A former Sephora employee says workers were forced to follow customers in the store.
In a viral TikTok with over 4.5 million views, content creator George (@george_jreige) shares his experience of being reprimanded by his manager for not following customers at his Sephora location. The video is the first in his two-part series, “Weird things about working at Sephora.”
“When I worked at Sephora, and we thought people were stealing, we were supposed to go up to them and offer them customer service,” George begins.
“I knew that, but I never did it because that’s, like, the weirdest thing ever to follow people around that are just shopping,” he continues.
He then shares an example of a time when a couple came into the store carrying full Target bags. The couple looked fine to George, and he mentions that their full shopping bags suggested to him that they were obviously capable of “buying stuff.”
“I go up to them, and I’m like, ‘Do you guys need help finding anything? Are you looking for something new?’ And they’re like, ‘No, we’re fine. We know what we’re looking for,’” he says.
But George says that when he left the customers to shop in peace, his manager called him out.
“I go in the back, and the manager comes over to me. Not the manager of Sephora, the manager of Kohl’s … She comes over to me, and she’s like, ‘Why aren’t you following them?’ and I’m like, “I already asked them if they needed help, and they said no.’”
He continues, “She goes, ‘OK, that doesn’t matter. You’re supposed to follow them around.’”
George says he went to check with the customers again and was met with frustration.
“I’m like, ‘Are you guys still doing OK?’ And they go, ‘Didn’t we just tell you that we didn’t need help finding anything?’ I saw that coming, but I felt so bad because I did not want to go up to them; they both looked like they knew what they were doing. But my stupid manager … she wanted me to do that,” he vents.
“I just think it’s the weirdest thing ever, following people around,” he continues. “When I would shop at Sephora, and I wasn’t working there yet, and people would follow me, I would be so freaked out. Why do they think I’m stealing?”
“I think that’s a stupid rule, and it makes people uncomfortable,” George concludes as the video ends.
@george_jreige Sephora tea #sephora #storytime #fyp #foryou #viral
♬ original sound – 🤍George🤍
In the comments section, people reacted to the revelation that Sephora workers are allegedly told to follow suspicious customers.
“I’m now doubting every encounter I’ve had at Sephora,” one viewer wrote.
“This happens to me all the time and it’s so uncomfortable and obvious,” another viewer shared.
“I get so nervous to even get my phone out of my purse sometimes because I’m scared they will think I’m stealing,” came a third response.
One Sephora worker pushed back on the video, saying, “This is kind of misleading…we HAVE to ask EVERYONE regardless. If they happen to be stealing then yes we’re providing ‘excellent customer service.’”
On Sephora’s Beauty Inside Community Page, several customers have made posts sharing complaints about being followed around different Sephora locations.
The Daily Dot has reached out to George and Sephora via email for more information.
