Returning item to john lewis- gift with no reciept

Hi
I usually only return items if I have a reciept but I got a present from my friend which they bought on the john lewis web site. I have never returned anything to john lewis before , and I obviousily dont have a reciept . I wanted to swap it for something else I would prefer ( have my eye on a nice kettle ) or gift vouchers if they dont have my kettle in stock. Should this be ok, - i dont want a scene and dont want to tell my friend I didnt like her pressie. Are john lewis quite good with this kind of thing or will I better just forgetting it ?

Comments

  • mleonard79
    mleonard79 Posts: 1,616
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    Hi Cat72,

    I've returned things to John Lewis numerous times without a receipt and they are always fine about it. If the staff know what they're doing they should give you gift vouchers which should be fine for you as you want to buy something else anyway. I have had quite a few staff just put the money back on my card but they clearly don't know the store policy very well as it's meant to be gift vouchers if no receipt. Just take the item back to whatever department it was purchased from and say you've lost the receipt. Good luck!

    Regards

    Michelle
    :hello: :hello: :hello:
  • Cat72
    Cat72 Posts: 2,398 Forumite
    Thanks everything wnet fine- the staff in store did there own thing and not want customer services said they would. Very good service nad now I have a new kettle- better than the chocolate fondue set I was given !
  • henhog
    henhog Posts: 2,786 Forumite
    John Lewis are the best store for refunds - they don't question anything. it's worth shopping with them purely because of their refund policy alone. But beware - over Xmas it is well worth keeping your receipt. They dont mark their sale goods in any way (like Next put a red spot on all theirs) and if you bring anything back during the sales period they will only give you the sale price, regardless of when it was bought.
  • mleonard79
    mleonard79 Posts: 1,616
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    That's great Cat72 - glad you had no trouble! :D
    :hello: :hello: :hello:
  • Stu_Dent
    Stu_Dent Posts: 234 Forumite
    mleonard79 wrote:
    Hi Cat72,

    I've returned things to John Lewis numerous times without a receipt and they are always fine about it. If the staff know what they're doing they should give you gift vouchers which should be fine for you as you want to buy something else anyway. I have had quite a few staff just put the money back on my card but they clearly don't know the store policy very well as it's meant to be gift vouchers if no receipt. Just take the item back to whatever department it was purchased from and say you've lost the receipt. Good luck!

    Regards

    Michelle

    Just to clarify i actually work for JL and i had a chat with my manager about this yesterday and i was reassured that although it may not be nationwide, company policy IS to return money back onto the card unless the customer specifically requests Gift Vouchers.

    Stu
  • Stu_Dent
    Stu_Dent Posts: 234 Forumite
    henhog wrote:
    John Lewis are the best store for refunds - they don't question anything. it's worth shopping with them purely because of their refund policy alone. But beware - over Xmas it is well worth keeping your receipt. They dont mark their sale goods in any way (like Next put a red spot on all theirs) and if you bring anything back during the sales period they will only give you the sale price, regardless of when it was bought.

    Unless you have the receipt...
  • mleonard79
    mleonard79 Posts: 1,616
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Stu_Dent wrote:
    Just to clarify i actually work for JL and i had a chat with my manager about this yesterday and i was reassured that although it may not be nationwide, company policy IS to return money back onto the card unless the customer specifically requests Gift Vouchers.

    Stu

    Hi Stu,

    When I said that company policy is to give gift vouchers I was referring to the OP's situation which is returning an item without a receipt and in this case the company policy is definitely that you should give the customer gift vouchers - in the case of someone returning something with a receipt, however, then what your manager told you about refunding straight onto the card is correct. This is where the confusion often arises not only in John Lewis but in many stores.

    Regards

    Michelle
    :hello: :hello: :hello:
  • Stu_Dent
    Stu_Dent Posts: 234 Forumite
    mleonard79 wrote:
    Hi Stu,

    When I said that company policy is to give gift vouchers I was referring to the OP's situation which is returning an item without a receipt and in this case the company policy is definitely that you should give the customer gift vouchers - in the case of someone returning something with a receipt, however, then what your manager told you about refunding straight onto the card is correct. This is where the confusion often arises not only in John Lewis but in many stores.

    Regards

    Michelle

    i dont mean this in a rude way but do you work for john lewis?

    Stu
  • mleonard79
    mleonard79 Posts: 1,616
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Stu_Dent wrote:
    i dont mean this in a rude way but do you work for john lewis?

    Stu

    Hi Stu,

    Not rude at all - I have worked for John Lewis and many other high street stores in certain capacities in the recent past and thus know what the return and refund policy is so unless they've recently changed it I think what I've said should still be correct. It's the standard practice for all large department stores not to refund in cash or to a card for items returned without a receipt as the customer could have used vouchers to buy the item in the first place. Of course it's not a big deal and I've seen a lot of staff just refund it to the card without really knowing or caring but I've seen an equally large number say they can only offer vouchers. John Lewis is a particularly good store to return items to along with M&S as they usually take things back no problem - whether or not you get the money refunded to your card or you get vouchers depends on whether you have the receipt and if you don't it then depends on the member of staff who handles the return. Did your manager say it was fine to return money on to a customer's card even when they don't have a receipt then?

    Regards

    Michelle
    :hello: :hello: :hello:
  • Stu_Dent
    Stu_Dent Posts: 234 Forumite
    Hey,

    Basically i've been working for JL for quite a few years now and have always been told to give back the money the way it was paid ie.cash for cash..

    Whenever a customer comes with no receipt it is our departmental/branch policy to give money back on the card..the reason i believe for this is because then at least we have the customers details if anything suspicious is going on, whereas if you give back cash/gift vouchers then there isnt much you can do..

    Also,it is only recently that we've had a gift voucher button installed on our till points so before hand we just pressed cash so if a return was brought we would know no other than to give back cash..

    Stu
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