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

Doc_N

John Lewis - 'Never Knowingly Undersold'. Oh really?
They still advertise the catchy claim, but is it true? Have you read the pretty well concealed small print lately?

Competitors products must be identical in terms of make, model, size and colour.

Competitors products must match our service conditions which are:
- display price clearly adjacent to the item
- have equivalent delivery timescales and stock availability (i.e. they have it in stock if we have it in stock).

Competitors offers must have identical products and be under the same promotional terms (e.g. when a competitor advertises money off a product or group of products well match the promotion for the same products).

We will not match a price thats only available to individual customers or groups, such as account holders or club members.

We take additional charges into account such as fitting and delivery.

We dont match outlets such as factory outlets, membership clubs, market stalls, duty free shops, mail order catalogues, the Internet and home shopping channels.

Whilst we normally try to obtain special order lines which are not part of our stocked range, we reserve the right to refuse to match prices on such orders where it would be uneconomic for us to do so.

The local area is an 8 mile radius from the branch, details of the exact area this covers are available from customer services in your local branch

Watch out in particular for this one - "display price clearly adjacent to the item". It's a good one for them to use as a get-out clause, which they did with me, even though the shop was selling at a much lower price than John Lewis.

Anybody had trouble with them lately matching lower prices? Seems to me they want all the benefits of using the slogan, without the responsibilities that come with it.

eslick

what bit dont you like, looks like the standard details to me.

James_N

Doc_N wrote: »

John Lewis - 'Never Knowingly Undersold'. Oh really?
They still advertise the catchy claim, but is it true? Have you read the pretty well concealed small print lately?

Competitors products must be identical in terms of make, model, size and colour.

Competitors products must match our service conditions which are:
- display price clearly adjacent to the item
- have equivalent delivery timescales and stock availability (i.e. they have it in stock if we have it in stock).

Competitors offers must have identical products and be under the same promotional terms (e.g. when a competitor advertises money off a product or group of products well match the promotion for the same products).

We will not match a price thats only available to individual customers or groups, such as account holders or club members.

We take additional charges into account such as fitting and delivery.

We dont match outlets such as factory outlets, membership clubs, market stalls, duty free shops, mail order catalogues, the Internet and home shopping channels.

Whilst we normally try to obtain special order lines which are not part of our stocked range, we reserve the right to refuse to match prices on such orders where it would be uneconomic for us to do so.

The local area is an 8 mile radius from the branch, details of the exact area this covers are available from customer services in your local branch

Watch out in particular for this one - "display price clearly adjacent to the item". It's a good one for them to use as a get-out clause, which they did with me, even though the shop was selling at a much lower price than John Lewis.

Anybody had trouble with them lately matching lower prices? Seems to me they want all the benefits of using the slogan, without the responsibilities that come with it.

I've only had good-value, trouble free service from John Lewis, with quick service, and no-nonsense returns. Don't knock that part of value for money.

pollyskettle

Sorry OP, but credit where credit is due I have received phenomenal service from John Lewis recently, I really can't fault them.

zenseeker

No faults with John Lewis from me either, all those T&C's look pretty standard.

456789

Doc_N wrote: »

We dont match outlets such as factory outlets, membership clubs, market stalls, duty free shops, mail order catalogues, the Internet and home shopping channels.

The local area is an 8 mile radius from the branch, details of the exact area this covers are available from customer services in your local branch

Well that pretty much gets them out of matching anything....

But tbh most people who use them are happy to pay a bit extra and they have good guarantee periods on most items

jenniewb

I read the first part and was in agreement with JL, seemed like basic common sense stuff to me, then I read on....

Doc_N wrote: »

John Lewis - 'Never Knowingly Undersold'.

Whilst we normally try to obtain special order lines which are not part of our stocked range, we reserve the right to refuse to match prices on such orders where it would be uneconomic for us to do so.

Now that bit can be understood in 110 different ways...is it not uneconomic to lower prices anyway? that does sound like a get out clause and a half!

I do though, think that JL are essentially a good brand- they tend to work with the customer where others with similar policies (comet for example) can seem to argue when both they and you know you are in the right. I would imagine JL would even go back on part of thier policy to look good to the customer- not saying thats what happens, but that is my understanding of them.

Doc_N

jenniewb wrote: »

I read the first part and was in agreement with JL, seemed like basic common sense stuff to me, then I read on....




Now that bit can be understood in 110 different ways...is it not uneconomic to lower prices anyway? that does sound like a get out clause and a half!

I do though, think that JL are essentially a good brand- they tend to work with the customer where others with similar policies (comet for example) can seem to argue when both they and you know you are in the right. I would imagine JL would even go back on part of thier policy to look good to the customer- not saying thats what happens, but that is my understanding of them.

I thought that, too, until I dealt with them, but their policy was rigidly applied, and to the letter. I gave them clear, incontrovertible, written evidence of the lower price being charged, but they refused to accept it because the price was not displayed adjacent to the item on the day that they visited.

I don't particularly care about that, though. What I do care about is JL attempting to have it both ways, by pushing out all this 'Never Knowingly Undersold' imagery but then hedging it round with so much small print that the phrase becomes effectively meaningless.

I see that last October the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a claim against them too (from DSG Retail of all people!):

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_45201.htm

"Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told John Lewis to ensure significant conditions were clearly stated in future ads."

graking100

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 !!

obprestige

I have to agree with the vast majority of posts on this thread that John Lewis are one of the few remaining stores on the high street that have staff that have any clue about the products that they are selling.

The NKU policy terms look like standard ones to ensure that they are not taken advantage of.

If I can buy a product at John Lewis then I will go out of my way to do so.

pjala

The t&c are a bit worrying though, particularly with the examples cited. Sometimes when you smell the coffee, you realise it is not quite the quality you have been led to believe....

John Lewis are generally a great store, but their prices are in the high rather than moderate bracket. Most stores will match prices these days if you ask them. I notice that with their electronic goods, they are generally not that up to date with details. TVs for instance, I wanted lots of details about differents specs and qualities, and found the staff there not very good for this. At the panasonic store round the corner, the staff were excellent.