Humiliated by John Lewis staff

[FTMaz]

Hi
okay so I know this will seem very trivial to some but it is playing on my mind because I think I am a very reasonable and polite person and feel I was humiliated for absolutely no reason.

so I bought a jumper from a John Lewis store (Sweaty Beaty brand). The jumper was in the sale for £65. I wore it once and washed it according to the instructions. I put it on yesterday and my Mum commented that it had faded, the jumper is beige but I noticed it had a big white patch where the colour had seemingly ran out of it on the front. As I know John Lewis is known for their customer service I decided I would take it to the store to see if they would offer an exchange, I still had the receipt showing it had been purchased recently.

I went to the womenswear till but the queue was massive (I had my 12 week old baby with me) so I went to a till near the shoes. The girl serving must have been about 17/18. I explained to her what had happened and said I wasn’t sure if I could swap it but thought it was worth an ask. The girl was very polite but said she needed to check with a colleague, fine not a problem. She returned with a colleague who didn’t even acknowledge me. At this point there was a now a queue at the till. They both turned away from me and girl number 2 started whispering and inspecting the jumper. This probably went on for about 10 minutes. Girl number 1 then turned back to me and said something to the effect of I’m really sorry but I need to check with a manager…I assumed girl 2 was a manager but again I said okay. She then called someone on the phone. I continued to wait and at this point my baby started to cry, girl number 1 obviously feeling uncomfortable called again and apologised, again fine as not her fault that baby is crying or that manager is taking a long time. So eventually the manager turns up and calls me ‘sweetheart’ okay a term of endearment but I am a 34 year old professional so odd of her to do. Anyway…she inspects the jumper and says she can’t see the white patch, I said to her I couldn’t either until I went into natural light and my Mum pointed it out. At this point I am starting to feel agitated and embarrassed as there is a queue, my baby is crying and I am basically being told I’m making things up so I say ‘don’t worry about it for the sake of £60 I’ll just have the jumper back,’ she then says to go with her outside the store to natural light to show her the patch…seriously? I reply no it’s fine I’m not dragging my baby outside I’ll just have the jumper back. Again she insists I go outside with her and I again say it’s fine I’ll have the jumper back. She then turns to girl number 1 and says ‘you’ll come with me outside to look won’t you’ so they both then walk off and leave me at the till with my now screaming baby. Sometime later they return with ANOTHER member of staff, so now 4 people have looked at this bloody jumper! The manager says they all agree there is nothing wrong with it. Now I am quite frankly pissed off and humiliated and say ‘ I told you I would take the jumper back but instead I have been standing here whilst 4 people inspect it, I didn’t demand a refund I simply asked if it was possible to do anything such as an exchange.’ She replies there’s nothing wrong with it. So I say (probably wrongly so but I’d had enough) ‘if you go on my account you will see how much money I spend in this store, do you seriously think I would make things up to get back £60?’ She replies again there is nothing wrong with it.

for context I worked in retail for years both before starting university, during and after (the irony is I actually also worked in that John Lewis 😂) I get that it can sometimes be shit and people are rude but I was honestly lovely and feel I was humiliated and spoken to like an idiot.

However I am also overly tired from the sleepless nights….so AIBU to wait to complain to the store?

I don't think you were humiliated.
You went to the wrong department (do they not have a customer service desk?) Especially since the fault appeared AFTER washing (and so most likely an issue with your washing not the jumper) so wasn't going to be a simple decision for a 17yr old cashier to make.
She was obviously new and needed advice
A manager not being available immediately is not humiliating.

I get the baby crying....and a queue...was stressful and unfortunate.

She should have just gone "ok" when you offered to take it back but I don't think they humiliated you.

Thank you exactly my thoughts. The car park is under the store so actually I wasn’t going outside at all.

The white patch could only be seen in natural light, so you expected them to take back a (worn and washed) jumper without actually seeing the white patch?

And either ‘sweetheart’ is unprofessional or it isn’t. It’s nothing to do with your age (unless you’re an actual child) or whether or not you’re ‘professional’.

Well it's probably safe to say you can still wear the jumper and noone will notice the white patch 🙈

Humiliated is a bit of a stretch but I completely empathise with that feeling of a complete loss of control and feeling almost like you've got a giant spotlight on you and everyone is looking and bemusedly wondering what the fuck. I know the feeling. Cut yourself some slack - it wasn't going to be plain sailing with your baby in tow even if it had gone reasonably smoothly.
If you can - write a truncated version of the above and e-mail it to JL customer service. Add requisite pictures!!!! But I do agree that they didn't need to bring out team member after team member to inspect this missing white patch. It was uncalled for.

YANBU, they were making a hen out of a feather!

Absolutely my issue isn’t with the initial girl on the till she was helpful and nice. The second girl had 0 customer service skills but I can get over that. My issue is that it just got turned into this long drawn out situation that I was trying to get out of but she wouldn’t give me the bloody jumper back!

Exactly if you’re a child it’s okay..:my point is I’m not. You’re within your rights to take back an item if it is faulty…washed or not.

The shop has got worse over the years. It’s a shame because it used to be a good shop. They should have refunded you and then checked the jumper in natural light when possible. The fault could affect the other products.

Apart from my mum…the biggest of critics 😂

I think I would have felt agitated and humiliated too in your position OP, with a crying baby, a queue behind me and four members of staff involved in jumpergate.

Asking you to trail all the way out of the mall and back was a rubbish idea. I bet there was an office or restaurant window somewhere that one of them could have taken the item to without you.

I agree they could and should have handled it in a much more customer-centred way.

Say what?

You told them there's a white patch.

They couldn't see it.

You then told them it isn't visible unless in natural light.

Yet when they offered to look at it in natural light you refused.

You also say you were lovely, which you were not.

The amount of money you might spend in that store doesn't matter whatsoever.

YABU.

If you really spend so much money there and you wouldn't 'make such a fuss over £60' then just go and bloody buy another one instead of wasting so many people's time.

Why do these babies always cry at the worst possible moments 🙄

If you can see the mark on camera, take some photos and send them to use John Lewis customer service. They are usually great- we had a kettle stop working, I brought it back, said it didn’t work and they exchanged it there and then, didn’t even check it was in the box!?

I completely get where you’re coming from.

I don’t think JL we’re in the wrong, but I understand how stressful it is to be that kind of situation with a crying baby. The crying baby just puts you in fight or flight mode where everything is heightened and stressful.

I don’t think you can complain as they didn’t do anything wrong, but I completely empathise with the situation and why you feel annoyed about it.

When I worked there this is pretty much what we were told to do. I worked on chanel and we had people return all kinds of things for different reasons. I hardly ever return things but thought they would be good about it because it is John Lewis. I wouldn’t have cared if they just said sorry we can’t return it, even if they’d suggested contacting sweaty Betty directly but the whole situation was just so uncomfortable

You feel humiliated as they refused you a refund and could not find a fault.

I worked in retail and was not authorised to make refunds. So you had to get the manager which could take awhile.

You probably had the added stress if a small baby. But it doesn't sound like they did anything wrong except faff about with the top by going outside.

I do think your sleep deprivation made you more sensitive but if it makes you feel better, op, I'll tell you my most wtaf return I ever made.

I bought 2 sizes of jeans online from zara, kept the size that fit and went in store to return the others, not even tried on and still in the box wrapped in their tissue paper.... Queued up in their huge queues.... Get to the front, hand the woman the box and say I need to return etc... She made a big deal of unpacking them and then smelt the crotch?! I was mortified and actually asked wtf. Utterly mental

Maybe book your mum an eye test, if no-one except her can see this alleged white patch.

of course it matters, it’s recognising what a loyal customer she is. How’s it wasting their time, they are Customer Service Assistants, it’s literally part of their job, besides they wasted their own time!

But the manager also couldn’t make a decision…hence she got a 4th person! I have absolutely no issue with the first girl getting a manager but for 4 people to be dragged into it is ridiculous.

of course it matters, it’s recognising what a loyal customer she is

Are you suggesting repeat customers should be treated differently to single purchase customers.

The JL brand was always a better level of customer service, especially on refunds, it didn’t used to be akin to Tesco!

My dsil works for John Lewis. She told me the things people return to them expecting a refund is insane.

Not saying you're one of those OP!

Well no, you normally just go to the car park, don't you? To actually get outside can take ages in some malls!