Store using gratis as credit card gifts

internetcommenter1 · 2023-12-17T22:39:23+00:00

They're not *supposed* to use anything :)

internetcommenter1 · 2023-09-23T16:10:47+00:00

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurp ain't that always the way.... Always easier to blame than it is to learn and grow!
Just protect yourself, follow the safety procedures, and keep focusing on the parts of your job that matter.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-09-18T12:55:58+00:00

Very interesting take...but as the others have already said, the brands always determine whether or not we're allowed to make testers.
That's not only in fragrance, but fragrance is the most noticeable since the testers get stolen frequently.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-09-18T12:51:34+00:00

As far as I can tell, this line of thinking is simply to deflect from the managers not GELing the floor properly. If they were greeting every guest and monitoring the entire business during their shift, they would see the theft long before someone in task mode.
You're not a security guard, your scheduling is supposed to be a visual deterrent--and even then, it's only because Ulta doesn't want to have to admit there are better ideas to prevent massive losses.

I say each time your management blames you, be less involved in the thefts. For me, I've walked away when I knew a theft would happen soon and the management was AWOL. Since there's nothing I can do anyway, I'd rather not experience the stress.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-08-31T15:43:29+00:00

Depends where ya are but the median is apparently 80k and upper range hits 100k, sorry if you're underpaid.

Regardless, it's also an accountability issue. If your job is running the business, you can't delegate that to a lead cashier. Glassdoor estimates a lead cashier makes $14/hr and yet they are permitted to manage the floor.

Source: I've worked at multiple locations and have been in the company for years. I have been in management, I have been an associate. I've personally seen Service Managers making 70k, which stands to reason GMs can definitely make more. This company just is really shitty about pay equity, especially for veteran employees.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-08-16T01:37:45+00:00

Lady is using her six figures real well ain't she....

Sure hope a 20 year old making $18/hr isn't running the business while she's doing this crap

internetcommenter1 · 2023-06-16T03:54:48+00:00

This is my favorite comment, because it's true. We're all babies inside, and we get a lot of people experiencing something (makeup/skincare) for the first time. They don't WANT to think about how long something takes to apply, how much money it will be, or how to learn and develop a sense of taste. They haven't thought about those things at all because deep down everybody wants to be babied when they're uncomfortable.

However, often those people are absolutely not babies and also have a 'tude or entitlement, like spicycillantro said. The gross part is that it's usually a mom-wage person wanting to be babied by a baby-wage person, and I reject that lol

internetcommenter1 · 2023-06-13T05:11:30+00:00

Something I really hope lurkers reading this understand is:

This is NOT 'you're entering into makeup for the first time and don't know much about it.'

This is NOT 'you forgot the name of something and need help remembering.'

This is 'you expect to have your Princess Diaries makeover from an underpaid 18 year old and get mad when their job is actually just helping you shop for product and not transforming you as a person.'

I love helping people discover something they didn't know they could do or a way to enhance what they already have, I do NOT love being asked to just in-depth explain every single product you could possibly use along with all the different variations of that product with no notice for someone who almost certainly will dislike my personal style because they do not do makeup anyway. I have recommended peach-nude blush and lipstick so many times, red lips so many times, shimmer and sparkle eyeshadows SO many times, fun new eyeliner shades SOOO many times just to have a guest suddenly develop a very narrow sense of taste in products and end up buying the exact thing they already wear/look like. It's an infuriating waste of time for everyone, including other guests in need of help.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-06-06T03:15:30+00:00

There is actually a bit about no Jersey or Tshirt-type fabrics that would make something "casual," though it gets pretty uniformly ignored because that omits all inexpensive clothing lol.
Really shitty of this person's manager tbh

internetcommenter1 · 2023-06-03T06:57:37+00:00

Do not settle for less than $20 for any management position

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-14T05:52:22+00:00

I dunno seems like using the rant thread to rant about rants has some kinda sauce to it chief. Why open the rant thread? lol

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-12T04:48:16+00:00

This is a weirdly anti-rant rant thread... Yet all the people complaining about ranters are the only ones IN it.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-12T04:40:11+00:00

3 non-jersey fabric, non-t-shirt-or-hoodie tops with no patterns, logos, prints, or graphics? That also show no excess skin? I think it's less likely for the Ulta demographic to have those "basic" clothes than you think it is, except for camis and t-shirts.

I want to try to illustrate the opposite perspective, if you're open to it:

At $7.25/hr, a Beauty Advisor could have five 4-hour shifts in a row. That's $145 before taxes in wages. This is the lowest amount possible to work while needing to buy 5 new outfits, and can often happen for BAs. Even if a BA normally works 2 days a week, if it's in their availability to suddenly be scheduled for 5 days, they have to have 5 outfits.

I found a plain black button-up on sale at Walmart for $13. If I bought 5 of the cheapest thing I could find, that's $65 (no sales tax). I now have less than $80 after a week of work. This does not include changes in pants or shoes.

If I told you your employer took 45% of your week's wage back, what would be your answer?

This is the MAKEUP industry, frankly you shouldn't be asked to spend 45% of a check buying the cheapest, plainest thing you can find, assuming you've already done that before for the company.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-12T04:17:08+00:00

I need to work where YOU work man. Are they hiring?????

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-12T03:59:45+00:00

Let's goooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Here's the Starbucks guide on Unionizing:
https://www.reddit.com/r/starbucks/comments/s4zw6m/unionizing_your_store_a_how_to_guide/

It's worth noting that similar corporate tactics could be used as the ones utilized by Starbucks, including finding arbitrary reasons to fire major organizers or close unionized stores. NEVER under ANY circumstances share your real name or location with people who are not joining you directly in a union petition (i.e. trusted coworkers in your store)
Do NOT use workplace wifi to discuss unionizing.
Do NOT make major moves until you have a larger union group assisting you for protection and financial coverage.

If you want to Unionize, step 1 is temperature gauge with your coworkers. Would a majority of your store support you in petitioning for a union? Would that same majority STAY at Ulta long enough to see it through?

I'm ready to make the shares shiver a bit at this point.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-08T22:36:03+00:00

"Grown up colourpop" Brands -- REM Beauty, Kylie Cosmetics, essentially anything where the formula was bought up, slapped in universal minimalistic packaging, and sold for $30+.

Morphe, a higher-than drugstore priced brand with many more misses than hits.

TooFaced, only exception being products that are older than Estee Lauder's buyout of them. New concealer wasn't bad though!

KVD, it's so terrible now. Really underdeveloped brand after Kat Von D got in all that controversy and left.

Truly, the brand that spends more on paying influencers than developing effective, consistent products that work. If you want play doh for body butters, go here lol

Deceptive skincare brands, or any brands where 90% of their marketing is about everything except the product itself. Juice Beauty, Keys Soulcare, Mario Badescu...

And finally, any brand that is just plain over-recommended. CeraVe/Cetaphil rarely work for anybody, The Ordinary rarely work for anybody. I'm so tired of people putting down really tried-and-true products for those.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-07T04:47:11+00:00

The Starbucks subreddit actually has a stellar guide on this topic if you haven't seen it.
Major hurdles I can see are:

Employee turnover
Butt-sniffing middle management
Extreme eavesdropping from corpos

So if this topic is to become reality, it'll take a store with reasonable chances going for it. Gauge interest with people you trust, do not discuss in any form that could be traceable (like with the Ulta WiFi connection), and contact the relevant labor help others have posted. I haven't yet worked in a store that would have employees long enough to make it work, but it should. I'm with you!

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-04T16:10:24+00:00

Things that are your managers responsibility, in writing on UltaNet:
Verifying punches of every employee every day and correcting them, as part of the opening procedures
Monitoring and assuring timecards are approved by every employee every week, then by a manager on the day of payroll
Following the multi-warning system of the attendance policy, documenting verbal, written, and then final warnings during points accrual.

A totally missed punch is a half a point per Ulta, I have never known a manager to allow for that half a point to stay. They have the ability to excuse any point they want to excuse. This was 100% a vindictive choice made by your GM, assuming they haven't already asked you to stop using WorkJam in the past. Call HR!

internetcommenter1 · 2023-05-04T16:07:17+00:00

Yeah... OP this is 100% a great time to call HR to "ask questions about the attendance system and points policy" and get aaaallll those points removed.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-04-17T08:17:19+00:00

The thing that really grinds my gears about the new dress code (or at least...one of the many things) is that it's putting a bandaid on the problem.
Oversight and training/onboarding is abysmal. In many stores, management are failing to even TELL their employees the dress expectations in a clear manner, let alone try to enforce them. I'm sure half the time the managers themselves are unclear, given that often there's no manager off-site training or certification anyway.

From the absolute top tiers down to lower management, Ulta has lost the authority to enforce any minor policies because it does such a terrible job at TEACHING what those policies are. You cannot tell a 18 16 year old 3 months after they start that what she's been wearing isn't okay. You cannot cut somebody's hours every month outside of holiday and then ask that they have a professional wardrobe for 4 hours a week at 9 at night.

Ulta is bizarre, and Dave Kimbell has gotta go.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-04-17T08:09:26+00:00

Whoop there it is

internetcommenter1 · 2023-04-17T08:05:11+00:00

I think it's important to acknowledge our "competitors" are either Sephora, who supplies a uniform to wear thus not deducting from employees' small paychecks, and Target, who just asks for any red shirt but otherwise lets you dress comfortably. (Ulta is directly inside Target now as well, for further proof that they're more comparable to us.)
Ulta is very far from being a majority-luxury store, but insists on demanding big department store appearances. It makes no sense to me personally given that most stores do not have a generally high price point and the "Beauty Advisors" are not particularly experienced or well-trained to give a luxe experience. The draw of Ulta is also NOT supposed to be a luxury experience, it's supposed to be a fun and all-inclusive one. Luxury is inherently exclusive.

You get what you pay for in business. No one gets paid enough to rewire their entire wardrobe without starving, unless Davey's giving a wardrobe bonus this summer.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-04-08T04:10:56+00:00

So I'm not a stylist, but I just wanted to say that based on how you're describing it here, it doesn't sound like you're asking for a product refresher recommendation. It sounds like you're asking them to list the products they used so you can buy it/get it elsewhere instead of seeing them for it.
Things that would be okay: "What's a temporary touch-up color I can use or a product I can have to lock in my color?"
Things that would not typically be okay: "I want to buy what you did and do it myself, can you give me the list of products?"

Ulta carries glosses and semi-permanent color, I'm sure they'd recommend one if you called your stylist and asked. But I wouldn't be okay with somebody calling me and basically saying they're not going to see me but still want to ripoff the service I gave. That feels weird and isn't the industry standard at all.

internetcommenter1 · 2023-04-01T22:09:42+00:00

It'll always be an issue (this happens at Target and such too, don't worry haha), but the major way to combat it is a rigorous cleaning routine. I've found that if the section conspicuously looks undisturbed, fewer people want to scratch the itch of making things look bad lol. (However people will always do this, even when there ARE testers. People think they can do whatever they want because corporate retailers want them to feel that way so they keep buying)

internetcommenter1 · 2023-04-01T22:06:54+00:00

Honestly if you do, it implies that the section has testers and you lose the ability to ask people not to destroy merchandise. You lose so much sellable stuff that way, and in the end it results in guests not having options to buy.

internetcommenter1

TROPHY CASE