Blimey! John Lewis , what happened?

[eggplant16]

I had to return an item today. I was one day over the 30 days, a telling off from the assistant who said " On this occasion I'll allow it".
The cafe! 6 people doing nothing, chatting, one poor woman collecting trays and washing up. I ordered 2 things, they were wrong. The tray was wet, the knife was dirty.
I have every sympathy for people on their feet all day btw.

It’s gone down the drain. The loos there are always disgusting. The cafe area always a mess.

The art of service has gone down the pan I'm afraid.

I must admit the last few times I’ve been to the John Lewis in Stratford (East London) the disabled toilet is always out of use & the toilets generally don’t look clean. The mother & baby area is often a mess. I don’t know what’s happened.

Agree with this! My local stores toilets are filthy and unmanaged.

The café situation I agree, however You returned an item outside the 30 day returns period and expected them to just roll out the red carpet? What exactly stopped you from doing this the last month? (get the violins for some wordy reason)

On behalf of everyone who works in retail who has to deal with people such as yourself who cannot fathom why they should be denied their own way, you are ridiculous.

Hell why don’t they just print ‘return whenever you like because you’ll only cause a scene if you don’t get your own way’.

I'm sure the assistant didn't actually tell you off, as in 'You're a naughty girl!' did they? Just pointed out that you should have returned it within the 30 days...which you should have.

You didn't 'have' to return it today, you 'had' to return it yesterday or before, but they did you a favour by allowing you to return something outside the policy and rather than being grateful you're moaning about it?

Perhaps constantly dealing with entitled people who think they deserve special treatment above and beyond everyone else makes it hard to keep giving wonderful customer service?

The perks that use to make it worth working at JL are no longer and the salary without those perks is pretty poor, making hiring and retaining motivated staff a challenge!

The huge increase in theft has made stores increasingly unprofitable. 60% of their revenue is online. Members of the public are so rude and challenging that it is hard to get good staff.
Those of you who think it has gone down the pan won't have to go anymore as their stores disappear from the town centres

I've lately found jl staff super helpful. The call centre is a pain though.

JL staff get £11.55 an hour, they are one of the lowest paid retailers.

They've given you a refund when you weren't entitled to one so bent the rules to help you out?
That's very good customer service & not many companies would do that. Did she actually 'tell you off' or was she trying to explain the returns policy .

The cafe I can agree with. Most hospitality is like that. Bear in mind they are mainly very young on minimum wage on rubbish terms. Did you tell them your order was wrong & ask them to change it?

I had to return an item today. I was one day over the 30 days, a telling off from the assistant who said " On this occasion I'll allow it".
What are you complaining about here? She did you a big favour she was under no obligation to do. Hope she doesn't get in trouble for it

The last time we were in John Lewis, I really wanted some advice about a potential new iPad. It was like the Marie Celeste. The only member of staff anywhere around was the Samsung TV rep. The cafe was pretty bereft of goods and none too clean.

I was in Kingston JL today and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. The cafe staff in Huffkins were lovely too.
Admittedly the loos are a bit iffy, but other than that it was a typical JL experience.
OP you were a day late with your return. You were outside the terms of the contract so the fact you received a refund is more than fair.

Staff in all retail work bloody hard for not great £. I think they are amazing.

either she accepts it or she doesn’t accept it. What OP is complaining about is that she’s being holier than thou about it which is unnecessary. She just had to be polite and neutral regardless of which option she chose

I disagree. Perfectly reasonable of her to point out she was doing it above and beyond normal service and therefore to warn the OP she won't always get lucky and have someone bend the rules for her.

Oh for Gods sake. I was one day over. There was no red carpet or violins.

Hilarious really ,sort of.

So therefore you weren’t entitled to a refund under their policy and the member of staff went above and beyond to give you one…yet you’re still complaining.

I’m guessing this is more of a case of you not liking that it was pointed out by her that you’re in the wrong and she was doing you a favour.

Obviously ,yes, Very quietly and politely as usual.

I was very surprised and not in a good way that my local JL is allowing dogs in. And I don't mean guide dogs.

I avoid JL now as their service is down the toilet they go out their way to be unhelpful. Definitely not the institution that it once was!!

OK Just to be clear here....the item was part of a spend via a personal shopper.
Due to the change in weather some of it proved unsuitable and therefore had to be returned. The PS assured me " don't worry if you go a few days over"
I have been polite and respectful through out. Sad state of affairs.

love JL.... only decent thing on the high street.

You were one day over. They are absolutely within their rights to decline the return altogether. The sales assistant bent the rules for you and you should be relieved/ grateful. The reason you got a slap on the wrist is to encourage you not to miss the 30 day window in future. They need to be applying their cut off to some degree or next time you could just make a scene saying, “well Brenda in menswear allowed it last time”.