Francis P.
The No Sample Problem
I have spent tens of thousands of dollars at Sephora, mostly online and there is an issue that continue to irk me. While every once in a while there is rude customer service or order mistakes, those are not a big deal as they are one offs. Consistently though, I have an issue with them leaving out the 2 free samples. They’re free, what’s the big deal you ask? They’re not actually free, they’re a marketing tool that convinces buyers to choose them over other retailers and 2 free samples are supposed to come with every order that reaches the cost threshold. Is it okay if the sample I chose isn’t available, yes, but it needs to be substituted. Of all the orders I have made, only ~20% have come with the samples. This to me indicates a number of different possibilities, the responsibility for all of which lies with Sephora. Most likely, it’s because orders are purposely being filled without them. As someone who worked as regional director in shipping and receiving for a large retail corporation, I can say that samples are tracked just like any other item that is inventoried. That means, they should not ‘run out’ during high volume times. On top of that Sephora ask customers to review sample items on their own time which helps promote products for the online store. It’s unethical to draw in customer’s to buy from a company with a specific offer of goods in return for purchase, and then not fulfill this obligation.