This is just ridiculous. Yet another example of how Sephora's respect for loyal customers is eroding.
Sephora blacklisting loyal customers...?
- Thread starter msmeow
- Start date
This is so crazy. I returned makeup that caused allergic reactions with receipt and they would only give me store credit not a gift card that I could use online or put it back on my card. The whole point of VIB rouge is the ease of placing online orders but they're making that impossible.
Sounds like I'm in the same boat as you. Have made loads of Sephora orders that ship to a parcel forwarder in the past with no problems, then all of a sudden my most recent order was cancelled. SO ANNOYED!!!
Companies do lose money to the resell market. It's unfortunate that innocent buyers are being blocked but tbh I can totally see where the companies are coming from. OP how much and how frequently were you buying?
Well I seem to have having the same problem since the weekend 
I've made numerous orders successfully with Sephora online before. I use an Aussie CC and an american mail forwarding address. I am a VIB member.
Sunday morning's order was accepted then, within a half hour it was mysteriously cancelled.
I called up their hotline and the kind call centre operator said that my CC looked fine and that I must have entered an incorrect discount code. She re-entered the whole order, said it worked fine and I hung up. I received an order confirmation email and then 15 minutes later it was cancelled again. I tried one final time (another online order) which was cancelled shortly after (surprise, surprise).
My online orders show STATUS: Unsuccessful Authorization.
BUT my Aussie CC shows 3 successful authorisations from Sephora, all for the same date and amount.
I called up again and they told me 1) it wasn't really cancelled, 2) perhaps it was cancelled and I had entered the code wrong? 3) my billing address was incomplete. I waited on hold for ages then was told the problem was with my Aussie CC... that I should use my american card (which I don't have).
So, I emailed sephora a complaint and received a terse response this morning saying that I've voilated their Terms of Use, with a link pointing to their ToU page. Well I have read them twice and can't see what has been violated!?
I've sent an email back asking for the specific heading on that page that has been violated. I wonder if I'll hear back.
Overall, its poor form from Sephora. Why do they say that there was a problem with the authorisation when I can see the transaction on my credit card online?
Is it due to the mail forwarding service I am using?
I am quite sad that this has happened... Sephora used to be my fave beauty shop but now I feel that I can't use them anymore... if they don't want my online money & can't explain why then they aren't going to get my money in person!
I've made numerous orders successfully with Sephora online before. I use an Aussie CC and an american mail forwarding address. I am a VIB member.
Sunday morning's order was accepted then, within a half hour it was mysteriously cancelled.
I called up their hotline and the kind call centre operator said that my CC looked fine and that I must have entered an incorrect discount code. She re-entered the whole order, said it worked fine and I hung up. I received an order confirmation email and then 15 minutes later it was cancelled again. I tried one final time (another online order) which was cancelled shortly after (surprise, surprise).
My online orders show STATUS: Unsuccessful Authorization.
BUT my Aussie CC shows 3 successful authorisations from Sephora, all for the same date and amount.
I called up again and they told me 1) it wasn't really cancelled, 2) perhaps it was cancelled and I had entered the code wrong? 3) my billing address was incomplete. I waited on hold for ages then was told the problem was with my Aussie CC... that I should use my american card (which I don't have).
So, I emailed sephora a complaint and received a terse response this morning saying that I've voilated their Terms of Use, with a link pointing to their ToU page. Well I have read them twice and can't see what has been violated!?
I've sent an email back asking for the specific heading on that page that has been violated. I wonder if I'll hear back.
Overall, its poor form from Sephora. Why do they say that there was a problem with the authorisation when I can see the transaction on my credit card online?
Is it due to the mail forwarding service I am using?
I am quite sad that this has happened... Sephora used to be my fave beauty shop but now I feel that I can't use them anymore... if they don't want my online money & can't explain why then they aren't going to get my money in person!
bisousx I placed 6 orders in the space of one month. All of them were over $50 - so I was not 'abusing' the rouge free shipping perk, like some other members who can no longer order online have been told.
pixelated I just got off the phone with my credit card company as the holds from my cancelled orders are still there since 30 Nov and it is starting to anger me. I was told that the holds will be removed by the CC co automatically after 10 days, but that technically Sephora should be notifying the CC company that they are not willing to accept the funds and to release the hold. It appears as though Sephora are not bothering to do this anymore.
missjshopaholic and pixelated - there are plenty of other fantastic US stores which will happily take our money...
pixelated I just got off the phone with my credit card company as the holds from my cancelled orders are still there since 30 Nov and it is starting to anger me. I was told that the holds will be removed by the CC co automatically after 10 days, but that technically Sephora should be notifying the CC company that they are not willing to accept the funds and to release the hold. It appears as though Sephora are not bothering to do this anymore.
missjshopaholic and pixelated - there are plenty of other fantastic US stores which will happily take our money...
Hi,
I'm new to the forums, but I came across it while reading up on the whole Sephora banning fiasco. I found out via private message with a Sephora rep on the weekend that parcel forwarding addresses were being blocked, because one of my orders was cancelled.
xx you cannot link to your blog here, if you'd like to share, please share HERE.http://www.themadeupmaiden.com/2013/12/sephora-bans-parcel-forwarding.html
I'm new to the forums, but I came across it while reading up on the whole Sephora banning fiasco. I found out via private message with a Sephora rep on the weekend that parcel forwarding addresses were being blocked, because one of my orders was cancelled.
xx you cannot link to your blog here, if you'd like to share, please share HERE.http://www.themadeupmaiden.com/2013/12/sephora-bans-parcel-forwarding.html
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How does Sephora lose to the resell market? The reseller has bought at full price from Sephora. Is it that the customer is then more likely to go back to the reseller for more stuff rather than Sephora?
This is crazy.
I wish Hermes would ban the resellers......................no such luck, it seems they encourage them. Course LVMH owns a high percentage of Hermes too.
This is crazy.
I wish Hermes would ban the resellers......................no such luck, it seems they encourage them. Course LVMH owns a high percentage of Hermes too.
I was wondering this myself as well as even with items in Sephora's 'sales' section, the majority of items in there are also being sold at the same price at other retailers too. Since the issue seems to be with parcel forwarding services, could it be a customs/tax issue? Even so, it would make better sense to announce the change globally (no more parcel forwarding) to everyone instead of selectively penalizing your high spending customers (who in turn will take their money elsewhere).
I don't know the answer to your whole question, but a lot of the resellers get merchandise at a discounted rate and then sell it. For example, there is a girl on Poshmark who sells tons of Sephora products and said she got them through her family member who works at Sephora, so they were purchased with an employee discount.
But that is a different story. Surely Sephora can keep track of employees discount spending. I can understand limiting employees to a certain reasonable $$$ purchase amount. Many of the top brands do this. Louis Vuitton for example restricts its employees to two items a year, I believe, and they can't be any limited edition items or anything like that.
Restricting full value purchases (or purchases Sephora has offered at a discount to almost everyone ) makes no sense to me.
