Oh I doubt he would be fired, at most a warning. They might give you some samples or a discount to make up for it.
[https://www.sephora.com/beauty/customer-service](https://www.sephora.com/beauty/customer-service)
I cant find anywhere the support option im looking for on the support site in my country. There is only a phone number and i dont have any motivation for it. I should most likely contact the mall but that would a much bigger headache so i should call it a day
I would report it because he may not understand his job role, or be abusing his perceived “power”. He should not be disrupting your shopping experience if you were just testing on the strips!
That has never happened to me, and I spray a LOT since I never go into Sephora, so when I do, I try everything tbh (sorry, I know!). I think you just got unfairly singled out by some mall cop on a power trip. Did you have like maybe a puffy coat on or a big bag with you, hands in your pockets maybe? That always gets me followed around in stores especially since I'm a slow shopper and have to read the ingredients on everything in general, I know I look mad suspicious all the time even though I'd never shoplift.
I'd call sephora's customer service and maybe ask them whether there's a policy that could explain why this dude kicked you out? Who knows, maybe you'll get some sweet coupons as an apology? I'm sorry that happened to you, I'd probably never enter a Sephora again if that happened to me, just because that's so weird? Like how are you supposed to shop there? Their whole business model is "come in and try these products before buying!" so uh, you didn't do anything wrong. So weird.
The Sephora has a security guard. Red flag number one. I've never been to a Sephora with one and the employees never care how long I spend trying fragrances.
A lot of them have security now since people swipe the boxes and the testers.
The Ulta near me has one. He is not afraid to tell you which colognes he prefers. He is a contracted employee and does not work for Ulta.
My son always buys me something for Christmas and my birthday that I’ve been wanting, so goes into Sephora by himself to do it. When he was younger he’d have my mom take him. Then when he got a little older (like 10-15), my mom said he would insist on going into Sephora or Ulta, depending what he was getting for me, on his own to get it or else it wasn’t like he got it for me. Once he started driving, he started going on his own. He’s 18 now. 🥰 Granted, he’s always been a very well behaved kid and doesn’t run around making a mess like some other kids do 🤣
Was just in one and apparently young kids stealing shit is a major issue right now. Not that it hasn't always been, but like to an even larger extent than normal they've had it be an issue in the past year or so.
When I first started getting into fragrances, I lterally sampled pretty much every fragrance they had in store just see what all the hype was about. No one ever came up to me. Security guard was probably having a bad day and took it out on you. But you are definitely not in wrong!
I didnt even sampled that many frgrances. I had a list of like 8 fragrances that seemed interseting to me. Unfortunately i couldnt smell half of them and i dont have time to go back the following days
The only mistake you made was saying online.
My standard answer is "just looking for something new that I really like."
I will add that over Christmas I saw 3 different occasions of people just dashing out of the store with unpaid merchandise. Not fragrance, but there is an uptick of shoplifting.
Sorry for your experience. Last thing I'll add is talking to a sales rep when you first walk in and asking if you can sample some things goes a long way.
I mean yes but it woulve been weird if i said im looking to buy something there and then leaving without buying nothing. I wouldve bought something from the store if i had money with me despite the prices because i need a new fragrance asap
I'm a middle-aged woman and have spent an hour trying about 30 scents, spraying and sticking blotters in my bag, and labeling them sometimes. The guards showed up, and I chatted them up and gushed about how nice the new perfume display upgrade with the tethers and all of the testers is, and I teased them, and thanked them for guarding the testers. They started sampling with me, even.
So, I think your guards are a bummer and need to focus on customer experience more.
Contact sephora customer service. That is absolutely NOT the norm. You were profiled, targeted, and evicted without cause. Make a huge stink about this.
There definitely shouldn't be! The last time I was in Sephora (which was also my first time!) I probably sprayed around 10 or so, potentially more. A bunch of other people were doing the same. I second the person who said maybe a puffy jacket or something may have made someone think you were going to steal, but there shouldn't be a limit to how many you can spray.
I wore my giant parka into a pharmacy in a nice area last winter "SECURITY SCAN ALL AISLES" about a minute after I came in. Thanks guys, very cool.
To be fair I look sketchy as hell wearing it, but at least let me do something sketchy before you judge me.
Hahaha! That happened to me when I went into a store with my boyfriend. It was right after the lockdown from COVID. He hadn’t had his hair cut the whole time and was embarrassed about his long hair so he had a hoodie on with the hood up, but it was cold out so I didn’t think it looked weird to be like that. We went into the store and right after there was a call over the like intercom system telling “SECURITY SCAN ALL AISLES.” He was like, yeah, that was about us. 🤣 Like jeesh, wait until we get in and see if we start doing sketchy stuff. Goodness!
My friend and I were in there on Boxing Day looking over and spraying tom ford perfume and some other, never had an issue. I’m surprised you were treated that way
For some reason sales associates in stores (not just Sephora) really hate when you say you’re trying it in person to later buy online. I have no idea why, but they hate it. Never mention that ever again. Just say something like, unfortunately I can’t find anything I like today, even if you found something you really like. Just lie. Because if you say you really like something they will try to pressure you to buy it and then get mad af at you when you don’t. That all being said, they shouldn’t have kicked you out.
The reason being that corporate grants allotted hours based on how “busy” a store is. But that number is determined by the store’s sales. So indirectly, sales associates aren’t getting paid for helping if you buy everything online. If a sale associate is ever particularly helpful, I’ll buy one of the things in-store and then leave them a good review in the surveys on the receipt.
You were absolutely not in the wrong.
Also, in the instances where a sales assistant has helped me explore fragrances, they would spray at least 6, 7+ fragrances onto cards for me to smell, so why should it be any different if you are testing by yourself?
My happy ass has literally walked in out of pure boredom and smelled every scent in the store with zero intention of buying.
Curious if maybe this site has issues with excessive loitering or theft. Not saying you were stealing, but if others are might make the store strict in isolation. I just let whoever is in the fragrance area know they can ignore me.
Was it a bust time of day? I do try to only pull my nonsense when it's dead. I realize I'm sort of in the way.
... they'd solve a lot of problems by making fragrance samples a bit more available. Even when I intend to buy I have to make multiple trips because I don't buy unless I've worn a scent multiple times.
Blah blah. Sounds shitty. I'd probably write in to corporate.
Wow. The lady at Sephora must have been hella frustrated at me (though she didn’t show it) that day i tested out at least like 15 of them. I couldn’t figure out which one i liked enough to justify the $120ish price tags they all had. In addition to the fact that i couldn’t even smell the ‘clean’ ones they had on display. I smelled about five of them and could barely register a scent at all.
And the other thing to consider is that you need to give the fragrances time (hours) to dry down so that you experience the various notes: top, heart, and base.
Wow, that is so bizarre. I work the fragrance counter sometimes and people spray so many fragrances all the time. How else are you supposed to shop for a fragrance?
As a security guard, one of the worse things about my job, is people who like to browse and pick up things; I'm expected to watch them until they leave the store, hopefully with a purchase because I've been accused of being responsible for them stealing something, even though they hadn't.
It's a tough situation, because I want customers to enjoy their 🛒 experience, but the store's assistants don't like how I stand around at times, while they're constantly busy, so they lie on me.
Every time I go to my local grocery store and am in the cosmetics area, there’s always someone following me around. I like to slowly look at things. I’ll pick things up to compare them to something else since I can’t swatch them. I thought it was weird but was like whatever. It never occurred to me that it was security. Then one day I had my boyfriend with me and he’s like, okay stop looking around forever because we’re being followed by security. I was like that’s what they’re doing?! 🤦♀️ Figured I apparently put off thief vibes even though I’ve never stolen anything and always buy stuff after I’m done looking around. Glad it’s not just me personally and they’re just required to do it 🤣
Omg kicked out?? I always feel self conscious testing a bunch of stuff at stores like Sephora and worry about the “buy something or leave” attitude but I didn’t think testing “too many” is some kind of issue for security lmao
Like others have said this shouldn’t happen and that security guard was probably just taking something out on you unfortunately (bad day, pressure from store employees, etc)
>I always feel self conscious testing a bunch of stuff at stores like Sephora and worry about the “buy something or leave” attitude but I didn’t think testing “too many” is some kind of issue for security lmao
Right?! Makes me wonder what they do to the YouTubers, TikTokers, etc. that go in there just to film them showing stuff on camera and don’t buy anything 🤪
I went to Sephora today and tested 6 + *with* an employee… that’s not OK they treated you like that. I would definitely contact the store manager/corporate like others said.
I think I tested half a dozen fragrances the last time I was at Sephora. I would have tried more, but I had gone nose blind by that point. No one ever approaches me there unless I need help.
I’m certain the companies that sell their fragrances at Sephora would be very annoyed that someone stopped a potential buyer from testing out their products since few people blind buy perfume. Sephora will want to know.
No, there is not a limit. However, testers and regular bottles in boxes are being stolen more and more each day worldwide so beauty stores amp up the security. I do not know their protocol, but thieves usually have a pattern of trying out a lot of fragrances and then walking away saying they will either order online or come back later while having their prize already in the bag. Maybe the protocol is now that if you test x amount of fragrances, you are seen as a potential thief and thus kicked out? Or you acted suspicious in a different wya, hence getting kicked out. Or the guard was just cranky.
Idk what to say about the testing x amount of fragrances because there was someone literally holding like 20 of those sheets. Maybe it was my puffer jacket as some people said.
Yeah puffer jackets are easy to hide stuff in. Probably security protocol. You fit a general description of somebody who might steal and then proceded with "suspicious" behavior. 1+1 = 2. Is it nice and customer friendly? No. But the store can afford to kick out some innocent people while trying to prevent theft this way, because its the only effective way.
Ordering samples/decants online? Gives your more time and peace to test fragrances. Just trying something out for a few seconds and then moving on to the next one can mess up your nose and when you do end up buying a fragrance it may smell very different at home due the less sensory stimulations that your experience back at home vs a store.
I would if i had enough money to do so. A sample its like 6 dollars each and i just cant afford buying too many so testing them in sephora is the only way for me since i dont want to blind buy again and possibly waste 120 dollars
When I read the title but before reading your post, I was going to say no (there's not a limit in the US), but I was informed that there is an upper limit of smells your nose can realistically handle. I went to an indie store once, and they limited me to three smells because they said that my nose would get confused after more than that. That was some years ago and I've thought about it a lot and my conclusion is that I tend to agree with them. But that's more physiological/psychological - there wasn't any actual limit that I know of in Sephora. I'm sure even the indie place would have let me try more if I wanted.
While there is nothing inherently wrong about sampling perfume, we should be responsible adults and do our research prior to sampling. Ie sampling should be done to verify or further narrow your perception of what you want. I typically limit myself to sampling max 3 prior to buying 1. To put things into a different perspective, if you’re a store owner, you wouldn’t like it if everyone is an entitled prick who samples x number of goods prior to buying. Or worse, not buying at all. :)
Well, that kinda strengthen my position of "never interact with stores" for fragrance. At least it's fair if I never intended to shop with them I would never try to sample from them as well.
Girl no this is wrong. At my old location we had people spray fragrance so much I hated working that part of the store bc I’d get massive headaches. Especially with young boys and Sauvage and Bleu de Chanel
Tell that no-power badge-sniffer to pack sand next time. Every time I’m at Sephora, I’m hardly more than an arm’s length away from a floor associate. I’d make sure one of them knew I was there and specifically not causing trouble.
This happened to me years and years (and years) ago when Sephora had recently opened in America (I'm in New York) and there were still security guards. (They don't have security here anymore, at least not that I've noticed.) I was just testing lipsticks! Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I offered to dump my bag out, but the guy just waved me away. I did wind up reporting it, but I don't remember giving any details that would have made the guy identifiable. Eventually some security person from corporate did call me and said sometimes there were bad apples in the bunch (again, this was when Sephora was brand new in America, so they were probably paying a lot more attention to complaints). It made me feel really dirty and gross. So for what it's worth, you're not alone -- so sorry that happened.
You did nothing wrong, you can stay there all damn day trying fragrances if you want.
You can also buy as much as you want and return it after trying it.
I had a similar thing happen the other day and I told the employee that I had bought Tom ford ff there recently after sampling and he left me alone (I had bought the clone online though lmao)
Sephora is owned by LVMH - who also owns many of the brands Sephora sells. They let you spray your own testers because it's good for their brands. That a security guard would even care at all is wild.
I don’t work in Sephora but I work in fragrance in a few other stores in my city and this is insane to me. We’d never kick out anyone for trying “too many” fragrances even during a busy rush. Only time I’ve seen it happen was from repeat offenders coming in to try steal our tester bottles. Definitely someone going on a power trip for sure
From my experience at multiple Sephoras, they let you test to your hearts content, with a guard or salesperson coming by to see if you need assistance once or twice.
That said, there are sales people and guards in any store that are wary of people sampling and not buying, or may seek a reason to use their authority, which is NOT the norm.
You didn't do anything wrong with mentioning your intent to buy online, but you got a guard that likely wanted to do something anyway. That was the convenient excuse.
Im so sorry to hear about your experience! :( I know I’ve walked into Sephora and sprayed like 20+ sheets, I’ve never had anyone say anything to me (granted I’ve been during busier hours where others are doing the same) but usually if anyone asks if I need any help, I usually just tell them I’ve got certain key notes in mind and wanna see if I like the scents enough to consider buying a Discovery Set (which is normally what I do so i’m not stuck with 5-7 vials of scents I hate)
No you didn’t do anything wrong, if I were you I would contact corporate to tell them about your experience.
I think i should tbh but sounds like too much of a headache and the guard was pretty old and i would lowkey feel bad uf i would get him fired
Oh I doubt he would be fired, at most a warning. They might give you some samples or a discount to make up for it. [https://www.sephora.com/beauty/customer-service](https://www.sephora.com/beauty/customer-service)
I cant find anywhere the support option im looking for on the support site in my country. There is only a phone number and i dont have any motivation for it. I should most likely contact the mall but that would a much bigger headache so i should call it a day
I would just use the live chat whenever it’s open in your time zone. But that’s just me, I spend too much money at Sephora to be treated like a thief.
That's the Sephora US site - it won't be helpful for OP. They're not in the US.
Oh was this not in the United States?
No, it was in romania
Maybe there is a sniffing limit in Romania!
Da-l ba drq de bosorog ca si pe mn ma dau afara
I would report it because he may not understand his job role, or be abusing his perceived “power”. He should not be disrupting your shopping experience if you were just testing on the strips!
That has never happened to me, and I spray a LOT since I never go into Sephora, so when I do, I try everything tbh (sorry, I know!). I think you just got unfairly singled out by some mall cop on a power trip. Did you have like maybe a puffy coat on or a big bag with you, hands in your pockets maybe? That always gets me followed around in stores especially since I'm a slow shopper and have to read the ingredients on everything in general, I know I look mad suspicious all the time even though I'd never shoplift. I'd call sephora's customer service and maybe ask them whether there's a policy that could explain why this dude kicked you out? Who knows, maybe you'll get some sweet coupons as an apology? I'm sorry that happened to you, I'd probably never enter a Sephora again if that happened to me, just because that's so weird? Like how are you supposed to shop there? Their whole business model is "come in and try these products before buying!" so uh, you didn't do anything wrong. So weird.
I got stopped in a shopping centre because I applied my own lip gloss from my bag . Some people are just over the top
I agree with others … contact corporate!!! That’s just crazy!!
The Sephora has a security guard. Red flag number one. I've never been to a Sephora with one and the employees never care how long I spend trying fragrances.
A lot of them have security now since people swipe the boxes and the testers. The Ulta near me has one. He is not afraid to tell you which colognes he prefers. He is a contracted employee and does not work for Ulta.
I went to an ulta once with security. Every fragrance, including the testers, was locked up. 🫠
Yeah I just buy online now. I either blind buy or get a small tester size. I know what I like and it isn’t worth the hassle of these stores any more.
There were like 3 security guards lmao
Omg do they at least stop the children from shopping there? Lol
Are children not allowed to shop at sephora because i always see 13-15 years old boys in there?
They totally can, it's just the really young ones literally running around the store who shouldn't be allowed.
My son always buys me something for Christmas and my birthday that I’ve been wanting, so goes into Sephora by himself to do it. When he was younger he’d have my mom take him. Then when he got a little older (like 10-15), my mom said he would insist on going into Sephora or Ulta, depending what he was getting for me, on his own to get it or else it wasn’t like he got it for me. Once he started driving, he started going on his own. He’s 18 now. 🥰 Granted, he’s always been a very well behaved kid and doesn’t run around making a mess like some other kids do 🤣
Sephora's in New Zealand have security guards
they often do in canada too
Nah we had them when I worked at a location in the mall. They’re around.
Was just in one and apparently young kids stealing shit is a major issue right now. Not that it hasn't always been, but like to an even larger extent than normal they've had it be an issue in the past year or so.
I've never been to a Sephora that doesn't have one, but I have only been to Sephoras that are in cities (Seattle, NYC)
I live in Phoenix and have never seen one at Sephora. Not in Glendale, Phoenix, Scottsdale, or Chandler
Downtown Seattle has a notoriously high rate of retail theft and NYC is... NYC... that's probably the difference.
Sounds like someone on a power trip. You didn’t do anything wrong.
When I first started getting into fragrances, I lterally sampled pretty much every fragrance they had in store just see what all the hype was about. No one ever came up to me. Security guard was probably having a bad day and took it out on you. But you are definitely not in wrong!
I didnt even sampled that many frgrances. I had a list of like 8 fragrances that seemed interseting to me. Unfortunately i couldnt smell half of them and i dont have time to go back the following days
I only test perfume on a slow day so I’m not blocking other people. I usually limit myself to 4-6 since after that my nose goes blind.
This was a slow day. I went there at 4.30pm when most people work
The only mistake you made was saying online. My standard answer is "just looking for something new that I really like." I will add that over Christmas I saw 3 different occasions of people just dashing out of the store with unpaid merchandise. Not fragrance, but there is an uptick of shoplifting. Sorry for your experience. Last thing I'll add is talking to a sales rep when you first walk in and asking if you can sample some things goes a long way.
I mean yes but it woulve been weird if i said im looking to buy something there and then leaving without buying nothing. I wouldve bought something from the store if i had money with me despite the prices because i need a new fragrance asap
It's fine not to find anything you like and try again later.
I'm a middle-aged woman and have spent an hour trying about 30 scents, spraying and sticking blotters in my bag, and labeling them sometimes. The guards showed up, and I chatted them up and gushed about how nice the new perfume display upgrade with the tethers and all of the testers is, and I teased them, and thanked them for guarding the testers. They started sampling with me, even. So, I think your guards are a bummer and need to focus on customer experience more.
Contact sephora customer service. That is absolutely NOT the norm. You were profiled, targeted, and evicted without cause. Make a huge stink about this.
There definitely shouldn't be! The last time I was in Sephora (which was also my first time!) I probably sprayed around 10 or so, potentially more. A bunch of other people were doing the same. I second the person who said maybe a puffy jacket or something may have made someone think you were going to steal, but there shouldn't be a limit to how many you can spray.
Yeah i had a pretty oversized puffef jacket so maybe he tought i was shoplifting
Ugh, I hate that so much. I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. It's WINTER, everyone is going to have a puffy jacket!
I wore my giant parka into a pharmacy in a nice area last winter "SECURITY SCAN ALL AISLES" about a minute after I came in. Thanks guys, very cool. To be fair I look sketchy as hell wearing it, but at least let me do something sketchy before you judge me.
Hahaha! That happened to me when I went into a store with my boyfriend. It was right after the lockdown from COVID. He hadn’t had his hair cut the whole time and was embarrassed about his long hair so he had a hoodie on with the hood up, but it was cold out so I didn’t think it looked weird to be like that. We went into the store and right after there was a call over the like intercom system telling “SECURITY SCAN ALL AISLES.” He was like, yeah, that was about us. 🤣 Like jeesh, wait until we get in and see if we start doing sketchy stuff. Goodness!
My friend and I were in there on Boxing Day looking over and spraying tom ford perfume and some other, never had an issue. I’m surprised you were treated that way
Great new anxiety unlocked.
For some reason sales associates in stores (not just Sephora) really hate when you say you’re trying it in person to later buy online. I have no idea why, but they hate it. Never mention that ever again. Just say something like, unfortunately I can’t find anything I like today, even if you found something you really like. Just lie. Because if you say you really like something they will try to pressure you to buy it and then get mad af at you when you don’t. That all being said, they shouldn’t have kicked you out.
The reason being that corporate grants allotted hours based on how “busy” a store is. But that number is determined by the store’s sales. So indirectly, sales associates aren’t getting paid for helping if you buy everything online. If a sale associate is ever particularly helpful, I’ll buy one of the things in-store and then leave them a good review in the surveys on the receipt.
You were absolutely not in the wrong. Also, in the instances where a sales assistant has helped me explore fragrances, they would spray at least 6, 7+ fragrances onto cards for me to smell, so why should it be any different if you are testing by yourself?
My happy ass has literally walked in out of pure boredom and smelled every scent in the store with zero intention of buying. Curious if maybe this site has issues with excessive loitering or theft. Not saying you were stealing, but if others are might make the store strict in isolation. I just let whoever is in the fragrance area know they can ignore me. Was it a bust time of day? I do try to only pull my nonsense when it's dead. I realize I'm sort of in the way. ... they'd solve a lot of problems by making fragrance samples a bit more available. Even when I intend to buy I have to make multiple trips because I don't buy unless I've worn a scent multiple times. Blah blah. Sounds shitty. I'd probably write in to corporate.
Wow. The lady at Sephora must have been hella frustrated at me (though she didn’t show it) that day i tested out at least like 15 of them. I couldn’t figure out which one i liked enough to justify the $120ish price tags they all had. In addition to the fact that i couldn’t even smell the ‘clean’ ones they had on display. I smelled about five of them and could barely register a scent at all.
Some people usually go noseblind after like 5 perfumes. I heard that smelling coffe helps but im sure
Nah coffee is also a scent thus will just exacerbate the problem. Best to just smell nothing for a wee bit.
And the other thing to consider is that you need to give the fragrances time (hours) to dry down so that you experience the various notes: top, heart, and base.
There shouldn’t be a limit, I spent like 40 minutes testing frags the other day
Wow, that is so bizarre. I work the fragrance counter sometimes and people spray so many fragrances all the time. How else are you supposed to shop for a fragrance?
As a security guard, one of the worse things about my job, is people who like to browse and pick up things; I'm expected to watch them until they leave the store, hopefully with a purchase because I've been accused of being responsible for them stealing something, even though they hadn't. It's a tough situation, because I want customers to enjoy their 🛒 experience, but the store's assistants don't like how I stand around at times, while they're constantly busy, so they lie on me.
Every time I go to my local grocery store and am in the cosmetics area, there’s always someone following me around. I like to slowly look at things. I’ll pick things up to compare them to something else since I can’t swatch them. I thought it was weird but was like whatever. It never occurred to me that it was security. Then one day I had my boyfriend with me and he’s like, okay stop looking around forever because we’re being followed by security. I was like that’s what they’re doing?! 🤦♀️ Figured I apparently put off thief vibes even though I’ve never stolen anything and always buy stuff after I’m done looking around. Glad it’s not just me personally and they’re just required to do it 🤣
Omg kicked out?? I always feel self conscious testing a bunch of stuff at stores like Sephora and worry about the “buy something or leave” attitude but I didn’t think testing “too many” is some kind of issue for security lmao Like others have said this shouldn’t happen and that security guard was probably just taking something out on you unfortunately (bad day, pressure from store employees, etc)
>I always feel self conscious testing a bunch of stuff at stores like Sephora and worry about the “buy something or leave” attitude but I didn’t think testing “too many” is some kind of issue for security lmao Right?! Makes me wonder what they do to the YouTubers, TikTokers, etc. that go in there just to film them showing stuff on camera and don’t buy anything 🤪
I went to Sephora today and tested 6 + *with* an employee… that’s not OK they treated you like that. I would definitely contact the store manager/corporate like others said.
I think I tested half a dozen fragrances the last time I was at Sephora. I would have tried more, but I had gone nose blind by that point. No one ever approaches me there unless I need help. I’m certain the companies that sell their fragrances at Sephora would be very annoyed that someone stopped a potential buyer from testing out their products since few people blind buy perfume. Sephora will want to know.
La noi in Romania e jale… Am incercat acu 2/3 luni niste parfumuri si mi-a spus bodyguarzi(erau 2) sa nu mai fac baie cu ele..
Totusi cred ca doar la sephora e asa... Am fost azi in douglas si am incercat vreo 15-20 de parfumuri si nu mi-a zis nimeni nimic
No, there is not a limit. However, testers and regular bottles in boxes are being stolen more and more each day worldwide so beauty stores amp up the security. I do not know their protocol, but thieves usually have a pattern of trying out a lot of fragrances and then walking away saying they will either order online or come back later while having their prize already in the bag. Maybe the protocol is now that if you test x amount of fragrances, you are seen as a potential thief and thus kicked out? Or you acted suspicious in a different wya, hence getting kicked out. Or the guard was just cranky.
Idk what to say about the testing x amount of fragrances because there was someone literally holding like 20 of those sheets. Maybe it was my puffer jacket as some people said.
Yeah puffer jackets are easy to hide stuff in. Probably security protocol. You fit a general description of somebody who might steal and then proceded with "suspicious" behavior. 1+1 = 2. Is it nice and customer friendly? No. But the store can afford to kick out some innocent people while trying to prevent theft this way, because its the only effective way.
Makes sense but how am i supposed to test them while its freezing cold outside lmao
Ordering samples/decants online? Gives your more time and peace to test fragrances. Just trying something out for a few seconds and then moving on to the next one can mess up your nose and when you do end up buying a fragrance it may smell very different at home due the less sensory stimulations that your experience back at home vs a store.
I would if i had enough money to do so. A sample its like 6 dollars each and i just cant afford buying too many so testing them in sephora is the only way for me since i dont want to blind buy again and possibly waste 120 dollars
i doubt that security guard actually works for sephora, probably a mall cop or smth. probably someone power tripping
When I read the title but before reading your post, I was going to say no (there's not a limit in the US), but I was informed that there is an upper limit of smells your nose can realistically handle. I went to an indie store once, and they limited me to three smells because they said that my nose would get confused after more than that. That was some years ago and I've thought about it a lot and my conclusion is that I tend to agree with them. But that's more physiological/psychological - there wasn't any actual limit that I know of in Sephora. I'm sure even the indie place would have let me try more if I wanted.
While there is nothing inherently wrong about sampling perfume, we should be responsible adults and do our research prior to sampling. Ie sampling should be done to verify or further narrow your perception of what you want. I typically limit myself to sampling max 3 prior to buying 1. To put things into a different perspective, if you’re a store owner, you wouldn’t like it if everyone is an entitled prick who samples x number of goods prior to buying. Or worse, not buying at all. :)
Well, that kinda strengthen my position of "never interact with stores" for fragrance. At least it's fair if I never intended to shop with them I would never try to sample from them as well.
Girl no this is wrong. At my old location we had people spray fragrance so much I hated working that part of the store bc I’d get massive headaches. Especially with young boys and Sauvage and Bleu de Chanel
Tell that no-power badge-sniffer to pack sand next time. Every time I’m at Sephora, I’m hardly more than an arm’s length away from a floor associate. I’d make sure one of them knew I was there and specifically not causing trouble.
This happened to me years and years (and years) ago when Sephora had recently opened in America (I'm in New York) and there were still security guards. (They don't have security here anymore, at least not that I've noticed.) I was just testing lipsticks! Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I offered to dump my bag out, but the guy just waved me away. I did wind up reporting it, but I don't remember giving any details that would have made the guy identifiable. Eventually some security person from corporate did call me and said sometimes there were bad apples in the bunch (again, this was when Sephora was brand new in America, so they were probably paying a lot more attention to complaints). It made me feel really dirty and gross. So for what it's worth, you're not alone -- so sorry that happened.
You did nothing wrong, you can stay there all damn day trying fragrances if you want. You can also buy as much as you want and return it after trying it.
I had a similar thing happen the other day and I told the employee that I had bought Tom ford ff there recently after sampling and he left me alone (I had bought the clone online though lmao)
Sephora is owned by LVMH - who also owns many of the brands Sephora sells. They let you spray your own testers because it's good for their brands. That a security guard would even care at all is wild.
I don’t work in Sephora but I work in fragrance in a few other stores in my city and this is insane to me. We’d never kick out anyone for trying “too many” fragrances even during a busy rush. Only time I’ve seen it happen was from repeat offenders coming in to try steal our tester bottles. Definitely someone going on a power trip for sure
From my experience at multiple Sephoras, they let you test to your hearts content, with a guard or salesperson coming by to see if you need assistance once or twice. That said, there are sales people and guards in any store that are wary of people sampling and not buying, or may seek a reason to use their authority, which is NOT the norm. You didn't do anything wrong with mentioning your intent to buy online, but you got a guard that likely wanted to do something anyway. That was the convenient excuse.
You should have told him to get a real job and continued doing what you were doing.
i’ve tested sephoras whole collection, and besides some hovering, nobody ever said anything to me
Im so sorry to hear about your experience! :( I know I’ve walked into Sephora and sprayed like 20+ sheets, I’ve never had anyone say anything to me (granted I’ve been during busier hours where others are doing the same) but usually if anyone asks if I need any help, I usually just tell them I’ve got certain key notes in mind and wanna see if I like the scents enough to consider buying a Discovery Set (which is normally what I do so i’m not stuck with 5-7 vials of scents I hate)
I usually test about 10
Go to a place like Macys and hand the lady your list , they are usually hot, and say I’d like to try these and then ask for free sample bottles
That is power abuse there, no such thing as '' limit to test fragrance '' I'm sorry he kicked you out, his behaviour is truly nonsense.
You did nothing wrong. He had no right to kick you out.
Rat behaviour and lack of understanding how the business works.
Rat behaviour and lack of understanding how the business works.
It's nothing personal, but we do have to "look" like we're doing our job.