What major beauty retailer has the best customer service?
What major beauty retailer has the best customer service? Share!
A lot of times you won’t know just how good a retailer’s customer service will be until there’s a problem! I’ve been particularly impressed with Nordstrom, as I’ve shopped there for years now and have had two or three mishaps over the years (many, many orders have been placed!). I was recently impressed by Neiman Marcus (where I don’t shop frequently), as they immediately replaced (no questions asked!) a product that had broken in transit–the box looked like someone tried to eat/sit on it a few times. I normally have really poor experiences with Sephora, but I recently had one representative that really went out of her way to help.
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I really enjoy Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdales!
Nordstrom, all the way. Any department too, not just beauty. They wrote the book on customer service and are some of the friendliest, most knowledgable and helpful people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I always know I will get treated well at Nordstrom, no matter what. Whereas with Sephora I need to take a deep breath before I even enter. What used to be a treat is now just a get-in/get-out experience…the quicker the better. I only ever go into the store if I am DESPERATE. Otherwise it’s all on-line for me. It makes me sad but it’s the truth. Oh and I am talking about the stores in Braintree, MA.
They seem nice at the Sephora at the Pru in Boston!
They are…it’s like it’s a completely different company. It’s just a pain to go into the city (lazy) and these days I am doing it mostly on-line. Thanks for the tip though!!!
Nordstrom, but Macys is not bad too. Neiman Marcus and Saks are fine too. Barneys in SF is really bad.
Zoya’s is really good! I’ve had to call them a couple times and they’ve always been helpful and quick.
In my experience, Ulta has the best customer service. I’ve had numerous problems with things missing from orders, things coming apart in shipping because they aren’t packed carefully (as Christine knows!), and orders taking too long to come, and they always go above and beyond to make good on their mistakes. Not only do they re-send items, but they also send gift cards, which I think is a very nice touch to retain customers. Sephora not only has the worst customer service of all beauty retailers, but of ALL retailers in general.
I have been particularly impressed by Ulta also. They had a product go out of stock after I placed an order, not to be replaced and were really responsive. Their reaction really made a difference in the way that I view Ulta in general- very favorable.
I’ve only really ever had one negative experience, which was the Armani counter at Nordstrom/Westside Pavillion, although all the other counters (particularly NARS) have gone above & beyond. I’ve had very pleasant experiences at other Nordstrom locations, at every counter, so I can’t say it was a typical experience when I was completely ignored…
I don’t know what the reasons are, but for some reason, the NARS SA’s seem to really be enthusiastic when relating to customers, and are eager to talk about products! However, I dread ordering from NARS online, as they take forever, LOL!
MAC has always been great, whether a counter or standalone store, even when it was busy, and I was just B2M-ing. A while back, I placed an online order, and within 10 minutes, I received a phone call about a product that was OOS, and given options of how I wanted to proceed.
Sephora & ULTA have also been great, and I’ve had SA’s really bend over backwards at both to take care of my needs, even going so far to dig things out of brand-new shipments, and sell me thinhs a bit earlier than they should have.
Overall, Sephora has been great – no hassles on returns, fast and reliable shipping, no damaged products, and the SA will leave you alone if you want to just browse but can be very helpful if you need them. The only major glitch was when their website crashed during the big sale. The Neiman Marcus store in SF has awesome service–I’m not dressed fancy at all, but everyone is super helpful and friendly, and they don’t give me any problems on returns. I just wish I had the money to shop there more often. Nordstroms is good too, especially about returns.
I’m usually very impressed with Sephora. Even if the associate at Sephora isn’t sure how to help me, they always grab someone with a bit more experience in my concerns and I always leave happy. The men and women at Nordstrom are very polite and knowledgable, too! I will say though, for me good customer service really just means not pushing me to try random things and definitely not over complimenting me on something that we both know just isn’t working for my face. That’s why some amazing stores like Bergdorf Goodman make me want to skip the beauty area entirely. For me honesty is key when shopping for something that will make you feel / look better!
definitely Nordstrom!
and if you are talking about online retailers as well, Beautylish!
they shipped my order within an hour of me ordering (at night!) and my order arrived to hawaii in 2 days
I never had any issues at any retailer besides MAC ( I much rather buy MAC online), but I have to say I love Barney’s SAs. They are always extremely sweet to me :).
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! I love Chanel boutiques customer service a lot, too! 🙂
Nordstrom’s price-matched something in chat for me and that was nice. I know many don’t often do that. Luckily it was the brand’s own site they were price-matching. Dermstore replaced a defective gift no questions asked recently. That was refreshing.
I’ve always had really good experiences with Sephora. They replaced an order for me when the horrible UPS people left it outside my door to be stolen. And I understand that they’ve recently stopped using UPS as their shipping carrier, which I really appreciate, since UPS is the worst shipping carrier ever–though I don’t know whether the switch was done to offer better customer service, it certainly will. I also think it’s wonderful that they actually give you the choice to have your package shipped through the postal service, since it is so much more reliable than other shipping carriers, but many stores don’t give you the option.
More importantly, I don’t know of any store that has as good of a return policy. I mean…you can return anything they sell anytime, even without a receipt and without the original packaging. That’s crazy. Nordstrom is great about returns, but they still require you to have the receipt and/or original packaging with the tracking sticker. Last time I had to return something there they would only give me store credit, even though I had my receipt, because I didn’t keep the box with the little tracking sticker–I mean, who hangs on to every box of everything they’ve ever bought?
Actually, Nordstrom’s policy is to accept any return without question (or receipt). They don’t typically advertise it, and there have been cases of abuse (people trying to return stolen product, etc. But on the whole, they are NEVER supposed to give anyone a hard time about returns. Managers have discretion on when to refuse someone, but unless it’s a repeat offender, they will accept just about anything.
Same thing happened to me- I purchased an eyeliner, threw away the box, and then realized it was old product and was crumbly and dry when I tried to apply it. I returned it with receipt and no box and they gave me a cash refund. They offered store credit, but a friendly manager was able to just refund the money when it turned out the item was discontinued and they had none left in stock.
I haven’t actually been inside a Sephora since I first started to wear makeup, but when I’ve had a problem online, they’ve been beyond helpful. SAs at Ulta are usually decent, but when I had a problem with an order, they weren’t very helpful at all until I pushed them, and then they were very slow. I also returned an item and didn’t get my money back, which still hasn’t been resolved and probably never will be.
That anecdote didn’t answer the question exactly but there you go.
Also, not Mac.
I had the exact same issue with Sephora.com. I returned five items as part of a multi-order return; three items were refunded and two were not. I called, emailed, etc and it was like there was NO attention to my prior communications regarding the issue stating that some items in the same box had been processed as returns and some hadn’t (I kept getting the standard ‘it can take up to X days for your return to be processed’). That turned me off to Sephora.com unless I am ordering a HG, tried-and-true, product. It’s a loss for them because I was VIB Rouge and spent a lot of money thinking ‘if it doesn’t work out I can just return it’ – now I’m reluctant to buy anything at all because I don’t want to risk the return process.
I actually haven’t had issues with Sephora. Well, except for the fact they frequently don’t send me the same coupons everyone else gets. I’d really hate to think it’s cause of the whole Asian last name debacle. But I didn’t have these issues with my non-Asian maiden name…
I have to agree with Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom though. They are ALWAYS fantastic! Just the whole experience is always pleasant and it makes me want to keep coming back over and over again. I wish more companies were like them.
A lot of readers–including myself, and I know even Musings of a Muse didn’t get a coupon recently–also don’t receive via regular mail. I usually get them via email, though.
Yeah, I’m VIB Rouge and used to get Sephora emails regularly but noticed it all stopped, and it didn’t go into any spam folder either. I wonder if they’ve lost track of their VIB Rouge clients? I mean if they aren’t sending any emails to the beauty bloggers of this world, there’s going to be no hope for me !
I’ve been signed up for Sephora e-mails for years and they suddenly stopped around 2006-2007. I’ve given up on asking them to try to fix the problem. There is a technical issue on their side that they refuse to fix. All I get from them is “tell us your e-mail address and we’ll “refresh” the subscription. They do nothing. I’m VIB Rouge and I never know what extra “perks” there are. This is only a small part of the reason why Sephora has the worst customer service. I try to only shop at Sephora when there’s a brand I want that Ulta doesn’t carry. I wish I didn’t have to shop there at all.
Lord and Taylor on Fifth Avenue and the one in Westchester County.
To be honest, customer service in Europe really isn’t what it should it be in my opinion. In the US you can return a product that doesn’t work for you. Here you can’t. Once you’ve used it you are stuck with it.
That’s terrible! I’d be too afraid to buy anything!
That’s where I am now! I am too afraid to buy anything. I never want to misuse returns policies but sometimes you just have to return!!
I recently bought a Dior eyeliner from an online retailer in the UK and the eyeliner didn’t stay half an hour on my eyelids. I returned the item and a few days later the retailer returned the item back to me saying that they tested the item and couldn’t find anything wrong with it! So now I lost my money, I paid for the return cost and I ended up with an item that is used by some random people!!
It is quite a struggle, I envy the US for sure.. I am in South America and I’m stuck with many MAC products I can’t return to the store here and are completely useless because of the color match… I hope someday they change that
Yeah, in the UK, the return policy on purchased cosmetics from a bricks-and-mortar store is pretty much just, No. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t open it – if you walked out the door with it, it’s yours forever. For online purchases, the Distance Selling Regulations mean you have seven days to basically sever the contract and return anything you decide don’t want, but it does have to be unopened/in original packaging/undamaged (true for all items, not just cosmetics).
QVC UK is the only retailer (e-tailer) I know of that will allow returns of open products. And Clinique counters, if you have a reaction to a product, but they don’t advertise that fact.
Loccitane has the best customer service I’ve ever had. I had a parcel go missing, I’d ordered some stuff for my mum for her birthday and it never turned up. The woman I spoke to went out of her way to find all the stuff I’d ordered and get it to me next day delivery. She was a star. I’ve always found the Bobbi Brown girls at my local Debenhams to be great too. They changed things no questions asked. Because you can’t return makeup in the UK you sometimes have problems even if something’s broken but the Bobbi Brown girls have always been fab.
Sephora, MAC, and Hautelook.
I haven’t had many bad experiences with any retailer at all. One time I bought the Glinda palette at an Ulta and when I opened it I saw that someone had swatched it and stolen the eyeliner so I tracked down another Glinda palette at a different Ulta and they swapped it out with me no problem. With Sephora I just return products that I don’t like/skin didn’t like and never had a problem with that either, but I think that depends on the sales person you get to work with you because a friend of mine would have problems at the same Sephora. So far I’ve been lucky 🙂
Ugh, I hate when products in the store are all swatched and touched. I’m always taking stuff out to look at it. Probably people think I’m swatching it, but really I’m checking everything to make sure it’s still untouched before I buy it.
Sephora is great – I’ve only ever returned one item (Nars concealer in Custard) but there was no hassle at all. Mind you, I’ve only ever returned one MAC item too (I tend to put a lot of care into purchases and almost always buy in person rather than online) and that time, it was my own fault for buying the product – I should have known it wasn’t for me – and, again, no problem (this was at the MAC counter at The Bay). Sephora is also really good about taking your name and phone # and calling you when a new item you’re wanting is finally available in the store.
i’m a former SA and i think it really depends on each individual store. a lot of people have bad experiences at MAC, but my local counters are fantastic. the Ulta in my hometown is great, but the ones near school are terrible.
i do think a lot of it is determined by corporate policy. Nordstrom’s service is so good because they’re known for that, so you’re less likely to have a bad experience. Macy’s has good service, but know what to say if they ask you if you want a credit card (“I already have one and just don’t want to use it today”).
The latter is really important, because in general, the solutions you get through customer service are only as good as what the corporate policy allows for – some companies empower their reps more than others and some companies just have better customer-oriented solutions than others.
Nordstrom by far for me. The SAs at my local remember me and set products aside for me. They give me deals and freebies whenever they can because they know I’m a loyal customer. If I’m on the hunt for a dc’d product, they will actually check their stores and do their best to find it for me. I also just started really shopping at Neiman’s this year and am so far very impressed. However, a KA blush arrived totally crushed and I have to tell them soon so I’ll experience that kind of customer service shortly and let you guys know haha.
This is a good point. I just foolishly waited too long to order the Oxblood lipstick and lip glass from the MAC Toledo collection, and when I finally went to place my order it was out of stock. So I called my local store to see if they had it in stock; they didn’t, but the SA said that she would be able to order it for me. Apparently, an employee can search the stock of other stores and have them ship directly to you, even if there’s no more stock in the warehouse. I think it’s really nice that they do that for their customers.
Unfortunately, I rarely shop in stores, so I never develop personal relationships with the SA’s. I just gotta have my ebates. (Plus, the Nordstrom near my house seems to never have anyone working at the MAC counter.)
And it was beautiful! Yay Neimans! The CS rep was kind, apologetic, and immediately sent out a replacement immediately.
ColorPop. They are probably not a “major” brand yet, but their customer service is impeccable. I received a few broken eyeshadows in one of my orders. They immediately sent me replacement items and did not even ask me to send the broken ones back. I am very impressed.
The local sephora is pretty good, nice employees and all
I have ordered online only from benefit and illamasqua websites, well everything was ok with illamasqua, but when i ordered from benefit a boxed powder blush it arrived shattered I contacted them and they sent me a new one, no questions asked and they didnt want the broken one even though I wanted to send it to them
Nordstrom and Macy’s
Mac is the one that really awed me. Forgot to use a coupon for two day shipping. Sent them an emaul with no hope really. They tracked down my package, retrieved it and ship it ecpress to me. Had it at my door a day and a half later. It blew me away. I was the air headed, yet they were more that happy to help me. Rhey will have forever my loyalty.
We, strictly speakin, Mac is not a retailer… Still.
Nordstrom is extremely gracious about returns (even without a receipt!) but any time I’ve tried to place an order with them, it’s gotten lost in the ether somewhere…
Always had good experiences with the customer service at Sephora.
IMO, the customer service at Ulta is as ‘meh’ as the store itself.
I mostly online shop but I enjoy Nordstrom and Sephora’s customer service. They’re usually very prompt, helpful and professional. I rarely have issues with either of them
I agree. I have had tremendous experience with the customer service at Nordstrom. They have mailed me exchanges of things which I no longer have even the box/receipt and give me 30 days to send them back with a pre-paid label. I haven’t dealt much with Neiman’s. I have become a little dissatisfied with Sephora as of late as they did recently decrease their return time. It used to be some crazy amount of time..like a year or something. Now it is 90 days with a receipt and box and only so much used. It is fair.But, being the junkie I am, I would have a product lying there and realize 4 mos. later I was never going to use it and finally decide to return/ exchange it. Now I am forced to be more prudent when buying from Sephora..actually not a bad thing I suppose.
Nordstrom! And, in the spirit of competition 🙂 , Neiman Marcus seems to be upping their game.
I have always had very good experiences with Nordstroms. Recently I have placed a couple of orders with Beautylish. All went well, no problems…but the customer service vibe I felt from them was superb. I was also so pleased to find some obscure (for me anyway) beauty products on their site.
My local MAC store and Bloomingdales are my favorites.
I don’t know if it counts as a major retailer, but I’ve received amazing customer service from Birchbox. Returns are easy, they accept everything, and I’ve even had them apply coupon codes after they’ve technically expired.
The mac store in oakbrook, il has my vote for rudest clerk ever. She was young , edgy looking. I am over 60. She was condescending, I was treated as an interruption. I finally just left, although I still buy mac moisturizer, finding nothing else that is as good. I did email mac corporate, and got no response.
I usually get good service through Sephora. I’ve never had any major issues but have had to return or exchange a couple of things because they just didn’t work for me and I didn’t experience any problems doing this. I can usually find someone there in store that is super helpful if I have questions. The Ulta closest to me is usually a hit or a miss as far as service goes. I dont currently shop there because I had an issue with one of their salon people (she was the worst customer service person ever) but I was really impressed with the way their management handled the situation. Their management seems to care about taking care of customers but the rest of the staff in store for the most part just seems to be there for the paycheck and therefore don’t really seem interested in going above and beyond to help the customer. I know not everyone has access to an actual Belk store but the one here in Hoover at the Riverchase galleria also has excellent customer service. I mainly shop in store at the MAC counter and they’re always extremely helpful. I’ve shopped there a lot so they know what I like and never try to just sell me stuff I don’t need. But they will show me new stuff to see if I like it without pressuring me to actually purchase it. They don’t carry Urban Decay in this store but do have it on belk.com so I have ordered stuff and the shipping is always free and pretty quick. I’ve never received and damaged products through them.
I have had primarily very good experiences with Sephora and 2 free-standing MAC stores at Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale and also at Biltmore in Phoenix.
I am in Canada so we don’t have the luxury of Nordstrom or Bloomingdales (yet). With limited choices I have to say the best retail experience is Sephora. I have had some great help and really friendly customer service inside Sephora and their return policy is amazing.
You didn’t ask for the worst, but up here it is Holt Renfrew. The worst experiences every single time. The employees at Holt feel like they are some how superior, it absolutely baffles me. Here in Vancouver we have a Nordstrom’s going in just one block away from Holt. I cannot wait.
Beautylish … I had an extraordinary experience with them. Christmas before last my husband ordered a set of Wayne Goss brushes for my gift, but they were out of stock. Beautylish is located in SF and I live about 50 miles away. Evidently the brushes came back in stock, and on Christmas Eve night the doorbell rang and there was an employee from Beautylish with the brushes all gift wrapped! The Beautylish employee told him that they so believed in Wayne’s brushes that they didn’t want me to have to wait to receive them so he drove all the way out to my house, amazing! I didn’t know any of this until I opened the gift Christmas morning so it made the gift even more special.
I love everything about this story!
That’s pretty awesome! I order from Beautylish too & have found their customer service to be great. Plus I continue to get little perks like $10 off a purchase at least once per month. Nice!
I have had fantastic experiences with Smashbox. I had a fairly large order with an item missing. I contacted them with the wrong missing item name (it was the same collection, but the error was mine on identifying it.) They replaced both the actual missing item and wrongly identified missing item with no hassle and told me to keep the oops on my part.
I refuse to shop at Ulta because the management at my local store was abominable. The “prestige” manager made deeply offensive racial remarks in my presence (she must have presumed that since we were both Caucasian in an upper middle class suburb that I’d somehow be interested in her inappropriate language, but that could not be further from the truth.) The actual store manager told a pair of customers that it was totally fine to test LIVE products then put them back on the shelf if they didn’t care for the items.
Nope. Ulta gets zero monies now.
I’ve always had a great experience with the Macy’s at Dadeland Mall in Miami, FL; they’re very attentive and excellent listeners.
Best: The Bay (department store in Canada) Chanel counter, in Edmonton, Alberta! When I’m on a trip south, I make usually a point to say I’m from out of town & no where near a counter. The ladies there are always so nice to me. If they don’t have a product in stock, they mail it to me in the Northwest Territories when it’s back in stock. I’ve called by phone and ordered with great ease, and I’ve also had good experiences returning things I’ve purchased online (but they were clothes, not makeup. Still very easy to deal with!).
Worst: Sephora by phone or by email. They don’t even respond to emails half the time.
Surprisingly, Sephora is great by Direct Message on Twitter, if you can believe it! I received duplicate items from a Sephora order (at no fault of my own) at the end of October and returned a Mia 2 & Anastasia Tamanna palette (worth CAD$215) and paid CAD$18 for shipping. I emailed and called, to no avail. I literally just complained via DM on Twitter after seeing this post, accompanied by some pictures of emails, proof of shipment etc. and they just refunded me the $18 & added 250 points to my account.
Actually Sleek Makeup in the UK was also pretty horrendous. I had placed an order last year, it was never delivered, contacted the company without results. Finally had to complain to my credit card company so they could investigate, and I was finally refunded for my purchase about 7 months later.
Nordstroms!
Nordstrom / Hautelook – free shipping, even on nail polish & frangrances! and Hautelook is SOO good about crediting for damaged product due to shipping. I ordered some tarina tarantino lipsticks & because of the heatwave that was going on they melted into the caps! So I called them & the refunded me immediately. i was so grateful because it wasn’t even salvageable. top notch customer service
I find the MEN who work at Ulta are FANTASTIC! Nordstrom’s has superior customer service as well!
Nordstrom 100%
Sephora has the worst… I like Nordies alright.
Sephora! Hands down!!
Sephora’s always great. Normally I avoid them on the weekends, simply because they’re so busy, but I ended up going in on a Saturday a little while back and once an SA got to me, she was very helpful. Even though I had a kind of open ended request, she didn’t rush me or make me feel like I was wasting her time. And I like that they don’t try to automatically steer you to a more expensive brand.
In my experience, I love Nordstom also. The worst online experience I’ve had is with the Anastasia online support…It is just too hard to get them for tracking & the shipping stinks too, the wait for my order has been brutal many times. so far, i have been very lucky with great Sephora help at West Farms Mall in West Hartford…shout out lol..
I live in a small beach town (Destin, fl) and they have none of my favorite large retailers here (saks, Neiman Marcus, nordstroms, Bloomingdales etc) that I purchase all my beauty products from so unfortunately I miss out and end of buying everything online and it is SO HARD to purchase online! They have a dillards and jcpenney here howver neither one of them sell my favorite brands (chanel, la mer, guerlin, Dior) so it’s very difficul and I have always had to buy two foundations to match my color as I can’t do it in store but online my favorite retailer is Nordstrom as they always have such good gifts with purchase and I count on them to sample other products since I can’t just go in a store and try it on or get a sample. I do worry about them sometimes as they have such a lax return policy that I am going to get a used beauty product, gross!
I wish we had a Nordstrom in Australia from the sounds of it. I don’t think you can return makeup that has been used here in Australia – I have not done that. The staff at Myer and David Jones are knowledgeable about their own beauty products, but there is no-one that can help you overall. I have generally found the staff at Priceline to be quite good and recently returned a product that was faulty and they were excellent.
I am an esthetician with my own studio & somehow got talked into by a good girlfriend being a freelance makeup artist with a prestige cosmetics company at Ulta for 10 hrs per week. First of all, everyone that works for Ulta is incredibly kind & helpful. With my real job being my own boss, I was unprepared for the absolute B.S. that goes on in the “prestige” section. You are expected to sell $100 per hour or leave that location for another Ulta. Then the store manager of the Ulta that you are at, gets pissed and calls your “supervisor” for you to stay. And then… Although I have gotten 3 nice guest surveys about how I helped them when the Benefit girl, etc, etc waved them away, I have been told that I help guests out too much and i basically need to shove this particular brand down their throats, lie, cheat and steal to make my quota – and I am doing a terrible job and perhaps I should go work for NYX (wtf- I think they are great) so…. I got the boot.
I just want all the girls to know that if they are out of a color, they will give you a similar one and hope you don’t notice, or else they might not make their quota. I am not bitter at all, I am just shocked at the deception that goes on and I am glad I don’t have to work for corporate America. I like to work with people as opposed to competing with your co-workers. That’s all- I hope I don’t seem like a jerk.
Melt cosmetics is the bees knees. Everytime I have ordered something from them they were super fast with their shipping, they were always available for questions, and their products delivered exactly what they advertised for me. Love it. Totally recommend them in a heartbeat.
I really want to try Melt cosmetics! Their products seems nicely pigmented too!
You should totally try them out. If you change your mind they are super sweet and will refund you asap. lol What’s not to love?
My local Sephora is really wonderful. Macy’s and Nordstrom’s have both been excellent, though I don’t use them often.
Nordstrom!
I bought the Melted off of Too Faced website in December and just recently tried it. It was watery and nasty. I emailed Too Faced and they immediately sent out a replacement, no questions asked.. soooooooo super duper impressed…
Meant to say Melted Coral
Nordie’s then Neiman’s. Boo Hiss to Saks online. And no how, no way can I drink the Sephora kool-aid. I positively hate their stores ( dirty, messy with staff that is hit or miss). Lucky you if you’ve got a clean store close by to shop- but no amount of discounts will get me to shop there.
MAC online is awesome too. Super fast 2 day shipping- usually FREE!
I absolutely LOVE Beautylish! They are very fast at shipping, usually two days, always free! They have never get an order wrong. They contact you before big launches so you can order before the rush. There’s so a hand written note in every box thanking you for your purchase. You just can’t beat Beautylish’s customer service. It’s A+ every time, all the time!
Nordstrom employee here, ladies. Thanks for the shout out , we try. An FYI…when Lord and Taylor has friends and family they discount cosmetics 10%, we at Nordstrom will match that!
I love Nordstrom, Sephora, and Bloomingdale’s. The beauty departments are bigger and better and you can always find what you’re looking for as well as discover new products.
I don’t work with online retailers too often, so I can’t comment much on that, but I do love one of the Guerlain reps at my local department store. I think her name is Emily, and she’s just lovely. She knows her stuff, she’s got a good eye, and she never tries to push things on you.
…she’s kind of a diamond amidst a lot of rough, though…
High-end stores all the way. The way I see it, brands pretty much the same price everywhere you go. I find that the customer service in high end stores is way better than Sephora. Their cosmetic counters are also cleaner! I love Saks and Neimans. Nordstrom is OK- the makeup girls at my local one are major bitches, so now I shop at Lord and Taylor. It’s not as busy, so the sales ladies are hungry to make commission and a sale. They are super-attentive and because there aren’t as many gross teenagers sticking their fingers into the make-up, like Sephora, I don’t feel as sketched out trying out the makeup. Everything is spotless at their counters.
Sephora is a customer-service nightmare. Testers are usually dirty, broken, or old. Sales people follow you around and make you feel like a criminal. They are difficult about exchanges/returns. It’s also off-putting when you occasionally hear managers talk about sales goals for the day while you are shopping. It is more of a reminder that they are just pushing product on you instead of honestly guiding you to what you are looking for. The sales people also usually don’t know what the hell they are talking about. At least the sales people at the cosmetic counters have training in their products. Their point system is a good way to create returning customers, but in the end it’s a gimmick. The sales people at my Lord and Taylor will throw gratis at me, especially if their AE’s are visiting. I’d rather get free stuff I would use than stupid points for stuff I would never buy.
Sephora=teenage wasteland.
Actually, SAs that work at department store counters work on commission. Sephora employees do not. Sephora does have hourly goals. If they not selling enough as a team, then hours get cut. They have to be able to sell enough in a day to pay their employee salaries and of course the stores rent and expenses.
If you feel that the testers are dirty, broken or old, just tell an SA and they will gladly disinfect or make you a new one. And the reason why they follow you around and make you feel “like a criminal” (not that I’m saying it’s ok) is because most likely that store has a high volume of thefts. The employee hours do get cut if they have a lot of thefts to pay for the deficit. So in a way it’s coming out of their own pockets.
And as far as them not knowing anything, they get training from all the brands and are taught to be brand biased. You might just be speaking to the wrong associates (a newbie).
I worked at a Sephora and we did not get “..they get training from all the brands…” BUT WE WERE taught to be “brand biased” in the way of “Get the customer to buy the most expensive item and as many as you can!” I worked at the Glendale Galleria in Los Angeles Mall Sephora so you’d think they’d be nearly perfect since MANY artists as well as celebrities shopped at that place, but it was not! It was GROSS!! They hardly cleaned the brushes at night that were put on countless people’s faces all day, everyday! I could go on and on. And as for my own shopping or actually browsing at a Sephora, it grosses me out and I’d never allow them to put ANYTHING on my face and swatchingg on your hand is really defeating the purpose, especially w lipstick since your lips have natural color and your hand skin is NOTHING like your eye skin… THE WHOLE POINT OF A SEPHORA IS TO SEE IT ON YOU SO YOU DEFINITELY KNOW! But Sephora has REALLY declined. Also, I was turned down a new tester when the old one was gone countless times in 2 different stores. They justt want to make money. My Mother was also turned down when a tester was gone that she wanted to try. They are just deterring purchases doing that, NOT saving money! Here we were, 2 people super interested in a high end item but instead of letting us test it, we walked out. I do ALL Sephora shopping online to get the points and use codes, etc. But EVEN THEIR PACKING is very bad, now! I’ve had to send back 3 items in less than 1 year and that is just a SERIOUS PAIN because the really highend skincare I buy (like SK-II or Amore Pacific, or whatever) they do not carry in-store so I can’t just sxchange in-store. Sephora needs to pull itself together because they are in decline, in my personal opinion!
Tatcha!