One of the prerogatives of being a fairly well read blogger – especially of a sales related blog – is that every now and then you get to rant about a bad customer service experience youve had.
Ive just spent the best part of an hour being grilled by the security staff at John Lewis in what I would describe as a deliberately (policy driven) accusatory manner. Ive been a very valuable customer for them over the years and theyve just lost me for life.
I went to John Lewis today to buy some stuff – a solar charger for my iphone and a new wallet. For those outside the UK, John Lewis is a well known national chain of department stores – they usually have pretty good items at good prices – and they have a good reputation for customer service. Theyre fairly unique in that they are owned by the 69,000 employees (or partners as they call them) and were voted Britains favourite retailer in 2009. Well, theyre certainly not my favourite now.
After Id bought the solar charger I started looking at wallets. The reason I wanted a new one was that although my current one works well in a jacket pocket – its just too big to slip into the pocket on a pair of jeans or trousers if Im not wearing a jacket. I wanted a nice looking one – but the main criteria was that it was small.
In order to find the right wallet I spent quite a bit of time at the stand testing them out. There were some very small ones – just big enough for a few credit cards, and some slightly bigger ones which allowed more stuff to fit in them. I took my existing credit cards and tried them in the new wallets, putting the wallets into and out of my jacket and trouser pockets to test. At one point I went to the counter to buy the very small one – then had second thoughts and tested it with some extra cards I have in my wallet and found it a very tight fit for them. So I went back to the slightly larger ones – some nice Ted Baker branded leather wallets. I “ummd and ahhd” for a bit over the choice of a black leather one matching most of the other stuff I carry, or a cooler brown leather one. In the end I went for the plain black leather one.
I tried to check out the prices of the wallets – but struggled to find any price tags (I later found out the tags are usually inside the wallets – I was looking on the boxes). The wallet I wanted was next to two empty boxes – one with a price in it and one without (to be honest with all the swapping and moving I have no idea which box it was originally in) – but both were Ted Baker boxes.
I put the wallet in the box with the price tag and took it to the counter. When I got served, I specifically asked the assistant to double check the price of the wallet as I wasnt sure I had the correct box and I wanted to make sure I was paying the correct price.
He disappeared for a few minutes and then came back and confirmed the price on the box was correct – a relatively cheap £35.
So I bought it, and after fiddling with my iphone for a bit, left the store ready to head home.
Outside the door I was confronted by three big security guards. One asked me to show him what was in my pockets, which I did (I actually had the new wallet in my hands at the time and was busy transferring my credit cards into it as I walked). After confirming that, of course, I didnt have an extra wallet anywhere, they said they still wanted to take me to the security area so I was escorted back through the store into the private room they have.
When there I told them I wanted to record the conversation we were about to have on the voice recorder app on my iphone (it would have made a fun podcast!) – they disappeared for 10 minutes and came back saying that they had been told by group security that in would be “inappropriate” to record it on a mobile phone (!?!).
They then took my name and address – and then told me that they suspected me of something called “ticket swapping”. Apparently this is where someone swaps the price tag on a high priced item for a lower priced tag.
I explained how I had been selecting my wallet and trying out sizes and that I understood it may have looked strange. I then explained how there had only been one box with a price on so I had picked that but had deliberately asked the sales assistant to confirm the correct price so that I didnt under or over pay. I checked with them that theyd spoken to the sales assistant and confirmed this had happened.
“OK I thought, thats that cleared up. Theyre only doing their jobs – but now they understand what happened Ill get an apology and itll all be over with”.
I did get an apology of sorts. The main security guard offered his apology saying “theres been confusion and mistakes on both sides. On this occasion were prepared to let you leave right now.”
I did a double take. What did they mean “mistakes on both sides” and “on this occasion” – what “occasion” is this? Me buying for and paying for goods and taking extra steps to make sure I paid the right price.
So I checked with him: “Are you agreeing that you were mistaken and that I made sure I paid the correct price? Or do you still think I was up to something?”
He stated that in his view “A ticket swap was attempted – but I (the guard) intercepted this and made sure the right price was paid”.
I couldnt believe it. I checked again. “Look, I specifically asked the assistant to check the price and make sure it was right. Theres no way I could have been trying anything. Think about it – I deliberately made sure I was paying the right price.”
Unbelieveable. I go out of my way to make sure a mistake isnt made – and I get accused of trying to steal something.
As it happens, I am absolutely scrupulous about honesty. If I get undercharged for things or get an accidental refund I will point it out and pay the right amount. The flip side of that is I am absolutely relentless if someone accuses me of dishonesty.
Despite his apologies he was not going to admit he was wrong. He was still accusing me of theft.
To his credit, the manager listened to my story and apologised. He said all the right words – but it still hurt.
I wouldnt leave until the security guard backed down and admitted I was clearly innocent. Maybe its just me but I couldnt leave there knowing that someone – for whatever foolhardy reason – thought I was guilty of something. It just seemed so obviously wrong to me.
After they backed down I went downstairs with them just to make sure – for my own sanity – that I hadnt been undercharged. I didnt want to walk out of that store thinking “perhaps an accident did happen and Ive paid less than this is worth”. And of course, the assistant confirmed Id paid exactly the right amount. Of course I had – Id asked him to double check originally.
The guard walked out of the store with me. (Eventually) he was apologetic. But even then I couldnt help thinking – “Is he just saying this because its ‘good customer service?” “Does he really believe he was right all along?”.
Im still thinking that now – and I hate it. I cant bear to think that out there someone thinks Ive been dishonest and “got away with it”.
Im not naming the individual security guard. I really dont think it was specifically him. Clearly guards are trained to be suspicious – to distrust. They need to do so to do their job. My issue is with the procedures they followed.
The problem was that the whole procedure seemed designed on the assumption I was guilty. So even when it became startlingly clear that I had in fact gone out of my way to be honest – the guard just couldnt accept it. The words hed been trained to use – apologising without admitting a mistake; then admitting a “partial mistake” but still claiming that I was guilty. Then trying to close the issue (by “letting me go this time”) without resolving the mental turmoil that any genuine customer would have been going through.
And what if I hadnt gone the extra mile and asked the assistant to double check the price? What if Id just done the perfectly reasonable act of picking the nearest box to the wallet and taking that to the checkout? Would they ever have backed down? Id probably still be there now. Id never have got any mental resolution to the issue of being under suspicion. And my God, it was so painful to be treated with such suspicion – that was a real revelation for me.
A simple step for them would also have been to check my name against their customer records (they had plenty of time while they were “checking with legal”). While having spent thousands with them over recent years isnt a guarantee of my honesty – it would have told them what they had at risk, and that maybe they should proceed carefully and try to ensure that the process was as painless as possible for me.
And their procedures let them down with follow-up. When they thought I was guilty they wrote all my details down. When it became clear I wasnt, they gave me back the sheet to prove they were keeping no records of the incident. But they have also kept no records in order to redeem themselves. They have no idea who I am or how to contact me. Now they cant follow-up to apologise or do anything. Their much heralded John Lewis Customer Service has no chance of working.
Well, firstly its reminded me that blogging is a pretty cathartic experience. I feel rather better for having written about this. Perhaps I should have written this as a letter of complaint rather than airing their dirty laundry in public. But – bah! Im a blogger Goddammit.
Secondly, its really driven home like a nail just how important customer experience is in selling.
Ive spent literally thousands of pounds in that John Lewis store over the years. From prams for the kids when they were born, to toys, tons of electronics, some artwork and home furnishings, right through to some lamps last week. Theyre a good store with good products and excellent value – I know that rationally. They have good principles – Ive seen them, and I know people who work there and theyre lovely people. But right now I cannot imagine myself ever shopping there again. This incident has cost them many thousands of pounds (not counting the bad PR from all the people I inevitably rant to – and the people who read this).
We all talk and advise our clients about the importance of good service and making amends when something goes wrong. We all know it rationally. But you never know it fully until you experience it yourself. Im still fuming over an hour later. My pain will be rekindled later when my wife gets home and I tell her about it. As I said, I cant imagine ever shopping there again.
Now lets put this in perspective: I havent lost a loved one, been detained illegally for years, or been beaten for being somewhere in the vicinity of a protest march. Ive just had a bad experience. But it shows how something as rationally small as this can have such a huge emotional impact on customers.
Finally, its highlighted the importance of making sure you have a way of making amends properly. They let me walk out of that store with no way of contacting me again. Now sure, I might not have wanted to give them my details – but they didnt ask. As it happens, even requesting my details so they could follow up, perhaps do a “post mortem”, would have made me feel better. What I really want is for them to review their policies so that innocent customers arent made to feel like criminals like I was. But Ill never know if thats happening and they have no way of telling me if it is.
Well, rant over. Thanks for staying with me. Hopefully we learnt a little along the way about how to treat customers and how to make sure you have an avenue for making amends.
If you have a similar painful story to share – drop it in the comments below – it might help you feel better!
After Id bought the solar charger I started looking at wallets. The reason I wanted a new one was that although my current one works well in a jacket pocket – its just too big to slip into the pocket on a pair of jeans or trousers if Im not wearing a jacket. I wanted a nice looking one – but the main criteria was that it was small.
After they backed down I went downstairs with them just to make sure – for my own sanity – that I hadnt been undercharged. I didnt want to walk out of that store thinking “perhaps an accident did happen and Ive paid less than this is worth”. And of course, the assistant confirmed Id paid exactly the right amount. Of course I had – Id asked him to double check originally.
So I bought it, and after fiddling with my iphone for a bit, left the store ready to head home.
Im still thinking that now – and I hate it. I cant bear to think that out there someone thinks Ive been dishonest and “got away with it”.
Well, firstly its reminded me that blogging is a pretty cathartic experience. I feel rather better for having written about this. Perhaps I should have written this as a letter of complaint rather than airing their dirty laundry in public. But – bah! Im a blogger Goddammit.
Reviews 33,864
Ordered a scooter online which was delayed. Called the customer service line for further details and the advisor offered no apology, information or support. I spoke with another advisor who cut me off and a third who misinformed me. The in-store staff are brilliant, however there is a clear disconnect with the CS line which I suspect is outsourced to a 3rd party BPO who couldnt care less.
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Ordered a gift for my nephew that was needed by this weekend (ordered over a week ago) – order arrived beginning of this week (Tues 16th Aug), the wrong item was in the box, i called up customer services and was assured it would be fixed and that id get the correct item in time for my nephew on the weekend, took 48 hours to get a call back (received today Thursday 18th Aug). All they had to say was the original item is now out of stock so i can no longer get it and that the best they could do is offer me a refund on the item they sent that was wrong. Ive not stepped a foot wrong here, bought an item that was on sale, JL sends me the wrong one, it takes them so long to sort it out the original item i ordered is now out of stock so theres no chance of me getting it in time. Now i need to rush around last minute to buy a gift which was the situation i was originally trying to avoid! absolute shambles. Would not recommend John Lewis to anybody – complacent order process and delivery and the customer service agents dont seem to care at all.DR
I bought a pair of expensive trainers for my son. he found that they give him blisters.He wore them in the house only. John Lewis refused to take them back for another pair. Also, they were outside the returns period. VERY unfairJO
Shambolic service. Ordered a bed in store at a discounted price as it was a show bed and paid for assembly. This bed arrived however had no slats with it. As an understanding human being I appreciate mistakes are made and re booked delivery of the slats for a week later. The delivery men turned up without the slats this time and the bed still could not be made. This was frustrating and I spoke to customer services as I have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor and needed a bed. I however forgave this again without making a fuss and rebooked assembly and paid for the slats myself to be refunded by John Lewis. The slats arrived and assembly team came the following week and said the bed couldn’t be made as there were no feet and the previous assembly team had built part of the bed improperly hence ruining it. This was the third time an assembly team had come over and at this point I was very angry. I spoke to the necessary team and after several phone calls they said they I would need a new bed. However I paid a discounted 450 pounds for the bed with the full price being 800. They would only give me 450 plus 100 in compensation. Hence after this fiasco I can’t even afford to buy the original bed I bought. I would have expected the same bed I ordered to be replaced and a compensatory payment for having 4 attempts at delivery/assembly and taking up huge amounts of my time. Awful awful service by a company I thought was the best going.CU
Delivery was as expected and dress fitted perfectly.
A good example of how a store should operate. I ordered the items I wanted online, checked out quickly without any fuss and received the items very quickly. Thank you, John Lewis. Based on my experience I shall be returning to shop further with you.MI
Fast delivery and good quality products exceeding expectations.AS
Appalling Service We ordered our Plantation Blinds nine months ago and job still not finished. Just received email to say the hope to complete job late october? That will be a year on and totally unacceptable when they originally quoted 12 weeks. All down to their incompetence. I did write to Amanda Simmonds Senior Operations Manager but never had the courtesy of a reply. Foolishly we bought a Waste Bin from them recently and faulty? It took another three visits to rectify? Sadly they are losing the plot as we will never use again
Reply from John Lewis & Partners
Hi Andrew, Im so sorry for the difficulties that youve been having with us. I appreciate that we should be doing better than this. Could you please send an email to http://spkl.io/[email protected]? Ill make sure this is escalated to the team. ^ MatthewHD
To recap on my previous review – really and truly a disgrace, John Lewis. After not delivering the items I ordered and paid for and not rectifying this for three weeks – I dispute the payment and got a refund confirmation from the card provider. John Lewis has have done NOTHING but fail, and to add insult to injury, they sent this – As a gesture of apology, I would like to offer you a small token of gratitude amounting to £10.00 as an e-gift card. Please dont think of this as our way of resolving your issue.. Needless to say NO e-gift card was sent. And needless to say John Lewis insults and patronises their customers further, by saying ..your issue.. Dear John Lewis, this is not MY issue. This is an issue solely CAUSED by JL incompetence, so John Lewis issue. I used to be possibly the biggest advocate for JL – have a lot of international friends and colleagues who do not know JL in terms of their track record, customer service and care. It is all gone, clearly, down the drain. Needless to say I shall never again urge friends and acquaintances to go to JL for anything they need. I shall be strongly advising them to stay away! A DISGRACE. Unprofessional tick box approach, and hypocrisy on another level.
Reply from John Lewis & Partners
Hi Helena, thank you for reaching out however, I am so sorry that you are continuing to have issues with us. Very disappointed that our team didnt resolve this as they advised they would. Could you please send an email to http://spkl.io/[email protected] with your order details? Ill get back to you as soon as possible. ^ MatthewAB
Great product at reasonable price. Love local click and collect.NC
I ordered the same necklace 3 times. First time, it didn’t get delivered. Second time, it didn’t arrive at the John Lewis store and apparently didn’t exist. Third time, it came and was the wrong item. John Lewis has gone as downhill as an existential millennial with too many plants and a ‘casual’ drug habit.AS
New oven delivered after being HUGELY let down by Currys. Excellent John Lewis delivery team who went above and beyond and great customer service. Thank you John Lewis!AN
The once reputed customer service has now become extremely poor and appalling. I ordered a bed mattress in June and the delivery was over 4 weeks delayed. It took me several calls, emails and finally a formal complaint to actually get an update on the delivery. After I raised the formal complaint, I was reassured by the service team that they would contact me following the delivery to offer support and compensation for the extreme poor lack of service. Obviously, no one contacted me following the delivery and I’ve been contacting customer services repeatedly again without any response. Don’t be fooled by the promise of being contacted by their team within 24 hours. I have been waiting over 1 week for a response. I would be very wary about buying any large items for John Lewis as the customer service is no longer what it used to be.
Reply from John Lewis & Partners
Hi there, Im so sorry for the difficulties that youve had with this order. I understand how frustrating this must be, especially as youve been promised we will have a conversation regarding goodwill. Could you please send an email to us with your order details to http://spkl.io/[email protected]? ^ MatthewMM
I spent over £2,500 on a Sofa with John Lewis, after the 8 week delivery timeframe passed, they alleged they attempted to deliver the sofa, which never occurred despite my partner taking the day off work and waiting at home all day. On the second time of re-delivery, the tracking told me the sofa would be delivered at approximately 11am so waited at home from work for the Sofa, the time passed, after calling customer service they advised me the sofa wouldnt be delivered, the tracking was wrong and the sofa was in quarantine because the drivers who allegedly attempted to deliver it the first time around had COVID and handled the sofa. Ive never heard such a cock and bull story in all my life. I filed a complaint with John Lewis in April 2022 and have still not heard back, had an apology or any form of compensation. John Lewis was a company you used to be proud of, now there is zero point of differentiation from any other old two bit retailer.
For many years JL was at the height of offering outstanding service. What has happened? Why is it now so bad. Perhaps it is a one off experience but I doubt it. I purchased a Samsung Tablet from JL Norwich in Nov 21. Over the last few months i have found problems. You can be on a website and scrolling along and suddenly it takes you back to the home page. Other issues are with the keyboard but thats another story. I called the customer service help line last week and performed a few functions as directed and asked to see if it improved. Still taking me back to home page at random intervals. Phoned again on Monday 15Aug and was offered the opportunity of having it collected today. Today came and no collection. Phoned this AM and was told because I had not given my mobile number the collection company could not send me a text. If I had been asked for my number I would have given it. After 4 phone calls looking for an answer, I will now divert myself to JL Cambridge on my way to Stamford, for the weekend and hope they will send it to the correct address. Given the above I have my doubts if anyone will find the time to strip and rebuild a £119 Samsung tablet. I have a terrible feeling I will be told there is nothing wrong with it which will lead to another half day of calls. So in conclusion, buying from JL, with its 2 year warranty may seem like a great idea at the time but without the staff to take ownership of a customers problem, I fear that they will loose their loyal customers who will simply go elsewhere and that today is very easy to do.
Reply from John Lewis & Partners
Hi there, Im truly sorry to read of your experience with our aftersales department, I can appreciate how frustrating this must have been. So we can have a further look into this for you, can you please email us at [email protected] and provide your name, address and order number? ^DemiVG
My Daughter and I visited John Lewis Leeds Centre store to relax and browse the quality departments in store. My Daughter is expecting my first grandchild early next year so we excitedly went to the fourth floor to look at the “nursery furniture”, “prams” etc. It took me a while to encourage my Daughter to venture to the department because she said they will have nothing but looking at the signs showing nursery furniture on the 4th floor I have to say what a total disappointment when we got there. The nursery furniture part had just two display sets of wardrobe, chest of drawers and cot, the prams which were on show were displayed on top of each other and frankly it all looked very tacky. The shelves which had other baby products on them just looked as if they had been thrown up with the product boxes put on without any care. The department did not give the calming ambience or choice of products I would have expected from such a high end store. Yes they have the quality in their perfumery and cosmetic counters right at the store front but once past that it seems the store has lost its original brand target of displaying pure quality goods in beautiful surroundings. We left feeling very disappointed and will buy babys furniture etc elsewhere in a store which cares about its customers.
Reply from John Lewis & Partners
Good afternoon, thanks for taking the time to share your review. Its disappointing to hear you and your daughter were left feeling so let down after your visit to our Nursery department. This certainly isnt the way we wish our customers to be left feeling. All customer feedback is very important to us so please be assured, Ill have your comments shared with the relevant department in the shop. Thanks for bringing this to our attention as its only with valuable customer feedback, we can continue to make improvements in our shops. ^Amy
Terrible customer service. They messed up my order and have been passing me from person to person.. this whole situation has cost me hundreds of pounds. Ive spent close to 3k in the last month alone with them – I really expected better from John Lewis.
Reply from John Lewis & Partners
Hey Alex, Im so sorry about the experience youve had with us recently. I agree, we should be doing so much better and I appreciate how disappointing this must be. Could you please send an email to http://spkl.io/[email protected] with your order details? ^ MatthewRA
Took advantage of the price match whilst it’s still being honoured. The whole process was simple, order arrived on time-great communication. Thanks John Lewis for restoring my faith in shopping online!MD
I have a watch I bought with a 2 year guarantee. It loses time and I wish to send it back/fixed or replaced. I cannot take it back to a store as the closest is hours away. Spoke to 3 different customer services and technical support non of who knew what to do, the last was a lovely gentleman in Morocco! Fed up of trying to phone customer services so now trying online chat and leaving this review. See if I can get an answer. What a waste of time for something that should be simple
Reply from John Lewis & Partners
Hi Donna, Im sorry to hear about the issue you had with repairing your watch. Could you please email us the order details to [email protected] so we can have this investigated and offer you a way forward? ^Jamie ST
Incredibly helpful customer service. Thank you!!
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