Comments on: Pain at John Lewis – a lesson in awful customer service http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/ More Clients in Less Time, Even if You Hate Selling Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:26:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Claire http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-2703 Claire Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:46:59 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-2703 If you live in a flat DO NOT BOTHER trying to buy a range cooker from John Lewis. After ordering over a month ago, ringing them every few days to chase , we have been told they wont deliver because they have to carry the oven up 13 stairs. They even suggested that my father, who is 81, help the delivery guys. Unfortunately, I'm not a guy - or a woman with large muscles - so couldn't offer to carry it anyway - not that its our job, we are the customers! Disgusting service - especially as our home is kitted put with everything from John Lewis. WILL NEVER SHOP WITH THEM AGAIN! I would like to know who is the best person/company to put in a formal complaint against the store and their complete lack of help. If you live in a flat DO NOT BOTHER trying to buy a range cooker from John Lewis. After ordering over a month ago, ringing them every few days to chase , we have been told they wont deliver because they have to carry the oven up 13 stairs. They even suggested that my father, who is 81, help the delivery guys. Unfortunately, I’m not a guy – or a woman with large muscles – so couldn’t offer to carry it anyway – not that its our job, we are the customers! Disgusting service – especially as our home is kitted put with everything from John Lewis. WILL NEVER SHOP WITH THEM AGAIN!
I would like to know who is the best person/company to put in a formal complaint against the store and their complete lack of help.

]]> By: Daisy http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-2695 Daisy Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:26:21 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-2695 Joyce, I sympathise, having just experienced John Lewis' "customer service". If I were you, I would complain by letter or email to the CEO. I've done this a couple of times in the past with Sky, Abbey National (they lost some legal documents of ours and then lied about it - appalling service) and Sony. You should be able to find the CEO's name and email on the web. I sympathise with John Lewis staff if they are being restructured, but don't think that's any excuse for rude and bullying behaviour. Everyone (including me) is at risk of redundancy or is being restructured so it's not as if they are the only ones. Perhaps they should do a couple of night shifts in the NHS to learn how to deal with people - when I worked in the NHS we had to be polite and caring at all times, including on night duty and in the face of violent and abusive patients and relatives. My issue with John Lewis is that they refused point blank to give me a refund after an item I ordered over the net arrived damaged. I gave in because I doubted myself, but next time I have an issue about damaged goods in any shop, I will take the Sale of Goods Act with me and show it to them. I'm afraid John Lewis have lost me as a customer - being bullied into accepting an exchange rather than being refunded does not make me a happy customer. I get better service on ebay. Joyce,

I sympathise, having just experienced John Lewis’ “customer service”. If I were you, I would complain by letter or email to the CEO. I’ve done this a couple of times in the past with Sky, Abbey National (they lost some legal documents of ours and then lied about it – appalling service) and Sony. You should be able to find the CEO’s name and email on the web.

I sympathise with John Lewis staff if they are being restructured, but don’t think that’s any excuse for rude and bullying behaviour. Everyone (including me) is at risk of redundancy or is being restructured so it’s not as if they are the only ones. Perhaps they should do a couple of night shifts in the NHS to learn how to deal with people – when I worked in the NHS we had to be polite and caring at all times, including on night duty and in the face of violent and abusive patients and relatives.

My issue with John Lewis is that they refused point blank to give me a refund after an item I ordered over the net arrived damaged. I gave in because I doubted myself, but next time I have an issue about damaged goods in any shop, I will take the Sale of Goods Act with me and show it to them. I’m afraid John Lewis have lost me as a customer – being bullied into accepting an exchange rather than being refunded does not make me a happy customer. I get better service on ebay.

]]> By: Marc http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-2592 Marc Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:00:14 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-2592 Ian I have had worse, but this was at House of Fraser. I visited their Manchester store on a Saturday afternoon. As soon as I entered the store, things just went wild. I walked past the secuiryt guard standing next to the main door. He radioed his colleagues and within a couple of minutes I had 5 security guards following me around the store. One of them even tried to predict where I was going. This lasted for about half an hour until I took my purchases to the till and paid for them. The security guards (working for AFC Group Security) then just left me on my own. I complained to the manager who told me that it was House of Fraser policy to have their contractors (in this case AFC Group Security) deal directly with their customers. They promised a thorough investigation. It took a month for AFC Group Security to get back to me stating that I had lied and that I have made up the whole incident. I then requested to have a copy of the CCTV tapes. Well, I was told that they had been wiped! I then complained to the board of directors of House of Fraser. I eventually got an apology from their company secretary stating that they had failed me as a customer. But he could not help criticising me either, writing that he could not understand why hadn't complained earlier to him! Ian

I have had worse, but this was at House of Fraser. I visited their Manchester store on a Saturday afternoon. As soon as I entered the store, things just went wild. I walked past the secuiryt guard standing next to the main door. He radioed his colleagues and within a couple of minutes I had 5 security guards following me around the store. One of them even tried to predict where I was going. This lasted for about half an hour until I took my purchases to the till and paid for them. The security guards (working for AFC Group Security) then just left me on my own. I complained to the manager who told me that it was House of Fraser policy to have their contractors (in this case AFC Group Security) deal directly with their customers. They promised a thorough investigation. It took a month for AFC Group Security to get back to me stating that I had lied and that I have made up the whole incident. I then requested to have a copy of the CCTV tapes. Well, I was told that they had been wiped! I then complained to the board of directors of House of Fraser. I eventually got an apology from their company secretary stating that they had failed me as a customer. But he could not help criticising me either, writing that he could not understand why hadn’t complained earlier to him!

]]> By: Ian Brodie http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-2236 Ian Brodie Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:00:08 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-2236 Ugh. Sounds very painful indeed Joyce. I believe John Lewis themselves are going through some very painful changes at the moment - cost cutting, redefinition of roles, outsourcing etc. And I believe morale is pretty low amongst staff - so perhaps that might have something to do with it. I'm afraid I don't know where you coudl write to complain. I've only written one letter of complaint in my life before, to bank. I just looke don their website for the board member/director responsible for customer service tpe things and wrote to him. He (or more likely his PA) passed my letter on to their customer service team. You could try that. Cheers, Ian Ugh.

Sounds very painful indeed Joyce.

I believe John Lewis themselves are going through some very painful changes at the moment – cost cutting, redefinition of roles, outsourcing etc. And I believe morale is pretty low amongst staff – so perhaps that might have something to do with it.

I’m afraid I don’t know where you coudl write to complain. I’ve only written one letter of complaint in my life before, to bank. I just looke don their website for the board member/director responsible for customer service tpe things and wrote to him. He (or more likely his PA) passed my letter on to their customer service team. You could try that.

Cheers,

Ian

]]> By: Joyce http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-2235 Joyce Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:22:12 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-2235 I am writing this because I have had a bad experience with John Lewis, and I must admit, I feel helpless and I would like to make a formal complaint, but I'm not sure to whom, or where. First of all, my story is nothing compared to Ian's, but it is another testatment of really bad customer service from JL. This is to do with an order of curtains. I went to the JS store to make an order and amend some of the measurements that had been made of a set of curtains. An extremely disagreable woman started saying that I had to pay, again, £50 (this is what they charge to come to your home and take measurements) as this would be a new set of measurements. I can't explain what it was but it was her attitude especially when I tried challenging her rationale for charging me £50. In the end, a very nice young man came along and served me, extremely well. He double checked and said that I shouldnt be charged £50. All well, I place my order, for curtains in two rooms of the house. I receive the estimate, and it was so high, that my partner and I decided to get only one set of curtains done. So we go to the store and ask them to produce the relevant paperwork and sign it. A few days later, after thinking about it more, we decide that maybe we should also go ahead with the second room, and we went to the store and signed the paperwork again. We sorted all this out very quickly, as we needed the curtains. These were blackout and we couldn't get much sleep with the summer light. After over 10 days, we get another estimate asking us to sign the paperwork. To my amazement, it turned out that no orders had been placed. I phone the store, and spend some utterly useless time talking to someone who said she would call me back but she never did. I go then to the store the next day, and after waiting good 10 minutes of phone conversation between a member of staff and the workroom (where all the paperwork is sorted out), I am told that I made some changes to the order and thus I would have to sign the forms again. I explain that the order hadnot been changed, and that we had not been told that we would get a new set of estimates. This means an extra 3 weeks, when we thought the orders had been processed. The extremely unpleasant lady accused me, in the end, of making changes to my order, which I didn't, and also of not being able to identify who had served me when I had signed the paperwork (thus assuming that I was lying?). I left very upset. I always think that if I had had such customer I wouldnt treat them in such an unpleasant way. JLs burecraucy has been particulary bad, and all the delays we have had after taking time off to sign all the paperwork in two different occasions. I just can't understand the attitude. Surely they are there to be helpful, and try and resolve matters quickly? ? sorry for this long blog, I hope I made sense??, and thanks for reading all this. If anyone could let me know where I can make a complaint about rude behaviour from staff at JLs please let me know. I am writing this because I have had a bad experience with John Lewis, and I must admit, I feel helpless and I would like to make a formal complaint, but I’m not sure to whom, or where.
First of all, my story is nothing compared to Ian’s, but it is another testatment of really bad customer service from JL.
This is to do with an order of curtains. I went to the JS store to make an order and amend some of the measurements that had been made of a set of curtains. An extremely disagreable woman started saying that I had to pay, again, £50 (this is what they charge to come to your home and take measurements) as this would be a new set of measurements. I can’t explain what it was but it was her attitude especially when I tried challenging her rationale for charging me £50. In the end, a very nice young man came along and served me, extremely well. He double checked and said that I shouldnt be charged £50. All well, I place my order, for curtains in two rooms of the house.
I receive the estimate, and it was so high, that my partner and I decided to get only one set of curtains done. So we go to the store and ask them to produce the relevant paperwork and sign it. A few days later, after thinking about it more, we decide that maybe we should also go ahead with the second room, and we went to the store and signed the paperwork again.
We sorted all this out very quickly, as we needed the curtains. These were blackout and we couldn’t get much sleep with the summer light. After over 10 days, we get another estimate asking us to sign the paperwork. To my amazement, it turned out that no orders had been placed. I phone the store, and spend some utterly useless time talking to someone who said she would call me back but she never did.
I go then to the store the next day, and after waiting good 10 minutes of phone conversation between a member of staff and the workroom (where all the paperwork is sorted out), I am told that I made some changes to the order and thus I would have to sign the forms again. I explain that the order hadnot been changed, and that we had not been told that we would get a new set of estimates. This means an extra 3 weeks, when we thought the orders had been processed. The extremely unpleasant lady accused me, in the end, of making changes to my order, which I didn’t, and also of not being able to identify who had served me when I had signed the paperwork (thus assuming that I was lying?). I left very upset. I always think that if I had had such customer I wouldnt treat them in such an unpleasant way. JLs burecraucy has been particulary bad, and all the delays we have had after taking time off to sign all the paperwork in two different occasions. I just can’t understand the attitude. Surely they are there to be helpful, and try and resolve matters quickly? ?
sorry for this long blog, I hope I made sense??, and thanks for reading all this. If anyone could let me know where I can make a complaint about rude behaviour from staff at JLs please let me know.

]]> By: Bob http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-2013 Bob Thu, 13 May 2010 20:15:24 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-2013 I'm a partner (legally just an employee of course) in the John Lewis business and I couldn't agree more with your sentiment here. As much as it is a shame to lose your business, from a human point of view it's entirely understandable. I'm glad though that you didn't fall for the old trap that many do in your situation and explicitly state the everything about [offending business] is terrible and all employees of [offending business] are truly awful. I’m a partner (legally just an employee of course) in the John Lewis business and I couldn’t agree more with your sentiment here. As much as it is a shame to lose your business, from a human point of view it’s entirely understandable. I’m glad though that you didn’t fall for the old trap that many do in your situation and explicitly state the everything about [offending business] is terrible and all employees of [offending business] are truly awful.

]]> By: lloyd stephens http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-1965 lloyd stephens Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:54:56 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-1965 Don't buy a TV from them thinking the 5 year guarantee is good, because it isn't. I've had three replacement TV's in eighteen months and I've had to shell out extra money every time. Plus, no price promise against richer sounds or tesco 'because they are not high street retailers!' Don’t buy a TV from them thinking the 5 year guarantee is good, because it isn’t. I’ve had three replacement TV’s in eighteen months and I’ve had to shell out extra money every time. Plus, no price promise against richer sounds or tesco ‘because they are not high street retailers!’

]]> By: Referrals: You’ve got to have a System | Sales Excellence Sales Blog http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-296 Referrals: You’ve got to have a System | Sales Excellence Sales Blog Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:41:19 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-296 [...] Pain at John Lewis – a lesson in awful customer service [...] [...] Pain at John Lewis – a lesson in awful customer service [...]

]]> By: Referrals: You’ve Got To Have a System | Sales Excellence Sales Blog http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-284 Referrals: You’ve Got To Have a System | Sales Excellence Sales Blog Fri, 22 May 2009 22:44:22 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-284 [...] Pain at John Lewis - a lesson in awful customer service [...] [...] Pain at John Lewis – a lesson in awful customer service [...]

]]> By: Ian Brodie http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-295 Ian Brodie Wed, 06 May 2009 15:40:46 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-295 I think it could partially have been pride Stefanie - but I also got the feeling that it was partially some sort of "psychological blindness". he had convinced himself I was guilty so he just filtered out all the evidence to the contrary. Ian I think it could partially have been pride Stefanie – but I also got the feeling that it was partially some sort of “psychological blindness”. he had convinced himself I was guilty so he just filtered out all the evidence to the contrary.

Ian

]]> By: How to give bad Customer Service | The Productive Seller http://www.ianbrodie.com/marketing/pain-at-john-lewis-awful-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-288 How to give bad Customer Service | The Productive Seller Wed, 06 May 2009 13:16:01 +0000 http://www.sales-excellence.co.uk/?p=403#comment-288 [...] about making you laugh with a story from Ian Brodie’s great Sales Excellence blog about how not to treat your loyal customers at anytime, let alone in a [...] [...] about making you laugh with a story from Ian Brodie’s great Sales Excellence blog about how not to treat your loyal customers at anytime, let alone in a [...]

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