John Lewis Direct - Useless?!

RadoJo

Hope you had a good holiday, and I assume that once you were there the bag was at the back of your mind!

dmg24

Well, I'm back from Morocco. Bit of a strange trip, but that's a whole other story.

Update on JL:

I requested a written response to my complaint, and was assured that I would receive this by the time I returned. I have not.

I have had a voicemail from them, to say that the bag is out of stock. Eh?!!! What planet are these people on?!

Am not thinking about it tonight, but will get on with my endless complaining first thing tomorrow! x

BC_Rangers

dmg24 wrote: »

On Monday I ordered a suitcase from John Lewis (Radley one, in sale, last one!). I selected standard delivery because normally they deliver pretty much next day anyway. However, on Wednesday my order was still showing as 'Order Processing', so I emailed them. I got no reply.

On Thursday the order was still showing as 'Order Processing', so I rang their call centre. The man that I spoke to told me my order had not yet gone to the warehouse, and it was my fault for not putting the order on next day delivery.

I acknowledge that I could have used next day delivery, and therefore asked if I could do that now. The advisor told me that I could not (even though the order had not yet been processed), but that I could cancel the order and he would do a new order for me. However, he (eventually) realised that I had ordered the last bag (I had mentioned this several times) and therefore he could only order me a full price bag!

I then asked to speak to a manager. I got the same story, but was then told that my local store had one in stock. I asked him to double check this, and he assured me there was definitely one in stock. Therefore I asked him to ring through to the store to reserve it for me. He rang through, and guess what, they do not have the bag in stock!

I also asked the manager why they could not cancel my current order and then reorder the same bag for me (as my cancelled order would mean there would be one available). He said that they 'just couldn't'?!!

From my knowledge of previous problems posted on here, I asked to speak to the CRM Team. They wouldn't put me through. Eventually they agreed to put me through to the Assist Team.

I spoke to a lady in the Assist Team, who was certainly more friendly than the other two staff. She told me that my bag was with the courier, but they didn't know where, and they couldn't trace it. I told her that I had been told a completely different story by the other staff, and she did not seem surprised at all!

Normally I would not be so concerned about this, but I go on holiday on Monday morning, and am absolutely stuffed without this bag, it is just the perfect size.

I really can't believe how stressed out I am over it, hence why I am awake at 4.30am!

I know a few MSE'ers have had problems with JL Direct before, and have PM'ed them for help. But if anyone else can offer any ideas, I would be ever so grateful x

I empathise with your position - ordering online is textbook stuff hese days , and the JLD operation is by and large a well-oiled machine.

However , as someone working in JLD (Not in Customer Services/Assist/CRM by the way - I screen such orders for fraud) I have to make a point here: It is not wise to order goods online so close to leaving for your holiday - it is far better to leave nothing to chance and pick the goods up from a store.

Same idea as when the passport expires - best to have the new one applied for and wrapped up well in advance.

PD

BC_Rangers

zappomatic wrote: »

Standards have definitely slipped since they moved the call centre from Exeter to Scotland.

The centre in Exeter , as of June 2007 , has 5 1/2 years experience of the JLD project. Just to add some perspective here , the Scottish callcentre has had the reigns for 1 1/2 months.

Now , I know that in the business world adaptation is key and "I'm new here" doesn't carry much wait for too long - but the nuances and departments of this project is a vast beast to inherit over the course of a few weeks. The JLD staff , many of whom are on minimum wage , are 60% novices!

Neither Rome nor John Lewis chuffing Oxford Street was built in a day.

Given a year JLD will be indistinguishable from the JLD of the Clientlogic(Exeter) era. All thats needed is time , and staff and customer alike can communicate in harmony.


A footnote here - Several times have I seen the posts bashing the Scottish callcentre. I am in no sense anti-English , but when I see these posts and read between the lines , at times I almost see an underlying anti-Caledonian element to it all. I could be wrong.


PD

dmg24

It is not wise to order goods online so close to leaving for your holiday - it is far better to leave nothing to chance and pick the goods up from a store.

Could I ask how to order something from my local store when I know that they do not have it in store?

This is the difference. My local store do not lie to me.

dmg24

A footnote here - Several times have I seen the posts bashing the Scottish callcentre. I am in no sense anti-English , but when I see these posts and read between the lines , at times I almost see an underlying anti-Caledonian element to it all. I could be wrong.

I am very offended by this assumption.

BC_Rangers

dmg24 wrote: »

I am very offended by this assumption.

See my final words in the post - "I could be wrong". That caveat is there for a reason , to prevent people from thinking I am accusing ALL JLD customer's of anti-Scottish tendancies.

JL_Knowhow

BC_Rangers wrote: »

I empathise with your position - ordering online is textbook stuff hese days , and the JLD operation is by and large a well-oiled machine.

However , as someone working in JLD (Not in Customer Services/Assist/CRM by the way - I screen such orders for fraud) I have to make a point here: It is not wise to order goods online so close to leaving for your holiday - it is far better to leave nothing to chance and pick the goods up from a store.

Same idea as when the passport expires - best to have the new one applied for and wrapped up well in advance.

PD

There could be two explanations for this.

Either your bag has been lost in transit, meaning the couriers have not scanned it in to your local delivery depot, basically meaning your stuffed..

ooorrrrr JLD were showing as having one in stock but infact sold it to another customer moments before you ordered.

at the end of the day, call them again and asked to get through to assist. say that the bag is late and you need this delivered Monday. The soonest they might get this however is Tuesday, even on a rush order from the DC at Blakelands or Northampton.

Honestly, call them tomorrow and see if they have tracking for it. If there is no tracking then the couriers simply don't have your order.

In this case, cancel and get some compensation for your stress, then buy elsewhere.

If I had been responding to this pre-3pm friday I would have told you different - but theres no chance now.

Its your best bet to go on my advise tomorrow.

Hope this helps.

dmg24

Quick update ... and good news!

I wrote my letter of complaint to JL Head Office. I received a reply within a few days ... from JL Direct! The letter was literally seven lines long and basically said 'Oops, yeah, sorry, nevermind eh' (paraphrased!).

I wrote back to JL Head Office, stating that this clearly was not satisfactory. I have now had a reply from head office, with what appears to be a much more genuine apology. They have offered credited my account with £52.95, in order for me to buy a new bag.

Still not sure that I would order from JL Direct again, but my faith in JL as a whole has been restored.

I have a feeling that JL will be watching this thread, so my thanks to the lady that responded to my letter.

Looks like MSE power has won over again! x