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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

or is John Lewis not playing fair?

30 replies

JojoLapin · 23/01/2012 20:02

I bought a butler tray/side table yesterday for £125. I picked up their autumn/winter catalogue at the same time. Once at home, I saw that my tray was pictured in it, priced at £99. I called JL this morning and their reply was that it was in their right to change prices at any time they wish to do so and that it was pretty much tough for me.. Fair enough for Ryan Air to jump up prices despite having advertised them but not what I expect from good old JL.... Their catalogue is still current, we are still in Winter. Shouldn't they wait for their new season and catalogue before upping their prices (quite a radical increase too) or AIBU?

OP posts:
cookcleanerchaufferetc · 23/01/2012 20:04

Buy another one and take it back using the original receipt!

cheesesarnie · 23/01/2012 20:07

return it and buy the cheaper one.

Original poster
JojoLapin · 23/01/2012 20:10

It was the last one but also, the price is £125, despite being advertised in the catalogue at £99. JL says that it is in their right as a disclaimer is printed somewhere in the catalogue. I do not dispute that, I just thought that they were above such practice as it is quite wrong...

OP posts:
SecretNutellaFix · 23/01/2012 20:13

yabu. Every catalogue printed will have a disclamer in it, usually very small print.

FWIW- where I work the prices do get increased in the fortnight before a new catalogue launches.

If it's advertised on the website as £125 and you didn't have a paper copy, would you still be complaining?

foxtrottango · 23/01/2012 20:18

I bought a pair of shoes just before Christmas from a well known chain. The price was £28 which I happily paid. I got them home and took them out of the box to find that one of the shoes had stickers on the inside and on the sole marking it as being in the sale at £17.99. I rang the company who said that the staff had just put the stickers in early ready for the sale starting after Christmas! Hmm

They also (rather snottily) informed me that there was no law that made them charge the sale price on the shoes, I told them I was aware of this but legally right and morally right are a little different.

I was tempted to take them back and buy them again after Christmas but I couldn't be bothered loved them so much I didn't. I went in the shop after Christmas and these shoes weren't even in the sale so I've no idea what was going on there. I won't be going back to the shop despite buying a few pairs of shoes a year there up to now.

I do think that when shops make mistakes like this they should honour them just in the interest of good customer service, especially when the amount is quite modest!

QuintessentiallyShallow · 23/01/2012 20:20

Just return it, as is your consumer right. And buy the cheaper one.

foxtrottango · 23/01/2012 20:21

I also found it helpful to remind myself that I didn't think £28 was too much when I bought them so I tried to ignore the fact that I seemed to have missed a bargain!!

PurplePidjin · 23/01/2012 20:23

Do JL have that thing still where they refund the difference if you find the same item elsewhere in a certain time frame or did that die with my beloved Tyrell and Green ?

Original poster
JojoLapin · 23/01/2012 20:26

I very much agree with you Fox. I do think there is a moral obligation, particularly coming from holier-than-thou John Lewis.
No, I can't return it. The correct price is what I paid for. It is advertised differently though.

OP posts:
Tenebrist · 23/01/2012 20:32

So why exactly can't you take it back, as a number of people have already asked? Do you have to justify a return?

busywheels · 23/01/2012 20:32

My husband often buys things from John Lewis online and then watches the JL website to see if the price drops. If it does he contacts them and asks for the difference to be refunded (think its called price match). They always refund if its within the time limit. Not sure if this applies in store, but worth a try.

Confuzzled128 · 23/01/2012 20:33

Fox - as an employee in retail, I know that they have to sell at the advertised price. If the shoes had a sticker on they are legally obliged to sell you that product at the stickered price. Just thought I'd let you know, although I realise it would be too late. Next time do not let them fob you off though!

KittyFane · 23/01/2012 20:33

I think I've seen this. £125 (and £99) is far to much for this tray.
I was Shock when I looked at the price.

Original poster
JojoLapin · 23/01/2012 20:41

I do not want to return it because I like it and want to keep it. It is nice, v sturdy and precisely what I was looking for. I do not have a problem with the product but with the fact that I ended paying £26 more than what it is advertised for. I saw the catalogue after my purchase and think it is quite wrong of JL to say that it is too bad... We are still in the same season and according to the sales assistant I bought the last one.

OP posts:
NewYearEverything · 23/01/2012 20:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

foxtrottango · 23/01/2012 20:44

According to the letter of the law there is no requirement for the store to sell it me at the marked price if it has been marked incorrectly. Most stores have generally allowed the marked price to be paid but this is out of goodwill. Even though the shoes were marked £17.99, as £28 was the correct price, it was £28 I must pay! I was originally happy paying £28 until I found out that someone had marked them at £17.99!! :)

MrMayoNessie · 23/01/2012 21:22

Going on from Busywheels note If you purchase something from JL and the price reduces within 28 days then you can ask for the difference as a refund

foreverondiet · 23/01/2012 22:45

Really? I thought they had the policy that you could get a refund if it wasn't used and the price was dropped, I have had money back on clothes recently when stuff was reduced in sale.

Can you not take back?

SecretNutellaFix · 23/01/2012 22:46

The price hasn't been reduced. That's the point. It has increased.

marriedinwhite · 23/01/2012 22:50

Why don't you just write to the senior partner with a copy of your receipt and the catalogue and express your disappointment as a long standing customer. Wax lyrical about how helpful you have always found the partnership and they will probably send you a nice voucher.

Won't take any longer than posting a thread on mnet.

ComposHat · 23/01/2012 23:34

You were obviously happy with the price when you bought it, what's the problem?
What the price used to be in a catalogue, is neither here

ComposHat · 23/01/2012 23:34

....Nor there

mayorquimby · 23/01/2012 23:45

"I know that they have to sell at the advertised price. If the shoes had a sticker on they are legally obliged to sell you that product at the stickered price."

That is absolutely not the law and they have no obligation to do so.

Nor do they have to accept a return as others have suggested, unless they have a return policy built into their contracts with consumers.

OP I think yabu, you bought the item at a price you thought fair and were happy to pay the purchase price agreed, you're only upset at the idea that others may have gotten a better deal.

ComposHat · 23/01/2012 23:54

Ahh MayorQuimby you beat me to it in busting the 'they have to sell it at the advertised price' myth.

Amazingly widespread and persistent that one and was the bane of my life when I worked in a shop.

Gobby customers demanding stuff at knockdown rates as another customer had chucked a full price CD into the bargain bin, rather than put it back on the shelf.

mayorquimby · 23/01/2012 23:57

haha it's one of my bug bears as well. Both as someone forced to study the tedium of contract law and as someone who worked retail for years. By far the worst customers are those who assert ficticious rights which they have.