To never buy anything from John Lewis ever again?

I had a crap experience the other day, which actually led me to having an argument with the cashier I’m embarrassed to say
I was stood in a queue for over 20 minutes ( first in line ) whilst cashier no 1 tried to get somebody already at the till to sign up to the John Lewis card, and she just couldn’t do it, and the other two cashiers were chatting over a till trying to sort something it seemed
A Lady comes over and asks for help to find bedding - one of the chatting cashiers goes to help her then brings her back to the till and serves her
I’ve got upset and said excuse me we have been waiting in line for over 20 minutes get this lady just walked over and you have served her whilst we are just standing here
she should’ve asked her to wait at the back of the queue with her shopping
met with some nasty comments from the cashier,then shouted she was meant to be on a break
I was already hot and tired, and couldn’t leave the queue because I was purchasing something on behalf of a friend’s grandmother who couldn’t get out
theur stores are also boiling hot, no air-conditioning, and their customer service has definitely gone down as of late !

I agree, they are awful now.

We have a John Lewis credit card that we use for all purchases, so get JL vouchers to spend there. So I keep going back, but every single time seems to be a bad experience lately.

The electronics department at my local JL is like a depressing wasteland. I went in trying to buy a product that cost around £300, and could find nobody to help me, despite wandering around for ages. I gave up, and bought the item from Amazon in the end (they actually have great customer service).

We’ve decided to save the vouchers to buy Christmas food, but I’m considering switching credit cards actually, as even getting the items “free” I’m finding it too much hassle.

Have you been into the store? We had a much better experience doing that. Although we got fobbed off by the nursery department who said we needed to contact the manufacturer, we went upstairs to customer services. After politely explaining that we really couldn't be without a car seat they were great! They gave us each a voucher for tea and cake so we could go and have a coffee whilst they sorted everything out. Fast forward an hour and two members of staff met us in the customer collections department, inspected our car seat in our car and agreed it was faulty. They then ordered a replacement to be delivered to the store the next day and processed the exchange. We came back the following day, picked it up the new seat and they removed the faulty one to go back to the manufacturer.

It was a pain because we needed to arrange childcare for DD as we couldn't take her in the car because of the seat, but they sorted it out so smoothly once the ball was rolling.

The baby car seat we had when DD was a baby also developed a fault whilst it was under warranty. I brought it into store and as they had it in stock they swapped it then and there.

We commented at the time it was old school John Lewis!

I used to always buy white goods from John Lewis, even if they were more expensive as I wanted a smooth customer service experience. But then they outsourced their delivery and the experience was terrible. Never again. I too use a local independent retailer now who are brilliant.

I was just about to say that I bought a washing machine and tumbler dryer from. AO recently and the young men who delivered were lovely. My home ( Victorian) is a bit of a pain to get large items into, but they were great. They removed the old ones, hooked up the new ones and tested them. They really were 1st class.

We had a very good experience with them when some expensive hard flooring was badly laid. They came to inspect it (or rather sent the sub contractor) and it was all taken up and replaced.

The one thing that I really miss is being able to be connected to my local stores to check on stock or just ask for advice (on household items.)

My entire house is almost furnished by JL and over the years I've missed being able to talk to Mr/Mrs X on flooring/ soft furnishings/electrical.

The call centre in Glasgow (?) is hopeless on the whole and if there is an issue, you're passed from pillar to post having to start the whole conversation from scratch. That's a REAL issue- not being able to speak to the same person about the same issue.

Can’t say I’ve noticed. Last year bought a relatively expensive wheelie cabin bag as a present - the handle broke the first time it was used. Took it back, refund, no question.
Also last🎄ordered a big requested item as a present for a dd. Ordered around 8 pm, was delivered to her by 11 am next morning!

I would suggest that anyone who is having problems with John Lewis customer services submits a Subject Access Request to them. Turns out they are not always truthful in the information they record about your interactions, particularly on the phone or in person where you are unable to provide evidence to the contrary. I will never use them again.

I believe they used to have an excellent in house team for delivery and installation of white goods but that is no longer the case.This has been outsourced and this explains the difference.

The failure of Debenhams and BHS was literally nothing to do with customer service. They were bought, asset stripped, loaded with debt, resold on the stock market and collapsed. Has John Lewis been bought by private equity investors?

I got an exchange on a faulty lamp, 2 years old and under warranty, arranged over live chat and ready to collect from store the next day. Great service!

I am with you OP. I got some uniform from there and it has been horrible quality and was falling apart in 2 months. After endless customer support calls I have given up and mended it myself. Tesco uniform is far better and they would exchange if similar happened. Never going back again.

Memo For years and years John Lewis was considered the one and only shop to buy for the home, in particular electrical and white goods. This was because they offered a customer service that was second to none. This is now no longer the case which is why we ARE shopping elsewhere.

Blimey, that was really rude! No doubt if you said something like "are you interested in doing your job properly or being rude to customers" they'd say you were being abusive.

Yes I had it with 02 once - they said "oh not that doesn't apply to us". Like you I stood my ground and said they didn't have an exemption from the law. They went off to have a confab, came back, and gave me my replacement phone. They rely on people not knowing their rights and being compliant.

I agree, YANBU. But I just think 'customer service' is a thing of the past with most of these name High Street retailers, unfortunately.

It should be easier than ever in these days of instant communication, but I've had similar experience with other outlets and just yearn for the days when you could open up a phonebook, ring your local branch, and speak to a human being who was more than happy to help.

A sad indictment of our times.

(edited for typo)

It is still the case. Retailers try it on. The manufacturer's warranty is IN ADDITION to the protections you have by law under the Consumer Rights Act.

If you ever have a problem with an appliance, it is worth looking at the Which? advice about buying goods. Of course, you have to get through to the retailer (often they have an IVR which directs you to the manufacturer) but they can't wriggle out of it. Customer can choose what they want to do.

I had the same issue. Fault with washing machine within a year and palmed me off to the manufacturer. Never got it sorted and had to replace at full cost. I think they’re crap.

I've just had an awful experience too - spoken to six different people who have each given me a different answer. I've given up trying to get anything back (with about £40), but I'll never shop there again. I just don't trust them anymore.

It's annoying as I'm an ex partner and we really tried hard with customer service, if only cos our bonus depended on it! Its awful what they've become and the lack of bonus is pretty reflective of that.

Never had any problems. You need to select the correct service at the time of ordering, and check the spec - for instance we had an oven replaced recently, paid the extra to have the old one removed, checked the spec to see what access they would need to electrics etc.

Yes this! I had an absolute saga with curries over a washing machine, they tried to get me to jump through 500 hoops with the manufacturer. I stood my ground that it was curries fault. The manager tutted and laughed at me, I had to drive to the store on 6 occasions as the phone help never got answered and fight tooth and nail for the refund. Eventually I resorted to google reviews and tweets- amazingly I got an email with a refund within the hour…. I’ll never use curry’s again!

Awful place. With so many fantastic retailers to choose from, there's no need to even consider JL.

It's such a shame. My dad wouldn't buy his electronics anywhere but JL for years because of the great customer service. I remember a visit to the store always felt a bit luxury and exciting. Wouldn't touch it with a bargepole now.

YANBU.

It's gone really down hill.

I had my John Lewis Mega-Shit Customer Contempt experience some years ago (MN threads: passim) and we haven't bought anything from them since.

If it's of interest, in order to sort out the fiasco I eventually emailed the CEO's office and member of their team dealt with it much more efficiently and politely than the odious arseholes in their 'customer care' dept, the vileness of which passeth understanding.