John Lewis -Very poor customer service

gregg1

andrewward2001 wrote: »

I recently ordered a camera online from John Lewis for store pick up the next day. The day of collection I checked my email and found one from JL saying the order had been cancelled due to "failure of security checks." I called customer services and was told they had no idea why and that that was that. I therefore purchased the camera online from another retailer (at a cheaper price) and didn't go to JL where I had planned to buy other items.
I wrote to customer services complaining about the poor telephone response I had received and received no reply. After 2 weeks I called to ask what was going on and was met by another non committal response with the representative unable to give any reason as to why the order had been cancelled despite being asked (politely) to do so.
All in all very surprising and disappointing as I have been a loyal customer of JL for many years and have spent a lot of money with them online and in store. They have already lost over £1000 of my custom as a result and I will shop elsewhere in future.

Anyone else had similar experience with JL Customer "Service"?

I read your post with interest as I too have been a very long-standing customer with John Lewis and get most of our Christmas stuff from them plus spend quite a lot over the year with them and have to say their customer service has taken a bit of a dive in my opinion in the past few months.

It used to be the case that their customer service was one of the best. Not sure if its just a blip but we have had a number of problems with them of late. Had a number of faulty items delivered as well. If they carry on like this I will be taking my custom elsewhere.

vyle

Azari wrote: »

You haven't read (or understood) what I have written.

No matter how many cards JL authorise each day only a tiny proportion will fail and these should be flagged for action. Even if that action is nothing more than sending an email asking the customer to phone.

Once they are on the phone they can tell the customer what information they submitted to the CC company. They don't need to know why the submission failed. Once the customer knows what information they have submitted they can immediately tell if is correct and either resubmit (to JL) correctly it or query their CC company if the information was OK.

It's absurd to say that JL cannot give decent customer service because they are bigger than 'Book People'. It's just a matter of scale.

I did misunderstand to an extent in that I thought you meant that they should also explain to the customer why it failed, rather than just what information was submitted. Sending an automated email asking the customer to phone would be a good idea, actually.

gregg1 wrote: »

It used to be the case that their customer service was one of the best. Not sure if its just a blip but we have had a number of problems with them of late. Had a number of faulty items delivered as well. If they carry on like this I will be taking my custom elsewhere.

Unless it was own brand stuff, you can't really blame them for faulty goods being delivered, because with normal brands, it's the same stock as goes everywhere else.

gregg1

vyle wrote: »

I did misunderstand to an extent in that I thought you meant that they should also explain to the customer why it failed, rather than just what information was submitted. Sending an automated email asking the customer to phone would be a good idea, actually.



Unless it was own brand stuff, you can't really blame them for faulty goods being delivered, because with normal brands, it's the same stock as goes everywhere else.[/QUOTE]

Yes I can - the second time I wanted something faulty replaced they promised they would check it before sending it out and it came out again with a fault - they promised to check the item but failed to do so!

On another occasion a (quite expensive) item was delivered and hadvery obviously been used and was faulty - again, their fault, they should improve their quality control!

vyle

gregg1 wrote: »

vyle wrote: »

I did misunderstand to an extent in that I thought you meant that they should also explain to the customer why it failed, rather than just what information was submitted. Sending an automated email asking the customer to phone would be a good idea, actually.



Unless it was own brand stuff, you can't really blame them for faulty goods being delivered, because with normal brands, it's the same stock as goes everywhere else.

Yes I can - the second time I wanted something faulty replaced they promised they would check it before sending it out and it came out again with a fault - they promised to check the item but failed to do so!

On another occasion a (quite expensive) item was delivered and hadvery obviously been used and was faulty - again, their fault, they should improve their quality control!

Ah you didn't say that. Though if something HAS been checked, it'll appear used, because it's been used to be checked.

I guess it's just best to avoid jl.com and use the shops instead.

I hope my dishwasher order goes okay. Been waiting a week and a half for hotpoint to ring me to arrange delivery (it's still within the 2 week window though).

gregg1

vyle wrote: »

Ah you didn't say that. Though if something HAS been checked, it'll appear used, because it's been used to be checked.

I guess it's just best to avoid jl.com and use the shops instead.

I hope my dishwasher order goes okay. Been waiting a week and a half for hotpoint to ring me to arrange delivery (it's still within the 2 week window though).

Maybe but you dont really want it to be delivered dirty and with water all over it even if they have checked the item.

To be fair we have had all our kitchen units and appliances from them and they were OK but that was a while back - their online has certainly deteriorated of late in my opinion.

sirmarcus

OP....Suggest you escalate and complain to Andy Street, John Lewis Chief Executive, via sending him an email at [EMAIL="andy_street@johnlewis.co.uk/"]andy_street@johnlewis.co.uk/[/EMAIL]

Good luck and hope this helps.

Rubbermullet

You’d think that in the last year John Lewis would’ve sorted out the problem of indiscriminately cancelling people’s orders, but no, they’re still doing it – here’s my experience this week:

I wanted to buy a tablet computer through their website, I ordered, was sent order confirmation, then about 20 minutes afterwards I received an email to say my order had been cancelled. I called the customer services number and was told it had been cancelled as a security measure because I had failed to put a home telephone number (I only put my mobile number as I always do and their website doesn’t make home telephone number a mandatory field). I said I’d reorder online which I did, making sure to include my home telephone number this time. Guess what? 15 minutes later my order was cancelled again. The email said:

“For your protection, we security check all online orders to authenticate the information and the details provided. Unfortunately, the details you provided have failed our checks and we're unable to complete your order.” I know my details were correct both times, and I order quite a lot online and have never had any order rejected before.

I concluded John Lewis really didn’t want my business, then saw that other people had had the same experience. I emailed customer services suggesting they review their security checking policy as it’s actively harming their business by rejecting genuine orders. It was clear from their replies (and to their credit they did reply quickly) that they didn’t accept there is a problem with their ordering system, and the fault was all mine.

So John Lewis appears to think that I’m a serial fraudster. Thanks for that. It was also clear from the last email from them that they think I’m an idiot too due to the condescending tone of it. So they think I’m a serial fraudster of low intelligence. Seriously though, John Lewis are a dreadful company to deal with online. There are lots of other companies who are happy to have your business, and with their terrible service I can imagine John Lewis going the same way as Comet very soon.

Save yourselves a load of hassle and buy from a company who wants your business – avoid the John Lewis website like the plague!

DCFC79

Rubbermullet wrote: »

I wanted to buy a tablet computer through their website, I ordered, was sent order confirmation,

What was the tablet you tried to order ?

vuvuzela

Rubbermullet wrote: »

...with their terrible service I can imagine John Lewis going the same way as Comet very soon.

What an utterly ridiculous assertion to make.

DavidFx

The problem with Card Not Present transactions is that the retailer suffers the loss due to a fraudulent transaction rather the the credit card company. Also, certain products are a high risk (mobile phones, laptops and tablets) as they can be easily sold on by the fraudsters. So the retailer will always err on the side of caution. They will not tell you why you failed the security checks as people will then be able to circumvent them.

JL have lost your order and the (say) £30 profit from it but could have lost over £300 if it was fraudulent - It's their choice.