Complaint Review: Ulta - Elk Grove California

That is either a "rule' made up by the store or the district. Have worked for the company for many years and that is definitely not policy. For T3 flat irons, we can honor the manufacturer's warranty with receipt and packaging. You should have been taken care of.

The selling point from Ulta is at the top of the refund policy. This in effect, is an advertisement, encouraging customer confidence and loyalty: "If for any reason your purchase does not give you complete satisfaction, the purchase may be returned." This says ANY REASON and COMPLETE SATISFACTION. She was not completely satisfied. She should be able to return this with no problems....because Ulta is telling her they want to return over and over again and be happy. They tell her they will take it back. The ONLY negotiating point then should be terms of how they will compensate her...in $$$ or store credit or exact exchange. They defined it below their advertisement: after 60 days, store credit. DONE. They blew it.

Actually, I have worked in retail, and all the companies I've worked for value and stress on customer service. Being that I have worked retail, I don't sympathize with having a bad day, etc. excuses because no matter what, I was always trying to please the customer as I'm required to do. I was always trained upon hiring to even treat "returns as if they are sales". It's apparent from numerous experiences, even when not returning items, that customer service isn't a priority for Ulta. I will just give my business to Ulta's competitor, Sephora from now on.

First of all I realize this incident happened over a month ago, but after reading this I had to add my two sence. Secondly, I only partly agree with you because until you have worked in retail you don't know what it's like to deal with customers, good and bad, all day I am a Sales Associate, or as you refer to us SA, and I am very offended by most of your comments! We are people too, we have feeling, we get frustrated, and we make mistakes! In this case the mistake was alittle obserd and I can see where your frustration came from. As a sales associate in the Chicago area I know our policies back and forth I would have had you in and out of the store in two minutes. I also understand why the manager acted the way she did. No retailer wants to return or exchange damaged merchandise, we can't sell that, we loss money, hopefully you understand. I am in no way defending her actions, but put yourself in her shoes, would you want to see someone that just yelled at you again? Hopefully your next experience at Ulta will be a good one, if not come shop in Chicago!

So I just got back from Ulta again, and was able to make the return. The Customer Service Rep told me that if they gave me any troubles about the exchange, to have them call corporate directly from the store. I actually received a voicemail from the Ulta manager, since she did take down my phone number, and said, "This is Tonya from Ulta. I just talked to the regional manager bla bla bla... and we can't do the exchange. It's been too long. SORRY!" The voicemail was received before corporate called store number 110 about me. So I get in line waiting for a manager to process my exchange. Tonya, was there. I heard her talking to other customers and the way she talked to them was totally 180 from how she was talking to me the night before. I waited for her, and when it was my turn, she left the register! She went to the back and I was helped by another manager. The other manager processed by exchange, no problems. So when everything was done, I asked her if she was a manager. She told me yes. Then I asked her who that other woman was. She told me she was also a manager. So I told her about everything that happened, including my phone call with corporate, and how Tanya flat out LIED to me about the 90 day rainbow policy she made up. Please don't insult my intelligence. The manager apologized for everything and said that she will notify the general manager about it. I will make sure to call in advance the next time I go to that Ulta to see if the general manager is there so I can talk to her as well.

So I was on hold for 95 minutes waiting for a CS rep. But anyway, I was finally connected. The CS rep was actually really helpful and sympathetic to my situation. I made sure to say I had the receipt, I bought it in February, about why I didn't start using it until recently (perm), and that I just wanted an exchange. I also mentioned that I bought it at another store and she said that it wouldn't have mattered. She sounded sort of angry at my experience. She told me that the exchange should have been made and the only time they could have refused it is if I abused the iron by banging it or whatever and not using it for it's intended use. Which in my case it was not as everything was in the box, unfilled register cards, used only a total of 3 times. She asked me if I dealt with a manager or SA and I told her that I believe the woman was a manager since she decided to take it up to the regional manager. She told me, "See if it was an SA, I would honestly have to tell you that a lot of times, most of them don't know what they're talking about". But, it was a manager (I strongly believe). So she tells me she'll put me on hold or call me back and I told her to just do whatever's easiest for her. So she gets me number, and calls me back fairly quickly. During that break, she called the store, and said that they said "OOhhh we know our policy, we would have done the exchange for her". And she also told me that the store manager was there right now and would notify the other managers about a girl wanting to exchange a hot pink t3 iron. So I also mentioned to her when she called me back, because I forgot since I was laying there waiting for 95 minutes..., that the woman also gave me an attitude and talked to me as if I were a delinquent. I also mentioned the 90 day crap that she pulled out of her butt and said that I'm not one to argue with a policy if it's stated in black and white on the receipt but I see nothing about 90 day anything and the CS rep agreed with me. I told her that she could have made it up for all I know and she told me "She did. We don't have anything in our policy about 90 days". She advised me to report her once I go back to Ulta to the manager in charge, unless she happens to be the manager, and if so, to get her name and call CS back. So I will be back to Ulta later on today.

So in your opinion because there was not a specific amount of days for a return you feel you should be able to basically swap out for the new model. You are so dead wrong to me. You used the product, it was not defective. You just didn't like the WAY it worked. But instead of returning in after the first use you continued to use it for months and EXPECT a company to return an item they cannot resell. You are the reason these return policies become 4 pages long. Companines try to cover bases but you and your keen eye tries to catch someone because of semantics. That is just sad. If you would have read the receipt and it said that you cannot return item beyond 90 days for example you would have not persued it. But you have NO COMMON SENCE in this matter. Because it was not a specified length of time (Perhaps an oversite) do you feel that it implies a LIFETIME RETURN POLICY? Like in 6 years you could return it because your receipt simply said "After 60 days there will be an in store credit" Most people would agree that 6 years is an awful long time to expect a return. Its just common sence. Well after 2 months of USING a product and then wanting to return it because a new model came out is also absurd. Why should the store take a loss on a product because you have no common sence. THE CUSTOMER IS WRONG!