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?

Those department stores will have their own staff, but a brand will often run a concession within the store, and have a rep there to sell their stuff. It's not JL giving you 'biased' advice, you were caught up in a Samsung sales pitch.

GHD (hair straighteners) and Dyson have employees in John Lewis, as do the cosmetics companies as mentioned above, also some small electricals eg Nespresso and Lavazza IIRC. I have mystery shopped in several departments. I don’t think they always necessarily have anything identifying their company, just their first names.

Years ago Rowan employed reps in the yarn department but ours would always help with any purchases in haberdashery.

Probably all the JL employees have distinctive badges now (do they have their first name and “Partner” on them?) so if the advisor isn’t wearing one of those they may well be directly employed by another company.

As if any shop assistant would be able to advise on tvs anyway, maybe in curtys but that's what all the online specialist reviews are for.
I also think she was telling the truth,.Sony is not a very popular brand and Samsung gets better and better.