John Lewis Returns

mealmond

Hi

Could somebody please advise me and also what to do next.

In November last year my brother but our mum a Humax Digital TV recorder for Christmas.

All was well until a few weeks ago when the recorder started to drop the signal, meaning she could not record programs.

My brother thought it was the local TV signal, but trying it somewhere else, the same things happens.

He has been told by Humax that on this model it is known this happen and he should go back to where he bought it, John Lewis.

They have said as he bought it by debit card and not a credit card there is nothing they can do for him.

He cannot find the receipt and they say even with a bank statement they cannot accept this as proof of purchase.

So, in other words, after ten months a £200 items has gone faulty and he is meant to just accept this.

To me this does not seem correct. I am thinking of writing to the MD of John Lewis but thought I would ask for advise on here first.

Is he within his rights to ask for the item to be swapped, or even repaired?

Would you agree a letter is the next thing I should do.

My brother is passing this to me now as I think he has accepted the situation but I think it's unfair and my mum has not done anything to break the recorder.



Thanks

Martin

no.1swimmum

If it is only 10 months old I would go back to John Lewis, and ask them to access their system they can look up their copy of the receipt on their system if he knows the day he bought or at least the week he bought the item, they did this for me with a faulty sat nav, and refunded me the full amount, when I did not have a receipt. He can look up on statement the day, I am surprised that JL are behaving like this as their customer service is usually excellent, I would ask to speak to a Department Manager (the most senior partner on the shop floor), and if he can get an email or written confirmation from the manufacturer that they are aware of a problem then take this with you.

Good luck

mealmond

Hi Swimmum

Thanks for the reply.

According to my brother, he said he was told that they only keep proof of a cash purchase for six months and due to something about stock rotation they cannot prove the item came from them!

To be hinest, something does not appear right, so I will give John Lewis a call and see what they say to me.



Thanks


Martin

djb215

I'm confused, did your brother pay by cash or debit card?

If he paid by debit card and it shows a specific amount on his statement e.g. such as £195.99 to JOHN LEWIS then that should suffice, it's their responsibility to find an itemised transaction if they want one, he provided a proof of purchase.

If he paid by cash (i.e. made a cash withdrawal on his debit card) then he will have to appeal to the store to help him find the transaction on the system.

dmg24

Martin,

If you get no joy with the store, call their head office and ask to speak to the Customer Services Manager. If they will not put you through (they normally do), ask for the Executive Office. They will sort this out for you with no fuss.

I don't know what is happening with JL recently - there have been several reports of this type of dismissive behaviour.

djb215, a debit card statement with limited details may be sufficient as proof of purchase, only a court could state definitively that it would be.

NeverInDebt

You dont need a receipt as long as you can provide proof of purchase a bank statement should be sufficent

http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/askthesiteqandas/legalandrightsqandas/ironingboardire

Just a thought but how about contacted Humax I know that JL is responsible under SOGA but Humax are pretty good for good gear and CS

http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/contactus.asp

mealmond

Thanks for all the replies, you have all been very helpful.

djb215, my brother bought the item on his debit card, but John Lewis told him that this counted as a cash purchase and they only kept records of this for six months, therefore they had no proof of his purchase, which seems silly to me, as he has a bank statement as proof, but as I said before, they had told him that only proved he spent £199.950 on a certain date at their store but not on what.

To see what happens, I have sent an email to JL to see what their reaction is and I have also asked for them to confirm they do not keep records of debit card sales after six months and also to confirm they are not willing to exchange the item.

If the reply is negative I will take it further but I am hoping they will allow an exchange, which to me seems fair.

Thanks everyone again for the advice and the links, this is why I think the site is such a great site.


Martin

dmg24

They have to keep sales records for longer than six months - the information is required for audit purposes.

mealmond

Hi dmg24

That's what I thought as well, I used to work retail a long time ago and have kept an eye on the way things like returns have improved.

I returned an item to Boots a couple of weeks ago, bought at Chritsmas last year, no reciept and they swapped it over without a problem, they could not have been more helpful.

I have not spoken to JL myself, my brother has dealt with it up to now, but I think he takes no for an answer a bit easier than me!!

I will wait for their response, thanks for you advise on who to call, if I don't get a reply by tomorrow, I will be on the phone.


Martin

cleo1299

mealmond wrote: »

Hi

In November last year my brother but our mum a Humax Digital TV recorder for Christmas.

All was well until a few weeks ago when the recorder started to drop the signal, meaning she could not record programs.

My brother thought it was the local TV signal, but trying it somewhere else, the same things happens.

He has been told by Humax that on this model it is known this happen and he should go back to where he bought it, John Lewis.

That seems a strange thing for Humax to say. If it's a known fault, they should put it right and not let any models be sold with the problem.

But is it possible that it might really be a problem with the Freeview signal? How far away did you take it to test the signal? Are you sure the test area wasn't receiving from the same MUX as your mum's area? There are a lot of changes going on, getting ready for analogue switchoff. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/tv/index.shtml for information about which transmitters cover which areas.

As for John Lewis, you probably just got the wrong customer assistant. It is amazing to me how many employees will answer customer's complaints with the first thing that comes into their head instead of calling their supervisor. John Lewis is not immune to this. It's totally ridiculous to say that even though they've seen proof that the customer bought an item of exactly the price of the Humax on the day in question, it could have been some other item! I find it hard to believe that such a stupid argument would be official John Lewis policy.

vyle

I don't know who you spoke to, because the assistant is talking rubbish.

Yes, cash purchases are a complete nightmare to track down and are near enough impossible.

Debit card payments do not count as cash and a bank statement is perfectly acceptable as proof of purchase. EVERY transaction is kept on the electronic journal and they do go back further than 6 months. If you can find a bank statement and still have the same card, you could ask a member of staff to get business protection to check the electronic journal. Provide the card number and the purchase date. With this, they should be able to track down the transaction. The product number for a Humax PVR begins with 858 so it would be very easy to match the transaction to the bank statement.

Also, if you bought the PVR and collected it from customer collection there's a good chance you'll have a CR (customer requirement) number. Even if you can't find that, providing your name and post code will bring up a list of all CRs under your name. If the PVR shows up on that list, the assistant can check the notepad for purchase date, transaction ID number, transaction location etc, which is also acceptable proof of purchase.

Now is a relatively difficult time for JL staff, however, as many have left for uni, so we have a lot of newbies in >.>.