an easy $30 (lyn)

In January or so, I go to my dentist.  The 20-something receptionist who says she is over 40 (why would she lie?) tells me, when asked, that her skin looks good because of her makeup.  She uses bareMinerals.  Maybe I can look 40, I think.  I run right over to Sephora, handover $53, and buy it.

Usage requires three simple steps.  Swirl (some loose powder onto a brush), tap (to remove any excess) and buff (for flawless coverage).  This doesn’t work for me.  Instead, the tapping causes major spillage of hard-to-rinse off powder all over my sink, and buffing looks cakey and unnatural.  I do okay with swirling. 

The 6-piece set (including bronzer, concealer, powder, and 3 brushes) remains unused.

Robyn comes over today.  She happens to mention that Sephora takes back everything.  If you don’t like it, bring it back.  Hmmm.  I have no receipt.  No proof of purchase.  No original packaging.  And it’s been months.  But Robyn is a Sephora expert; she wouldn’t misguide me.

I go over to Sephora, stand in line, and hand over my plastic bag full of the bareMineral items.  The salesgirl doesn’t even look like she’s thinking, “You’ve gotta be kidding!”  She doesn’t ask me why I’m returning the items.  Nope.  She just says, “Would you mind waiting a minute?  I need to check the SKU number?”  She comes back, rings it up, and it totals $82.75.  We both know this is wrong.  She tries a few more times to get the price corrected, but she can’t.  She never looks frustrated or exasperated.  Finally, she just smiles and says, “You know, it’s too difficult to get this to work correctly.  I’ll just give you a credit for the $82.75.”

I couldn’t have asked for better customer service.  I hope her next job is at Time Warner Cable.