To think John Lewis have the worst customer services EVER?

[SwordfishSteak]

First world problem I know but I have just experienced the worst ongoing customer services experience.

Mattress purchase- we decided to splurge and buy an expensive one as we will be using it for a good decade.

After a couple of months (has to be made, apparently) they schedule delivery 2 weeks ago.
Never show up, never call. We have to chase, the order doesn't seem to exist anymore (???) then after more phone calls they find it again and reschedule delivery for 2 days ago.

They give me a time slot, it comes and goes with no contact. I call to chase and as I am on the phone the driver logs the delivery as 'refused'.
Apparently the street was too small?

They reschedule for yesterday with a smaller van.
This time the driver calls me directly and tells me no-one mentioned the street being narrow and he showed up in a too-big van.

Finally today at 2 they show up in a small enough van... and it turns out the packaging is torn and the mattress ripped.

Drivers call customer services who offer a small discount which we refuse. He then tells me they will call me with an update on a replacement.

Except they didn't and when I chased I was told said replacement has to be arranged through the store and I was given an effing time slot (!!!!!) in which the store will call me back tomorrow.
A four hour time slot.

Apparently messing up delivery 3 times and finally showing up with a ripped mattress doesn't even warrant a call back.

Is it me or is it the shittest service ever?

The guy tonight was lovely and tried calling the shop directly but couldn't get through because their number was disconnected... the whole thing has been a farce.

Anyway sorry for the rant, I was wondering if it had happened to others? I used to love JL...

YANBU. I've had a similar problem with an expensive rug. Damaged before delivery, several weeks and lots of calls to get it sorted. I've just stopped shopping there - there's very few items that only JL sell.

That really is bad. I would lodge a complaint if I was you and I think they may give you some money back. They didn’t deliver on a specific day I requested once (which is obvs very minor compared to your issues) and they gave me a fiver on account.

I will pursue a complaint.
They offered 30% off on the spot, which I thought was poor- I would have said yes for the dirt but not an actual rip through the actual surface of the mattress. For all i know some of the springs might have been broken too (it looked like it had been thrown in and out of the warehouse after each delivery attempt).

I am waiting to see what they say tomorrow (if they call in the 4 hour time slot they gave me) and take it from there.

Ever since they outsourced their customer service it's gone downhill. I won't buy from them again after a terrible experience last year.

I've alwats had excellent customer service - but that is poor OP

Tell us more Matt
I'm so annoyed I am in the mood to hear more horror stories.

Oh they really are awful. We ordered a fire pit for the garden, 4 times they "attempted to deliver it" and even called me twice to day they were on their way then never showed up, people we spoke to on the phone didnt care just said they would sorr a redelivery, then one day it was sort of thrown on the door step with wrecked packaging. Item was ok we didnt push it, but wont be buying from their again.
Also had issues in store with clothes gifted when DD was born, even with the gift receipts, lady at the till couldn't grasp that the items may have been brought from a different store and threw all sorts of accusations around, which at 12 days post partum went down well with a hormonal me

Yes, dreadful! This is why I never buy anything from them that requires delivery.

YANBU. I sent a complaint after they posted my AirPods in a Jiffy bag, then took over a month to refund me for them when surprise surprise, Hermes posted me a ripped, empty envelope. Their customer service was appalling.

YANBU OP. I had a Saturday job there many moons ago and can honestly say it used to be much better than this. For a company that supposedly prides itself on the customer experience/service, it's gone downhill massively in the last few years. Definitely lodge a complaint.

After they delivered me a damaged fridge freezer 3 times I refused to deal with them ever again, got a refund & compensation & went to AO.com. I would never buy electrical goods from John Lewis again if they still had a store in my city. Look for an independent retailer, they don't deserve your business.

I have had a recent good experience. Ordered a washing machine or so I thought and received a dishwasher! Entirely my fault . Hadn’t read any of the emails properly. Delivery chap was lovely, customer service were lovely, got all my money refunded v quickly including the delivery and connection charge. I thought this was very decent of them. Got my washing machine too. Excellent installation chap.

It's not as bad as your experience but I ordered a wardrobe from there last year with a 4 month lead time. 4 months came and went with no wardrobe and they informed no one had picked up my order because of Covid and I would have to wait another 6 weeks.

I posted about them recently on here. They used to be famed for excellent customer service - but they are going down hill in that department fast. I was eventually offered a pittance in compensation that wouldn't even have covered my petrol and parking expense to take the product back to store - let alone what my time cost! They are about the only department store surviving - they need to wise up that customers have wider choice now with the internet and will use that power!

Yep, we've just had a new bathroom and had many cock ups with deliveries and poor communication from them. Always us chasing things up and trying to get hold of them. We only went with them because we thought they'd be on the ball. Shame because they used to be brilliant

They are absolutely awful and I would never buy anything from JL again.

Don't shop there anymore, customer service has gone down hill over the past few years. I think it's since some deliveries come directly from the manufacturer and also I've had to ring the manufacturer directly when I had a faulty freezer. Once upon a time, you'd call the store you purchased it from and they'd sort it all out for you, that sort of service was why I'd shop there, not now though, I've used AO.com for large appliances and it's been great.

I’ve mostly had great service from JL but your experience is awful

Now whenever you call the store they send you back to a central customer services department.

However, if there is an issue said department have to refer you back to the store.
Which you can't seem to call independently.
It's like a bizarre chicken egg situation.

A few years back we ordered 4 dining chairs from them, I think they cost over £100 each. 2 were OK but 2 had chips and glue on them & big made in China stickers.. A huge panto followed with chairs being picked up, resent, still terrible, they offered to send me someone to fix it, then started talking about compensation. I stuck to my guns and made them keep sending replacements until I was happy, but they weren't especially helpful or apologetic at any point.

Won't order anything big from them again, such as furniture, electinics, white goods.

What's even better is when they do deliver, they park up the JL van middle of the street at 8am, and refuse to move 100 feet down the road until they've unloaded, so people living in the street can get to work. We should have got up earlier apparently, so we wouldn't be late to work.

I remember a lady on here once who had ordered 2 matching armchairs and one came and the other didn't and when it eventually arrived it was damagaed and then out of stock and then an argument ensued about the one she had taken delivery of because she had purposely bought them to be a matching pair and now she had one. I think she eventually got them to take the used one back but it was ongoing for months!

It’s in store service as well. I went in to buy some new bras. Long story short, my bras are all knackered and I need a major re-braing. I know my size in a specific brand, 34G in Fantasie. Hardly any of the designs had 34Gs in stock, but I managed to pick out 5. Got them home and found that 3 of the 5 were a different size so had been on the wrong hanger. Took them back to much huffing and sighing that I should I have checked! Got my money back, went back to the bra section and checked to find that about 50% of the bras I checked were on the wrong sized hangers. What’s the point?

The JL Christmas ads are good though !