To say that it's hard to believe John Lewis used to be known for customer service

[user58643296]

Suffice it to say, 55 minutes on WhatsApp only to have things left unresolved is not gilding their reputation.

I know how this is going to sound, but if you think that's bad, wait till you see how shite Fortnum & Mason have become.

If it redeems me in any way, I hate Toast and sack dresses.

I was thinking of writing a post about this. I have spent hours trying to resolve a problem. The John Lewis Customer Service team seem to be trained to say the right thing at the time but do nothing. It is impossible to speak to a supervisor and the escalated complaint team are equally ineffectual. I sent a tracked letter the Head Office over a week ago but have heard nothing. It wouldn't be so bad but part of the issue (there are several) is that I am trying to return a £600 item that I haven't paid for.

@ThatCyanCat I actually stopped into F&M a week or so ago and couldn't believe how crap the shop itself has become. It seems like they only exist to sell F&M branded items now. Haven't had any recent customer service experiences. I'm with you on sack dresses and Toast and will raise you Boden.

@JustOneMoreScroll Ugh. Sorry. How long did it take you to get in touch with an actual person? Everything seems aimed at getting you to do the WhatsApp thing. I'm dreading knowing I'm going to have to go back into battle tomorrow. Sigh.

Recently tried to phone JL to reschedule a delivery. Had a most peculiar call where the other person didn't seem to be able to hear me, but I could clearly hear children shouting in the background. Then was cut off and not able to get through to anyone.

Gave up and rescheduled myself instead of the delivery!

Am earnestly hoping nothing goes wrong with the item now.

6 years ago they left us 4 weeks without a washing machine which they were hoping to fix under warranty. We used our machine heavily as at the time we had a warning toddler and 2 other kids

@user58643296 the Customer Service contact tel number is on the website. The team members are pleasant enough but seem to be trained to deflect rather than resolve any more complex issues. My issue dates back beginning of September!
@JustPlainStanfreyPock if they're working from home that explains why a supervisor is never available. Twice, the team member has promised that a supervisor would call, but I am still waiting.

I have just had a F&M delivery (gift for someone who is hosting us abroad). It is a meagre offering for the price.

I shopped at Levi last week and felt like I’d gone back in time.

A staff member said hello and to let them know if I needed anything, not in a pushy way.

When I was in the changing room, they asked if I needed any other sizes or styles.

When I asked them for help finding a size, they looked thoroughly and then found them online and offered to order them to my house.

They also offered to match an online price for what I was buying in-store, taking 20% off the price.

Finally, they showed me the sewing machine and a recent custom piece they had made and said I could bring in my jeans for alterations anytime.

I imagine this was something like the John Lewis experience over 15 years ago?

Levi is expensive which is why they’re so accommodating. John Lewis is also expensive and still sees themselves as a premium brand but doesn’t follow up the prices with the quality of produce or service.

I went into JL last year to look for a set of knives. I am visually impaired so I asked if I could see the knives out of the case, i.e. just the handles and the weight etc. The member of staff opened the case and said I could look but not touch. I advised that I can’t see to which he responded that it wasn’t his problem, those are the rules. I did say that I understood they couldn’t expose the blades etc, but could they just lift the product out so I could see the handles and get an idea of what they felt like. Again the answer was no. I then asked if they make reasonable adjustments to which he replied no. So I took my business to Lakeland who couldn’t have been more helpful.

See an also M&S who have told me that they no longer provide assistance for disabled customers.

The products have gone downhill and the customer experience is terrible these days; they will also ignore you on WhatsApp forever, hold you in an interminable queue on the phone and then tell you all the stuff that went wrong wasn't their fault. Unfortunately the only way to deal with it is to actually act like the kind of person who shops at John Lewis and F&M and finds the current state of affairs absolutely unacceptable because this is supposed to be a quality service <<hoik bosom, grind pearls>>. On the one hand I felt like an absolute twat, on the other it was the only thing that got (somewhat slow) results.

Am I middle aged???