Today was a special event if you’re a fan of cosmetics who has been spending a lot of money at Sephora: the company released just a few very valuable rewards, like valuable and rare makeup assortments, or even a trip to Paris. The rewards would be coming, Sephora told their customers, at some point during business hours today, Pacific time. Fans refreshed the page constantly looking for the prizes. Then the rewards were all gone. Update: Customers still aren’t pleased with Sephora’s reaction to their complaints. Another update: Sephora has promised to do something for these customers, but can’t say what and will get back to them in two weeks. Or in September.

The special rewards were for people who have accumulated 1,000 or more points in their rewards accounts, with one point for every dollar spent at Sephora. (Not necessarily, though: you can get reward points as an apology for late shipping or other problems with your order, or for taking market research surveys.) They included everything from bags of products worth hundreds of dollars to a trip to Paris to visit Lancôme headquarters. Some observers never saw the higher-end rewards at all, even if they had enough points to purchase them. Which is understandable, since the rewards were very impressive.

And they “sold” out within minutes.

Even customers who were able to nab the rewards items weren’t able to make it to the checkout. Right now, Sephora’s social media customer service people appear to just be copying and pasting “we’re sorry to hear that! Please send us a DM with your issue or question so that we can assist you!” on Twitter, or using a bot to answer initial queries.

Right now, Sephora customer service is overwhelmed, and customers are frustrated and vowing to shop at competitor Ulta forever. Except for the stuff that is exclusive to Sephora. Of course.

If you’re one of the people whose rewards are caught in a glossy, glossy purgatory, we want to hear from you! Drop us a line at tips@consumerist.com.

Sephora Fans Are Calling Epic Rewards Day an ‘Epic Fail’ [Racked]
Sephora rewards are gone… In 3 minutes [Reddit]
Sephora 1,000 pt + Rewards [Reddit]

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