John Lewis in Trouble

[TrainedByCatsToBeScathing]

John Lewis are struggling, even the Waitrose side of things. 11,000 out of a workforce of 80,000 is a lot, I’m sad for their mostly female sales force and there’s many reasons for their problems particularly with them not adapting quickly to the challenge from online sales.

However I was a very regular shopper in my local John Lewis and I stopped completely after their patronising offensive response to my query about single sex changing rooms a few years ago. I’d buy furniture, white goods, kitchenware, electronics, carpet, clothes, toys, haberdashery, cosmetics, shoes even jewellery (I was shocked when I realised how much I defaulted to John Lewis as it took a little while to switch to alternatives some of my loyalty was convenience). Obviously I’m just one shopper but it never seemed a good idea to piss off loyal customers as when trading conditions are challenging you need those customers even more.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13082653/John-Lewis-threatens-staff-disciplinary-action-unacceptable-comments-internal-intranet-retail-giant-considers-cutting-11-000-jobs-bid-recover-230m-losses.html

oh how I fondly look back at the days when they used to have ribbons to cut and proper fabric bolts 😩😩😩

The flagship Oxford St store used to have a fabulous haberdashery and fabric department. It’s been whittled down to a pathetic stump now - I went in the other day needing to buy some incredibly ordinary haberdashery item, can’t recall exactly what, but I couldn’t have just the one or two I needed; all they had on display were eye-wateringly expensive packs costing ££. So I didn’t part with my money.

Ironic really, when Sewing Bee has become so popular and people are interested in making their own clothes again. There’s a big, big online sewing 'community' (sorry, I hate that term but you know what I mean). It just seems so flat-footed of JL not to tap into that.

All rather sad that JL started as a drapery business. The original John Lewis would be turning in his grave, I suspect.

I used to own shares and lots of them. Loved the partnership model.
Then they told me that men were women, I sold my shares and they can fuck off.

Partnership is not colonialism.

I'm not sure about my local JL as haven't been in for a while but our two local Waitrose and brilliant. My nearest one I go in every week or so and staff are always so helpful. The toilets are being returned and the staff were kind enough to show my husband potty training toddler to their staff toilets, great customer service

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria

You can't buy or sell shares in JLP

I used to buy big ticket items from JL because I knew they would help if things went wrong. Not any more. The Trust Pilot reviews are diabolical. If a product is faulty, you have to really push to get JL to honour your basic legal rights.

What? Of course you can. It’s a publicly traded company.

Perhaps you would like to link to this as you seem to have bought shares in JL, I would be interested to know where they are listed on the stock exchange

It certainly isn't. The shares are all held in Trust on behalf of the employees.

In other news, Sharon White steps down next year. Agree she has been disastrous. This is what happens when you make prestigious hires rather than put people in post who understand the job and the company.

I used to love a JL visit. The one in Newcastle was the place to look for anything I needed. I noticed the customer service changing about 8/9 years ago, I was on mat leave with my youngest and had to return something and it was a bit of a battle.

we’ve moved now and aren’t near one and recently took a punt on buying bedding online. I’ve always liked JL quality, even in their basic ranges so got some AnyDay bedding. It’s almost see through it’s so thin.

I'll keep it as backup bedding but I’m going else where to get something for day to day.

it’s such a shame.

I still shop online there, I price check everywhere and if it's cheaper will buy it but I don't expect any better customer service than say, Amazon. I don't visit the shops now but expect some more to close anyway. I use Waitrose as we have a nice big store and the alternative in our town are Asda or Lidl

I used to default to John Lewis for white goods, tv’s clothes etc. I gave them up when they switched to my Hermes as a delivery default ( very unreliable where we are) I did speak to them but they were dismissive so clearly didn’t need my cash.

They lost their competitive edge some time ago.

Without ‘never knowingly undersold’ I no longer feel the need to look at their large items.

Their credit card used to be excellent and strongly encouraged me to shop at Waitrose and use my vouchers there, spending extra. I now have the M&S card which is great, and can get many other ‘special’ items from Sainsburys.

Service and range have gone downhill and the shops feel generic and bitty. I’m not surprised if staff are demoralised - I would be.

not being able to try on clothes (and underwear!) in store is just another reason not to shop there.

Good heavens, I woke up a bit depressed already this morning but reading this about John Lewis has pushed me over the edge!

Some retailers bring an emotional connection and knowing that you could, at any time you wished, go to John Lewis Oxford Street and buy ric-rac trim by the metre or speak to a man who really knew his stuff about suitcases, gave a sense that all was well with the world.

Coffee and cake vouchers always made us start our shopping jaunt in JL. Sometimes we never left the store to go elsewhere. We do now. The Nottingham branch has an ever changing bunch of ill-trained folk, making and serving coffee. We go elsewhere and often miss out JL. M&S turned itself around massively. Come on JL!

I visited JL in Edinburgh for the first time in years. It was early in a week day morning. Very poor customer service. Assistant pounced on me in stationery department and then gotta stroppy when I dared to ask him the price of more than one item. "It is not actually my job". Well I wasn't going to buy without knowing the price and he approached me.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow

It isn't. JLP is a co-operative, it's a co-owned company set up for the benefit of its employees.

Their returns policy is a disaster. I bought a relatively expensive electrical item and it broke just outside the standard 30 day return window. JL insisted it would have to go back to the manufacturer before they could replace it, I was expecting it to be just replaced on the spot.

Manufacturer had a store round the corner so popped over and they provided a letter to say the item was faulty and should be replaced. Went back to JL who said yes, that was all fine but they’d still need to go back to the manufacturer for the manufacturer to send JL a replacement which they’d then give to me. No, they couldn’t give me one from their stock. Yes, it might take weeks.

Eventually, after a lot of arguing they agreed to replace there but the woman I dealt with was so very rude, and that is not the service I expected from JL.

And their Anyday range brand looks so cheap.

Sharon White has been a disaster, heaven knows why the board thought a civil servant was best placed to run a retailer.

Used to love JL, but now that kind of spending from our house goes to M&S. The contrast between M&S and JL is phenomenal. M&S food is amazing compared to Waitrose, their delivery and click and collect is superior, and the clothes offering in M&S has massively improved over the past 5 years.

Our local JL is full of stuff costing £500 or more. There’s no incentive to shop there (no good guarantees, it’s expensive to park, no longer free delivery or stuff I want to buy), so for white goods etc I’ll go somewhere mainly on price. I can find plenty of honest reviews without leaving my house, so a salesperson isn’t of much use to me.

JLP is a partnership, or a form of a co-operative. It's not on the stock market because it's not a PLC.

They would probably do best to close all the stores and concentrate on the online offerings.

ArrestHer · Today 06:33

The one in Newcastle was the place to look for anything I needed. I noticed the customer service changing about 8/9 years ago, I was on mat leave with my youngest and had to return something and it was a bit of a battle.

I bought a Bosch kettle there just before Covid and it died after 18 months. I didn't have the receipt, so they traced it by my card and replaced it with a newer, better model.

I got my daughter some school shoes in August, as Clarke's has closed, they had a good selection and were helpful with the fitting.

I'm sorry everyone else is having bad experiences with them.

The nail in the coffin for me was that stupid advert with "Brat Boy".

Is John Lewis partnership plc a different company to the high street John Lewis partnership?

Not shopped there at all since their stupid advert with the young boy all dressed up in girls clothing and make-up and trashing the house, his sister and mother.
No thank you.
Women don't fund misogyny!

It’s still my favorite place for a browse, although there’s not much competition left on the high street. The only other department store nearby is House of Fraser, which is dire. But they aren’t what they were. I do miss the decent haberdashery and fabric department as I make my own curtains and other stuff. I also liked the fact that they used to have interesting stock you didn’t see everywhere else, and each branch was a bit different so it was exciting to visit one in another city. Now they are all rather identical.

My recent experiences with them include not having in stock a king size white deep fitted sheet. Not one in any of the umpteen different ranges and no staff to ask of course. I’m prepared to pay for convenience, quality, nice shopping environment and pleasant service.
No where else seems to be better though.