.

Edited to add: I just noticed a one-star review from a month prior to mine with a customer sharing the same experience of the checkout associate allowing another shopper to cut in front of her! It is nearly identical to what just happened to me! Outrageous and I know exactly how that reviewer felt. Do better and figure this out, Northgate Ulta. You...

The only reason I am giving this store 3 stars is because of how friendly and promptly the manager took care of my problem. Many times I come into this store I have negative experiences. But today took it over the top with the unfriendly employee I encountered who treated me as if I were stealing 7$ lashes and some primer. The Primer in which I never even picked up. She kept questioning me where I put the items at. She asked me about 3 times where the lashes went (each time I answered her question and there were about 3 employees watching me and following me my entire store visit) then she proceeded to question me about the primer. I told her I haven’t picked up any primer and she rolled her eyes said “oh ok” and stormed off. Her attitude was very nasty when asking me and then it was even worse when I had to deal with her checking me out. It made me very upset to come into this store that I spend my hard earned money at frequently and get treated as if I were a criminal (most times I come in here Im not even acknowledged). It was quite upsetting and an annoying start of the day. If I’m going to be spending my money I would like a pleasant experience. Not a unfriendly horrible service that leaves me...

I had a terrible experience with this Ulta. On my wedding day of all days. The first mistake was messing up my appointment and not putting me down for formal hair only makeup. This could not have been miscommunicated, because I asked several questions about the clip in extentions. I also said it would be my first time wearing clip in's. So they tried to clean up the appointment mistake by trying to do a half up half done do. After 2 hours of only curling my hair(I have really thin fine hair) I had to just stop her bc it looked stupid and ask her to move on to my make up because I was running out of time. She repeatedly kept hitting me in the eye with the sponge and eyeliner. The last time I looked in the mirror I just gave up and stopped her. So I left ulta with no makeup no hair and late to my own wedding(guests arriving) crying and no time for other options. I walked down the aisle 45 mins late with my hair down and a little makeup I tried to do while my finance sped down the highway. I didn't get to do before pictures. Now I have to pay someone to do my hair and makeup. My husband has to RE RENT his suit. So we can have our wedding pictures RE TAKEN!! So moral of the story is never go to ulta...