Kiehl's Arvostelua 

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience warrants it.

I am a long-standing Kiehl’s customer (including Everest-tier loyalty status) and have previously engaged actively with the brand, including its recycling programme.

In December 2025, I placed orders linked to a promotional offer. The associated gifts were not received, and what followed was a prolonged and unnecessarily difficult process to resolve the issue.

Key points:
- I raised a legitimate concern about the promotion not being honoured
- Initial responses relied on generic policy explanations rather than addressing the issue
- Escalation was required to obtain meaningful engagement
- Items eventually sent were documented as 2023 promotional stock, not aligned with the 2025 offer
- The complaint was closed without a clear, reasoned outcome

After further escalation (including formal correspondence), a goodwill gesture was eventually promised.

However:
- Nothing was dispatched within the stated timeframe
- I had to chase for an update
- No response was provided to my follow-up
- The package was ultimately sent several weeks late

When it did arrive, the contents were a generic selection of samples, which did not feel proportionate given the history and level of escalation involved.

While I did eventually receive something, the overall experience was characterised by:
• poor communication
• lack of ownership
• delayed follow-through
• inadequate resolution

Most disappointing is that this could have been resolved quickly and simply with a small amount of discretion.

Instead, it became a protracted process that fell well below expectations for a premium brand.

Update (2 April 2026):

The goodwill gesture referenced by Kiehl’s in their response below was dispatched several weeks later than indicated, without any response to my follow-up enquiry, and arrived via Evri with no accompanying note or context, consisting of a standard selection of samples.

Kiehl’s state that this matter has been resolved “as fully as we are able”; however, that position is difficult to reconcile with the delays, lack of communication, and the nature of the resolution ultimately provided. The tone of their response is consistent with the approach taken throughout the process.

-Products are just highly overpriced now.
-No shops in the area to buy the product.
-Very high delivery time.Will take like 10 days to even ship out a product.
-unreliable stock, products are never in.
-Terrible loyalty system.
-Once I took 10 product bottles to the shop in exchange to loyalty points and they didn’t even process it.

Ik probeer continue de klantenservice te bereiken en heb hiervoor een nederlands telefoonnummer.
Ze nemen gewoon niet op en verbreken de verbinding.
Ontzetten vervelend en ik voel me als klant derderangs.
Wel graag willen verkopen!

Ik ben bij deze klant af!!!

I am extremely disappointed with Kiehl’s customer service.

About 1.5 years ago I experienced an allergic reaction to two Kiehl’s products. According to their policy, I returned the products as instructed so that a refund could be processed. The products were received by Kiehl’s, but since then I have still not received my refund.

Over the past year and a half I have contacted customer service multiple times, but the issue remains unresolved and I rarely receive a meaningful response.

For a brand that presents itself as premium and customer-focused, this experience has been very disappointing. I simply expect the company to honor the policy they communicated and process the refund for the returned products.

I hope this review encourages Kiehl’s to finally resolve this matter.

Ich bin seit vielen Jahren Kunde bei Kiehl's, da ich die Produkte sehr schätze. Meine jüngste Erfahrung mit Ihrem Kundenservice war jedoch extrem enttäuschend und inakzeptabel.
Ich musste fast vier Wochen auf mein Paket warten, nur um dann zu erfahren, dass es bereits im Paketshop zugestellt worden war – ohne jegliche Benachrichtigung. Das Paket wurde anschließend zurückgesendet, wiederum ohne Information an mich. Erst durch meine Nachfrage am Telefon wurde mir dies überhaupt mitgeteilt.
Als „Entschädigung“ wurden mir 20 % angeboten. Da die damalige Aktion, bei der ich bestellt hatte, jedoch deutlich höher war, müsste ich für die gleichen Produkte bei einer Neubestellung mehr bezahlen. Dies ist keine faire Entschädigung, sondern verschlimmert die Situation nur.
Der Kundenservice konnte mir weder helfen noch eine Lösung anbieten. Ich erwarte, dass solche Vorfälle ernst genommen werden, und erwarte eine angemessene Lösung, die meinem tatsächlichen Schaden gerecht wird.

Ondanks alle reviews over niet-ontvangen pakketjes heb ik toch besteld en bij mij is het gewoon allemaal goed gegaan. Mijn pakket een paar dagen na bestellen ontvangen en ben heel blij met alles! Fijne producten die mijn huid een mooie glow geven. Ook de gratis samples zijn geweldig.

Never ordering again, unsubscribed.
Ordered an item with £10 1day express delivery, delivery guaranteed even over the weekend. I placed the order on Thursday 11:30am, they waited until Friday NIGHT, 10PM to ship the parcel. On Saturday night I still have no notification of the courier used to ship my parcel or tracking number. No updares, nothing. Unreliable to say the very least. Save your money. Order KIEB894198
UPDATE: I stand by my review. There was zero communication from you, which is incredibly frustrating. I didn't even know what courier was delivering, let alone the tracking number, that was never sent to me. Parcel was late. Product has been left outside my door dispite the fact I NEVER authorised. Nobody rang the intercom or knocked on the door, despite the fact I was home. Horrible service start to finish. After all this mess the best the could do was refund the shipping charges. Mediocre and underwhelming response at best.

Don't order on their website! If (or rather, when) something goes wrong, they won’t fix it, but still keep your money. I had an item missing in my last order, I’ve written “customer service” (quotation marks because I don’t believe it actually exists at Kiehls) 3 times now, first time more than a month ago, and I haven’t heard anything back.
There are so many other great skincare brands out there, choose something else. Kiehls clearly doesn’t value their customers at all.

UPDATE 220226: I find it noticeable that Kiehls are quick to answer here, where their poor service and ethics are on display, but still haven’t replied to my last three email which now is almost 2 months since I sent the first one. So a company that only “cares” about its customers when their business approaches are on display i.e. for their own benefit. Just confirms to me that they don’t care about their customers at all.
I’ve provided them with the requested information, let’s see if i then hear something..

UPDATE 250226: of course Kiehls replies to my review that they haven’t received any emails from me. I have just double checked my sent folder and I have written to kiehls @ info.kiehls.com (the email address they themselves have provided for contact via the order confirmation and I haven’t gotten any ‘failure to deliver’ back so it must have gone through); twice on January 9th, once on January 23rd and again on Feb 1st. So four emails in total and they claim they cannot find any of them? Well, that simply confirms the mess that is their “customer service”! Never again!!

Products are good but customer service is mediocre. The response consisted mainly of pointing to the terms and conditions, with no meaningful attempt to resolve the issue or show genuine consideration for the customer. It felt procedural rather than customer-oriented.

I purchased three items under a “3 for 2” promotion (one item at £49 and two items at £40 each). The total charged was £89.
Two of the £40 items had an abnormal, strong smell that made them unusable. Customer service staff acknowledged the issue (“the product has an issue”) and accepted the returns for inspection.
However, after returning the two faulty items, I was only refunded £40. This effectively re-priced the remaining £49 item at full price, even though I only placed the order because of the promotion and the bundled discount.
Customer service refused to provide a clear written breakdown of how the refund was calculated under the promotion (i.e., which item was treated as the “free” one and how the promotion was re-applied after the return).
I suggested fair alternatives multiple times:
• A proportional refund (e.g., roughly 2/3 of the total paid, reflecting the bundle structure).
• An exchange for other products of similar value (even if I topped up the difference).
• Or simply returning the remaining product and refunding the entire order amount.
Despite these reasonable requests and my clear explanation, they repeatedly said they could do nothing more. Moreover, I didn’t receive any formal response about the returned products or inspection results—I only learned about the partial refund through my bank notification. I had to call customer service myself to follow up, and while they confirmed the product had an issue, this still didn’t lead to any adjustment in the refund.
I hope Kiehl’s reviews how they handle promotional refunds on faulty goods to better support customers.

Placed an order about 10 minutes ago. Offer if you spend over £75 you get a gift. Hadn’t seen its not automatically added so checked out without using the code. Phoned customer services to ask for them to add. Can’t add to order, nor can they cancel so I can reorder and get the gift. Extremely unhelpful and very disappointing.

The advent calendar really disappoints every day

Gave it to day 9 giving them the benefit to pull a rabbit out the hat

THAT DID NOT HAPPEN

You get better free samples when you purchase in the shop

Waste of money

Similar to other customers' experience, I purchased products on 2 Dec over £80 expecting one of the gift sets. The choice didn't pop up at check out even though I closed the browser, deleted all the cache and restarted a few times. I went ahead to finish the check out because the sale ended on 2 Dec and I hoped I could contact the CS to sort it out.

The answer from CS was, as expected, sorry there was nothing they could do.

Again, the issue was, the options for the complementary gift did not show up at check out ! It was not my problem and my case was not an independent case.

Was it a scam ?

I have been purchasing online at their website for awhile and now the services or their website went downhill.

I'm a loyalty customer and ordered my usual products to avail the Black Friday promotion - at check out there was no option to add my gift (even though I had met the requirements). So I proceeded with the order as I needed the products, presuming I could just contact customer services to advise of the website error and that they would add my due gift.
Customer services said that they couldn't do that and tried to suggest it was my fault for not adding the gift to my order - even when I advised that the option wasnt offered on the website.
Back and forth with no concern or help from them other than returning my order if I didnt want it!
Absolutely baffling lack of customer service.

First purchase from this company. I was very excited. Spent over £80 on various goods.

Free gift was promised but no option provided at checkout despite it being very clear throughout the purchase journey that I would be eligible for it.

Made contact with customer services. Rather poor excuses were provided and still not resolved. The excuses range from the gift was out of stock to I purchased after the date. Both are strongly incorrect and the transaction history proves the same.

Really not what I was expecting - lots of marketing razzmatazz with poor service delivery.

I placed an order with Kiehl’s totaling £109.20, order number KIEB555854. The website stated that orders over £80 qualify for a free gift, which I selected. It also allowed me to choose two free samples, which I did. Today, I received my order but the free samples and the free gift were missing.

I contacted customer service and spoke to a representative named Luis (or Lewis). His attitude was defensive, condescending, and judgmental throughout the call. He repeatedly insisted that according to the Terms & Conditions, because I used a £15 voucher, I was not eligible to receive the free gift or samples. However, after applying the voucher, my total was still £94.20, which is well over £80.

When purchasing beauty products, very few customers read the Terms & Conditions as if it were an insurance policy. Why did the website allow me to select the free gift and samples without preventing it? Why was there no message informing me that using a promotional voucher would disqualify me from these offers?

Kiehl’s needs to improve their ordering system and customer service. Luis should undergo training on how to provide proper customer care. This was the worst experience I have had with a customer service agent—he was rude, condescending, and aggressive. Additionally, I received an email today offering 30% off with the same free gift and samples promotion, which adds to the confusion.

The wrost cusromer service ever . You would think the good brand would have the good customer service but its rubbish . They dont respond, they dont care about their customers its time to find diferend brand

As you can see from the dozens of poor reviews this company offers appalling service on what is a luxury item over priced item.

After their website had a technical issue they did not include a Black Friday free gift I selected on a £140 order. The customers service team were dismissive and refused to do anything.

I have now returned the products for a refund.

What’s the point of being an “Everest” rewards member if their just treat people so badly. What a joke this company is.

Please don’t bother replying with “reach out to us” as I already did that.

My order showed up completely destroyed!! the box was crushed, the product was ruined, and the whole thing was a total mess. This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, which makes it even more infuriating. And when I contacted Kiehl’s, they had the nerve to offer me 10% off another order as if that would fix anything. Absolutely ridiculous. This was my first order, and I can promise you it will be my last.

When I questioned the 10% they never responded

Has anyone else noticed that when black friday comes along or there's another discount on offer the big items - like creme du corps refillable - are 'out of stock'. I had it in my basket last night but when i got my VIP access code this morning it disappeared --shocker! this is now the third time this has happened - now either it's an amazing coincidence or a marketing tool. because, guess what, it will become available just after the offers end. it has happened before so i will wait and see next week. Odd that Kiehls doesnt think 'one of their most popular products' might be in demand over black friday. we are not fooled.