Sephora

I had to return an unused product today back to Sephora because the product just didn’t work for me after trying out the samples several times. Unfortunately I didn’t have the original receipt that I purchased the product on so the staff at Sephora had to look up my purchasing record via my VIB card. All is great until they refunded me $ 25 less than the original amount that I had paid for the product. The staff there were not only EXTREMELY RUDE about my inquiry as to why I was getting less money refunded back to my credit card but they were also trying to intimidate me by talking really loudly to my face as if I just walked out of the store without paying for something.
Furthermore they LIED TO ME by saying that the pricing shown on the Sephora website is of USA pricing not a canadian pricing. So when I pointed out that the pricing shown on the shelf is exactly the same pricing shown on the website and the same pricing I had paid for the product they told me that the pricing of the product had gone up in price and that there’s nothing they could do because the decision was made by corporate.
I don’t appreciate being treated like an idiot by a bunch of rude staff who clearly have no idea what they are talking about or doing. I don’t understand why they even bother working in retail, let alone a customer service role. I shop on the sephora website often and I know my prices well so when they tried to stick me with lies about how it’s American pricing I know instantly that they just didn’t want to spend the time to help me figure out why I was short changed.
It’s time for Sephora to get rid of some of the staff and inject fresh blood who are willing to work and maintain the company’s brand.

DONT SHOP AT YORKDALE SEPHORA!!! They’re the worst!
First
1. Rude girls and very bitchy with attitude
2. They stand there and watch u in the corner of their eyes as if ur about to steal soo hard !! «And they make it look so obvious»
3.dont come up to u to ask for help! And instead stare u down: s and they make fun of customers when they walk away which I caught with my own eyes!
4. NOT EXPERIENCED ENOUGH! They’re very clueless with makeup tips or anything even if it’s over a lipstick.
I think these girls are just working there for their advantages (ex.discounts etc.) thyre not really into being a makeup artist.
Sephora needs to change some of their employees at yorkdale!
GO. TO EATON CENTRE or Square ONE
it’s worth it! More experienced makeup artists!!!

Love this location. Love the service. Love the selection. Fortunately, I know what works for my skin tone and complexion, so I rarely need to use testers. I read product reviews online before venturing into new products. This location carries a lot of higher end brands and their quality is usually better, although my make-​up collection is very mixed! The staff are very friendly and are usually ask if I need help with anything. I find the selection of products also changes frequently, so if I see something I like I stock up. Always have a great experience in this store. Their website has a lot of tutorials for the novices to find looks work best for them and how to re-​create them.

Avoid this location at all costs.
The girls here are not well trained on applying makeup, the people I see at the makeup counters always have horribly matched foundation. Knowing nothing about makeup myself I always ask an employee for advice or recommendations and all of them seem clueless when it comes to any product.
The store is a mess! Testers are gross and it’s close to impossible to get some assistance.
I was already at Yorkdale and wanted to buy a lipstick so I decided to venture over to Sephora and to my surprise I was denied entry. Apparently the store was closed for their VIB beauty members.
How can a retail store turn away buying customers during their hours of operation?
Am I just jealous of not being a VIB or am I right in saying this is a major business mistake?!
If you’re looking to be overwhelmed with thousands of beauty products and hundreds of brands go to Square one. The layout and staff is much more user-​friendly.

I live pretty close to Yorkdale and have visited this Sephora a number of times, but I doubt I will any longer. Convenience is great, but I’d rather have a better customer service experience, even if that means taking a trip downtown or across town.
Firstly, many of their testers are old, empty or gross. If you actually decide to try out some of their testers, you have to search the store to find makeup remover, cotton pads, lip gloss brushes etc. and a lot of the time they are empty.
Once in a while I had good customer service, but lately I’ve noticed that employees seem annoyed or watch you from the corner of their eye.
Last time I went there I had the pleasure of being followed around by a grumpy security person. I was looking for a bronzer and couldn’t get an employee to help, so I went around the aisles testing out different bronzers and putting the ones I liked in my basket. I saw the security guy standing close by and thought nothing of it, assuming he was just patrolling the store. The longer I walked around testing products, the more I noticed this guy appearing everywhere I was and standing close by, watching my every move, frequently looking into my basket. While I have no problem with stores taking measures to prevent theft, having somebody stand a few steps away and staring at you like you’re a criminal for just being there is NO way of going about it. I noticed he was doing the same thing to other customers as well: following them and peeking into their baskets. As a person who suffers from anxiety, I felt intimidated and eventually decided to leave without purchasing anything. As I was making my way out the store, the security guy appears out of nowhere and blocks the aisle I was walking through. He glares at me, looks at the empty basket and takes it out of my hand without saying a word.
I went to another Sephora a few days later and bought the product I wanted (with the help of a friendly employee). To this day, I don’t understand why they would allow an employee to purposely make customers feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Needless to say, I’m never going back there again.

I shop pretty often at Sephora, so I’ve been to quite a few all over the place. Some of them are pretty solid, but others are really gross and messy. This particular branch fell very much in the latter.
Almost all of the testers were caked, dry, opened, or outright missing. Especially the nail polishes, which were all over the place — uncapped, dried out, and spilling all over the nail polish counter-​tower thing. It was a huge gross pile. This Sephora also didn’t have the little stations where you can paint your nails, which I really like.
A lot of the cream and cream sticks looked like someone had stuck their finger into them — I thought I was going to get a rash even touching some of the testers. Also, Sephora usually has small bottles of make up remover, acetone, and alcohol for the customers to use when they are testing out the products — most of these in the store were empty or crusty and downright gross.
We saw one of the staff doing someone’s makeup, and no joke the poor girl looked like a clown. Her foundation was not well matched at all, and was way too dark for her skin. To make it even worse, the makeup staff was highlighting her brows with a white pencil, making her look even more clown-​ish. Fair warning to not get your makeup done here.

Amazing selection of products, but… Steer clear if you want your make up done at this Yorkdale Mall location.
I will never go to this store again in the month of December. Everything — especially testers for you to try colours out— was picked over and it looked unsanitary. It was a zoo. Weekends are packed with people getting their makeup done for weddings. And May-​June is packed with kids getting prom make up done.
If you buy $ 50 worth of product (they try to encourage you to buy a gift certificate), you get your make-​up done for free. You have to book an appointment and they only do it Noon-​6pm — even on weekdays. Sometimes they’ll budge and book it a little earlier or later with management’s approval. This is pretty standard. Shopper’s and The Bay want you to buy 2 products and they’ll do your make-​up. MAC wants you to buy $ 50 worth of product as I recall…
Unlike Eaton Centre where there is a room in back with proper lighting for your make-​up to be done, you are seated at a stand near the front of the store under horrible fluorescent lights. So, your foundation and make-​up might look REALLY off when you get out in the sun like mine did. It looked like chalky like someone smattered baby powder unevenly on my face and didn’t even cover any of my nostril area. They did not even test different brands of foundation to ensure they got a good match, and she wasn’t even in a rush. If you get your make up done, you might be better off somewhere where there is access to natural light (vs. a mall) to see the results.
I spent 5 minutes explaining my situation and my interest in trying out products to potentially purchase. I have done tons of research, so I had a strong idea of what I wanted. Still, my make up was awful. How bad? My husband immediately asked if I intended to take it off before I go out again.
They charge you for false eyelashes whereas most makeup artists tend to include them in their fees. They aren’t cheap at $ 17+ each. Compare to Quo brand at Shoppers ($ 7) or Ardell Walmart ($ 5). The lashes to put on me (thus forcing me to buy) were horrible. I took them off the second I went home. I brought in some that I loved as reference, but they won’t apply lashes you don’t buy from them. Still, they didn’t apply lashes that were remotely similar to what I showed them despite having some.
She completely skipped lip liner and did not even put on mascara until I reminded her.
They do not give you a touch up kit (especially lips) like MAC or most private make up artists do. The Bite brand lipstick that she insisted was long wear, was worn off within an hour.
She actually used the tester to apply 2 stick products directly to my skin! She didn’t use a brush. So, I have serious concerns about sanitation since customers just grab testers and rub it on their hands or face.
They did not use toner on my skin, but they did use a primer on skin & eyes with mixed results.
Even if you know what you want, I found it hard to «wrangle» the make up artist to get her to do what I wanted. Never again.
I do like that they will provide you tiny samples (squeeze some in a container & label it) if you need to see if you’re allergic. I don’t know of anywhere else that does that. Everyone else seems to apply it on you, and that’s it. It usually takes 2 – 3 applications to know if you’re going to react.
They have a club that awards you points for each dollar spent. I think you get free make up samples after you earn 100 points.

I live close to this yorkdale sephora so i only come here out of convenience. Otherwise i would go to any other sephora locations simply because the staff all seem very annoyed when they serve you. I get it, they are always busy with lots of customers but every time i go in and ask for assistance they seem annoyed and unwilling to help. On more than one ocassion, i asked for recommendations after specifically telling them my allergies to certain brands or products i have previously tried and was unhappy with — annnnd they went ahead to recommend me the exact same products i said no to.
This store is great if you know exactly what you want… They have such an amazing variety of products but if you’re asking for help from the staff of the yorkdale location, don’t expect much. They won’t offer to help you try the makeup on, like all the other stores… Maybe because they are busy. But i just find them not very personable or friendly.

I end up going here for a lot of my makeup needs. I find they have a good range of products in terms of pricing and quality. They also stock a lot of brands and their displays make it easy to find the brand you’re looking for and test stuff. They have a good amount of mirrors and cleaning items for when you’re testing several colours in a visit.
Their staff is friendly, that is if you can flag one down. They have a ton of staff working at a time, but they also have a lot of customers who are looking for advice.