John Lewis - my experience of their 'Never knowingly undersold' price match promise

warmasice

Hi all,

Just wanted to share my experience of the John Lewis price match promise / guarantee.

I'm looking to purchase a Samsung TV.

John Lewis price: £1,799
Appliance Electronics price: £1,599

Price match refused because 'their service conditions are different to ours.' They go on to say they look at stock availability and delivery terms. I clearly stated I'd be collecting the TV (and only 1 is required) so this is irrelevant. I escalated this to their supervisor who wouldn't budge.

I continued my search and a day later I found:
Electronic Empire: £1,549

Again, price match refused because the high street store has a website with a different name. Not sure what this has to do with anything, clearly they could just match the store price (£1,549).

Anyway, I just rang my local store who raised a case with their 'Under Sales' team. They price matched the Electronic Empire price without a problem. They said they'd even throw in free delivery. They even adjusted the invoice price, so no claiming back the difference.

I hope this helps someone, but it seems like JL online tried to wriggle out of it, whereas the store was helpful, to a point...

John Lewis are now aware of a competitor's price, but will they reduce their price nationwide? I doubt it. My local JL store said they'd price match on a 'one off basis.' It made me wonder, what happened to their 'Never Knowingly Undersold' promise? I feel bad for the next person who comes along and pays the higher price believing JL's promise.

I just wanted people to be aware of my experience, that's all.

SwampyMike

warmasice wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wanted to share my experience of the John Lewis price match promise / guarantee.

I'm looking to purchase a Samsung TV.

John Lewis price: £1,799
Appliance Electronics price: £1,599

Price match refused because 'their service conditions are different to ours.' They go on to say they look at stock availability and delivery terms. I clearly stated I'd be collecting the TV (and only 1 is required) so this is irrelevant. I escalated this to their supervisor who wouldn't budge.

I continued my search and a day later I found:
Electronic Empire: £1,549

Again, price match refused because the high street store has a website with a different name. Not sure what this has to do with anything, clearly they could just match the store price (£1,549).

Anyway, I just rang my local store who raised a case with their 'Under Sales' team. They price matched the Electronic Empire price without a problem. They said they'd even throw in free delivery. They even adjusted the invoice price, so no claiming back the difference.

I hope this helps someone, but it seems like JL online tried to wriggle out of it, whereas the store was helpful, to a point...

John Lewis are now aware of a competitor's price, but will they reduce their price nationwide? I doubt it. My local JL store said they'd price match on a 'one off basis.' It made me wonder, what happened to their 'Never Knowingly Undersold' promise? I feel bad for the next person who comes along and pays the higher price believing JL's promise.

I just wanted people to be aware of my experience, that's all.

They are also using the "returns policy" as the excuse for not price matching. The store (We Sell Electricals) ask customers to pay the costs of returning unwanted (not faulty) items - as 95% of online stores do. This is also what the legal requirement is.

To quote John Lewis, "We Sell Electricals state in their terms and conditions that: "Should a customer wish to return good/s for reasons other than ‘damage’, customers must pay for and organise the return." As John Lewis provide free returns labels on smaller items such as a camera these terms are not comparable to John Lewis."

I've never had this excuse before, and John Lewis clearly do not want to comply with their "never knowingly undersold" policy.

warmasice

SwampyMike wrote: »

They are also using the "returns policy" as the excuse for not price matching. The store (We Sell Electricals) ask customers to pay the costs of returning unwanted (not faulty) items - as 95% of online stores do. This is also what the legal requirement is.

To quote John Lewis, "We Sell Electricals state in their terms and conditions that: "Should a customer wish to return good/s for reasons other than ‘damage’, customers must pay for and organise the return." As John Lewis provide free returns labels on smaller items such as a camera these terms are not comparable to John Lewis."

I've never had this excuse before, and John Lewis clearly do not want to comply with their "never knowingly undersold" policy.

Exactly, there is nothing wrong with asking a customer to pay for the delivery of non-faulty goods. Really disappointed with JL. Unless the terms of sales are 99% similar to JL, it seems they want to wriggle out of their 'promise'.

theonlywayisup

John Lewis offer a price match, they don't need to, but as they do, they can choose when they match.

It's not rocket science. If the item is available somewhere else cheaper and they won't match, then buy it somewhere else. You won't get the same customer service and the warranty may be different, but you have the choice.

warmasice

Thanks for stating obvious. If you've got nothing constructive to say, don't.

Reading the whole post would have helped. :rotfl:

Like I said, I was sharing my experience.

Again, if you read the whole post, I ended purchasing from JL in the end. So why now look elsewhere?

They apply their policy inconsistently. Also, Martin L. Has written an article on this very (Never Knowingly Undersold) thing.:money:

ThumbRemote

theonlywayisup wrote: »

John Lewis offer a price match, they don't need to, but as they do, they can choose when they match.

It's not rocket science. If the item is available somewhere else cheaper and they won't match, then buy it somewhere else. You won't get the same customer service and the warranty may be different, but you have the choice.

They can't advertise one thing and then implement another though.

theonlywayisup

ThumbRemote wrote: »

They can't advertise one thing and then implement another though.

But they don't advertise it being free of any stipulations. They advertise that it must match various factors.

...we compare how we sell the product to how it is sold by the competitor to ensure it's comparable. We particularly look at stock availability, delivery charges and fitting/installation services.

It's very clear.

theonlywayisup

warmasice wrote: »

Thanks for stating obvious. If you've got nothing constructive to say, don't.

Reading the whole post would have helped. :rotfl:

Like I said, I was sharing my experience.

Again, if you read the whole post, I ended purchasing from JL in the end. So why now look elsewhere?

They apply their policy inconsistently. Also, Martin L. Has written an article on this very (Never Knowingly Undersold) thing.:money:

I did read your post and you should perhaps realise this is a public forum. If you post something, you have to expect replies, those replies may not be agreeable to you, such is life.

I know you purchased from JL, but you purchased IN STORE. Stores have more discretion and apply it when they want.

warmasice

theonlywayisup wrote: »

I did read your post and you should perhaps realise this is a public forum. If you post something, you have to expect replies, those replies may not be agreeable to you, such is life.

I know you purchased from JL, but you purchased IN STORE. Stores have more discretion and apply it when they want.

Not really. The terms are the same. As ThumbRemote said, they can't advertise one thing and do another. You must have some inside knowledge of JL and this 'discretion' you talk about.

I'm very well aware this is a public forum, thank you. That's pretty obvious.

I repeat (again), I was sharing me experience with others, to simply give people a heads-up. Not wanting you to suggest I go shop elsewhere. If you read the post, you'd know that I'd already purchased the product from JL.

No doubt you'll post a reply back, I however am calling it a night.

Take care Uppy.

libra10

Sorry to hear about your negative experience with JL's 'never knowingly undersold' policy. I, on the other hand, had a great experience when purchasing a pair of Ugg slippers from them.


Although the difference was only about a tenner, John Lewis's customer support agreed with the discount, with no problem whatsoever.


They're one of my favourite retailers, both store and website.