Why I WON’T be Shopping at Sephora Anymore

Shocking right? Oh believe me, I didn’t see it coming either.

Let’s start from the beginning. Sephora was my favorite place to shop growing up, more than clothes or shoes. Makeup has always been my thing & Sephora has been my partner in crime. For some perspective, when we went to Disneyland, I went to Sephora. Vegas? Sephora. See my pattern? I won’t dare disclose the amounts of money spent as it would make me look insane.

Now onto the present. We have recently moved (because my husband is in the Air Force) to Nebraska. We were so excited to move on base for the like-mindedness & understanding of our situation, plus they are able to house all of us comfortably without breaking any clauses due to military moves/situations. My house is beautiful & our community safe, something we dreamed of since the beginning.

Now that we are finally settling in, I was ready to make my first Sephora order to our new address! The Sephora Friends & Family Sale happily coincided with this which was a true stroke of luck! I loaded up my cart (ok, overflowed it!) & set out to order. Then, I was road blocked. I tried for over 15 minutes to edit my address, switching it around and practically upside down. I finally gave up, upset because there were Christmas gifts & giveaways in there, and e-mailed them. Here is the conversation:

Me:
I wanted to use my code last night and was very excited, but it said it couldn’t ship to me. My address has recently changed but I find it hard to believe Sephora would refuse shipment to a US Military Base. I tried it every way could. Plus, I can’t even use my discount anymore.

Sephora:
Dear Stephanie,

Thank you for contacting Sephora.com.

We are excited about your interest in our website, but unfortunately, Sephora.com cannot accept APO billing addresses. To place orders successfully on our website, the billing and shipping addresses must be based in the United States (non APO/ military address), as well as the issuing bank of the credit card.

Fortunately, we do have a storefront on Amazon.com, and Amazon can use APO billing addresses. Sephora will ship via their site to a US mailing address, and you can use your APO billing address on this site. We suggest you visit:

http://www.amazon.com/sephora

To view our Sephora retail locations outside of the United States, please refer to the Store Locator at Sephora.com.

If we can assist you further please feel free to contact us again at 1-877-SEPHORA (1-877-737-4672).

Regards,
Stephanie

Sephora.com Client Services

I’m angry, hurt, & very confused. Sephora basically just told me “We don’t ship to the military, but feel free to shop on Amazon!”

FYI, when you shop on Amazon you can’t use your points, discounts, or get samples. You also can’t participate in the sales. After so many years as a loyal customer, I am shocked. I mean, “Sorry, you’re military” and that’s it? “Fortunately” I can order through Amazon and they can help me find Sephora stores outside the USA. ARE YOU MESSING WITH ME? I live on a MILITARY BASE, not in France! How is my family being the military making us “less than” citizens of the United States?

I’ve written back to Sephora to clear CLEAR verification of this, though they seem to have made it pretty clear. I’ll post when they return my e-mail.

Are there any other military-based families that have had this issue? I’d love to hear about it!

NOTE- Sephora has fixed this issue since the time of this post. I now shop at Sephora. Type in “Sephora” into my search bar to see lots of reviews!