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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

John Lewis

18 replies

LadyHarrietdeSpook · 15/04/2013 18:04

...do they not turn up for people when they're supposed to for measuring ups? Or is it just me? Am I coming to this party, so to speak, late, and there are loads of moany threads about them?

And am I being unreasonable enforcing a one strike and your out policy? Worked from home today, wasn't convenient. Thankfully - I didn't squander a day's holiday. No messages on answer phone, nada.

OP posts:

Original poster

LadyHarrietdeSpook · 15/04/2013 18:04

Sorry: "you're"

OP posts:

tripecity · 15/04/2013 18:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

LadyHarrietdeSpook · 15/04/2013 18:18

can't get through

OP posts:

Original poster

LadyHarrietdeSpook · 15/04/2013 18:51

I got through. The store gave the guy the wrong address (right street wrong number.) The guy went to the flat and an elderly lady answered and said: "She doesn't live here." JLewis says that the delivery guy said: "Ok, I'll call her and see where she is." They came back to the door (if anyone is still following this) and said: "No, don't bother, she's changed her mind."

He took their word for it and left.

I repeated the story back to the JLewis guy, he undertakes this is what the fitter told him.

"Terribly sorry" and "all they can do is rebook."

I think not somehow.

So, would I be unreasonable to go round and have a word with 15A for having a laugh at my expense? It would be interesting to hear their tale but anyway. I've wasted too much time on this already.

OP posts:

Wibblypiglikesbananas · 15/04/2013 19:18

I love JL products and think they're great in store. However, online delivery leaves a lot to be desired. The last time I tried it, 2011, I was heavily pregnant and had such a farce that I ended up getting £150 as compensation. I also took a day off work, they then delivered the wrong thing to my neighbour, by which point I'd cancelled the order, the right thing was nowhere to be seen, neighbour brought wrong thing to mine, I couldn't lift wrong thing to put it out for collection - it went on...

Might have been the hormones but I wrote the most scathing letter outlining how pretty much every touch point on the customer experience journey had failed (I did used to work in this area, hence the somewhat ridiculous lingo). Not sure if that swung it but I also got a very grovelling letter of apology.

It's like the customer service ethos doesn't quite reach the online delivery department somehow, which is a shame.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 15/04/2013 19:30

Wibbly that really surprises me. I use them regularly and have never had the sniff of a problem, in fact quite the opposite.

OP - did they not try to phone you? Seems really bizarre.

I would rebook and use the opportunity to wangle a huge discount.

starkadder · 15/04/2013 19:58

Well, they did tell the delivery guy not to bother...I'd be more annoyed with the neighbour tbh.

John Lewis online has been fab for me.

Original poster

LadyHarrietdeSpook · 15/04/2013 20:10

No, they weren't the customers, this couple. Which he knew - another person was the customer. He should have called the store to ask them to follow up with the person who arranged the appointment directly.

OP posts:

Original poster

LadyHarrietdeSpook · 15/04/2013 20:11

No they didn't phone me, he didn't even alert them. He took their word for it and went home.

OP posts:

Wibblypiglikesbananas · 16/04/2013 17:50

How very odd! What happened next?

Alibaba - surprised me too as I'd always raved about them until that year, but after more than one delivery mix up and failure to have goods ready to pick up in store on a variety of occasions, I stopped buying anything unless I was actually in the store, they had it in stock and I could transport it home myself.

EmmelineGoulden · 16/04/2013 18:13

I'm with Wibbly. I love the store but have had appalling problems with anything they outsource. Online, curtain fittings, soft furnishings, and store delvery when it isn't by their own vans have all let me down badly over the last 18 months.

I've lost about £1,500 and days of my life one way or another because they failed to do what they said they would when they said they would (or rather, their partners failed to do what JL said they would when JL said they'd do it).

Now I only buy from them in store and only have it delivered if it will be one of their vans.

thecatfromjapan · 16/04/2013 18:16

I don't know, LadyHarrietSpook, how could he not take their word for it?

If he had 'phoned to check, and they had answered (remember, he doesn't know they're not the customer, and they've now said they are) he would have had all manner of trickiness to deal with.

And how is he to know that your neighbours are going to be so weird?

That is, if the whole "She's changed her mind. Go away." story is true.

But then, how will you ever know? Arsey neighbours who do stuff like that are not likely to tell you the truth, either, are they? Unless they are really quite alarming, in which case you are then presented with a bit of a problem.

thecatfromjapan · 16/04/2013 18:19

Have to say, i first ordered a delivery from JL when my eldest was a baby (he is 15 now). It just never, ever showed up.

I didn't use them again for years. However, since I started using them again (almost 10 years now) they have been excellent. Beyond excellent, in fact, now I think about it. There was one incident when I was after a cardigan - in a sale - and they hunted down the one cardi they had left and transferred it across the country for me to pick up at a store. I know that's not a delivery, as such, but I was dealing with the customer service of their on-line section. Bless 'em.

MDA · 16/04/2013 18:29

Hard to imagine your neighbour would even say this for no reason. Obviously its his word against theirs, but what's the bet they didn't even say it. You never know, but I'd imagine if anyone is "motivated" to tell a lie its a salesperson having one less appointment in a day which isn't their fault, not a neighbour sabotaging another neighbour's opportunity to spend money.

Original poster

LadyHarrietdeSpook · 20/04/2013 13:20

Just to be clear TheCat I meant ring the store to report what had happened and investigate a bit. It wasn't a small order. The guy was fitting up for stairway carpets and to lay wood floors over 40 sqm...I'm just surprised he wasn't bothered. The store wasn't either on the end. We are going with an independent.

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maddening · 20/04/2013 14:10

The fact that they said you didn't live there immediately on answering is the reason he should have called to double check when they changed their story - v bizarre.

Hope you have a better experience with the independent firm.

abbathehorse · 20/04/2013 14:37

I used to work for the flooring department in John Lewis on the phones. The department was so stretched, understaffed and badly organised that I spent all day getting the hairdryer treatment from the middle classes of Surrey. It was horrendous and eventually I cracked and walked out.

Tip - ask for compensation; they fall over themselves to give you vouchers if you're annoyed and ask for them, and the snottier you get with them, especially the managers, the more they'll give you! (Not saying you'd be snotty, OP, it sounds like a farce!) Also, they are true to their customer satisfaction thing - one customer had her curtains re-made 5 times by them as they weren't quite right! It's just the waiting that's a pain. I had to call a customer to tell her that the shade of carpet that she'd been waiting three months for had been discontinued Not fun!

LessMissAbs · 20/04/2013 16:13

I remember once they measured up for my carpets wrongly, only realising after they had laid the underlay. The proposed then leaving me with underlay on my floor for 2 1/2 weeks, which was the next available apt they had.

After 1 week it was shredded, they got arsey about removing it and wanted to charge me for new stuff. Eventually the day for laying the new carpet came and they had measured it wrongly again, would I accept it with a join in the middle and some money off? Err, no, I wouldn't....

What an ordeal. Never again.

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