Emily
Embarrassing & horrible experience
Good evening, I am writing this email to make you aware of what occurred in one of your Sephora locations. I purchased a Nars foundation online, when I received it in the mail I tried it and it was the wrong shade for my skin. I decided to go to the Sephora in the Champlain Mall in Moncton, New Brunswick to exchange this for the correct shade. When I arrived at the entrance of the store I was greeted by a woman who was working the entrance. She told me to go into the store and that someone would meet me to help me choose the correct shade of foundation. A nice woman inside (I cannot remember her name) was very kind and helped me find the correct shade. I proceeded to the counter to exchange my items. I was standing at the sticker on the floor, which is six feet from the cashier’s counter. I was waiting for the woman at the counter to ask me to step up for her to serve me. To my surprise she proceeded to yell very loudly while stepping further from the counter with her hands up in the air saying “Oh my god! I can’t! I cannot serve you! You are not wearing a face mask!”. At this point, I had realized I was wearing a clear face mask which she may have mistaken for me not wearing a mask. I was still shocked as it was very embarrassing that she made a scene in front of a full store of customers. I proceeded to stay where I was six feet from the counter and explained to her that I was in fact wearing a mask and touched my mask so she could see. She said extremely loud “I am still not serving you! She will serve you!”. When a new employee came to the counter I walked up with tears in my eyes and apologized as I had to leave. I did not exchange my foundation as I had to collect myself. I was so embarrassed & upset about what had just occurred. I had also found it odd that the previous employee that was seemed to be very concerned about my mask was still standing at the counter beside the new employee serving me. I have worn this clear mask for months & I have never had an issue. I actually wear this mask as my brother is hearing impaired and needs to be able to read my lips. I also have other disposable masks and cloth masks on hand. I was not wearing these today as my brother was with me. I also wear this mask at work and supply all of my employees with these masks also. We work with the health and safety department and they have never had any problems with us wearing these masks. When I left the store I went to find my mother. When I told her what had just happened she came to the store with me to find a manager as she thought it was completely unacceptable. When we got to the entrance the same woman was still there. My mother and I calmly explained we needed to speak to a manager about what had happened inside the store. She said she was a manager so we began to explain how upset I was over what happened. Oddly, she put her hands in front of her and said she did not like the sound of my mothers voice and that she was being threatening. I could not believe this. My mother was very offended over what this woman had said about the sound of her voice as that is just how she talks & sounds. She was not threatening, she was simply explaining how unacceptable and upset she was about what happened to her daughter. She was being overly dramatic and unprofessional for someone who is claiming to be a manager. I am a manager myself and I would never handle a situation the way she did. It is completely unprofessional to go on that way and not understand the hurt and the embarrassment your customers are going through. She went into the store to get another manager. When this manager came out I was pleasantly surprised by how calm and professional she was after the other two employees I had dealt with. She sincerely apologized about both employees behaviour & explained that she would deal with this situation and speak to both employees. She went into the store to exchange my foundation for me which was very kind. The reason I write you today is because I am still very uneasy about what happened today. I am concerned that this will happen to other customers. As personally I will not be shopping at Sephora again in the future, after the events that occurred today. I do believe that there are many ways this could have been avoided. If an employee has an issue that severe with the type of mask I am wearing then this should be told to customers at the entrance. The cashier could have also calmly and quietly explained to me that she had to go to get someone else to serve me. The woman working at the entrance also could have calmly went to get another manager if she could not be professional and handle the situation properly.