One Sephora customer was fed up with the makeup retailer making empty promises and pulled what some would call a “girlboss” move. It left her with $200 extra in her pocket.
Now she’s issuing a PSA on how you can do it, too.
In a viral TikTok, Liza (@livingliz) shared a storytime on how Sephora wronged her one too many times. After adding $200 worth of products to her online shopping cart, Liza says Sephora promised to ship it by Thursday if she ordered within an hour. This sense of “urgency messaging” is often used in e-commerce to get customers to buy quickly.
“If it feels scammy, it’s because it is,” Liza says of the tactic. She’s no stranger to this “urgent” message, but she figured she’d just buy it as she needs the products, and the closest Sephora is an hour away.
When Thursday rolled around, however, Liza checked her tracking and found UPS didn’t even have the package yet.
“Normally, I would just roll my eyes, whatever,” Liza says. “But it’s happened so many times…”
No more empty promises from Sephora
So Liza took matters into her own hands and researched whether there was a consumer protection law in place for this situation. Turns out, there is.
She pastes a screenshot of a webpage from the Federal Trade Commission website. According to the article titled, Selling on the Internet: Prompt Delivery Rules, if businesses can’t ship within the promised time, they “must notify the customer of the delay, provide a revised shipment date and explain his right to cancel and get a full and prompt refund.”
Liza spoke with three customer service agents at Sephora before informing a supervisor about this law. “You get that sale, you follow through on delivery,” Liza says she told him. When informed it was impossible to cancel the order, Liza asked for a refund.
After some back and forth, Liza was issued a full refund for her package—and still received her order.
“I’m not a lawyer, I’m not giving legal advice, I’m not telling you to do what I did,” Liza concludes. “I’m just saying because I looked up consumer protection laws and called Sephora out… I got all this stuff for free.”
She then shows a handful of beauty products from brands like Tower 28 and Saie before the video comes to a close.
Common tactic?
Several viewers in the comments section were all too familiar with this sales tactic.
“Nordstrom just did this to me, was supposed to be available for pick up NEXT DAY,” one user wrote. “It took over a week. They offered me expedited shipping for my next order.”
A handful of viewers thanked Liza for her PSA, as they had no idea such a law existed.
More than one called out Amazon for this very practice.
“Amazon does this all the time,” one said. “They use to give refunds but now they stopped and just deliver whenever.”
@livingliza “I need to speak to your manager” moment or speaking truth to power? You decide.
♬ original sound – Living Liza
In 2022, Amazon Prime shoppers filed a lawsuit against the company, saying the promised 2-day delivery was a lie.
“Two Prime customers from California have filed a lawsuit claiming Amazon ‘falsely advertises and deceptively markets’ its shipping speed for one- and two-day shipping guarantees,” CBS 17 reported.
More lawsuits
Other companies have been involved in class-action lawsuits of the same nature. In 2020, Fashion Nova settled for $9.3 million over the Mail Order rule. Fashion marketplace GOAT was also sued in 2024 and ended up paying $2 million for shipping products later than advertised.
The Mary Sue reached out to Sephora via email and Liza via a TikTok message.
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