Abysmal service from JL/Waitrose

notcher290yeov

I used MSE on Monday 12/1 to order Euros from the above, enticed by the rate and the 'promise' that  the money would be at my local Waitose store after 2pm on Tuesday. I'm abroad from 4am tomorrow. Sillly me. I know they say you should wait for a confirmatrion e-mail but without one I visited the store on Tues evening. They had not received anything but rang the John Lewis Travel money customer service number. They said there was a distribution hitch but that the money would be at the store today.
I went to the store again at lunchtime Wednesday and nothing, the store manager couldn't even be bothered to ring the customer service number. I did - on 2 separate occasions - and was told different things, the first being that it should be at the store by 4pm and the second contact telling me it should be there by 7.15pm.
I increasingly wonder why JL has a lofty reputation. I've cancelled the money transaction and JL Travel money will refund me...when of course someone in Waitrose customer service can be arsed to pick up the phone and action the return of the Euros. Assuming they turn up.

 Is there a lesson here for MSE? Don't flag up - 'after 2pm the next day' messages of availability for people needing currency quickly. It ain't so Joe.

eskbanker

If JL advertises '2pm next day' (presumably dependent on ordering by a cutoff time) then I don't see that their failure on this occasion to meet that is any reflection on MSE?

Woodstok2000

For most common currencies and where you need money quickly it pays to use a travel bureau, even if the rate is slightly worse, as they will always have a stock of euros/dollars etc.

I've used Barrhead travel a lot as their rate is almost always near the top,but also because on the odd occasion theres been any issue with the order they can just sort it in the shop.

zagfles

notcher290yeov said:

 Is there a lesson here for MSE? Don't flag up - 'after 2pm the next day' messages of availability for people needing currency quickly. It ain't so Joe.

Yes. Stop recommending any currency exchange. It's a bit like doing best buy travellers' cheques, out of the ark. It surprises me how many high street BDCs there are, nobody I know who travels regularly buys currency in advance these days. 

eskbanker

zagfles said:

notcher290yeov said:

 Is there a lesson here for MSE? Don't flag up - 'after 2pm the next day' messages of availability for people needing currency quickly. It ain't so Joe.

Yes. Stop recommending any currency exchange. It's a bit like doing best buy travellers' cheques, out of the ark. It surprises me how many high street BDCs there are, nobody I know who travels regularly buys currency in advance these days. 

The fact that there are plenty of such outfits surviving would suggest that there's enough demand for their services, so it's not unreasonable for MSE to offer some guidance on which ones offer the best rates - buying cash at a high street BDC is unlikely to be as competitive as paying with the best travel cards, etc (although the balance between paying by card versus cash obviously varies between countries), but the gap between preordering cash from a high street BDC versus buying on the day at an airport would often be much wider, for those who feel the need to take cash with them.

zagfles

eskbanker said:

zagfles said:

notcher290yeov said:

 Is there a lesson here for MSE? Don't flag up - 'after 2pm the next day' messages of availability for people needing currency quickly. It ain't so Joe.

Yes. Stop recommending any currency exchange. It's a bit like doing best buy travellers' cheques, out of the ark. It surprises me how many high street BDCs there are, nobody I know who travels regularly buys currency in advance these days. 

The fact that there are plenty of such outfits surviving would suggest that there's enough demand for their services, so it's not unreasonable for MSE to offer some guidance on which ones offer the best rates - buying cash at a high street BDC is unlikely to be as competitive as paying with the best travel cards, etc (although the balance between paying by card versus cash obviously varies between countries), but the gap between preordering cash from a high street BDC versus buying on the day at an airport would often be much wider, for those who feel the need to take cash with them.

I was a bit tongue in cheek, but getting currency at the departure airport is even more brain dead at the ridiculous rates they charge when you could simply wait a few hours till you get to the arrival airport and shove your card into an ATM. Even cards that charge for forex and a charging ATM would be far better value, last time I looked at a UK airport BDC the Euro rate was something like 0.9 ie you only get 90 EUR for every 100 GBP!! 

NoodleDoodleMan

You should be able to get Euros on request at any High Street travel agent or bureau - unless of course it's a large amount which needs ordering.

There is no reason why MSE should stop flagging up "best buy" outlets unless there is clearly a widespread problem with a specific company.

Many punters still like to take some readies with them on holiday, so there is clearly a market even in this era of plastic payments. 

martindow

I wonder how much it is worth chasing around for the best rate.  Most of us principally use cards abroad and just want a small quantity of foreign currency to take with us.  If you are getting, say,100 Euros the difference in rates is trivial.

zagfles

martindow said:

I wonder how much it is worth chasing around for the best rate.  Most of us principally use cards abroad and just want a small quantity of foreign currency to take with us.  If you are getting, say,100 Euros the difference in rates is trivial.

I use cash abroad quite a lot, more than in the UK, but I never buy foreign currency before travelling, there's rarely ever any need to.