John Lewis’ PR is awful?

[HelenaHandcart0]

Just received this in an email from JL saying they are ditching the ‘never knowingly undersold’ promise. Sadly I feel this could be the beginning of the end for them (I hope not) but what an awful way to communicate it!

It said:

..’we will be retiring our Never Knowingly Undersold policy this summer. Established back in 1925 and a hallmark of trust for nearly a century, we recognise that this policy is no longer serving you in the way that we would like, as it doesn't allow us to match prices from online-only retailers’

AIBU in thinking their PR is awful in communicating it this way?

I’m still a fairly loyal customer, I like their personal styling service but I hate the cheapo anyway range. I liked their standard John Lewis and partners range.
I want to be able to buy quality products somewhere on the high street, but buying Anyday makes me feel like I’ve sacrificed quality.

Yes they need to change to never knowingly something else

Their customer service used to be amazeballs
Less so now tbh

@pigsDOfly

Don't know about their PR but the level of service from John Lewis, especially in relation to deliveries, has been a disaster for quite a number of years now.

Yy agree

@ScrollingLeaves

I should think they had to say something, rather than quietly drop it, because otherwise people might keep contacting them asking for rebates against something they’ve seen on-line.

I don’t think they are favouring their brand with orange lettering saying “Anyday” around the shop for some lines. It makes the overall atmosphere like ‘Kwik Save’. They should change the colour and lettering style in my opinion.

Yes. Seems like a ruse to me, esp on the app where the red prices make it seem like it's on sale

I get that it's everyday good value or whatever but still it irked

I think I am also perhaps too easily irked and need to save my energy for more important things

@red321 I miss Trewins too and also used to shop there with my mum in the 80s before it moved into the Harlequin.

Thank goodness for the Brent Cross branch which still seems safe for now. But I shopped there recently for a friend’s baby present and God it was dead. Toy department and nursery department had huge empty spaces instead of being well stocked. It lacked the buzz of years gone by.

Yes, that is truly terrible writing. Weird doublespeak. A bit gaslighty in fact- “you are telling us you don’t want this aren’t you?”

I miss Trewins too and also used to shop there with my mum in the 80s before it moved into the Harlequin.

Ah yes, Trewins down the high street. I worked there (in the Harlequin store) in my gap year. Happy memories. It just about outlived Clements!

For me, the product knowledge has been their downfall. It used to be easy to pop along, ask the experts about the different models and you felt obliged to then order from them. I do NOT want to traipse into store for you to pull up the webpage and read from it.

There was an epic camera sales expert in JL Oxford Street so hopefully he's still there. Although I think they've sold that floor for housing/offices.

And their 'rewards' are useless now too. They keep sending me surveys about them, and I keep saying the same thing - they are competitions, not rewards! How is a reward for me to enter a competition?! Bring back the coffee and cake vouchers, which meant something tangible, and got me back in the store rather than online.

Then get people properly trained to work in the different departments, and don't ignore the boring bits like haberdashery or whatever - real product knowledge, not just school-leavers trained to use the app and run the tills.

And get rid of the bright orange cheapo branding, and bring back quality products with the JL brand, at a reasonable price.

Drop the NKU if needed, fair enough and I think we'd understand if they can't afford it or whatever. But drop the patronising spin that it's a favour to us.

They should read this thread really, as I think many people here are exactly their core customers!

Absolutely agree, OP. I was mightily pissed off with the email today. Talk about trying to spin a pile of shit into thread of gold.

Why not just keep the "never knowingly undersold" policy and apply it to online price-matching too?

That said, I am never shopping at JL again (after an entire lifetime of JL shopping) because they closed down my nearest JL. They can get lost if they think I'm buying from them online instead. I like real shops where I can see and feel things, and (eg) open the doors of a fridge freezer that I'm planning to buy. If I've got to travel 50 miles to the nearest JL to do that, I'll travel 10 miles to the nearest independent instead.

Yes the reward I've been offered is entry to a prize draw 😂

@red321

I miss Trewins too and also used to shop there with my mum in the 80s before it moved into the Harlequin.

Ah yes, Trewins down the high street. I worked there (in the Harlequin store) in my gap year. Happy memories. It just about outlived Clements!

For me, the product knowledge has been their downfall. It used to be easy to pop along, ask the experts about the different models and you felt obliged to then order from them. I do NOT want to traipse into store for you to pull up the webpage and read from it.

There was an epic camera sales expert in JL Oxford Street so hopefully he's still there. Although I think they've sold that floor for housing/offices.

Yes lovely Trewins

I went into the newly revamped Edinburgh store and found it underwhelming. Haberdashery was always my favourite department so it's clearly over for me.😂

I always went to JL in sales for the bedding and towels. Lately I've been finding stuff smells chemically. Or more recently reading reviews that warn of it and buying elsewhere.

I live in the US now. We have a high end department store called Nordstrom which is still amazing in terms of customer service. You can almost always return anything, if something is not in stock and its available in another store or in their online store they send it to your home free of charge. If you have their credit card you get lots of perks like free alterations and advanced days for a new season with discounts. Because times have changed they have closed some of the regular stores but have a second store brand called Nordstrom Rack which is more of a discount store and those are apparently doing fantastically well. But they keep the standards in their original brand. I have always loved them for having Lounges which are quiet and peaceful and where it was perfect for breastfeeding a baby and meant I could actually go out shopping knowing I could sit down somewhere private and calm to BF. They still have those Lounges and mothers and older women needing a sit down love them. I recently ordered some trousers from the full price store online and they send them to my local Nordstrom Rack to pick up the next day! This is why I love Nordstrom. JL may want to look at their business model. Despite COVID etc they are still really busy in my local branch.

I thought they were going to add that it was being replaced by something that would cater to online stores.

The alternatives proposed aren’t great, but this was a long time coming.

I still buy a lot of electrical and camera stuff from there though as they do give 2 years guarantee and it always seems safer getting it delivered to Waitrose than relying on Amazon not delivering an empty box, and returning back to Waitrose is also easy. DH bought his quite expensive laptop from there and camera

@WulyJmpr

I can tell them exactly who their target customers were before they started alienating them. It's almost like their marketing department couldn't accept this and didn't actually like their customers!

I believe the current leadership does not have a fashion background. If they did then they may recall in the late 00s when M&S tried and failed to employ a similar strategy of value ranges. Cheap and nasty clothes no different to Primark thus alienating its core customers.

M&S fashion side of business is only just getting back on track today after correctly identifying their shoppers want quality, style, aspiration and don't mind paying more

Correct. Dame Sharon White who is the current chairman does not have a retail background. She’s an economist who has previously worked for the British Embassy in Washington DC.

This is exactly the problem. JL and Waitrose is now being run by someone who is not a retailer, and simply cares about numbers on a spreadsheet, and it shows

That might explain some of it.

There was a thread recently about bringing your whole self to work. JL encourage their staff to "be themselves always" or some such.

What a shame they forgot about their customers.

And yes I do know about rule one in the constitution. The partnership is required to look after its staff not maximise profits. However I don't think Spedan meant forget your customers because profit doesn't matter.

I think this quote from a report on Nordstrom sums up their strategy well. JL don't seem to have a strategy to build a loyal customer base.

"Seamlesscustomer experience
Nordstrom Rack is how the Nordstrom brand invites younger, “aspirational” shoppers in without marginalizing the main department stores’ luxury appeal, and they’re also using their e-commerce legs to get online customers in stores."

Like its very clever and great for customer service that you can order online and they will get it to the closest store to you in 24 hrs. Because of course there is a good chance you will buy something else while you are there.

I must be the rarity but I love John Lewis and would consider myself a loyalty . I bought most of my furniture from them and have been impressed with the quality. Whenever something has gone wrong, I’ve contacted them and they’ve been very helpful! My local branch in my town centre is always busy but I do agree with the PP that the staff do look slightly scruffy!

Click and Collect is so easy - it’s free to park for 30 minutes right outside John Lewis’ collection point so you maybe have to 10 seconds to the collection point to get your stuff.

Sounds like a bitter post tbh.

Does it really bother you that much that they cant price match anymore? I mean, they treat their staff infinitely better than lots of other retailers (I've worked for them previously before you ask), they have massive overheads unlike lots of smaller stores and they ethically trade on lots of products. So of course they can't continue it.

And, I'm sorry, but don't all companies try to positively spin negative changes?

I guess I just think..... So what?! Why make a nasty post about one of the last remaining decent retailers out there

@Cuck00soup

There was a thread recently about bringing your whole self to work. JL encourage their staff to "be themselves always" or some such.

What a shame they forgot about their customers.

And yes I do know about rule one in the constitution. The partnership is required to look after its staff not maximise profits. However I don't think Spedan meant forget your customers because profit doesn't matter.

That's all very well, but if continuing policies means an ultimate demise, then it isn't serving the customer is it?

Wouldn't customers prefer they stay open?

Would you rather they just start giving stuff away? Amazon is killing these stores off. They are trying desperately to survive. Dont kick them while they're down, claiming they aren't 'remembering the customers'

@EmbarrassedAllOver

Sounds like a bitter post tbh.

Does it really bother you that much that they cant price match anymore? I mean, they treat their staff infinitely better than lots of other retailers (I've worked for them previously before you ask), they have massive overheads unlike lots of smaller stores and they ethically trade on lots of products. So of course they can't continue it.

And, I'm sorry, but don't all companies try to positively spin negative changes?

I guess I just think..... So what?! Why make a nasty post about one of the last remaining decent retailers out there

Why? Because most of us are dismayed that while we previously loyal customers can see the writing is on the wall for our much loved JL, the company leadership itself seemingly cannot while it trips and stumbles into obvious gaping retail craters.

It's like a business school case study in how not to do business.

They are trying desperately to survive. Dont kick them while they're down, claiming they aren't 'remembering the customers'

Huh? Retailers need customers to survive.

@MintMocha

And their 'rewards' are useless now too. They keep sending me surveys about them, and I keep saying the same thing - they are competitions, not rewards! How is a reward for me to enter a competition?! Bring back the coffee and cake vouchers, which meant something tangible, and got me back in the store rather than online.

Then get people properly trained to work in the different departments, and don't ignore the boring bits like haberdashery or whatever - real product knowledge, not just school-leavers trained to use the app and run the tills.

And get rid of the bright orange cheapo branding, and bring back quality products with the JL brand, at a reasonable price.

Drop the NKU if needed, fair enough and I think we'd understand if they can't afford it or whatever. But drop the patronising spin that it's a favour to us.

They should read this thread really, as I think many people here are exactly their core customers!

Have you ever worked for John Lewis?! Because if you haven't I'm not sure what you're basing that off at all.

I have, and I'll let you know, many of the current staff in haberdashery and fabrics at the Bluewater branch at least have decades in dress making experience. They aren't school leavers in the slightest. They're knowledgeable employees, working for a retail salary, with sector specific, detailed, knowledge.

They can't afford to reward customers. No other company is expected to, bar Boots and the odd supermarket, so why does JL have to? It would be their demise.

And "bring back the quality goods at a reasonable price". Have you even shopped in John Lewis of recent years? Their stuff IS good quality. You don't have to buy the Anyday goods. The other stuff is still reasonable and great quality. My JL towels are by far superior to my other towels and were the same price as everywhere else.

Everyone wants something for nothing. They cannot deliver what Amazon does. End of.

If you want a lovely physical store, with mature, decent customer service, with ethical trading at the heart (where possible) with good customer service policies and a great range of goods, then John Lewis is up there.

If you want a shop that throws money it hasn't got at customers and delivers the impossible, then dream on. Or accept that Amazon is as good as it's going to get price wise.