John Lewis - How to escalate shocking customer service? Advice needed.

Cocoleaf

I had a washing machine and drier delivered yesterday (17.05.23) from John Lewis and paid for my old ones to be taken away. The old washing machine clearly had a large pool of soot coming out of the bottom of it, which I made the delivery men aware of as soon as they came in. There was clearly something very wrong with the insides of the machine. I trusted them and left them to take the old machine away. I was later called into the room and told a large weight had fallen out of the machine onto my new tiles and smashed a big hole in one of them. They then proceeded to tell me it wasn't their fault it was 'the fault of my existing machine'. I instantly called John Lewis customer services and told them what had happened. I was later emailed and they requested photographic evidence and my chain of events. I said I questioned why the guys had lifted the machine into the air to remove it, (given they were aware there was something internally wrong) rather than using a small trolley to lift it up and remove it. I was told it was 'policy' for two men to lift a machine rather than using a trolley. I questioned why common sense didn't come into it and they reiterated it 'wasn't their policy' to use a trolley. 
I then said I wanted to take it further and was told there was no further I could take it. John Lewis would not accept responsibility and that was the end of the matter.

I am furious! I've been a customer of John Lewis for over 35 years and they have always been amazing at customer service. I'd like to email the CEO or other top members of the company to let them know how loyal customers are being treated as well as getting compensation for my smashed tile. I've looked at reviews on their site and there are quite a few customers with similar experiences.
I trusted and paid John Lewis for a service and they came in, smashed up my house and effectively said it was my fault. 

John Lewis have a tag line - Our Purpose promise “Working in Partnership for a Happier World” is not just a slogan. It is a deeply rooted and unshakable commitment that acts as our guide, inspires all our principles and influences every decision we make. Through it, we not only do things differently, but better. Always striving to make the world a better and happier place for everyone and everything our business touches."

They certainly haven't made my World a better, happier place. Any advice on what to do next would be gratefully received.

eskbanker

Sounds like an unfortunate accident, but whether JL can be held liable, either legally or morally, is another story - no harm in trying escalation but probably best to tone down all the emotive "they [...] smashed up my house" stuff if you do.

Most appliances being deinstalled are probably faulty in one way or another but that doesn't mean it's reasonable to expect large weights to drop out of them!

Aylesbury_Duck

Cocoleaf said:

I had a washing machine and drier delivered yesterday (17.05.23) from John Lewis and paid for my old ones to be taken away. The old washing machine clearly had a large pool of soot coming out of the bottom of it, which I made the delivery men aware of as soon as they came in. There was clearly something very wrong with the insides of the machine. I trusted them and left them to take the old machine away. I was later called into the room and told a large weight had fallen out of the machine onto my new tiles and smashed a big hole in one of them. They then proceeded to tell me it wasn't their fault it was 'the fault of my existing machine'. I instantly called John Lewis customer services and told them what had happened. I was later emailed and they requested photographic evidence and my chain of events. I said I questioned why the guys had lifted the machine into the air to remove it, (given they were aware there was something internally wrong) rather than using a small trolley to lift it up and remove it. I was told it was 'policy' for two men to lift a machine rather than using a trolley. I questioned why common sense didn't come into it and they reiterated it 'wasn't their policy' to use a trolley. 
I then said I wanted to take it further and was told there was no further I could take it. John Lewis would not accept responsibility and that was the end of the matter.

I am furious! I've been a customer of John Lewis for over 35 years and they have always been amazing at customer service. I'd like to email the CEO or other top members of the company to let them know how loyal customers are being treated as well as getting compensation for my smashed tile. I've looked at reviews on their site and there are quite a few customers with similar experiences.
I trusted and paid John Lewis for a service and they came in, smashed up my house and effectively said it was my fault. 

John Lewis have a tag line - Our Purpose promise “Working in Partnership for a Happier World” is not just a slogan. It is a deeply rooted and unshakable commitment that acts as our guide, inspires all our principles and influences every decision we make. Through it, we not only do things differently, but better. Always striving to make the world a better and happier place for everyone and everything our business touches."

They certainly haven't made my World a better, happier place. Any advice on what to do next would be gratefully received.

They haven't smashed your house up, they've broken one tile, and they haven't said it's your fault.  It's no one's fault, it's just an unfortunate set of events.

If you can prove negligence, they owe you the cost of replacing the broken tile.  Proving negligence sounds like it will be tricky, though.  You paid for removal, not for them to take the machine apart and assess its suitability for lifting.  It's not their fault that the inside of your broken machine fell out.  I'd say it's reasonable to assume it could be removed without incident, and that's what you're up against.  If they'd dropped the machine, it's a different story, but how were they to know it would fall apart?  

Might be one for your home insurance as JL aren't budging, but I don't really see what they've done wrong here.

TadleyBaggie

Picking up the appliance is probably done as running wheels over carpets, tiles etc. is more likely to cause damage.

photome

I would would say it’s your (OP) fault for not ensuring the machine was safe to move, delivery guys are only there to pick up and remove, not repair first.

arguably they maybe should have refused to take it, but then you would have complained about that

they won’t use a trolley as most people would then complain about the marks on their floor

mebu60

JLP customer service is certainly not what it once was, you don't have to look far on Google to see that.

Hopefully you made sure to have some spare tiles when the floor was laid in case of damage? I understand the principle you are getting at but my advice would be to replace the one tile and never use JLP again. Perhaps email/write to Lady Chote, aka Dame Sharon White, the CEO to let her know why to get it off your chest. I would use words like 'disappointed' etc rather than demanding compensation, they are more likely to respond with a goodwill offer to a more measured approach. 

As annoying as the incident is to you, breaking one tile is not smashing up your house. It's an unfortunate event, possibly not anyone's fault in a negligence sense. Don't get raised blood pressure over it, that's not healthy for you. 

Diamandis

I really don't think its their fault and it's unreasonable for them to know your washing machine was literally falling apart. If you felt that will trolley was necessary for some reason then you should have told them so. If you want to complain you can google to find the ceo email address though.

Alderbank

Had somebody been trying to fix the machine?

The two concrete stabiliser blocks are each firmly bolted to the drum with three large sturdy bolts. It would be unusual for all three to shear or unscrew themselves.
The same would apply to the motor which is similarly bolted to the spider.

[Deleted User]

The delivery men didn’t smash up your kitchen. The (I’m assuming) concrete drum weight in your knackered old machine was no longer fixed in place, fell out, and smashed your tile. 

Look at it the other way. If that weight had instead crushed the feet of one of these men, you’d be liable for that. Of course, you didn’t know the weight was going fall out, so neither should you expect they would have known. 

Be thankful you’ve just a broken tile and not a loss of earnings claim coming your way.

bris

The problem is your old machine caused the problem, how were they to know something was going to fall out

Its one you wont win as it's something they will do 4 or 5 times a day., they are not liable for your old machine.

Nearlyold

If the concrete weight fell out and damaged the floor then it's not the fault of the delivery guys.

On the other hand, did you actually see this weight, if not it could be that they simply accidentally dropped the machine and didn't want to own up.