Opening a beauty package you order online should be a dopamine-filled little treat. When one Ulta customer picked hers up, however, she says the box felt wrong right away.
What Went Wrong With The Ulta Package?
TikTok user Jessie (@jessiexlizabeth) shared a video of herself opening an Ulta order in real time after something immediately felt off when she picked it up. The video has since gotten more than 238,100 views.
“I just got my Ulta package,” she says at the start of the clip. “It’s fully empty. This is supposed to be my $200 perfume.”
Right away, she explains that she hasn’t opened the box yet and starts recording as proof, saying she’s furious and already preparing for a chargeback if the product isn’t inside.
As she works to open the shipment, she adds, “There is no way there’s a perfume in here. I am flabbergasted.”
She uses a screw to pry into the packaging and admits she’s visibly shaking from the stress of it. “Oh, it’s in there,” she says when she first breaks open the box.
That relief lasts only seconds. Once she sees what’s inside, she realizes what actually happened. “It’s fully opened and taken out of the box,” she says. “Are you kidding me?” she says. “I am losing it.”
This wasn’t even Jessie’s first issue with the same order. She had previously shared that she originally purchased the perfume as part of a Black Friday deal, but everything else from that order arrived without the fragrance. The second shipment was supposed to correct that mistake.
Fortunately, there was a resolution. In a follow-up, Jessie shared that Ulta refunded her fully for the missing perfume. She also said she planned to go to a physical store to buy it in person instead.
Are Delivery Thefts Common?
There’s no clear national statistic that tracks how often packages get stolen mid-delivery, but reported cases suggest it’s far from rare. In Arizona, one woman who tracked repeated missing shipments eventually learned that a USPS driver had been stealing packages and reselling the items on Depop.
Across Reddit and Facebook, shoppers have shared similar complaints involving Amazon, eBay, and other retailers.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Ulta Beauty via email for comment and contacted Jessie through TikTok direct messages.
Commenters Share Their Experiences
Commenters debated where the theft could have happened.
One person blamed temporary staff, writing, “Seasonal workers, they can’t be trusted.”
Another shared a precaution they now take, adding, “When I feel that the packages are empty, I go back to the store and open it in front of the associates.”
Someone else believed it pointed to a larger internal issue, saying, “So this is definitely an internal issue. Ulta warehouse workers are clearly running something. Internal theft is always the biggest problem for loss prevention.”
@jessiexlizabeth @Ulta Beauty ♬ original sound – Jessie
Another focused on packaging itself, writing, “Ulta and Sephora need to stop putting their logo on the outside of the box.”
One shopper took a broader view of the issue, adding, “The convenience of online shopping has just become convenience for theft. I so prefer brick & mortar.”
And one person shared a similar experience, saying, “My Ulta package came in today & it was completely opened. You can see the brown tape ripped & they re taped it.”
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