MSE News:MSE investigation reveals John Lewis IS 'knowingly undersold'

MSE_Martin

Thanks quoia - yes typo!!!! Fixed now

kjn1000

To be honest this report doesnt suprise me, I tried to price match in their store recently and was made to feel awful.

I admittedly looked a bit scruffy ( at the time my baby was only 8 weeks old) but the service I recieved was awful. I had to wait at least 10 minutes for any sales assistant to come to the cash desk which was where i decided to stand since none of the sales assistants came anywhere near where I was looking at the products. Eventually a man came across asking if he could help. I explained I wanted to buy a DSLR and that i had chosen the Nikon D3000 but it was cheaper in Currys up the road. He promptly told me, you should buy from there then as the price matching service takes up to a week to complete and promptly left. At no pont was I rude to him but this service and the fact that i showed him proof that it was cheaper elsewhere has made me refuse to step foot in there since. If staff are putting off going through the price matching process with the customers what hope has the company got?!

[Deleted User]

Contacted JL three weeks ago about a Moto G5 phone which was £10 dearer than Tesco, Currys and other shops. They said I could claim the money back after buying it. It still is selling for the original more expensive price. Have decided to buy it at Tesco and bank the clubcard points. Ultimately JL have lost out. I still get the same phone at a lower cost and I'll continue to shop around in future.

redux

I hardly dare say this here, after Martin has commented on the thread himself.

I look forward to hearing that Moneysavingexpert's much repeated slogan has come true, that one of its Big Switch gas and electric deals is actually "cheaper than the cheapest" in all supply areas at once, or even just in mine for the first time ever.

I've pointed out in the past, after doing a comparison at lots of postcodes, that one of these deals was actually only the cheapest in 8 out of the 14 supply areas.

A staff member on here then started slagging off my existing supplier (which at the time was cheapest in the other 6 areas), rather than acknowledge or undertake to check the facts of what I had said, or consider asking the nominated supplier for feedback.

Another time, MSE fervour for the subject, based on the fact that two-thirds of people do not switch to cheaper fixed tariffs, and that these people will definitely save money if encouraged to act, emerges very clearly, but again this evangelism does not make the slogan itself substantively true.

Lewie

JL have knowingly lied for years.
This is their reply regarding a request from me to have the in store price of an item changed in 2012 so that I could walk in and purchase it off the shelf with no fuss.

Thank you for your email with regards to the Humax HDR FOX T2 digital recorder (product code: 858 18110).

Although we do take our commitment to be "Never Knowingly Undersold" very seriously, we are not aware of any upcoming reductions for this particular model, as we would not be given any prior notice.

I am able to process a price match request for you via email if you wish. If you would like me to process this, please provide the following information:
- Your full address
- Your contact number
- The address of the Richer Sounds store that you have seen the item at the lower price

Once I have this information, I will be happy to process a price match for you.

When I pointed out that they would knowingly be being undersold they came up with several excuses for not lowering the price for all their customers.
JL are slowly deteriorating.

Doc_N

Lewie wrote: »

JL have knowingly lied for years.

JL are slowly deteriorating.

I'd agree, with a slight reservation over the word 'slowly'.

They've obviously decided a more ruthless, Tesco-style, approach is needed for them to survive in the tough competitive climate they now face, but dishonesty like this, coupled with ever-declining standards of customer service is probably going to backfire on them.

The only possible justification for high prices (and that delivery charge, even to store!) is top quality customer service, and they're certainly not providing that any more since all the staff cuts.

Their once-unique 5 year TV warranty is now bettered (as with the prices) by Richer Sounds, who offer 6 years and much better customer service, and they're struggling to find any good reason for people to shop with them. Waitrose is losing out to Aldi, who are picking up a lot of their customers, and I think the future for John Lewis could be very bleak.

I can guess now why Andy Street jumped ship recently. I think he could see the writing on the wall. Anyone remember Terry Leahy jumping the Tesco ship just before their results took a nosedive?

boatman

You have opened a whole can of worms here Martin, good luck!!

Perhaps the real debate should be about why JL are not always honouring their long held policy. They are well loved and for the most part respected, but they are under huge pressure from competition who are not playing fair. Maybe JL and MSE should join forces for a compaign against tax avoidance by many retailers. The way things are going we will be left with Amazon and no one else.

richardw

Lewie wrote: »

.....address of the Richer Sounds store that you have seen the item at the lower price.....

Did Richer Sounds have a number of the item in stock?
They are often criticised for their poor stock levels.

Lewie

[FONT=&quot]My daughter used to work for JL. She loved it to start with, then came the cuts and she found 'management' unbearable so left. It was a good move.
As for Andy Street, he was likely responsible for putting the hole in the hull. Did he jump ship because he'd caused the damage? Perhaps he was pushed.
Either way he was at the helm and now the workers (they're not 'partners', that's patronising bullsh@te) get one of the lowest bonuses in years!
Can't believe folk have voted for him to be a mayor!
More money for him to squander.


Yes Richard, stock levels were good, it was a relatively new machine at the time, plus they now had info that they were being undersold but didn't change the price in any of their stores. The claim is immoral if not illegal.
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boatman

I'm assuming trading standards are actively investigating this. I would agree that for many years they have not reduced the price, just offered a price match.

Here is one I sent in 2014:

To: [EMAIL="customerservices@johnlewis.com"]customerservices@johnlewis.com[/EMAIL]
Subject: Complaint

"I have noticed that the ipad mini 16gb at asda.com is £50 less than john lewis.Com, I'm aware that there are several people who have asked for a pricematch and it has been agreed. Could you explain why you have not lowered your price as you are now aware you are being undersold"

This is their response:

"Thank you for your email in regards to the price match on the Apple iPad mini.

At John Lewis.com, our prices are set by our Buying teams who pro-actively check and match the lowest national prices of our national high street competitors, including their online and sale prices (including promotions and Extravaganzas) to ensure that we set a fair national price. This means we will match prices for major national retail chains who trade on the same basis as us and apply the same prices to the majority of their shops across the country.

The aim of national pro-active checking is to match the lowest national price on the market so that a customer is unlikely to find better value elsewhere.

Unfortunately, there are occasions where we cannot lower our national price as it may not meet our criteria to do so; for example, the competitor may only have limited stock unlike ourselves or the competitor in question may not be a national competitor. This is why we give customers the opportunity to submit a 'one-off' price match request as you have done so below.

I am sorry for any disappointment caused. If I can assist you further then do not hesitate to contact me again.


[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Yours sincerely,


If they refuse to match the Asda website, what hope is there for smaller retailers? Strikes me its completely at their discretion, so open to abuse, as has been discovered by MSE.
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