John Lewis carpets & fitting

[Saurus72]

We have bought a new house and need to get the whole place re-carpeted. My instinct is to go to John Lewis based on good service I've had from them in general, but I wondered if anyone has any experience of their carpets and carpet fitting service? Is it good? How have they responded to any issues that have arisen? TIA.

I've had carpet fitting from JL twice. First was good. Second time the guys did a good job but they mucked us around with appointments and times and things. They did give us a small discount for the wasted day waiting in though. Personally next time I'd probably go to an independent carpet place, since that's who JL outsource their fitting to anyway.

My quote was exhortionate and really poor. It was two rooms & staircase - didn't consider any options to make it cheaper and the quote was an overall quote - no breakdown. I went somewhere else, got a better carpet & underlay and £600 cheaper. Really wasn't impressed.

Hmm, interesting thanks. We're going to get quotes from John Lewis and an independent tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what the experience is like.

god no
just go to a local shop

We nearly did, but were randomly given a recommended for a local firm who really knew their stuff, and were cheaper, but also far far more knowledgeable.

If you're in Herts, I'll pass on the details.

We almost used them for two bedrooms when we moved to new area. They were really helpful in the shop and gave us what I thought was a fair estimate. Then popped into local carpet shop on the off chance. I had three JL samples in my bag and he explained that all JL branded carpets made by another supplier and re branded and colours renamed sometimes. He sold exactly the same carpets we wanted, made by Cormer.

I got quotes from both places for the same carpet... JL was cheaper for the actual carpet but charged £10/m for underlay whereas local guy was £6/m (v similar products) and JL quoted for some kind of weird 'access' charge on top.

In terms of fitting, we wanted them done on separate days due to logistics of emptying rooms, JL charged a minimum fitting fee per day of £90 whereas local guy was £60 per room no matter on timing of job.

I think the disposal fees were £20 for local guys and more for JL.

Also local guy didn't bat eyelid at furniture being in the room / helping us move it whereas JL charge for that.

So overall the local firm was cheaper and just more accommodating. You could call and speak to him anytime but you could only leave a message for JL fitters with questions and they get back to you.

We went with local guy and were thrilled!

JL gave an estimate for hall, landing and stairs carpet. When the job was completed I was surprised at how the carpet had been joined, but overall thought that the work was OK.
When the final bill arrived it was for considerably more than the estimate, and when queried their first reply was that it was only an estimate, not an actual price.
I felt that any company could give a low estimate just to get the job, and queried JL again. They finally said that they had made an error with the estimate, omitting stair pads and miscalculating measurements.
Eventually they agreed to settle at the price of the original quote.

Buy your own underlay online - that's where carpet retailers have a huge mark up. We paid something like £2.99 psm.

Wow, thanks so much for all the replies. Not looking good for John Lewis! Sunnydayinmay, randomly, I am indeed in Herts - Hertford. Any recommendations gratefully received, thank you.

Saurus72 thanks very much for this thread. I am in Hertford too and it seems that you have saved me making a big mistake going to JL to fit my carpets. If you are happy with the carpet fitters you used, can you please pass me the details?

We used a local company for our house carpets- we were happy with the price and once installed everything seemed fine.

However 2 years later the carpet is crap, obviously not installed properly as it's all coming away from the edges. We are now convinced this isn't the same quality as the one we picked in their showroom.

Moral of the story- local isn't always good

Forgot to add- my parents John Lewis carpet is 8 years old and still going strong

Have you gone back to local company and asked them to take a look? If you think they have ripped you off, report to Trading Standards.

I always use local independent carpet shops and have always had good quality and service. If they've been there a while local people use them and they are probably reliable.

John Lewis have centralised their carpet ordering in Manchester and if my experience is anything to go by it is a total disaster. Despite complaining to John Lewis Managing director, nobody phones us back. We started the process on 26 January, no estimator could come out until 5 March, and despite the cArpet being out of stock with no delivery date to John Lewis they took the total monies from my JL credit card on March 12th. They have not made one return phone despite me contacting them daily. I used to have John Lewis in my blood, not any more. Keep away from ordering carpets as their call centre is a mess.

I used John Lewis 5 years ago for the whole house & I couldn't fault the service at all. Everything went smoothly & they even stored the stair carpet until we had finished renovating & were ready to fit. The whole hous was around £3600 & we didn't get other quotes to compare.

The carpet was on special for £32(ish) square meter & we paid extra to get the best under lay. Five years on I'm not happy with the carpet. The pile is flat & just looks a bit done. The underlay doesn't feel particularly springy either. My mum buys her carpets from an independent place & her carpets cost less & look & feel better.

Also in my daughter's room her carpet has bumps. The room was empty for 3 years & her furniture doesn't move as it's attatched to the wall so I'm not sure what it is. It it's the only room to have these long raised bumps though.

Just had bedroom carpet fitted by JL. Service was so disappointing ?
Didn’t vacuum floor boards before laying underlay, didn’t even have a dustpan and brush with them , or broom , or vacuum. Said they were “ carpet fitters not cleaners”
Said they couldn’t rehang my door cos new carpet was to thick, so I need to get that sorted. Feel I should have been advised that this might happen.
And didn’t clean up after themselves .
I was willing to pay more to JL to be looked after.
Loverly carpet but feel very let down.
Thought I’d get smartly dressed polite professional fitters. Got rude scruffy rough round edges wise guys in a van that would be lucky if it made it back home, that was so full of junk they couldn’t find anything.
Horrible , shouldn’t have let them in.

I wish I had come across this thread before I used JL for carpets. It's been really disappointing and I definitely wouldn't recommend JL so I hope my recent experience helps someone who is thinking of using JL for carpets.

I had to do a bit of chasing for the estimate and amendments, and it took some time to get a fitting appointment but I understand that home working/restrictions contributed to that.

On the day of the fitting the fitters wore outdoor shoes without cover shoes to fit new bedroom carpets, left a coffee cup on the carpet which made a ring, chipped the wall, put a piece of furniture back in the wrong place where it doesn't fit and scraped the wall, took a chunk out of the skirting and left glue on another piece. They left an absolute mess and put the furniture back on top of the mess that took us 4 hours clean up and for some reason went in the bathroom (after already going to the toilet in the downstairs one) which meant we had to clean two bathrooms after they'd gone. They didn't seem to follow any of the safety guidance JL sent me beforehand.

On top of all of that the measurements for one of the carpets were wrong and now we have to wait for a different fitter to come back and finish, and they didn't lay paper lining with the underlay that we've paid for.

We made a complaint about the damage (but not about the mistake with the measurements as these things can happen) and the T&Cs around not being liable for minor damage were quoted to me. I have now escalated the complaint, and although I now have a new date to finish the fitting, it has been frustrating to try and resolve the other issues. I know that the fitters are not JL partners but I expected a basic level of respect in my home.

The carpets are nice but the damage and mess means I definitely wouldn't recommend the fitting service.

We previously had JL fit carpets in our central London flat. The quote was done by a JL employee, but the actual fitters and carpet came from a small independent company. When they arrived, they asked why I was laying the carpet on top of hard wood floors. I told them that the JL quote for removing the wood floor was too high and they offered to do it for a much lower price in cash. They did a great job and the carpet was good quality. I kept their business card and used the same guys directly for our next place. So JL must outsource their carpets and take a cut, which bumps up the price.

MIL recently had JL do her living room curtains. Again, they outsourced. They’re not great quality. In fact, they advised her incorrectly when measuring. She’s had a dreadful time with JL customer service.

I buy white goods and a lot of actual things there. However, I wouldn’t use them for services that they then outsource to someone else!

Another JLP super-fan here.

I have a small drawer full of their 80% wool carpet samples and have been planning for the past two years to phone them to arrange fitting for our three bedrooms. And then along came this thread...

Can anyone recommend an independent carpet supplier in Northants?

I use Welwyn Carpet Mills in WGC. I started using them when I discovered that the John Lewis price of fitting a lino in my bathroom exceeded the price of both the flooring and fitting from the carpet mills. The only downside is the need to dispose of your own old flooring - they will uplift but not dispose.

I’ve only ever bought carpet twice in my life and I’m 45.

First time I had no idea where to go, so went to John Lewis. It was only for a small bedroom. Chose a wool twist, was happy with it, it was fitted. My mum said to check what width it came in (turns out it was 5 metres) as it was likely that I’d have lots left over and I could maybe use it to have some mats made up for by the back door. So I asked the fitters and they said that there was no excess (?) despite the bedroom being a standard rectangle of 3 metres x 4 metres absolute maximum. So I wasn’t impressed. I think they either cut it badly or pocketed it.

Next time I was buying flowering and carpet for the whole house. Went to an independent shop that has been established for decades. They were amazing and I would go to an established local carpet shop every time.

If you’re spending a lot, you could ask two local independents to quite (make sure they’re quoting like for like) and compare. If you prefer one shop over the other and they are more expensive, the eye may price match.