This ULTA Employee Showed How Returned Products Are Handled And The Whole Thing Is Truly Eye-Opening
No judgment but let’s be real. We’ve all been in the scenario where we’ve let loose at a makeup counter. You know, gone a little overboard with shopping, regretted a few purchases and then decided to take them back. Most stores like ULTA, Sephora, and Nordstrom have pretty great return policies when it comes to buyer’s remorse and so it never seems like too big of a deal when we show up the next day or even a few weeks later with our receipts and the items we no longer want.
But recently, an employee from ULTA revealed what happens after you’ve walked away from the return counter at a beauty supply store. And TBH it ain’t pretty.
Bianca Ann Levinson, who posts under @biancaann5 on TikTok, went viral after revealing how ULTA handles returns.
In the video posted to her TikTok, Levinson shows herself “damaging out” products of palettes and concealer tubes and dumping them into the trash. “This is what we have to do so that people don’t dumpster dive and steal it,” Bianca says in the video.
According to Levinson, her decision to post how the company handles returns wasn’t. mean to shame the company but shed light on returns to buyers. “I don’t want people to come for Ulta and stop going at all. I want people to know that stores like Sephora, Bath and Body Works, Target, Walmart and many others all have to do the same, too,” Levinson explained to Buzzfeed in an interview.
At first glance, the process of damaging out is clearly extremely wasteful but it all chalks up to hygiene and scams.
As Levine points out in another TikTok, damaging out is done in the name of avoiding cross-contamination. Particularly in this time of the coronavirus pandemic. What’s more, Levine says the practice is done to avoid having dumpster divers try to sell products they find in the trash online. “If someone sells product out of the trash, it opens up the chance of someone getting sick or an infection and possibly suing Ulta,” Levine explained to Buzzfeed. “We can’t donate for the same reason. Most brands don’t allow it either. Ulta cares a lot about their customers and wants to do their best to keep them safe.”
“I wanted people to realize that when they return things, it’s not always put back on the shelf. They should reconsider before returning items they purchased. I understand some people have to return things, but if it’s not necessary, then I don’t believe they should return it,” she continued
Levine’s video has already accumulated over three million views. Clearly she’s taught us all a lesson. Hopefully, everyone does the right thing and puts the new lesson it into practice.
