John Lewis - what happened to Customer Service?

Maldives_lover

I'm absolutely livid with John Lewis. Sorry this is going to be a long post, you might want to get a glass of wine.

I purchased a 50" 3D Plasma TV from them in December. In January I noticed some image retention (channel logo's etc staying on the screen for a while after the channel has been changed).

I reported this to John Lewis on 17th January confident that JL would sort this out, they are renowned for their customer service which is why I purchased the TV from them.

They arranged for an engineer to visit on 21st, engineer didn't arrive but his supervisor called to advise engineer was stuck on motorway and he asked me to describe the problem. I gave him all the info he needed and he stated that it was definitely a faulty screen and they would sort out a repair, I explained that the TV wasn't very old and that I didn't really want it repaired, he agreed when he realised the TV was only about 6 weeks old that a repair would be unreasonable. He advised me that he was going to speak to Samsung and JL on Monday with a view to arranging a replacement. He contacted me on 24th to advise that JL were insisting that they inspected the TV, fair enough, I was a bit put out that I had to take more time off work but at least it was going to be sorted out.

Engineer came out on 28th, looked at the screen and could clearly see I'd been watching Lorraine at 8.49:othe ghosting of the logo was still visible from another channel at 8.53 but cleared about 10 minutes later.

The engineer said that the TV was faulty and this sort of thing shouldn't happen. He was going back to the office to do his report which would be emailed to JL and that's where it all starts to go horribly wrong.

I spoke to JL on 31st they hadn't had the report, were going to chase it and call me back. They didn't. I called again on 1st Feb and again they were going to chase it and call back and to my absolute surprise they didn't call back again. I had also asked for a call back from a Manager as I was unhappy with the level of service. I was advised I would probably get a call back on Tuesday, damn I never asked what Tuesday but obviously it wasn't this Tuesday:mad: Yes you've guessed it no call back.

Clearly speaking to them wasn't working so last night I sent an email of complaint to the store, customer services and technical services. Today I got a response from technical services to tell me that screen burn wasn't covered by the warranty and if I wanted it repaired they would be happy to do so if I pay.:rotfl:

I've spoken to technical services tonight and they still haven't had the engineers report so how can they say I have a fault that isn't covered under the warranty? Not surprisingly I wasn't able to speak to a Manager again!

I phoned the Solihull store and asked to speak to the Manager, gave them all the details and they put me through to the store technical support, who tell me that the fault isn't covered.

Now just be absolutely clear, if I watch a programme like Lorraine, with a nice bright logo and a clock I can turn the channel over and still see the logo and clock for some time after. It does eventually clear but it just shouldn't happen, this is a fault but not one covered by the warranty according to JL.

Looks like I'll have to go through credit card company and section 75. One thing is for certain I will not let this go. Recorded delivery letter will be winging it's way to them shortly.

Anyone got an email address for the CEO?

Apollonia

Forgive me for asking, but you don't mention whether you followed the manufacturers instructions for 'breaking-in' a new plasma screen.

Image retention/screen burn is a well-known phenomenom with plasma and the Samsung website's FAQs address the issues:

http://samsungplasmatvfaq.com/index.php/Break-in,_burn-in,_and_image_retention

How to avoid image retention?
Other plasma manufacturers avoided acknowledging the potential for burn-in damage on plasma displays. Samsung was the first manufacturer to provide consumers with the tools needed to combat it. Use them!

• Avoid still images (e.g. paused video game or movie) on your plasma TV screen for more than 30 minutes at a time.
• Avoid non-stop viewing of channels with fixed station logos or where the screen is consistently divided into fixed parts, such as cable news channels.
• Enable pixel shifting.
• Use Stretch to Fit or Zoom Mode when appropriate to avoid displaying black bars.
• After the initial break-in period, the potential for burn-in from constant displaying of black bars is greatly reduced. Some movies need the black bars to maintain the correct aspect ratio. While displaying black bars for several hours will do no harm, try to limit their use to those times when they are really needed.
• Use the White Screen feature weekly to examine your display for any evidence of IR.

As I understand it, this is something you are likely to see on any plasma screen, especially in the first few weeks.

Of course, none of this excuses lack of communication from the sales & tech people!

Maldives_lover

Thanks Apollonia.

Yes I am aware of the running in, I've even used some run in programme from A V Forums. Nearly every channel has static logo's, the tv itself has a screen saver, everything attached to it has a screensaver which kicks in within 2 minutes but in theory, I can't watch anything with a static logo because the image may burn in.

JL have admited that the tv is faulty but say the fault is not covered under the warranty, so have refused point blank to do anything:mad:

Isn't it ironic that JL gave me a 5 year warranty on this tv but won't honour it after less than 2 months

Pinkflamingo_2

Maldives_lover wrote: »

I'm absolutely livid with John Lewis. Sorry this is going to be a long post, you might want to get a glass of wine.

I purchased a 50" 3D Plasma TV from them in December. In January I noticed some image retention (channel logo's etc staying on the screen for a while after the channel has been changed).

I reported this to John Lewis on 17th January confident that JL would sort this out, they are renowned for their customer service which is why I purchased the TV from them.

They arranged for an engineer to visit on 21st, engineer didn't arrive but his supervisor called to advise engineer was stuck on motorway and he asked me to describe the problem. I gave him all the info he needed and he stated that it was definitely a faulty screen and they would sort out a repair, I explained that the TV wasn't very old and that I didn't really want it repaired, he agreed when he realised the TV was only about 6 weeks old that a repair would be unreasonable. He advised me that he was going to speak to Samsung and JL on Monday with a view to arranging a replacement. He contacted me on 24th to advise that JL were insisting that they inspected the TV, fair enough, I was a bit put out that I had to take more time off work but at least it was going to be sorted out.

Engineer came out on 28th, looked at the screen and could clearly see I'd been watching Lorraine at 8.49:othe ghosting of the logo was still visible from another channel at 8.53 but cleared about 10 minutes later.

The engineer said that the TV was faulty and this sort of thing shouldn't happen. He was going back to the office to do his report which would be emailed to JL and that's where it all starts to go horribly wrong.

I spoke to JL on 31st they hadn't had the report, were going to chase it and call me back. They didn't. I called again on 1st Feb and again they were going to chase it and call back and to my absolute surprise they didn't call back again. I had also asked for a call back from a Manager as I was unhappy with the level of service. I was advised I would probably get a call back on Tuesday, damn I never asked what Tuesday but obviously it wasn't this Tuesday:mad: Yes you've guessed it no call back.

Clearly speaking to them wasn't working so last night I sent an email of complaint to the store, customer services and technical services. Today I got a response from technical services to tell me that screen burn wasn't covered by the warranty and if I wanted it repaired they would be happy to do so if I pay.:rotfl:

I've spoken to technical services tonight and they still haven't had the engineers report so how can they say I have a fault that isn't covered under the warranty? Not surprisingly I wasn't able to speak to a Manager again!

I phoned the Solihull store and asked to speak to the Manager, gave them all the details and they put me through to the store technical support, who tell me that the fault isn't covered.

Now just be absolutely clear, if I watch a programme like Lorraine, with a nice bright logo and a clock I can turn the channel over and still see the logo and clock for some time after. It does eventually clear but it just shouldn't happen, this is a fault but not one covered by the warranty according to JL.

Looks like I'll have to go through credit card company and section 75. One thing is for certain I will not let this go. Recorded delivery letter will be winging it's way to them shortly.

Anyone got an email address for the CEO?

I am surprised you have been treated so badly, I have always found their customer service to be excellent, must be sign of the times!!!

If I were you I would contact your credit card company straight away and let them deal with it. Good luck

Maldives_lover

Pinkflamingo wrote: »

I am surprised you have been treated so badly, I have always found their customer service to be excellent, must be sign of the times!!!

If I were you I would contact your credit card company straight away and let them deal with it. Good luck

I have to say I'm shocked at how bad thier service has been, two members of staff promised to call back and didn't and an escalated call to a manager also failed to get a response. A guy from the Solihull store tonight tried to put me through to a manager in the technical department but they refuse to speak to customers, clearly we are not worthy.

I have phoned Barclaycard who haave suspended the amount on my card:T and will send me a section 75 pack in the post to sign and send back. Best thing of all is that they've told me I don't have to contact JL again, they will investigate on my behalf, now that's what I call customer service, JL take note.

Empty_pockets

Run snow for 10 min, that should clear it.

I regulaly play xbox for 3hrs+ and have not yet suffered screen burn. (Panasonic S series)

I sounds like this is not a screen burn problem but an issue with the panel. AV forums is your best bet for advice.

vyle

Screen burn has never been covered by warranties AFAIK. That's more of a manufacturer wide situation than individual shops deciding one way or another. It's pretty bad that you didn't get a call back, but as anyone who has worked in a shop will know, getting away from customers to even check shop floor emails to see if there's anything from the call centre is virtually impossible. What does the section 75 entail? Do the bank people go down to the shop to have a word? Oh, one thing to point out is that it's not the engineer's job to say whether a repair/replacement/whatever is appropriate. He may know how to repair a TV, but they're there to say whether a fault exists and repair it if needed, not to speculate on how long 'DOA' periods are for a TV. Manufacturers have strict time limits on if you can do a straight swap or if it needs to go to them for repair. A DOA period for a TV is usually 28 days. After that, it has to go for repair. Some laptops are as little as 14 days, while stuff like the PSP is 6 months. On the other hand, seeing as the engineer has reported it's faulty, it should have been repaired/replaced/whatever regardless of the warranty. I guess you could always send it back for a full refund anyway under the new refund policy.

Maldives_lover

vyle wrote: »

Screen burn has never been covered by warranties AFAIK. That's more of a manufacturer wide situation than individual shops deciding one way or another. It's pretty bad that you didn't get a call back, but as anyone who has worked in a shop will know, getting away from customers to even check shop floor emails to see if there's anything from the call centre is virtually impossible. What does the section 75 entail? Do the bank people go down to the shop to have a word? Oh, one thing to point out is that it's not the engineer's job to say whether a repair/replacement/whatever is appropriate. He may know how to repair a TV, but they're there to say whether a fault exists and repair it if needed, not to speculate on how long 'DOA' periods are for a TV. Manufacturers have strict time limits on if you can do a straight swap or if it needs to go to them for repair. A DOA period for a TV is usually 28 days. After that, it has to go for repair. Some laptops are as little as 14 days, while stuff like the PSP is 6 months. On the other hand, seeing as the engineer has reported it's faulty, it should have been repaired/replaced/whatever regardless of the warranty. I guess you could always send it back for a full refund anyway under the new refund policy.

It's not just the shop staff that haven't called back it's also the technical staff and they work in a call centre so no excuses there. I know that JL could have chosen to repair, replace or refund under SOGA but as it was only 6 weeks old I thought they would probably opt for a replacement given their customer service standards. I didn't expect the service or response I've actually received. I would also stress that at this point they still haven't had the written engineers report so they've made a decision without seeing the report.

I paid £900 for the tv and don't expect to have this type of problem after 6 weeks. I have already spoken to Barclaycard and they have been brilliant so far, they've suspended the payment on my card, and told me I just need to sign the paperwork they send out and they will investigate the claim and contact John Lewis.

What is the new refund policy you're referring to, I don't know anything about that.

Maldives_lover

Empty_pockets wrote: »

Run snow for 10 min, that should clear it.

I regulaly play xbox for 3hrs+ and have not yet suffered screen burn. (Panasonic S series)

I sounds like this is not a screen burn problem but an issue with the panel. AV forums is your best bet for advice.

Thanks Empty pockets. I've put a post on AV Forums, what is the snow you're referring to?

squack

personally i would tell John Lewis to swap it for a nice L.C.D. model

Maldives_lover

squack wrote: »

personally i would tell John Lewis to swap it for a nice L.C.D. model

That's my point John Lewis have totally washed their hands of this. The WILL NOT do anything.