Quote:
Originally Posted by astronaut
So, I just got back from Ulta and I'm pissed and need to vent.
In February, I purchased a t3 flat iron after I saw a video on youtube teaching you how to curl hair with a flat iron. I was super excited to find out how quick and easy it looked, so I got one. I still had a perm (which I wasn't really happy about and didn't think it was worth it) so I was looking forward to just curling my hair manually.
I used the flat iron once, just to see if it really would curl my hair, and stowed it away, since I still had my perm.
Now that my perm's gone, I started using the flat iron. I started using it like... 2,3 weeks now. Curls turn out great and all, but I get annoyed by the fact that the dials are on the outside of the iron. It's hard to explain, but when I handle the iron, sometimes the dials would accidentally get turned and lower/heighten the temperature. It's not as simple as straightening the hair, as you just clasp onto the hair and glide. With curling, you have to twist the iron 360 degrees once the hair is clasped and it can get rather complicated/unorganized for me with the hand motions. Not a manufacturing defect or anything, but a design flaw IMO. On the outside of the box, it says that the iron can also be used for curling, so it's not like I was using it for another purpose either.
So today, I was browsing at Ulta (a different location from where I bought the flat iron) in the afternoon, and saw that they had the t3 iron as well, except they carried one that had the dials ON THE INSIDE on the flat iron and grips. The dials on the inside would have solved my problem. It was the exact same brand, t3, exact same color, hot pink, exact same price, $119.
So I go home, get the flat iron, still have the box, unfilled registration cards, etc. with the receipt. I look at the receipt to make sure what the policy was before I went back. Here is exactly everything that's stated on the receipt (I'm typing it word for word):
And that's all it says. So I thought, okay, it's been over 60 days, but if I can get a store credit, then I could get an even exchange no problem right? So I get everything, and go back.
The woman who helped me, who I'll assume was the manager, said that she couldn't do the return because it was beyond 60 days and it company policy states not to return anything after 60 days. From that point was when she noticeably gave me a distinct attitude. The type of tone that the vice principal gives when they're about to suspend you from school. I told her I know about the 60 day RETURN policy as stated on the back of the receipt, but it also states that returns made after 60 days, a credit will be given. So she tells me to wait and she will ask her regional manager. So I wait... she returns and says that she tried calling the regional manager but she wouldn't pick up, so she asked for my name and number and says she will call me back when the regional manager calls her, but for now, she can't do the exchange for me because it was beyond 60 days. I remind her what the receipt says on the back and she says, "I don't know why it says that but the policy is returns within 60 days, and after that, store credit, but only until 90 days. Most people know whether or not they want an item by 90 days". 90 days? There's NOTHING on the receipt that states anything about 90 anything.
So I walk out, pissed as hell. You know, it's not THAT big of a deal for me to keep the flat iron, as I said, it's not defective, just has an annoying design flaw. And for something that's $119, it should not be causing any bothers in my opinion. But it's the fact that it's not stated on the receipt, and on top of that, whatever position that lady was, talked to me as if I were a delinquent. On the back of the receipt, it states, A store credit will be issued on any return made after 60 days of original purchase date. It just says AFTER 60 days. It doesn't say after 60 days and before 90 days. If it did, I wouldn't have even bothered. I'm a person who's HUGE on principles. There was once I refused to pay for an ebay item because the seller charged a hidden 15 cent fee that was nowhere mentioned in the auction and wasn't going to unless I only had to pay the EXACT amount I agreed to when I bought the item. I never heard back from the seller. I'm not one to argue when a policy is written in black and white, but she pulled the 90 day shit out of nowhere. She could have pulled it out of her ass and made it up for all I know. But in my experience as a customer, associates or managers would even be flexible with policy if it's reasonable (in my case I thought it was reasonable to exchange for a flat iron that was the exact same color, brand, and price) for the sake of good customer service.
I'm still pissed. I guess customer service isn't a priority for Ulta, or this certain Ulta at least. STORE NUMBER 110!!! Screw you!
I might try calling another Ulta or corporate tomorrow and see what goes down.
I was getting used to being pampered customer service wise by Bloomingdales, Coach, and OVERLY pampered at Sephora to the point of freakyness, and now I go back up to NorCal and have to deal with these losers.
UGGGG
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To put it bluntly: Fuck Ulta. I absolutely will NOT go into one anymore. I got a Chi Blowdryer for Christmas 2 years ago, which broke a month into my having it. So I asked my mom where she got it, and she said Ulta but that she didn't have the receipt. I called Chi to ask customer service what I should do, and they said since it's less than 90 days, I can take it back to the retailer rather than mail it in. So I get there, and this little pissant of a man behind the counter immediately was alert to my presence--the Ulta location here is in a very non-diverse neighborhood, so I was probably the first Black person he'd seen in weeks--which already indicated I was gonna have an issue. So I walk up to the counter with my blowdryer, still in the box, everything's attached etc., and read their return policy. There's a clause on the signage they have at their register that says any items being returned without a receipt can ONLY be exchanged, no store credit will be given. So I thought, great, I can just exchange it for the exact item and be done with it.
I tell my boyfriend to grab a new one while I explain to the man why I was there. He looked at me and looked at the blowdryer and said "Are you all set to check out?" (Fucker, he knew I walked in with it.) I said "Well this is mine actually, you saw me come in with it...it broke and I only had it for a month, but it was a gift and I don't have a receipt."
Him: "Uh huh...a gift...did you ask for a gift receipt?"
I said "No i didn't
ask for a gift receipt; I didn't even ask for it as a gift, it was a surprise."
Him: "Oh, most gifts usually are." (At this point he's rolling his eyes and looking at me funny, which irritated me.) So I read him the clause on the return policy and he cuts me off and goes "Oh that only applies to items under $100, so for this transaction I'd need a receipt."
I said "Well, that's not what the sign says. And it's not like I'm asking you to give me cash or a store credit, I just want to exchange this defective dryer."
Him: "Well, let me check with my regional manager." (Bullshit, regional managers don't handle store returns unless there's a major problem, and if he has to call her just to reiterate the store policy to him, he's a fucking moron and they need better training."
So I'm standing there waiting and the bitches in there keep eyeballing me, and he took so long I decided to browse the nail polish, and of course like ducks in a row, they all walked around me, I even caught one of them trying to look in my purse, which was slightly oversized--I carry a lot of things with me, especially when I'm near my man's house, where Ulta is.
So he comes back out and says "I wasn't able to get in touch with her, but here's her card. You can call her and ask if she'll let us return it, but I doubt she will." So I read the clause AGAIN to him and he snaps at me "I already told you that I'm not gonna take this blowdryer back from you, so you can keep reading that but it won't apply to
your transaction." So I ask him why they have that silent policy and why it won't apply to MY transaction and he says "Well, we won't take back a high end, expensive item like this without a proof of purchase (he did not say receipt), we have a real issue with high theft and fraudulent returns, as you can probably understand because we have such a free shopping area."
That sealed the deal for me; because I work in sales, I try my damndes to make every client I possibly can feel satisfied, even if it means calling a competitive retailer for them to find an item, or sitting on the phone with our Sephora.com people to find an answer for them for anything. The fact that he decided to eyeball me and tell me about fraudulent returns was just the icing on the fucking cake. I try my hardest not to get nasty with sales people, because I know how it feels, but he had it coming. So I said; "Dear, I work over at Sephora, the company you compete with? The company who can put a nail in your coffin with our customer service? Trust me, I know all about fraudulent returns; we have fraudulent returns coming out of our ass and guess what? We're STILL nice to people because that's what CUSTOMER SERVICE MEANS." and then he had the nerve to ask "Well did you buy this there?" We don't sell Chi; we sell T3 and ghd hair tools. At that point I was just done. I grabbed the RM's card, and asked him to write his full name on the back of it, I noted everything he said to me and took a picture with my phone of the sign where I was reading the return policy from. In the back of my mind I screamed "Fuck you, see you all in hell." Grabbed my blowdryer and left. I haven't stepped into Ulta since; when the RM called me to apologize and offer to come to the store and exchange the blowdryer herself, I told her that my boyfriend would be bringing it in because I no longer had the desire to set foot in another Ulta store again.
And here's the kicker, when I walked out that day, the little pisser had to nerve to wave and yell "Have a nice day!"
So yeah...fuck Ulta. I now have a T3 blowdryer that I'm in love with and I found another place to get OPI nail polish without getting harrassed. They are RIDICULOUS.