John Lewis: never mind your Christmas advert, I’d just be pleased with some customer service

[Thosesummernights]

First world issues I know but what on earth has happened to JL customer service?

Went in store to order a new bed, couldn’t find anyone on the shop floor to assist. Eventually tracked a member of the team down to help but she really didn’t want to and kept directing us to the website. We were looking for mattresses that could be delivered within a certain timeframe.

We’ve since had on going issues with the order and accessing their customer service team is impossible. They just don’t care anymore. There’s no desire to help or assist which is what JL was known for.

Still waiting for a call back. Chased and chased. Now receiving emails asking for more details of the issue when all I want to do is actually speak to someone. If they are reducing face to face or even phone service then I’d rather go elsewhere and not pay the price tickets.

Another very unhappy ex JL customer - woeful customer service. Such a shame. Now actively avoid spending money there.

I like your ideas @Crikeyalmighty shall we take over the management?? 😂

I think JL have tried too hard to be like other retailers, they want to be all hip and trendy and less formal than they used to be. Big mistake. Their target market, mostly middle aged women I would say, don’t want that as is evident from this thread. Bring back well trained, smartly dressed staff who know their products inside out and will actually engage with and sell to customers. Bring back being able to speak to staff on the shop floor. Bring back section managers who keep an eye on customers needing help and directing staff accordingly. It’s not difficult.

It's not an excuse, it's a reason. Have you lived on minimum wage? And I don't mean for a summer or couple of years, I mean for years and years.

While I agree with you that being clean and brushing hair etc cost nothing, hair cuts do for a start.

And of course having clean clothes costs money! When you're given one uniform (or you have to buy it yourself to start with) for a 40 hour week and you need to wear it every day, then you've got to either lay out for more or wash and dry them overnight, I have faced exactly the same in social care, min wage, one uniform and so I either had to manage to wash and dry it between 11pm when I got home and 6.30am when I had to set off again, or pay out and buy more myself. It costs to keep washing and drying daily, and earning minimum wage doesn't give you the best shot.
Maybe the bloody companies should be supplying enough uniforms of a decent standard and not paying the least they can get away with if they want to give the image of being 'smart', instead of cutting costs to the bone and expecting their staff to subsidise their image at their own expense.
Clearly the company are not willing to invest in their own image via their staff (how much does the advert cost I wonder?) So why on earth would their staff invest in the company?! When the company starts making an effort then maybe the staff will?

@bendmeoverbackwards absolutely . Focus on your target market-and what would or could make you unique. Create 'an experience' - we do have a business and it's very successful in its genre but 'niche' - they need to bring in some focus groups like the ladies here who really really are their target market !! They need to get out into Europe and see what others are doing . I do appreciate it's not easy with huge overheads , but having poor customer service isa death knell to a business like this-ditch the areas that cause a lot of hassle and requires ton of customer service - sometimes beyond your control.

@Carnewb I totally agree

Customer service cost money and we don’t want to pay for it
all retailers are the same trying to keep cost down and still maintain a profit margin
look at how many have gone bust

having worked in customer services I’d say 80% of the calls were ether unreasonable expectations of what they wanted, irrelevant or could of very easily got the info elsewhere
I’m sure some people have nothing better to do

Yeah and they spend all the time with the staff getting info then go and buy it online elsewhere

I worked there for ten years in the 90's. It was totally different then, staff on every department stood waiting to help customers, some great customer service, I remember one lady buying a large photo frame and tripping and dropping in on the way to her car, the department manager gave her a free one goodwill, that wouldn't happen now !

I was in John Lewis yesterday and as I was leaving someone asked a member of staff, who was positioned by the entrance to the store where Christmas decorations were… they didn’t know! I was so embarrassed for them I had to step in and help the customer, they were just upstairs in the massive Christmas section. the member of staff just shrugged their shoulders. Forget scruffy dress code a can do attitude matters a whole lot more! By contrast the lady in children’s wear helped my daughter find shoes and twice colleague’s asked her if she should have gone home as her shift was done. She was so lovely and I felt bad that she had gone out of her way to help me. Both were young girls but such contrasting attitudes!

I was going to buy a mattress and divan base from them and ticked the recycle box for the old mattress and divan. But I checked with them about the recycling because it appeared to happen when the mattress was delivered first. Trouble was that the divan base was to be delivered six weeks later.

Turns out they'd take the old mattress and divan but would then leave us waiting six weeks for a new divan base with our mattress on the floor. Customer service was hopeless. I bought elsewhere.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2264755-what-on-earth-has-happened-to-john-lewis-customer-service

it’s been noted on here for over a decade how aweful the service is

How can you find Sharon White's email?

It is really sad that JL has ceased to be the store it once was but hardly surprising. Despite what people say most of them were happy to go and do their investigations into products in JL and then order the item more cheaply online.

Ordered from Argos/habitat recently and was very impressed with the customer service

@rwalker I don't disagree with that too, which is why I would ditch the stuff like electricals, beds etc.

I myself have made a conscious effort to not get everything from Amazon recently

You don't need a hair cut_ tie it back/pin it up. It just needs to be clean and neat. The internet is full of cheap trousers/skirts and shirts. You can get them new or second hand for less than a £5. Employers shouldn't be expected to provide several uniforms for temporary staff when they are generic items- as John Lewis are. It's not unreasonable to expect staff to have a couple of plain white shirts/blouses and black skirt/trousers. It's an excuse. If it was a particular uniform with branding or specialist clothing then that's different but not generic clothing. People expect everything today.

Not that interesting but popped into Dreams today. The service was excellent and we ended up spending more than we had planned on a mattress. They even entertained my daughter while we filled in the paperwork. Take note JL

Ah that's good to hear! I love Tiptree products, glad to know that they are one of the good ones.

Yeah I bought a cooker from JL well over a decade ago and CS was a nightmare, both in a routine admin way that was normal for them and in their inability to resolve any unexpected issues. I was able to contact the single individual who was responsible and she was unable to resolve it because the system was the way it was.

Iirc the cooker failed, having it collected and replaced took many many weeks and in the end I had to go elsewhere. Iirc the collection and replacement would have been weeks apart, possibly because it required two different teams collecting and delivering from different locations, who didn't work on weekends. And to return it for a refund, as I think I had to do in the end because it was taking too long and my cooker wasn't working, was equally fraught.

Even as this was happening to me any time I told anyone I was told how marvellous they were, like people just couldn't take it in that I wasn't having a marvellous experience.

I love JL and Waitrose irl but some less visible aspects of CS have been poor for a long time.

I know this is an old thread but I have also just had shocking customer service from them. Tried to return a phone-bag whose strap had fallen off three months after purchase. Was accused of breaking it myself, told JohnLewis wouldn’t refund without a receipt (even though I had proof of purchase on my bank statement and the law says you do not need a receipt where goods are defective) and does not do “good-will” refunds, absolutely no apology that the bag had broken so soon after purchase. Generally tried to make me feel like a borderline scam merchant. I will never shop there again.