John Lewis price match a complete con

Mr_Singleton

Found a fairly expensive item that I want/need on sale. Went to John Lewis to get a price match.... you'd expect like other retailers it would be a fairly simple procedure i.e every other retailer I know has done a price match on the spot either using one of their computer terminal and a quick phone call or just looking at my phone.

At John Lewis your required to fill out a form and then told it could take "days" to check. They were right so far its been 4 days and surprise surprise the Sale has now ended so John Lewis won't price match. I'm certain that this is a calculated and deliberate ploy by John Lewis to evade matching prices.

Go to JohnLewis.com and the home page SCREAMS "Price Match" now go and wade and I really do mean wade through all the weasle get out clauses in the small print and you realise its nothing short of good old fashion con. "at the time that your price match claim is being investigated." This comes up time and time again... "At the time" so they sit on it mines been 4 days so far.

Some people might think I'm just annoyed because I've had to spend an extra couple of hundred £'s but no I can afford that standing on my head. Its just such and outrageous con I just can't understand why neither Trading Standards nor the ASA has ever got involved.

While I'm at it John Lewis has an extraordinary habit of 'selective blindness' when it comes to 'Never knowingly undersold' the funniest recently was Waitrose was doing 20% off Systema tupperware. John Lewis wasn't! despite being part of the same company and even in the same building! They were repeatedly told but.....

windup

if you'd bought it from where you saw it cheaper, you wouldn't have had a problem.

The terms are laid out clearly, so it's not a con

https://www.johnlewis.com/never-knowingly-undersold

gayleygoo

I don't really get the point of "price matching" - if you see an item for cheap, why not buy it at the time rather than asking another store to do it for the same price? They offer the scheme because it usually works out better for them to get your business... but for customers, there's no real benefit if you can choose to go elsewhere and buy it where it's cheapest! Some shops I've heard of give you the difference back if you find it cheaper within so many days of purchase, which is a better idea, I think.

The only way you could really have won with John Lewis there would be to say "I'm going to buy this item today. If you can do it for this price I'll get it from you now, otherwise I'm going elsewhere." A store manager with a sales target to reach that day might have been more willing.

Mr_Singleton

windup wrote: »

if you'd bought it from where you saw it cheaper, you wouldn't have had a problem.

The terms are laid out clearly, so it's not a con

https://www.johnlewis.com/never-knowingly-undersold

The problem I have is that its a con NOT that I've spent more money.

So you've linked to the price match form not the terms an conditions that govern it.

Randomly looking at say Currys website that also price matches its says " We will verify and match the price there and then for you" My highlights.

So far its been 4 days and I've heard diddly squat from John Lewis.

honeythewitch

gayleygoo wrote: »

I don't really get the point of "price matching" - if you see an item for cheap, why not buy it at the time rather than asking another store to do it for the same price? They offer the scheme because it usually works out better for them to get your business... but for customers, there's no real benefit if you can choose to go elsewhere and buy it where it's cheapest! Some shops I've heard of give you the difference back if you find it cheaper within so many days of purchase, which is a better idea, I think.

The only way you could really have won with John Lewis there would be to say "I'm going to buy this item today. If you can do it for this price I'll get it from you now, otherwise I'm going elsewhere." A store manager with a sales target to reach that day might have been more willing.

Electrical stuff from John Lewis often comes with an extended guarantee for free, so is better value than something from Currys etc for the same price.

VfM4meplse

honeythewitch wrote: »

Electrical stuff from John Lewis often comes with an extended guarantee for free, so is better value than something from Currys etc for the same price.

Plus I would much rather give my business to JL than Currys. They are total incompetents.

HOWMUCH

John Lewis price match in is not a con, I've used it several times. Sometimes it's happened there and then it they are able to and not busy. Otherwise they do it as and when, they check the price and if the item is in stock by the other store. I too prefer to deal with John Lewis for their after service.

gayleygoo

Thanks! I haven't had the pleasure of visiting a John Lewis store, so wasn't aware they offer a better service. Our politicians argued over where a new John Lewis should go, so the final decision seemed to be, "let's not bother then".

windup

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

The problem I have is that its a con NOT that I've spent more money.

the problem that you seem to have had was poor/slow service rather than being subject to a con. most people would have either contacted them by phone or store, or bought elsewhere, rather than wait for 4 days

they've lost a sale, no business would do that intentionally unless they were making a loss on the product

ValueForMoney99

Beware shopping at John Lewis. They are no longer the honest, good service company you may remember from years ago. They are now a bottom-line cut-throat store who are all smiles but don't really care about their customers. I have a few examples but most recently yesterday tried to use their price match promise to purchase a new LG  OLED TV. I saw the lower price at a nearby small high street competitor which had been that lower price for over 1 week (and probably longer since I only started looking 1 week ago). I took the time to fill out the JL price match form to alert them to their competitor's lower price and ask them if they would match it (since JL were also offering £100 e-voucher on any premium TV purchase up to 2nd Nov 2020). I submitted the price match form at 1.15pm on 2nd Nov. I checked at 2.30pm and they hadn't got back to me and I wanted to buy the TV that day and I checked the price at the competitor at 2.30pm which was still the lower price (which I screen captured on my mobile at that time) so I called JL at 1.15pm and told them if they couldn't confirm price match by 4pm that day I would buy from their competitor because I wanted it that day.  45mins later I received an email from JL at 3.18pm (2hrs after submitting the price match request) declining my request to price match and saying that the price at the competitor was the same higher price as theirs. I couldn't believe it, I checked the competitor's website and sure enough, in that 45mins since I last checked, the price at the competitor had been moved up to match the higher JL price. I called the competitor store and they checked on their system and confirmed that the price had moved 30mins earlier (1.5hrs after I submitted it to JL). The store said that LG must have sent through a price increase to their systems within 30mins ago. 

So as you can see, I alert JL to a competitor's live and genuine price rather than buying it from that competitor when I see it. JL then contact LG and LG changes the price to the competitor so JL doesn't have to match it!. JL then says its an historic price even though it was LIVE when I submitted it. I complained and JL wouldn't move to match the price I submitted, even though I sent the screenshot from 2.30pm that day at the lower price and even though it was LIVE when I sent it to them at 1.15pm. They still refused to match it. DO NOT TRUST JOHN LEWIS! They will use their large market share to get their suppliers to stitch up the little high street competitors if you alert them to lower prices that they need to match under their price promise. You will not get the lower price and you are just letting JL dominate the market if you tell them about it. 

Luckily for me, after getting the decline from JL, I called the small high street retailer who agreed to honour the lower price from 45mins earlier in the day even though it had gone up on their system after I alerted JL, so I still got the TV at the lower price (and much quicker than JL would have been able to deliver it), but this is a key lesson for me and anyone who wants to buy from JL - DON'T!  After I bought the TV at the lower price I sent JL my receipt timestamed 3.35pm and I said it was the LIVE price that they had declined otherwise their competitor wouldn't have sold it to me at the price after JL declined it. After seeing my receipt JL then said they'd make an exception and match the price if I wanted to buy it from them (after declining it twice earlier and knowing I had already purchased it from their competitor - so it was an empty price match that I couldn't take up since I'd already bought the TV). JL CANNOT BE TRUSTED and they don't really care about customers despite what they write on their website and pledges. They will rip you off if they can to make as much money as they can from you. After this bad experience plus the other poor experiences I've had at JL over the last few years with returns on faulty products I will never shop at JL again and that's a big move for me because I've bought tens of thousands of pounds worth of goods from beds, to sofas, to TVs and tech at JL over the years. But if a company like JL changes for the worse then you need to change where you shop. The fact is that JL longer values their customers and in fact uses their customers to rip off and stifle their competitors. If you see what you want cheaper, or even at the same price as JL at another store, then buy it at the competitor because you'll probably get better service than at JL and whatever you do don't try to use JL Price Match service - you are just helping JL squash their competition!

-taff

Why didn't you just buy it from the original retailer instead of going through a long involved process ? What would have been the benefit to you buying from JL that made you go through the whole thing anyway?