John Lewis Data Protection mess

Crispy_Ambulance

I have just spent 42 minutes on the phone to John Lewis Customer services trying to find out what time they are making a delivery to my house. I have a time slot but need to have a rough idea so that I know whether or not I need to rush back or if I'm going to be able to pick my son up from school.

The order was placed by my father-in-law, who is buying us a present. He put my husband's name on the order for the delivery and John Lewis have refused to tell me anything about the order "due to data protection." They have also refused to put me through to a manager and have been unable to tell me what data they are protecting by refusing to tell me what time I definitely need to be in the house. They won't even speak to me about the contact number they have so I can tell them whether or not they have the right one. I find it very hard to believe that there are no managers available in a customer service department.

I work with Data Protection all the time at work and this attitude infuriates me. The only data they have for my husband is his name and I already know that. I have the confirmation email in front of me - I know as much about the order as they do. Husband is at work and not contactable and still they are refusing to give me any indication of what time the driver will be at my house. I don't need the exact time but I really don't believe that a driver sets off from a depot with no route plan.

I'm really disappointed in John Lewis - I thought they were known for good customer service but I will never be ordering from them again after this.

giraffe69

Whenever they have delivered to me they have phoned sometime before they arrive and have been very efficient and helpful. No doubt you could have organised to have the correct name and contact details with JL to make it as easy for you as possible, Can't you text your husband and get him to check?

bod1467

Just call them back and say "Hello, this is [Husband's name]. My wife tried to call you earlier but you couldn't or wouldn't answer her questions due to data protection. Can you ....." and ask what you want to know.

(Maybe use a deeper voice if necessary).

meer53

If you work with Data Protection all the time, i don't understand why you're so angry. I deal with Data Protection too, if i give out information to someone who isn't party to the query i'm dealing with, my job is at risk.

For all John Lewis know, you could be someone who is planning to take delivery of the goods and disappear with them ! I don't know of any company who will give you an exact timeslot.

System

So your vent with John Lewis is that they won't give out details of an order that isn't in your name (or in fact ordered by you).

I don't really see what they've done wrong!

It seems a harsh reason to boycott a company!

On a side note I think its very unlikely John Lewis could have provided an accurate delivery time. This is why they provide delivery slots to tell you between what time the item will arrive. If they could be more accurate then they would be!

iclayt

I work in higher education and often receive phone calls from parents or spouses regarding a student. I can't talk to them about even the most trivial matter concerning the student without receiving written permission from them to release the information. Drives me potty sometimes, but thems the rules.

The order has been placed by one person, to be delivered to another...it's not a huge surprise they won't speak to a third person about it who is clearly neither of those people. Wildly infuriating, yes, but I can see where they're coming from.

Crispy_Ambulance

goater78 wrote: »

So your vent with John Lewis is that they won't give out details of an order that isn't in your name (or in fact ordered by you).

I don't really see what they've done wrong!

It seems a harsh reason to boycott a company!

On a side note I think its very unlikely John Lewis could have provided an accurate delivery time. This is why they provide delivery slots to tell you between what time the item will arrive. If they could be more accurate then they would be!

I don't want them to give out details that I don't already have. As I said, I have a copy of the confirmation email. I was asking for a rough idea of delivery time. The slot is a 7 hour window - the driver must have a route plan, so they could say whether it is at the start, middle or end of the route.

The only way I could "steal" this delivery is to break into the house and then make off with a large item of furniture in my own transport. That doesn't really make any sense. I expect that I won't be asked for any kind of ID when they deliver the furniture, or to even prove that I really live here when I answer the door. For all they know, the name that they have for delivery could be a false one.

I understand perfectly why certain data should be protected. What I don't understand in this case is what data they think they are protecting. I don't want to change the order, I have all the order details - I just wanted to know if they could give me an idea of when they are planning to get to me.

I could have put my neighbour on the phone pretending to be my husband and they would have had no idea it wasn't him because they don't have any details about him other than his name and address. I was told that all they were able to do was confirm the the time slot. If they were really protecting data, then they shouldn't have confirmed or denied anything.

If they can't tell me when they will be with me because they genuinely have no idea, that's fine (well, it's annoying but it is a valid reason for not telling me). But to refuse to tell me because it is a data protection issue doesn't make any sense.

Money-Saving-King

goater78 wrote: »

So your vent with John Lewis is that they won't give out details of an order that isn't in your name (or in fact ordered by you).

I don't really see what they've done wrong!

It seems a harsh reason to boycott a company!

On a side note I think its very unlikely John Lewis could have provided an accurate delivery time. This is why they provide delivery slots to tell you between what time the item will arrive. If they could be more accurate then they would be!

Completely agree with this. I would also imagine routes were planned in the last 24 or maybe even 12 hours as with some things may being ordered with next day delivery or even paying for AM/PM that routes won't be calculated very much in advance.

mattyprice4004

I bet you probably had a go at the guy on the front line that was only following instructions too.

I had a customer like this when booking In Car Kit installations, refused to put the phone down unless he spoke to a manager for the same issue, he was a total front bottom on the phone. Luckily I was allowed to put the phone down on him!

Next time, consider how much of a hard time you're giving the person who is just following the rules.

Littlestars_2

The only people that could have dealt with the order would have been the person that placed it or the person it is being delivered to, even then the person it is being delivered to has limited information. Even then they cannot give you a specific time as they would have to refer it to another department to then call the courier who would then have to contact the driver to find it.

Regardless of the item it is well known for people to hang about outside properties to take delivery of an item that has been bought fraudulently, so given that it happens more than you think its why they can only talk to the person that placed the order or who its being delivered to about certain aspects.

Crispy_Ambulance

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

I bet you probably had a go at the guy on the front line that was only following instructions too.

I had a customer like this when booking In Car Kit installations, refused to put the phone down unless he spoke to a manager for the same issue, he was a total front bottom on the phone. Luckily I was allowed to put the phone down on him!

Next time, consider how much of a hard time you're giving the person who is just following the rules.

You are presuming a lot. I know that call centre staff are following orders, which is why I asked for a manager. It is also pretty poor training from John Lewis if staff don't understand their own policies.