John Lewis - 'Never Knowingly Undersold' - untrue?

Doc_N

Manchee wrote: »

(Bolding and underlining mine)

Well its not a false claim is it? Its been repeatedly said on this thread that they offer longer guarantees, so if you're trying to get them to price match on something with a shorter guarantee, its not being 'sold with the same service conditions', is it? Tbh the way I see it, with this exception written in, they dont have to price match (unless you bring them a price including an extended guarantee), so playing devils avocate, some might argue that they are providing a service beyond that which is advertised.

Actually, they don't offer longer guarantees - only on certain items. In the case of the electric toothbrush mentioned, for example, the guarantee is an identical period.

With televisions their 5 year warranty is difficult to match, and I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. With most other items, the guarantee's the same - and yes it is a false claim.

i_love_it

Had to have another look at this as I made the point about the guarantee (am pretty sure I checked before making the post) but the links on the op have changed and the argos link now goes to a different product @ £199

Anyhow it is fair to say that generally JL do offr longer guarantee which other retailers charge a premium for ie currys comes to mind as pushing such a warranty at point of sale

So for large items of maybe £400/£500 + the extra guarantee is attractive

Not so much for items under £200

But I still feel their policy is unclear, a little ambiguous

prowla

So, is the "never knowingly undersold", with rider "because you can't buy the exact same item elsewhere" (ie. the longer warranty) valid then?

Currys do something similar with their white goods - they offer a price promise, but they get specific models made for their stores, which means that it is impossible to do like for like.

deanos

Doc_N wrote: »

With televisions their 5 year warranty is difficult to match,

no its very straightforward, fill in the online form and that's it, they even match internet retailers as long as they have 1 bricks and mortar store they pricematch even it the warranty is only 1 year, instore they add on the warranty

i_love_it

deanos wrote: »

no its very straightforward, fill in the online form and that's it, they even match internet retailers as long as they have 1 bricks and mortar store they pricematch even it the warranty is only 1 year, instore they add on the warranty

This is what I mean about ambiguous.

having a price match with a retailer with one bricks an mortar store is only straightforward if you know the rules.

that is not clear in their policy and will only come to light when you challenge their price

withabix

Doc_N wrote: »

"If we find a national high street competitor offering a better nationwide price for the same product, sold with the same service conditions, we'll lower our price to match in all our shops and on our website, including when a competitor is having a sale."

I have enboldened they key point here.

Many of the things people ask to pricematch do not meet one or both of these conditions.

Longer warranties for a start and, in the case of Currys/PCWorld, different model numbers (and usually unique to DSGi for the very reason of avoiding price matching in their stores!).

In my experience they do pro-actively reduce prices, indeed when similar retailers such as Debenhams or House of Fraser have discount days, they state on their website that there is a pricematch 'event' going on, with the prices reduced accordingly.

You can't expect them to do reduce a price instantly every time a single item is on sale for less somewhere else - why should they employ people just to screenscrape other websites??

Doc_N

withabix wrote: »

You can't expect them to do reduce a price instantly every time a single item is on sale for less somewhere else - why should they employ people just to screenscrape other websites??

I don't expect them to employ people to screenscrape other websites. I do expect them, though, to reduce their prices in accordance with the very clearly stated policy below when they're told about (and accept) a claim. They certainly do not do this (except when it suits them to) as many people (besides me) can confirm - they just reduce the price for the person claiming and leave it at that. They won't even accept a second claim from someone else on the same product!

"If we find a national high street competitor offering a better nationwide price for the same product, sold with the same service conditions, we'll lower our price to match in all our shops and on our website, including when a competitor is having a sale."

Treevo

For such a clear policy you're having a lot of trouble understanding its meaning.

What you infer from it does not a policy make. They will price match when asked and shown proof, in store and online. It couldn't be clearer. It seems like you just want to bash them.

prowla

Treevo wrote: »

For such a clear policy you're having a lot of trouble understanding its meaning.

What you infer from it does not a policy make. They will price match when asked and shown proof, in store and online. It couldn't be clearer. It seems like you just want to bash them.

The issue is that the term they use is "never knowingly undersold"; the wording is very precise, and it means that as soon as one person has told them they "know", and therefore if they subsequently sell another at a higher price then they are doing so "knowingly", and thus not adhering to their promise.

Treevo

prowla wrote: »

The issue is that the term they use is "never knowingly undersold"; the wording is very precise, and it means that as soon as one person has told them they "know", and therefore if they subsequently sell another at a higher price then they are doing so "knowingly", and thus not adhering to their promise.

That only works if you think an organisation is one being. In reality, that's clearly not the case.