Workers who are unhappy about being let go frequently take to social media to express their frustration—and spill company secrets.
From instructing viewers in how to abuse a return policy, to informing them that there are random discounts available if they ask their server the right way, former retail and service industry workers have long shared their tips and tricks based on proprietary knowledge.
Lately, several slideshows on TikTok claiming to show former Sephora managers have spilled what the poster claims to be “company secrets”—but is it just an advertising campaign?
In one slideshow posted to TikTok by user @ShopTinSavings, the first photo shows a woman with a text overlay claiming to have been a scorned former manager at the beauty retail chain.
“After being a beloved Sephora manager for 10 years, I was just laid off for no reason,” a text overlay on the slideshow reads. “Now I’m going to reveal Sephora secrets I was told to never share.”
Among these secrets are the details of refunds allegedly available for the difference in price of an item within two weeks of it going on sale, free 15-minute makeover services, advice to avoid tester products and free services for those who have reached a certain level of the beauty retailer’s rewards program.
“If an item goes on sale up to two weeks after you purchase it, you’re entitled to a refund of the difference,” a text overlay on one photo in the carousel reads.
However, a final image in the carousel instructs viewers to download a shopping app—Shop Tin Savings—with little explanation as to how this app has been useful to the poster.
In fact, the whole profile, with the handle @ShopTinSavings, includes slideshows claiming to be made by different women who have worked for Sephora and then been laid off, only to share what they describe as company secrets. The last slide in each carousel encourages viewers to download the shopping app, which is linked in the biography section of the profile.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @ShopTinSavings via TikTok direct message, and to Sephora via email regarding the video.
Several viewers bought in to the claim that the woman featured in the video was a former Sephora employee, and wrote that they had “real tea” to share that would make what is included in the video pale in comparison.
“I useto work for them online support,” one commenter wrote. “I got better tea lol.”
“This isn’t tea enough,” another wrote. “Spill some more.”
“I knew all this, but thank you,” one said.
Some viewers questioned the advice given by the poster about shopping at Sephora, especially when it comes to tester products, as others who claim to work for the retailer have called out much of the information as flat-out wrong.
“Just out of curiosity; don’t they use the testers/ samples for the make overs?” one commenter wrote.
“I work at Sephora and no we don’t do free make overs for rouge or vips,” another said. “We have paid services now. And we sanitize testers!”
“I’m rouge and they took out the free makeovers benefit of the membership?” a commenter wrote.
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*First Published: Feb 16, 2024, 1:00 pm CST
Brooke Sjoberg
Brooke Sjoberg is a freelance writer for the Daily Dot. She graduated with her Bachelors in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020.
