To be livid with this so called customer service from John Lewis

[ManiDeadi]

I'm trying to be organised, so I ordered some Christmas presents from John Lewis online. I got them delivered the other day, and when I opened up the package, two of the boxes were completely bashed up and had holes in them, so there is no way I can present them to someone as a gift.

I decided to email customer services to complain, as the items were just lolling around in a massive bag, so I felt it was JL's fault for them not being packaged correctly.

Here is what I got in return:

Dear Ms XX,

You do realise that it is only October. Therefore, you have 2 months to arrange Christmas presents. So calm down. I will be more than happy to arrange a replacement order to be sent to you. Please advise if you would like me to arrange a courier collection or packet post return for the damaged goods..

I look forward to your reply.

how fucking patronising, "so calm down"....

i would be tempted to send a copy of the reply to someone fairly high up the chain, it doesn't matter if it were summer and you were ordering christmas presents, it is inconvenient to receive something that is damaged and have to arrange for an exchange...

YANBU

I know, I just want to know who to complain to.

I don't want to send another email and it ends up going to one of her colleagues or something.

I worked in retail for years and if no-one would have ever pulled a stunt like that.

It was a really fair email that I sent as well - very calm and just explaining the situation.

I've never had anything but great service from JL.

Reading that response my first instinct is that you got a "joke" response by mistake. What did your email say? Were you maybe a bit OTT?

patronising little shit

No I wasn't OTT at all, but even if I was, all customers should be met with the same level of service.

Also, very bad form to be even typing out "joke" emails if there is a chance they could end up in a customers inbox IMO.

Sorry, x post ref your mail. If it were me I'd phone and ask to speak to a supervisor. I think the damaged in transit bit is fine TBH, it happens, but I suspect you'll get some vouchers as a result of that email!

just seen that they have a "customer excellence manage"

Bina Kantaria
Customer Excellence Manager
John Lewis PLC
171 Victoria Street
London SW1E 5NN

and head of online selling

Jonathon Brown
Head of Online Selling
John Lewis PLC
171 Victoria Street
London SW1E 5NN

i would be tempted to send a copy of the email to both, don't go overboard or anything but just send a copy saying thought they would be interested in a reply you had to a recent complaint....
www.johnlewis.com/Help/Help.aspx?HelpId=6#contact

I think its quite funny TBH

At least it proves they've read yor email.

And to be livid over it...

Really?

[resists urge to shout GET A GRIP]

[fails]

It definitely reads as someone's 'joke' response which was sent by mistake but YANBU, they should never have typed it even in jest.

Hold out for vouchers!

You could try and "guess" those email addresses too if it saves time - worst case scenario is that they bounce back, in which case your server will tell you. But if you can work out the "formula" of an email address, its generally consistent across the company/server.

So if your email came from [email protected], then you can be fairly sure the email address is [email protected]

etc...

Sorry but it did make me smile!

it is patronising but quite funny, what did you write in your email? maybe you came across rude / ott?

The worlds gorn mad...

Vouchers?

For what ? ummmm errrr hurt feelings?

I'm not exactly crying into my coffee FGS!!!

I'm annoyed because I think that if you have a complaint and you write to customer services, that you should get a polite and respectful response.

Even more so if you were polite and respectful in your initial contact.

Otherwise WTF is the point in having a customer service department?

They are trained to be polite and sort things out.

Calm down.

They are trained to be polite and sort things out

I think that's part of the problem - they're often not trained. Hope it's resolved - I certainly would be complaining about a response like that. It sounds like something a stroppy 14 year old would say in my class.

My gran would write calm down, its very motherly.

It didn't tell you to fuck off.

And they're looking forard to your response (bet they're not now though)

Do calm down, you just ring JL they give you a returns number then send a replacement.

If that email is really from jl then forward it to customer care and whoever sent it will be in huge trouble.

Things break in the post, they send a replacement. Big deal.

The OP didn't say she expected vouchers someone else mentioned that....and i don't think it is unreasonable to expect someone to be polite to you in an email, you are the customer and they are providing a service....

And it is a bit rich of someone who works in retail to say "it is only october" the shelves have been stacked with Christmas merchandise since the beginning of September.

getting on this thread, dying to know what happens

Yeah but how was I meant to get a replacement if I didn't tell them that the stuff had broken?

That's why I sent them an email in the first place.

"If that email is really from jl" - who else would it be from??

Halloweese, what shpould the OP have done differently then?

It's clear: the OP should have got a grip and a sense of humour - after all, why expect a customer services department to be courteous and polite?

There are some very weird responses to the OP's quite reasonably being upset on here.

How do they know you're not leaving next week to spend Nov/Dec (and Christmas!) with family or friends abroad? How do they decide you have 2 months in which to organise things?

My Ds2 was born at the beginning of Dec (a week early) and I had Christmas sorted by October because I knew I would be too big/awkward to shop in Nov and not want to in Dec with a newborn. I would be livid and demanding an apology.

You should sue.