March 19, 2025

Ulta Customer Service Sucks and Needs a Little Work

A fast way to piss me off is to give me the run around. Ulta continues to be on my sh1t list lately with their really delayed shipping.

I don’t understand Ulta’s shipping. There’s absolutely no rhythm or reason to it. Some days I’ll place an order and within two days I’ll have it. Other days it’ll take near a week and a half to get. They also never use the same shipping method twice. I placed about five orders so far during the 21 Days of Beauty Sale and I’ve gotten them shipped via Fedex, Lasership, USPS, and UPS. You never know which carrier is going to bring the package.

But my real issue is I placed an order on March 7th for some items and unfortunately, it’s been in limbo since with FedEx. My status has been “Left FedEx origin facility” since that time. Last Friday I decided it was time I contact Ulta. I was told to wait until Monday to see if it arrives. It didn’t.

On Monday, I contacted them again and said Hiiiiii! It’s me! Remember me? The one who’s packaging didn’t arrive! I was told, “It’s still in the time frame to arrive check back with us Thursday”. Tomorrow is Thursday and I have a feeling I still won’t see movement on that box. I checked it today and we still have the same status. Don’t get me wrong Ulta is far superior to Sephora as far as shipping goes, rewards, etc…but sometimes they just make me rage. Remember my Homeworx Candle drama? I feel like sometimes their customer service is a little wacky. If I ordered something on the 7th something is wrong if it isn’t here at least by the 14th. But nope, they just refuse to do anything.

I likely won’t dispute it and I’ll give them until perhaps Monday but after that I’ll call again and see what new and interesting story they tell me. I love you Ulta but in recent years your customer service has really gone down the drain.

Do better ok?

How’s your experience with Ulta Customer Service been?

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About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Monica

    The best is when their shipping department carelessly tosses one little piece of parchment in the box with your order items as “filling”, as if that’s supposed to prevent damage to the goods.

    • Isabella Muse

      happen TOO many times 🙁 Target is worst. You order something glass or fragile and they toss it into the box with nothing! No peanuts, no paper, nada!

  • Kristin

    Their rewards program may be better, but their customer service is exactly why i shop more at sephora than ulta. More than once I’ve had to wait for their cashiers to finish their conversation to check out, so not surprised their support is lacking.

    • Isabella Muse

      oh no! that sucks! It probably varies from place to place though as my ulta is pretty good in store. Really helpful and not aggressive which I appreciate as I hate them following me around asking if I tried this that and the other thing!

  • Buggyness

    had the exact same thing happen to me, but took three weeks to get the order. Ulta kept telling me to contact the PO, the PO said it left them and was picked up by Fed Ex and Fed Ex couldn’t confirm they had it at all. Never had issues before (other than things arriving smashed). I was about to either cancel and request refund or reorder when it showed up. They pack things weird too – sometimes everything is stuffed in a plastic mailer and sometimes it’s two items in a huge box.

    • Isabella Muse

      They just keep running in circles when something goes amiss. It’s frustrating. I don’t care about the $ I just want my stuff thanks! Three calls to get them to send it or correct the issue should not be a thing! Time is valuable and they’re wasting my time majorly 🙁

  • Julie

    I ordered a present for a friend from Ulta, and it was delivered to the wrong house. And I know because the picture of the front porch was not my friend’s house. So I contacted Ulta and they told me that UPS said that it was delivered correctly. I know what my friend’s porch looks like and she knew there was no package there. And then they told me to have my friend check at the houses next door. No! It is not safe in that neighborhood for her to go around knocking on doors! They told me to wait a couple of days and then they would send me a email to follow up and see what happened.

    • Isabella Muse

      I’ve had this happen with mercari. Purchased something, it said delivered, it showed a picture and it wasn’t my porch. I lost the money because they said, well, too bad, we have a pic and it showed it was delivered. Yeah, it arrived safely to someone else’s house thanks so much!

  • Cindy

    Lately they are terrible with not sending GWP’s and leaving things out of your order that you paid for. When you call them they act like you are a criminal (even for a $10 item!) and say they will get back to you in 3 days. WTF? Any decent company sends you the items you are owed right away.

    If something comes broken (I had this happen with 8 nail polishes they threw in a plastic bag) they want you to send it back. I sent them a picture and asked if they would like me to break the law and send back broken glass and nail polish. Unbelievable!

    • Isabella Muse

      sephora and ulta is weird like. Totally feel like a criminal of something goes wrong, it’s missing, or if I want to possibly return something. Hahah! They told me the same about broken candles.

  • Maureen Cormack

    I never ever order anything that has to be shipped… As you said you never know who they will ship it with and when you live in a building with 50 apts the chances of something going wrong is extremely high… Good luck with this delivery…

    • Isabella Muse

      I live in a house so no issues with anyone else getting my packages but the slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww shipping and the non-movement of the package and the refusal of their CS team to acknowledge that drives me bonkers!

  • Joyce

    My one account was blacklisted for too many returns (I think). Like buddy then take better care in packing your products better!!!!! Every order has something broken or leaking or shattered. The gumption of this company

    • Isabella Muse

      whoa really? I actually thought the blacklist was the stuff of reddit urban legends!

  • Kristine Jackson

    Definitely have had the same problem with shipping. Things in my package also come broken. I try and get what I want from Sephora and shipping is free. Love that! I still say Charlotte Tilbury has the best customer service and nothing ever comes damaged.

  • Karen

    Hi Muse, Luckily I have not had any delays in my packages from Ulta. I do agree with you that they should just stick with one carrier. Some carriers take much longer than others which is very frustrating. I do have a major issue with how they pack the items for shipping. In my last three orders, although the actual shipping packages have been intact, the items inside the box are just thrown in there with no care at all. The items have been out of their boxes, their boxes have been crushed and they just toss one, almost deflated, bubble pack inside which does nothing to secure the packages at all. I have also had things leak from the bottles. I contacted Ulta about this which basically did no good but they did replace the items, at my request.

  • CL

    My Ulta shipments usually come through reasonably quickly. It helps when they can ship from a warehouse in the same state I live in (about 50% of the time). FedEx seems to be the most problematic shipper. I bought some shoes from DSW some time ago that somehow got sent to Virginia (I live 1500 miles away from there). They did re-ship and I did get the shoes. My FedEx driver always leaves the package about 8 feet from the door, which I very much DON’T LIKE. I have told them about this, but it continues. I wish they’d all just get a contract with UPS (NOT using SmartPost). In general they are the best delivery service.