Ulta

Ulta Mays Landing, NJ has horrible employees and customer service. I will admit there are a few nice and helpful employees, one in particular comes to mind immediately (woman with an accent typically located in Lancome/​Bare Minerals section-​she is always very gracious.) However, this particularly bad experience I was looking for a product and the manager was so rude in her voice level and tone, basically screaming at me that the product I was looking for sold out. Woah, okay, thank you. Then I am looking at a product that’s stacked horribly on those free standing shelves, a bunch of the boxes fall over due to their poor placement. So okay, I have no problem picking up the fallen boxes but as I did it, two employees stood ten feet away watching me as they twiddle their thumbs and laugh at each other’s jokes. As I walked around the store I noticed several employees doing absolutely nothing but stand there looking awfully bored. I decided that I will never again shop at Ulta and instead spend all of my money at Sephora, which in my opinion is better product & service-​wise.

Walked and was immediately greeted by welcoming employees… came to get my eyebrows done with no appointment and was taken care of right away. The women who helped me took her time and made sure she did a fantastic job. Most waxings that I have received in the past are rushed through but the waxing from Ulta was fantastic! I will definitely be back for another.

I went once and wasn’t happy because when I left it wasn’t dry and a different color then what I had asked, but then I called the next day and got me right in fixed the problem and I’m happy with my color now.

Love their products, but not the service. I asked for assistance and told the associate that works there that I wanted to swatch an eye shadow, I was told that the shadow is pretty. I specifically said I wanted to try it out and not just look at it. But no effort was made to replace the sample eyeshadow. There were plenty in stock. I asked the sales associate that Im interested in participating in the Rewards Program. I was expecting a brief summary of the benefits of signing up for one, but again the sales associate just rang up my purchase and entered my information in the system. Overall, my shopping experience at Ulta in Mays Landing was disappointing.

Best make up store ever! Had everything I was looking for ! The most important thing was their staff ! They were so helpful and nice. I will definitely go back to this store for their friendly behavior !

This is for the Salon only… I called in need of a haircut and they got me in the next morning with Jeremy. He did a great job! He listened to me, helped me, etc. I have not gotten my haircut in 3+ months bc everyone I have tried (multiple times to offer benefit of the doubt) has not done what i liked. He could see why I was frustrated. Plus their pricing is super reasonable. ($ 42 for haircut and blow dry). I have tried other salons in EHT, Berlin, etc… Jeremy is the closest and I will return in hopes he can help me get my hair to where I want it to be!
The Ulta store in general is good selection, but their rewards program does stink. I got an e-​mail saying I had a coupon and to «hurry up» and spend it. So i got my tush in there, spent an hour on my selections, got to the register and was denied bc it was a different type of rewards system or something, which neither the cashier, nor customer service were very knowledgeable about. So I bought it anyway bc I felt dumb, maybe thats their trick?

Received a birthday email from Ulta saying something along the lines of, «Hey! It’s your birthday! Come in and get your brows done on us!» So I did. Sort of.
The dude (sorry, not there long enough nor was he friendly enough for me to find out his name) did a miserable job on them. One is literally thicker than the other. I’m going to Bruno’s to get them fixed. Oh– and to top it all off– this Ulta «doesn’t participate» in the birthday special coupon. Surprise, surprise. They were very accommodating– since they didn’t tell me I couldn’t use the email– and gave it to me f.o.c.
On the way out, they had a special on a shampoo I like– buy this hefty mama bottle and they threw in the pump for free. Bought the shampoo, but OOPS! Pump’s nowhere to be found. Went back to try to buy another pump and they’re sold out…

I agree, their rewards program is dated and ridiculous. I spent enough money to be a Level 2 this past quarter and you know what my gift was? An Ulta brand eyeshadow. I love Ulta brand, don’t get me wrong, but I could have purchased that myself (and gotten another one free most likely.) They really need to update this antiquated rewards program.
That being said, I love Ulta brand cosmetics. They’re cheap and they’re quality. They’re always doing awesome specials on Ulta brand stuff; usually buy 1 get 1 free. I also love Urban Decay and Benefit, and Ulta carries both! Good selection of drug-​store caliber products that are staples in my makeup drawer as well as higher-​end stuff.
The staff here are generally pretty helpful. Of course there are a few bad apples, but that’s everywhere. One employee here is a doll and so helpful; her name is Carmen and she’s been at this Ulta probably since it opened!
Definitely stay away from the salon at Ulta. The stylists and colorists are not good at all (which is why they’re doing hair at an Ulta in a strip mall to begin with), and they waaaaayy overcharge.
But seriously, when that $ 3.50 off of $ 10 coupon comes in, as it does so frequently, I cannot stay away from Ulta.

UPDATED:
Had to knock this down to one star. Ulta is like the unpleasant guy you keep sampling after time apart, always hoping he’s improved and always being disappointed.
I went Sunday looking for a particular line of hair products Ulta carries and the just-​released neon pastel summer colors in a nail polish line also at Ulta.
Salesperson: «Can I help you?» Me: «Where can I find (hair product line)?» Salesperson: «we’ve never carried that. I know every line we have.» Me: «Thanks.» Two minutes later, I find it on a shelf in the hair products section.
Salesperson 1: «Can I help you?» Me: «I see you have the six display bottles (of the new nail polish colors). Where are the bottles for sale?» Salesperson 1: «Right there.» Me: «No, those are an entirely different line.» Salesperson 1: «Oh. Then they’re here.» She points to a row of black/​purple shades from last winter.
Salesperson 2: «Can I help you?» Me: «I see you have the six display bottles (of the polish colors). Where are the bottles for sale?» Salesperson 2: «Those aren’t displays. Those are for sale.» Me: «But they’re testers in the display. They’ve been opened. Used. There’s polish dripped down the sides.» Salesperson 2: «Oh no, those are what we’re selling.» Me (a conversation masochist): «But if someone was to buy one of these, you won’t even have your display.» Salesperson 2: «We’ll get more on Thursday.»
What I realized: staff must be required to ask customers if they need help but aren’t necessarily expected to actually provide help. Ulta’s problems continue: products are always out of place products are used, staff isn’t very knowledgeable. No matter how high my hopes are, Ulta is always an unsatisfying experience.
FIRST REVIEW: The Ulta chain is Sephora Lite. Has ¹⁄₁₀^th of the high-​end products… has more quantity (lots of lower-​end but decent lines plus big mainstream hair products section, decent nail polish and hair tools sections)…still hasn’t gotten its act together in terms of real value from its membership specials (‘way too many restrictions and odd choices offered).
This branch is convenient because it’s on the main road between Philly and the shore; a good place to wander as a pitstop or during bad weather at the beach. It’s not fair to compare Ulta vs Sephora in terms of merchandise but reasonable to consider them on service, stock, etc. This particular Ulta is left in the dust:
–Testers are almost never available and if you ask about them (which I’ve done on several occasions), you’re told there’s a lengthy process, involving shipping the very same thing from the manufacturers, before one can be put out. That is simply ridiculous. I’ve been at Sephora when a tester’s missing and they’ll create a new one on the spot. Ulta’s policy is cheap and short-​sighted. I can’t tell you how much money Ulta could’ve gotten from me if they only had testers on the products I was interested in buying. When I once wanted to buy a very expensive foundation product and they didn’t have the testers so I could tell whether I was color A or color B, one of the staff opened up a packaged container, pulled up the seal on it, took out some with her finger and then put it back on the shelf (!). That made me uncomfortable and I’ve never bought that kind of product there since.
–They don’t pay attention at the register. I bought a hair product and got it home only to find ¹⁄₃ was missing. They gladly let me exchange it without fuss a few days later (they nonchalantly told me that people use the products on their shelves and put them back — another shocker) but if they know this, they should’ve taken a quick look when I was checking out. This plus the issue above makes me triple-​check everything before I buy.
–Staff’s MIA. I’ve been there on weekends, Friday afternoons, etc and there never seems to be staff paying attention to customers. Hard to find someone to help you in the aisles. When there’s a line-​up of customers waiting to pay, they don’t think to open another register. When I had the problem with the testers, each staffer I was able to find kept bumping the decision-​making to another person.
–On the other hand, I wouldn’t trust staff judgment. One thing you know about Sephora staff is that they’re trained, have decent color/​product sense and are always perfectly groomed and made-​up. This Ulta staff (as well as the other Ultas I’ve visited): not at all. When you finally catch staff here they’re friendly enough but I’d never ask their advice on picking concealer colors or anything else.
I’m giving them 2 stars because this is a huge store with what looks like a popular little hair salon within it and also because it’s got a pretty convenient selection of middle-​of-​the-​road products you eventually need. But I’d love to see this branch improved with a stronger manager and some staff training sessions.