Blimey John Lewis is rubbish!

I think this thread is actually on a plane of life that I've never experienced, thank goodness: "desperate for a handbag". Clearly I've been lucky so far. Long may that last!

TK Max is good for handbags imho, and has mirrors!
Elrel I wanted to buy a sun hat in TK Maxx but couldn't find a mirror and couldn't be bothered to cart about 10 sun hats to the changing room.

So I bought a handbag instead (it's very nice and half the price it would have been in JL)!

I put some feedback on the JL website but no response from them about the Leicester store. My comments were that there never seems to be anyone at the cash desks now, the beauty hall is often deserted and I have to search for someone to serve me and the entire soft furnishings dept. was a ghost town- I expect they are cutting down on staff too. I really like all their goods, they are overpriced but I used to buy there for the excellent service - I think this is going.

It's just that fitting rooms have mirrors, batty.

Chewbacca, your experience with that same branch of JL is similar to my friend's battle with them over curtains - I won't go into that! Like many other companies, JL has undergone a massive re-structuring exercise in the past year and it sounds as if no-one knows who is responsible for what. One major problem seems to be that work that was previously done by in-house 'partners' is now being out-sourced to companies with no loyalty to JL and its reputation. It sounds as if that is the root cause of many of the incidents reported on this thread.

oldbatty I do understand, but I think you have to take account of the lack of body language. It can be difficult on forums where all you have are the words, nothing else, not even an idea of what the person saying them is like.
Keep posting on GN, you will find a lot of people genuinely willing to support you through any difficult times.

I've always liked John Lewis and, over the years I've bought a lot from them. I recently went into the Cheadle store to buy flooring for my living room, dining room and kitchen. The instore assistant couldn't have been more helpful and she offered suggestions that I hadn't considered. Once I'd made my choice, the assistant made an appointment for their in-store rep to come to my house and measure up and give me a price quote. The appointment was changed, by John Lewis, 3 times before they eventually turned up. The rep was completely different to the in-store staff; he dismissed my choice of flooring as being unsuitable and offered something completely different that I wasn't keen on. I was then informed that every piece of furniture would have to be stacked up outside, or put in storage before they would begin the job. I was told that I would have to do all of that myself due to "elf & safety for their staff". As I live alone, there was no way I could do it. Instead, I went to a small independent retailer who agreed with my initial choice, worked around the furniture that I couldn't move myself and did a 1st class job. Maybe it depends on which branch of John Lewis you go to as to the level of service you get.

OK never mind. I thought *who needs a mirror to look at a handbag*was rather curt. I clearly need to get off this damn machine and push past the depression and interact with people face to face.

I have read through every post on this thread and I honestly can’t see any rudeness or unpleasantness. This is a genuine observation, not in any way an attempt to be argumentative or rude. I am simply surprised that you feel this way oldbatty. I’m sure no rudeness or unpleasantness has been intended you should see some of the threads

I was too hot for the fitting room. I would like to check if a bag looks right and 'suits' me.
Why do people have to be so rude and unpleasant?

I see now there are several main players on this site and its not nice at all.

Why didn't you go into a fitting room to try on the handbags?

In our Norwich store it very much depends on the department. We’ve bought a TV, cameras, mobile phones and an iPad with good advise and service and been very pleased with what we choose. The assistants approach and ask if they can help. This doesn’t happen in a lot of the other departments. Assistants chat in groups and turn their backs, or vanish as we approach, or just ignore us completely. We obviously don’t dress to the correct standard.

I m like you Callgirl I ve never been in a John Lewis shop but I don’t think you can rubbish a whole chain of shops because you were hot and befuddled and couldn’t see a mirror
Who needs a mirror to look at a handbag?

I`ve never been into a John Lewis shop, as we don`t have one in Boston. However, a couple of years ago I tried to order a fridge freezer from them online, but got a bit befuddled. I rang JL, the nice young(?) lady I spoke to talked me through what I`d done wrong, then she said "Tell you what, I`ll do the order for you shall I?", which she proceeded to do, the item was delivered on the day specified, and the old one taken away as requested. That has so far been my only experience with JL, but it did make me think that I wouldn`t mind shopping with them again if need be.

John Lewis' halo slipped for me a few months ago when we ordered a new mattress for our bed and at the same time paid to have the old one taken away. When the delivery arrived the driver had no note of the additional cost of removal and said he couldn't take the old one away as he didn't have room on the lorry. We had to manhandle as best we could, the old mattress into the spare bedroom, It was quite a difficult task anyway as it was King size. At the time my husband was suffering from a virus and wasn't very well, all in all we weren't very happy. However, I wrote them a strong email and we did have one of their troubleshooters ring us with a grovelling apology offering a £40 voucher, which was quite welcome as we were looking for new kitchen stools so we were able to set that offering against our bill for those.

I still love them though and they remain one of my favourite stores.

My experience of John Lewis has always been good: sofa, washing machine, Dyson, bespoke curtains, (which did not fit, so the assistant came round immediately after the store had closed and spent an hour adjusting them until they did .) I visited another JL recently which was well-staffed and stocked; I was able to buy everything I needed and several things which I didn't, and consider it to be the epitome of a good department store.
I can't believe Franbern wasted time sending TWO emails because a delivery man was initially reluctant to move his van; he did move it so what was the problem?

Whilst acknowledging other people have had "not so good" experiences, I have to say that I have had sofas delivered on time by helpful drivers, washing machines delivered and installed on time by cheerful guys, and a hob efficiently installed and demonstrated.

I hope my impression isn't going to change as I love to shop in my local John Lewis, it is one of the few nice places to shop that are left on the high street.

A couple of weeks ago, I returned home mid-aftternoon to find my dropped kerb entry to my off=street parking in front of my house completely blocked by a JL van. I live in a small cul-de-sac, and we are all very tolerant about such things. I waited in my car for a few minutes until the van driver returned, then asked him if he could just move his van forward to let me get onto my driveway, then - as i was going to be in for the rest of the day - he could reverse back in front of my driveway again.
Must to my astonishment, he was put out at my request, asked if I could give him 20 minutes or more. I was sitting in my car in the middle of the road. I said, NO, I need to park my car on my own driveway and he does need to move for a few minutes to let me do so. with great reluctance he got into his van, and, still muttering at me - moved the van further down the cul-de-sac.
I sent an email to JL's Customer service department as I was really upset at his behaviour (found myself looking out the front window as I feared he may damage my car).
My first email, after having received the automated reply telling me I would have a reply within 48 hours, was ignored. Two weeks later re-sent it. Did eventually get a reply apologising and saying they were looking into the matter.
NOT John Lewis as I always knew them!!!!

Well I still like the John Lewis Partnership but like all “national treasures”(like M&S) it is bound to come in for some stick if it falls short of its previous high standards.

I don't often shop in JL but have to agree with the OP about overheating in most shops. Debenhams is one of the worst. I think this is largely why I get so exhausted shopping.

Just for balance, as well.
We bought a new sofa bed from JL last week. Delivered direct, 3 days later, exactly when they said and taken to the upstairs room.
The delivery men were very courteous and put shoe covers on when they entered the house.
It’s still our go to shop.

A friend was telling me that she had bought a couple of sofas from John Lewis. The day before they were due to be delivered, a charity collected her old suite. Several weeks later she is still waiting for her new furniture. It is not clear what happened but one of the staff thinks that her furniture was sold to someone else.

I agree about the demise of John Lewis. There are no staff, few mirrors and their returns policy for damaged goods is appalling.

Whenever I go into JL I seem to have hot flushes, even though I should be well past that age.
Perhaps it's them, not me.

Just for balance .
When 3D TVs were launched we bought one from JL - it cost £2k and came with their 5 year warranty . 4 years and 5 months in it developed a minor fault - slight loss of colour intermittently on one edge .
We called for advice and they sent a 3rd party company to remove and test it and instal a replacement .
3 days later we received a call to say that in their view it was not repairable due to the advancement in technology , and JL would call us .
The following day we were offered all our money back !
In my view this is incredible customer service and I would never shop anywhere else .