If you go to ulta.com you will see at the top of their webpage they announce that you can choose three free samples with every order. This offer and the free robe for buying perfume made me want to make a purchase.
I ordered and selected my samples. Rec'd my order and no samples. Tried to contact ulta customer service. They do not answer the phone when you call their 800 #. You die on hold and they suggest you go to their webpage. Sounded like a good idea. Went there clicked on "contact us" and the maze began. When you click the "email us" button, you don't get an email. You get a list of 50+ questions that maybe you can read through instead of emailing them. Yeah right. They make it very hard to communicate with them.
So I disregard all the roadblocks and finally send an email which is actually a thread on their page.
Here is the chain. It's not so much about the samples, it's that they tell me I am one of thousands of orders and they don't have time to ship them out. That's after they suggest that maybe I never added them to my cart. That's funny, they were listing on my packing list!!
Customer 11/21/2008 09:38 AM
I received my order today. Order #A105365160. Everything looks great, but I did not receive my 3 free samples. Can you send those to me?
Kim Ries
Auto-Response 11/21/2008 09:38 AM
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Response (Christine B.) 11/21/2008 04:26 PM
Novenber 21, 2008
Dear Kim,
Unless you had added the 3 samples to your shopping bag, we are unable to send out any samples due to number of orders coming in at this time of the year. I do apologize, but if you did not add them to the original order we are unable to send any out. This is coming from the Director of Shipping.
Sincerely,
Christine
Guest Services
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Customer 11/22/2008 04:43 PM
I did add these items to my bag. They show up on my packing list. It seems you should be able to see them on my order. I did not receive them and would like them to be shipped. That was one of the reasons I placed my order. Thank you.
Kim Ries
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Response (Christine B.) 11/22/2008 05:38 PM
November 22, 2008
Dear Ulta Guest,
I sent an email to the shipping department asking to ship out the samples that are shown on your order. The shhipping director apologized that the items were not placed in your order. Unfortuantely, because we are receving thousands of orders. He stated that we are unable to ask to send out samples to guests.
Unfortuantely, I am not able to send out those samples at this time.
Sincerely,
Christine
Guest Services
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Customer 11/24/2008 08:37 AM
It seems very misleading to have on your website that you can choose three free samples. And then you don't send them. It was Ulta's mistake and you are not doing what you said you would do. That's bad business. I don't really care that you have thousands of orders. In fact, if you treat customers this way, I would think that your "thousands of orders" will be dwindling.
You can advise your shipping director that I will take my business elsewhere in the future. Your customer service is very lacking. And I plan to post this to my blog and let everyone know.
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Response (Christine B.) - 11/24/2008 12:43 PM
November 24, 2008
Dear Ulta Guest,
I do apologize; however, these are the corporate rules coming from the
Shipping Director. I cannot override his decision, especially since they are
free items. I do apologize, but I am following the corporate rules.
Sincerely,
Guest Services
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Obviously those in charge (namely the "shipping director") don't care much about keeping their customers happy.
Long story short, I'll be taking my business to Sephora in the future!!!
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6 comments:
You're completey in the right - that is extremely poor customer service. If they treat everyone that way they won't be getting many repeat customers!!!
This is so relevant to my current situation. On the Saturday after "black Friday", I placed an order with Ulta using an email provided link that directed me to a free robe incentive for a 30 dollar frangrance purchase. I placed an order and chose the robe. An invoice was generated and then sent also to me email. AFTER the order shipped, I was notified via email that the robe was not shipped and was "not available" despite order confirmations to the contrary. I requested the order be cancelled, however the next day, I rec'd the order. Since I had gotten no response from the email, I contacted CS directly. I was informed by the CSR, that there must have been some kind of error, as that robe was in stock, however, it was not showing on HER invoice. I offered to forward my email confirmation and my shipping invoice to show the item, but she instead opted to talk to her "superior" to fix the problem. She then returned to the line and informed me there was nothing she could do, however I could return the product (at my expense)or I could go to any of the store fronts and collet my robe (irregarless of the fact that the closest store is in NY and I am in MAINE!!). She was pleaasnt but reiterated she did not understand why the robe did not come with the order. After disconnecting, I did some research and found the same robe and same incentive offered now and I was allowed to order the same pink robe. I then called CS again, to let them know what I had found on the website and to once again request the robe be sent to me. I was told by the new CSr, she was emailing the Shipping Dept Head and asking if the robes, now apparently in stock, could be sent to me. I was told I would hear back in an hour. Well my friends, it has been 13 hours and I have yet to hear back. My gut says return the entire shipment as they clearly have no intention of honoring the promotion. I hate the thought of having to pay shipping to send it back. I also hate the thought that this could happen to others. I have gotten no satisfaction or resolution and feel very taken advantage of. They have indeed lost a repeat and loyal customer and stand to lose many more potenial consumers through wom........all because of not honoring shipmemt of a simple free *promised, comfirmed at POS* robe..............
This is so relevant to my current situation. On the Saturday after "black Friday", I placed an order with Ulta using an email provided link that directed me to a free robe incentive for a 30 dollar frangrance purchase. I placed an order and chose the robe. An invoice was generated and then sent also to me email. AFTER the order shipped, I was notified via email that the robe was not shipped and was "not available" despite order confirmations to the contrary. I requested the order be cancelled, however the next day, I rec'd the order. Since I had gotten no response from the email, I contacted CS directly. I was informed by the CSR, that there must have been some kind of error, as that robe was in stock, however, it was not showing on HER invoice. I offered to forward my email confirmation and my shipping invoice to show the item, but she instead opted to talk to her "superior" to fix the problem. She then returned to the line and informed me there was nothing she could do, however I could return the product (at my expense)or I could go to any of the store fronts and collet my robe (irregarless of the fact that the closest store is in NY and I am in MAINE!!). She was pleaasnt but reiterated she did not understand why the robe did not come with the order. After disconnecting, I did some research and found the same robe and same incentive offered now and I was allowed to order the same pink robe. I then called CS again, to let them know what I had found on the website and to once again request the robe be sent to me. I was told by the new CSr, she was emailing the Shipping Dept Head and asking if the robes, now apparently in stock, could be sent to me. I was told I would hear back in an hour. Well my friends, it has been 13 hours and I have yet to hear back. My gut says return the entire shipment as they clearly have no intention of honoring the promotion. I hate the thought of having to pay shipping to send it back. I also hate the thought that this could happen to others. I have gotten no satisfaction or resolution and feel very taken advantage of. They have indeed lost a repeat and loyal customer and stand to lose many more potenial consumers through wom........all because of not honoring shipmemt of a simple free *promised, comfirmed at POS* robe..............
So sorry if you got the the previous rant x2... just delete, still all fired up about the poor (non existant, CS)
Tamra :)
Sorry Tamra that you had a similar bad experience. I agree, you should not have to pay to return the item ordered, which did not come with the robe. In my case it was just samples, but if I didn't receive the robe after ordering the perfume, I would be a lot more upset. If you do decide to reorder and take another chance, the light pink robe is very nice. Generously sized and very warm. However, I realize they are a total pain to deal with. Let me know what happens!!
I am glad I am not alone when it comes to poor service at Ulta.com. I returned an item to them in December because what they show and describe on their website is totally different than the item I received. Here it is almost a month later and I have yet to receive credit back to my bank account. They will not answer the 800# and place you on hold for hours. You cannot even email them via the website because you get an error message telling you that you have entered an incorrect email address. What kind of company are they running?
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