John Lewis 'Never Knowingly Undersold' - a misleading claim?

PixiePie · 12 March 2009 at 5:52PM

To be honest, any store that is staffed by humans, and has human's writing the policies will sometimes err - tis only natural. Yes, that doesn't make it right, but personally I have only ever received 110% perfect service and help and assistance from JL even when things have gone really really wrong, or it has not been in their best interests (for eg, the last time, my Mother and I were buying a handbag, we went through the whole range of a particular brand, only to find that the one we finally decided on had the zip fob missing. Only we didn't notice this, the assistant did. She immediately went and found her manager, who instantly offered my Mother an extra 40% off the already discounted price as it was the only one in that style left. We hadn't noticed and would have walked out of the store without knowing any wiser had they not piped, up - very honest and helpful and generous in our opinions). Therefore I can only conclude from my experiences that the OP and others that have said they have not had a happy experience with them have been unfortunate (and no, that doesn't make it right) but the amount of others whom have said they find them nothing but fair and honest kind of counter that.

The T&C on their never undersold I see as right and just and fair to them - how many people will try and bite the hand off given the chance, and I especially don't begrudge profits that go to a company where the partners are the employees. I['m more than willing to pay a slightly higher price as well on the basis I always get marvellous service with a smile, and I think I always get value for money as the products that I buy from the JL partnership shops last longer or are of better quality than cheaper products. And the smiles help

WildPaw · 14 April 2009 at 7:50AM

Visited John Lewis Peterborough ready (money burning hole in my pocket, actually) to spend £1000 approx on a new iMac. The sales guy was very good indeed. When we asked them to price match PC World (£120 difference, shop floor price, we had it on PC World's retail printout, easy to phone up and check, etc), John Lewis would NOT match price. The reason?

The price match staff in the office "upstairs" were off as it was a Bank Holiday.

No-one else could call, apparently. This from the sales guy's manager on shop floor who sent the sales guy running back and forth without actually coming to speak directly to us.

I cannot for the life of me, can NOT imagine how a business will survive if they are letting sales like that walk out of the door.

Lucky old PC World is all I will say. They got my money and John Lewis did not. Very annoyed and disappointed with "good old John Lewis"and so glad its not MY business that depends on their policies. Don't reply to this post with with 'oh John Lewis have to make profit, etc' - they will lose out to the competition anyway, so that's NOT a reason! Business is business, no sympathy. SO glad I am not that sales guy - felt really sorry for him.

roddydogs · 14 April 2009 at 7:55AM

graking100 wrote: »

This pledge is fine if the lower price means JL still make profit. On 9th March the Sony shop in Reading were selling off their kdl-v400 tv's at £200 less than going price as new model imminent - had 5 in stock. Was £200 cheaper than JL. So me and wife went to JL in next 10 minutes and salesmans first words were "I don't believe it". Some start that was !

JL man said may take 1/3 days to look into as they do not phone but employ "visitors" to attend the shop concerned. In 3 days all the Sony shop stock would have gone - now thats one way around their promise. Disappointed we then went back to Sony shop and bought at reduced price of £549. A fantastic service and includes 5 years warranty. Not busy as was a Monday. Later same day (4 hours later) JL rang to say that they had visited the shop and the reduced offer was for the one in the Sony shop window only and NONE IN STOCK. They couldn't therefore match it. Yes the stocks may have gone but I doubt it and one phone call woulod have resolved it straight away. JL have since re-looked into the matter and remain adament. I can only conclude that as partners sharing in profits, no JL staff in their right mind would ever a sale at £200 reduction. What a joke !!

If the Sony shop was offering the 5 yer Gtee, what was the point of going to JL?

shopndrop · 14 April 2009 at 9:19AM

I rang JL to ask about a price match on a cooker about 2 weeks ago. They said they would send their staff out to check. As it took them a couple of days to do this, the other store had sold the last model in the colour I wanted on the day before JL visited so they would not price match despite them confirming that the other store was £50 cheaper when they did have stock. On the day I rang them to ask about price matching the other store had 3 in stock so I was not too happy with the service provided by JL. If they would have made a phone call, stock would still have been available or if they had come back to me quicker with a different reason for not price matching then I could have gone to the other store and saved myself £50.

Doc_N · 14 April 2009 at 5:03PM

shopndrop wrote: »

I rang JL to ask about a price match on a cooker about 2 weeks ago. They said they would send their staff out to check. As it took them a couple of days to do this, the other store had sold the last model in the colour I wanted on the day before JL visited so they would not price match despite them confirming that the other store was £50 cheaper when they did have stock. On the day I rang them to ask about price matching the other store had 3 in stock so I was not too happy with the service provided by JL. If they would have made a phone call, stock would still have been available or if they had come back to me quicker with a different reason for not price matching then I could have gone to the other store and saved myself £50.

I've had exactly the same problem with them, and my guess is that they deliberately delay the price check to increase the chances of the item being out of stock. It might save them from doing a few price matches, but it must be costing them a lot of customer goodwill. I used to trust John Lewis for fair dealing - not any longer.

goblingirl · 14 April 2009 at 7:06PM

I used to work at JL and left about 6 years. There was a big culture of 'never knowingly undersold' and the staff worked hard to make sure it was maintained. The interesting point was that staff were rewarded with money when they found competitors that were selling items cheaper. There were 2 people in particular who made it a part time job almost. In their lunch hours, days off and spare time they used to go out looking at competitors prices. They did this particularly on items in their departments as they knew their departments so well. Certainly the JL i worked at was excellent. The staff were well trained and really knew their stuff. It was almost the norm to have staff that worked there for 25 years. They would get 6 months off if they did that. There aren't many companies that do that. I still shop in JL and they have some amazing bargains at times, especially during their Clearance.

richardw · 14 April 2009 at 8:05PM

I bought a TV from John Lewis that was already reduced because of a price match, it was a great price, then within the next 28 days it went down in price and I got a £54 refund.

bs7 · 14 April 2009 at 9:10PM

I don't know how they get away with the "Never Knowingly Undersold" claim at all. The terms and conditions for it are always in tiny print in comparison and the terms themselves effectively make it clear that they know they are constantly undersold.

They effectively conceed that they are knowingly undersold by: "outlets such as factory outlets, membership clubs, market stalls, duty free shops, mail order catalogues, the Internet and home shopping channels."

It's a bit like a massive sign saying 'cheapest price ever guaranteed' then a smaller sign saying expect anywhere it's cheaper.

glyn_s · 15 April 2009 at 10:25PM

I used to have great faith in JL but when I tried their price match promise I realised they weren't really interested in doing it - I was going to spend a thousand pounds on washing machine & tumble dryer (and they knew this) but it took a week for them to get back to me and then claimed that when they tried the cheaper store, the items were out of stock! So they wouldn't price match ... as it happens I got them even cheaper from another store but obviously I didn't bother going back to JL .... and I figure if they can't be bothered to try very hard to get my business then I'll always go elsewhere!

bishopsgirl · 15 April 2009 at 10:56PM

I ordered a TV from JL and before it was delivered JL rang me to say it was being sold elsewhere for £59 less so they would refund my card. I later found out the shop selling it cheaper only gave 1 year guarantee while JL while JL give 5 year.
Very pleased with JL.

John Lewis 'Never Knowingly Undersold' - a misleading claim?

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