Sephora is facing the heat on social media after a trans woman shared her upsetting experience with the company's customer service executive in a series of tweets.
Dana, a Maryland-based trans woman who goes by @hypersonicorn on Twitter, says she called Sephora's customer service helpline after failing to receive some of the items she recently ordered.
'Your Name is Dana?'
She said when the customer service representative asked for her name, she obliged and the rep replied by saying, "YOUR name is Dana?"
Dana then told the employee that the order she received was missing some items but the employee took issue with the fact that Dana's voice was "too masculine" and her account details listed her as "female." Dana said the rep thought she was "lying" and said refused to help her in order "to protect the account owner."
Rep Misgenders Dana Before Hanging Up
Dana, who prefers the pronouns she/they, was forced to out herself to the woman as transgender and explain to her that she had a deep voice just so that she could get the help she needed.
The representative then apologized to Dana before ending the call with "Have a nice day, sir."
Dana's thread called into question both the training that customer service representatives receive, as well as whether it is necessary to have a gender listed on an account to provide security to begin with.
"If you're refusing to help me (for security reasons) because you assumed my gender based on my voice and it doesn't match what you got on your screen, then congratulations your security can be defeated by half of humanity," she wrote.
Sephora Asks Dana to DM Them, Users Say 'Leave the Conversation Public'
In response to Dana's tweets, Sephora's twitter handle sent her the following message: "We're so sorry to hear about your experience. Please DM us with your registered email address and the details, so we can learn more and properly investigate this."
"Leave the conversation public so EVERYONE can see how poorly you actually address the situation. Because we all know nothing will come of this except an apology and possibly a gift card. The employee won't face any consequences and nothing will change," wrote one user.
"This is a typical response from a company to try to take the conversation private. Would love to hear what comes of this. Hopefully some retraining!!!," commented another.
Dana was later informed by a Sephora rep that the employee who "helped" her had been identified and their supervisor would coach them on the issue. "My expectations for that are low," she added.
