To expect John Lewis to have unbiased advice?

[BabyEl]

Went to get a Sony TV from John Lewis and a lovely polite woman asked if she could help. Told her we were after a Sony Tv and she took us to where they were.

she then explained that actually Sony TVs were that great and were made up from parts of other TVs and had we considered a Samsung that was much cheaper. we really wanted a Sony TV so this surprised us and then I noticed she had a Samsung brand name badge.

I thanked her and bought a Sony TV.

my parent just bought a new TV. They liked ours and went to get a Sony. They came back with a Samsung and are not very satisfied with it for various reasons. I asked them why they had changed their mind and they told us that a nice staff member at John Lewis had warned them off Sony TVs. They’re elderly and now they feel conned.

Im just curious why John Lewis allow this? It feels so underhand and I’m sure they’re getting paid by Samsung.

is it unreasonable to expect unbiased advice in John Lewis?

Sounds like JL have a deal with Samsung to push their TVs in store.

Worth complaining about the TV to JL. Is it in warranty?

Was she a John Lewis employee or a Samsung employee?

I think sometimes they have brand people in the shops. We went in for a vacuum cleaner and there was a Shark man there, but it was quite obvious from his branded top.

Generally they stand around "their" products, so I view it a bit like the people on the make up counters for a specific brand. Your Samsung lady sounds a bit pushy though. When we went for the vacuum cleaner, the shark man only talked to us about the shark ones. He knew a lot about them (exactly how to take them all apart for cleaning, all the functions etc), and it was clear he was selling them. But he didn't attempt to talk to us about the other brands, and when we went to look at other ones he didn't come with us or talk them down.

It sounds like she wasn't a John Lewis employee.

If she had a Samsung badge it sounds like she was a rep in their store. Tbh no I wouldn’t expect a shop to offer unbiased advice, most retailers get higher sales % on certain brands and will probably be biased to push those brands. If you want unbiased advice you would be better reading reviews or something like Which.

Sounds as it that was more like in the make-up departments where staff can be there for particular brands and the Clarins gal is never going to tell you to go to the L'Oreal stand instead. They had a branded top on and were trying to sell you the cheaper product. Pretty clear they weren't an objective advisor.

John Lewis won’t care, they made two sales. The days when JL staff were well trained and knew about the products in their departments are long gone.

If she had a Samsung badge then she's probably employed by them.
We love our Samsung we've had it a good few years and we'd have another one

What’s her size or how lovely she is got to do with anything? What a weird comment to make.

You're expecting a retail company to provide something other than sales/ profit based advice? That's incredibly naive.

I believe what she told you is true, so I guess it is unbiased technically.

Ugh sorry, didn’t mean to quote the OPs post!

My bad! No glasses on and I thought you said she was petite and lovely. Polite and lovely makes so much more sense.

Apologies.

It should be more obvious if they’re repping a specific company and not JL.

I think she was a Samsung employee working in John Lewis.

Then why would you expect unbiased advice from someone who works for a specific brand?

Then she was never going to be unbiased. I've heard similar about the parts tbf.

So you are happy for them to recommend one brand but not another? How is that unbiased advice?

A retailer does marketing. I fail to see the issue.

There's your answer

It's a bit naive to expect unbiased advice from anyone who wants to sell you something. They will always put their own interests above yours – that's life.

Eg you ask the butcher what's best today: he or she might give you an honest answer – or they'll tell you it's the rib-eye steak, because that'll have to be chucked away if it's not sold by the end of the day.

Branded badge or not, there are all sorts of reasons why a JL employee might wish you to buy this TV over that one. Buyer beware.

They are selling products they are not a charity nor experts in each and every item

I went to John Lewis in Oxford Street looking for a smart TV with screen size of 48 inches.
I visited in early 2021. The JL employee told me at that point, the models were still mostly 2019 releases as Covid had delayed manufacturing.
If I wanted a newer model, I should wait until later in the year when newer releases & models would be available.
I was given model numbers so I could do my research.
When I went back, I was shown all the new 48 inch models, features were explained & again I was given model numbers, etc so I could do my own research.
They also gave me similar details of all the sound bars as I wanted one of those as well .
The service was amazing & there was no hard sell on any brand.
I ended up with an LG tv & BOSE sound bar after my research & recommendations from family & friends. Both were similar in price to the 2019 models.
I was really impressed. After Covid I thought they would be desperate to make a sale asap but instead I was given advice to wait - not the best sales technique as I could've gone elsewhere....

I want them to not be pushing one brand in particular

a lot of people getting hung up on the fact I’m upset at a sale person in a shop as if I were some kind of idiot.

I’m upset that my elderly parents thought they were getting tv advice from a JL employee when they were actually getting the hard sell from a Samsung employee in JL without realising it.