John Lewis Returns

Tovarish

Hi, My personal opinion of John Lewis is very low. I bought a new LCD TV a week ago and on the 3d day the picture quality degraded so I`ve called Liverpool branch of John Lewis and asked if I can exchange my TV and the answer was NO , first the engineer has to come to check it "because lots of customers bring their TVs back after a while and falsely claim faults for a refund" That`s the exact words I was told, can you believe it??? And I didn`t even ask for a refund just to exchange like for like. They told me it`s a company policy because of these customers to now send an engineer out to my house to check if I`m telling the truth. Plus one of the people in charge of department tried to tell me a lot of tosh about ariel signal strength, etc..Even though I've told him it`s been tested and I`ve still got a poor picture while playing dvd . I was told to be quiet and let him have his say first and then I can speak ( VERY CUSTOMER FRIENDLY). Once the engineer has been and I`ve proved I`m not a liar I can MAYBE then exchange my tv and AVOID JL like the plague for ever more.

wuckfit

cleo1299 wrote: »

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.

It's an offence to knowing sell faulty goods, IIRC

neilmcl

Tovarish wrote: »

Hi, My personal opinion of John Lewis is very low. I bought a new LCD TV a week ago and on the 3d day the picture quality degraded so I`ve called Liverpool branch of John Lewis and asked if I can exchange my TV and the answer was NO , first the engineer has to come to check it "because lots of customers bring their TVs back after a while and falsely claim faults for a refund" That`s the exact words I was told, can you believe it??? And I didn`t even ask for a refund just to exchange like for like. They told me it`s a company policy because of these customers to now send an engineer out to my house to check if I`m telling the truth. Plus one of the people in charge of department tried to tell me a lot of tosh about ariel signal strength, etc..Even though I've told him it`s been tested and I`ve still got a poor picture while playing dvd . I was told to be quiet and let him have his say first and then I can speak ( VERY CUSTOMER FRIENDLY). Once the engineer has been and I`ve proved I`m not a liar I can MAYBE then exchange my tv and AVOID JL like the plague for ever more.

I can't see anything wrong with JL being able to verify that a fault exists before issuing a refund or replacement.

vyle

Tovarish wrote: »

Hi, My personal opinion of John Lewis is very low. I bought a new LCD TV a week ago and on the 3d day the picture quality degraded so I`ve called Liverpool branch of John Lewis and asked if I can exchange my TV and the answer was NO , first the engineer has to come to check it "because lots of customers bring their TVs back after a while and falsely claim faults for a refund" That`s the exact words I was told, can you believe it??? And I didn`t even ask for a refund just to exchange like for like. They told me it`s a company policy because of these customers to now send an engineer out to my house to check if I`m telling the truth. Plus one of the people in charge of department tried to tell me a lot of tosh about ariel signal strength, etc..Even though I've told him it`s been tested and I`ve still got a poor picture while playing dvd . I was told to be quiet and let him have his say first and then I can speak ( VERY CUSTOMER FRIENDLY). Once the engineer has been and I`ve proved I`m not a liar I can MAYBE then exchange my tv and AVOID JL like the plague for ever more.

If you don't want an engineer to go out, the other option would be to take it into the branch and demonstrate it there.

I can think of many different reasons why a TV's picture would appear to degrade. Even yesterday, I had somebody bring in a TV (a 19 inch one) saying the picture had gone terrible and they wanted to return it. The reason?

They'd accidentally put it on analogue, rather than digital.

Signal strength can change, so it is possible it could be the signal strength. Why, over Christmas, whenever I went to channel 4, all i got was a green screen with some artefacts.

As for DVD, how are you connecting it? Scart will look awful on an HD Tv.

I don't see anything wrong with the store checking the item before accepting it for return, but the person on the phone shouldn't have told you to be quiet, no matter how you were speaking to him -- it violates the positive language training for one thing.

Mels1

Interesting that the TV department at John Lewis Liverpool has been mentioned as part of this thread, I have two ongoing problems with them.

1. I went in mid Dec and asked about a TV I wanted. Not in stock but they could reserve one for me - with credit card details to secure the item. I asked what would happen if I found the item elsewhere and was re-assured they always phone before processing the order to check I still want the item. The next thing I know I get a letter to say the TV is on it's way and they have charged my credit card ! I call the store the same day only to be told they can't possibly cancel the order and I am to refuse delivery, wait 3-4 days and then call them for a refund. Jan 5 - refuse delivery, Jan 11 call store, refund being processed, Jan 21 STILL no refund. Call again, this time I'm told the TV wasn't there on Jan 13 and she would email the service centre and they would call me sometime today. so the TV that was apparently there on Jan 11, wasn’t there on Jan 13 and today they have no idea if it's there or not. In the meantime, I'm over £160 out of pocket just because someone didn't follow their "call before processing the order" policy.

2. Unfortunately, in the meantime, I made the mistake of going back in store to enquire about a 19" LCD TV for my parents. Not in stock but they can arrange a home delivery. I arrange for it to go direct to my parents. It arrived last Thurs and my parents wait till OH and I can get to them at the weekend. Plug it in - won't power up at all - just switched itself back off again. As OH is an electrical engineer we're confident it's the TV and not us. I call the store, service centre not open till Monday, so we just pack it up, leave it with my parents and tell them we'll arrange for a new one to delivered when we speak to the store on Monday. Simple, eh? Oh no. I'm offered two options by the store: 1. Return the TV to the store and they will set it up and check it’s broken. Problem - I left the TV with my parents as it didn't cross my mind for one second that a home delivery would need to go back to the store. They don't live near me and I can't get to them now for a couple of weeks. 2. The store will send an engineer out to check it really is broken but he can't possibly put a 19" LCD in the car, the replacement can only be arranged after his visit later this afternoon. My parents are under strict instructions NOT to accept a repair.

I called the national JL customer care centre and am told that, had I ordered from them, they would have arranged for a replacement to be delivered no question asked as we are within 28 days. BUT this policy does not apply to their stores. Consistent aren't they?

So here I am out of pocket because JL don’t know what they have done with a TV that has never even been through my front door and my parents have a brand new broken TV that they are dragging their heels over replacing.

Mels1

Update on the above:

1. No call from the service centre
2. Engineer visit cancelled by JL and re-arranged for tomorrow morning.

Doing well !!!

vyle

Mels1 wrote: »

Interesting that the TV department at John Lewis Liverpool has been mentioned as part of this thread, I have two ongoing problems with them.

1. I went in mid Dec and asked about a TV I wanted. Not in stock but they could reserve one for me - with credit card details to secure the item. I asked what would happen if I found the item elsewhere and was re-assured they always phone before processing the order to check I still want the item. The next thing I know I get a letter to say the TV is on it's way and they have charged my credit card ! I call the store the same day only to be told they can't possibly cancel the order and I am to refuse delivery, wait 3-4 days and then call them for a refund. Jan 5 - refuse delivery, Jan 11 call store, refund being processed, Jan 21 STILL no refund. Call again, this time I'm told the TV wasn't there on Jan 13 and she would email the service centre and they would call me sometime today. so the TV that was apparently there on Jan 11, wasn’t there on Jan 13 and today they have no idea if it's there or not. In the meantime, I'm over £160 out of pocket just because someone didn't follow their "call before processing the order" policy.

EEsh, looks like whoever dealt with it forgot to click the "contact customer before charging" button. The best thing you can do is contact the department manager and explain the situation. Also try to get a copy of the CR notepad to see what's been going on.

As for the other TVs, depending how the delivery was arranged, it could have been coming from the store directly, so it's just been bought through the store, same as any normal purchase. Also, any purchase can go to any store, be it from the website or a different city if it goes wrong.

The reason the engineer can't bring a tv out is because theyre kept in the secure stock room and can't be removed unless they've been charged. The engineers aren't JL staff, so theyre not authorised to move that stock about.

Mels1

Update - and I think we might be there now.

1. Called store again this morning and a member of the admin team was going to call me back hopefully this morning. Didn't hear from them but I had written to the customer services manager and a member of his team has sorted EVERYTHING out. He called to say my credit card has been refunded - yippee! - plus a little extra for the inconvenience and they were sorry they hadn't called me to confirm the order.

2. Engineer went to my parents and confirmed the TV is broken. I called the store to arrange a replacement and the very nice man I spoke to said he'd call back once he sorted something out as my parents place is outside their delivery area (strange...as they didn't question their address when I placed the order originally). And the TV is now out of stock !Anyway, wonderful CS man has authorised an upgrade to the next model and will deliver to my parents no problem. WOW !

I'm just so relieved.......:j

vyle

Mels1 wrote: »

Update - and I think we might be there now.

1. Called store again this morning and a member of the admin team was going to call me back hopefully this morning. Didn't hear from them but I had written to the customer services manager and a member of his team has sorted EVERYTHING out. He called to say my credit card has been refunded - yippee! - plus a little extra for the inconvenience and they were sorry they hadn't called me to confirm the order.

2. Engineer went to my parents and confirmed the TV is broken. I called the store to arrange a replacement and the very nice man I spoke to said he'd call back once he sorted something out as my parents place is outside their delivery area (strange...as they didn't question their address when I placed the order originally). And the TV is now out of stock !Anyway, wonderful CS man has authorised an upgrade to the next model and will deliver to my parents no problem. WOW !

I'm just so relieved.......:j

Glad it's all being sorted. A quick note about the delivery area situation.

Basically, anything can be delivered anywhere if it's in the central distribution centre, because vans go to and from there to every area, so an item in the DC can be delivered nationwide, no problem.

If an item is in the local stores, then delivery is more difficult, because a tv in a JL in scotland will not be on a van route that would go to somewhere in dorset.

And no, despite many emails to head office, there's no concrete reason why things can't be put on a van going to the distribution centre, then delivered nationwide for free from there.