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.

Why not though?

I'm in the US and you'd get store credit for a return outside of whatever (generous) time limit there was for returns.

It boils down to customer experience and the acknowledgement that customers have choices. Keep on denying that you're in competition with behemoths like Amazon and see how long the average John Lewis style operation is going to last. The reason people keep on going to brick and mortar shops is the personal experience. If that sucks, they'll give up.

I've only ever had good experiences with JL service. Bought a scarf in store that was a Christmas present, got home to find it had security tag on it, yes it was annoying. Took it back following week and the woman was very apologetic, took it off and without me asking for anything she gave me £10 to cover my parking and inconvenience for having to go back.
Ordered several boxes of chocolates online, when package arrived it was one box short. They were Christmas gifts for my team so wanted all to be the same. Phoned help desk, no quibble at all , apologies and sent me the missing box.
I shop at JL frequently due to the service.
Currently kicking myself that I didn't buy my very expensive fridge freezer there as it's broken just outside of manufacturer warranty, it would still be covered if I'd followed my gut and got it from JL.

We don't have JL.
I would be thrilled to have one closer than Cambridge.
I quite like the one in Nottingham though

As someone who works in a John Lewis and spoken to the cleaners, to quote them, Its not the staff or cleaners making toilets disgusting. I’ve heard what they have to clean up, and it’s after adults not children. Customers should be ashamed.

Regarding the return, M&S also won't take back any returns over the allotted time which I think is 35 days, this is quite normal nowadays.

I bought a skirt from John Lewis and wore it to a wedding. The zip got stuck when I went to the loo and for the rest of the wedding I had to wear a cardigan round my waist so that people didn't see my underwear. At the end of the event, after a huge amount of tugging and pulling I had to snip it to get myself out of it. It put a dampener on the day for me and I looked ridiculous.

When I tried to return it to JL they refused to refund me on the grounds that I had "damaged" the item, despite the fact I literally couldn't have got it off my body any other way. They were so rude about it too. Unapologetic and accusatory, as if I jammed the zip on purpose. They made it sound like I was trying to pull a fast one.

I've stopped shopping there since. There are plenty of places that still do decent customer service. They have lost hundreds of pounds of my business off the back of that one incident.

I had the same experience with returns - I had bought some baby clothes in newborn size but we didn’t use them (they were still in the packaging, unused, not taken out of the packet) and checked when I bought them that I could exchange them if I didn’t use the size. I went to exchange them and got the Spanish Inquisition - I had to explain that no I couldn’t come sooner, I wasn’t allowed to drive for six weeks and my baby has been in the intensive care…

Sad to hear the loos are bad. I remember when they used to be spotless and cleabed between each customer!

Rolling my eyes at all the "but you were 1 day over!!" responses.

It's about customer experience. JL was always (generally) more expensive than other retailers but their core customer did not mind because their customer service was exceptional and no quibbles. If you'd returned something 1 day outside the window 10 years ago, there would have been no issue whatsoever and certainly no waggy finger.

I remember calling them a couple of years ago to arrange a return for a lamp (2 people bought me the same one as a gift) a day or two outside the return window. This was a really popular product at the time which kept selling out, so it's not as though they wouldn't have sold it again immediately. But the response was very "computer says no". And yes I was outside the return window blah blah blah. But it literally wouldn't have mattered to them at all, and certainly wouldn't have been a problem a few years previously.

Obviously it's their right to have overhauled their customer service and to now be sticklers for the rules, but it's our right to decide that we aren't willing to hand over our money for a significantly worse customer experience. I used to choose to shop at JL over and above other retailers because I felt valued as a customer and because there was peace of mind in making large purchases from a company with such great customer service. I still buy things from JL on occasion but only if they are the cheapest or I can't get an item elsewhere. I think they've alienated a lot of their core demographic this way, which is partly why they are struggling so much.

Cleaners are a separate company and they are not given adequate resources. Don’t blame staff. Blame the customers who think it’s ok to smear faeces on toilet doors, the stuff they deal with is awful.

Sellers will get disciplined if they continually flout returns policies, don’t do that to people on minimum wage, or anyone.

Had the same issue with a security tag left on an item for my mum’s Christmas present (jumper) that I couldn’t therefore give her and couldn’t return in time before Xmas but the opposite response. Sent them the pictures and the receipt and asked if they could send another so I could have something for Christmas. No. Asked if they would pay for parking for the return. No.
i agree with the PP that I now buy at Amazon because I know if anything is rubbish or a problem I can send it back very easily and sometimes don’t even have to send it back at all if it’s of low value.
The cafe is now dreadful. Appallingly slow service, so many things run out by 130 that you feel like they should tell you what they do still have rather than make you go through a comedy sketch style guess work to find what you can still
have for lunch.
there is so much heritage and nostalgia for these places that you always still want to try. The cafe “the place to eat” was for me in the 80s as a child such a treat to go with my mum and I still hold on to that but every time I go there with my daughter I just think - why am I still coming here when it’s so crap and she is equally perplexed.
i don’t know if it’s Sharon’s fault - I think these institutions are very hard to turn around once decline has started. But if you don’t pay your staff properly and make them feel proud of working somewhere with a specific set of values, this is the inevitable consequence I suppose.

What happened indeed

JL was on the decline before she appeared. They started outsourcing CS - their literal calling card - in 2015. They made a loss in 2019 for the first time ever.

It's called the glass cliff. A woman/minority is hired as CEO when a business is already in crisis and going down the toilet. When she inevitably fails, a white man (ex-Tesco boss has just been hired) is hired to step in and save the day.

More than anything it’s the dogs that put me off. Who on earth thought that was a good idea.

You saw it as a telling off. She was maybe trying to be helpful and remind you of the policy in case you didn’t know so you weren’t in the same position again. I wouldn’t have been upset over this though I accept it’s often how something is said. But I always try and see the best intentions in people.

My IPad broke down near the end of the guarantee. I phoned the Liverpool branch and they asked if I could take it in. I was ‘locked down’ because of dodgy lungs so they picked it up, repaired it and brought it back. Excellent service although I acknowledge that it was a few years ago.

I did a Christmas season for JL in 2018.
I was in the menswear department and heard an assistant telling a man that although they didn’t have the correct length trousers he could unpick the hem and lengthen the short ones.
I used to work in a tailors.
I quietly took the man to one side and told him to never do that as he would have a permanent crease and to buy longer trousers and take them up.
Some of the staff are clueless.

One Christmas assistant would only work where she felt ‘comfortable.’
On Christmas Eve you have to stay late to alter all the shelves ready for the sale.
The Christmas hires are not allowed any privileges, no discount, no Christmas party.
It’s really hard work for basic pay.
And they put you on 5 hour shifts so you’re not entitled to a drink and you can’t sit down at all.
if you buy anything new from anywhere before a shift you have to hand it in and claim it back when you leave.
A manager stands at the exit and random searches are done on staff leaving.

They wanted me to stay because I had proper experience of men’s clothing but it was too much like school for me. At 8.55pm one Saturday we had done everything so were milling about waiting to be told we could leave when a manager from another department came over and shouted at us to tidy up the already perfectly tidy shelves.

That’s not right. They should have refunded you. I’ve also had unacceptable customer service at JL. I have been back but not to the shop that was awful.

You were a day over so were lucky they accepted the return. John Lewis is not what it was, the customer service is not as good and the cafe is such a let down now. About 6 years ago the cafe was packed you were lucky to get a seat, now if I go it's deserted.

Fargo79

I would love to hear the John Lewis employees side to this story.

I still buy things from JL on occasion but only if they are the cheapest or I can't get an item elsewhere. I think they've alienated a lot of their core demographic this way, which is partly why they are struggling so much

They also pissed off a lot of loyal customers when they switched credit card suppliers. You had to re-apply for a card and people who'd had it for years, using it for quite significant sums and paying it off every month were told they didn't qualify.

I realise there's no human right to have a credit card, before anyone says so. But this was done in a hamfisted way that took no account of customer loyalty.

My local Waitrose is a bit dingy (although the staff are lovely). The one down the road is bigger and much better stocked, so that's where I've started going.

I didn't bother reapplying for the credit card as I have other ones, the one they changed to was inferior and it was like applying for a completely new card, if I wanted to do that I search the market first, JL should have been more upfront about what it was. Usually when you are moved over to a different card it is all done for you, Barclaycard is changing my credit card this month and I don't have to do anything.

Yes I agree and it sounds sort of snobby. But these little things make the world go round. A friendly staff member, a coffee with a magazine. And now they are gone. Replaced by a hard edge somehow.
I have every sympathy for staff working long hours. JL was unbearably hot yesterday.

People calling me entitled and drip feeding. Neither is true. I just feel a bit lonely and sad sometimes. Used to enjoy shopping.

Surely this also highlights that customers are leaving the toilets and mother&baby space in a bad state? After I use a mother&baby space no one would know we'd been there unless they looked in the bin. Which suggests it's not just JL staff whose behaviour has worsened.