Friday, February 24, 2012

Ulta Store Review

This post will be a review of an experience I had and overall opinion of Ulta stores. I am not affiliated with Ulta stores and this is only my honest opinion. If uninterested, do not read further.

I have been shopping at Ulta for several years now. There is one right down the street and they have a good selection of makeup and nail polish. Lately, I go in multiple times a week.

I have made returns a few times. Once a polish I already had and didn't remember purchasing, once a damaged item for my mom, and once for a gift I wasn't fond of. All items were new and unused, and I received store credit because I knew there was something I'd want. Lately, I've been increasingly uncomfortable when entering the store. A few of the associates whisper when I come in, give me dirty looks, and are generally rude and snotty at the register. Soon I was no longer greeted, nor did anyone ask if I needed help. The final straw was when my cousin was returning something I bought for her, and I heard them (associates and a woman I knew to be a manager) talking about me at the register. One of the associates loudly and rudely said, "Oh, she's in here all the time." And later, I tried to use a coupon and mistakenly brought the wrong one. The associate said "I can't just make one for you, you know. You actually have to, like, have a coupon." I'm not sure if it conveys through text, but she was quite hateful, and I left the store extremely annoyed and dismayed. I made a quick call to Ulta customer service. (I hate having to complain about stuff- I was really tempted to hang up the entire time I was on the phone. I don't like causing trouble =/) I spoke with a very apologetic and efficient man named Bill, who took note of the situation and emailed our conversation to the general manager.

A few days later, I received a personal phone call from Kelly, the extremely nice general manager of 3 Ulta stores in my area. She was apologetic, grateful for my time and input, and incredibly understanding regarding my frustration. I was so pleased with the short conversation that I will absolutely continue to bring my business to Ulta stores and to make online purchases. I was frustrated, but a little kindness and recognition made a huge difference. In short, Ulta Customer Service receives an A+ from me. This is a very condensed version of the situation, but I wanted to share how wonderful the Ulta company seems to be. They truly value and appreciate their customers. Despite a few employees with little tact, I believe the company is one worth shopping with.

Swatches tomorrow :) I'm wearing Zoya Lolly right now. Testing the wear time, as I've heard mattes are terrible for long term wear. I work all day tomorrow just like today and I'm sleepy. See you soon :)

-Rachael


2 comments:

  1. I'm glad you took the time to let corporate know about this problem. They can't fix and retrain or hire new employees if they are not aware of the problem.

    I go to the same stores all the time [[you know I need blogging material]] so I get the looks & whispers too but I don't let them stop me from getting a good deal & I always call/email corporate and their PR peeps ;))

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  2. I have one SA at Ulta that's great. The others are nice enough, they just don't know much about what they sell. I have more problems with Sally's. There's one SA that is rude and clueless, a lethal combo! Went in and handed her the flyer saying I wanted to use a coupon for a free bottle of np with purchase of Seche Vite. She looked at it and rang me up. As I left, I realized the price didn't sound right. Sure enough, I was charged for the free bottle. Went back to have her fix it and she said "I was looking for the coupon but just didn't see it." So she knew she wasn't ringing up the coupon and hoped I wouldn't notice. Nice.

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