John Lewis - "Never knowingly Undersold"

Cust0merZ

Just a heads-up for anyone relying on John Lewis’s “Never Knowingly Undersold” / Price Promise.

I’ve been a John Lewis customer for over 40 years and, until now, had never tried to price-match anything because I trusted the policy.

This week I tried for the first time after finding an identical product (same model, colour, in stock) at a recognised UK retailer for approx £200 less.

What I discovered is that the online Price Promise form only allows you to select from a fixed list of ~25 retailers.
There is no option to enter another legitimate UK retailer, even if:

• the item is identical

• it’s in stock

• the retailer is well-established

In other words, if the cheaper retailer isn’t on their internal list, the online process simply blocks you.

I appreciate policies evolve, but I think it’s important people realise that Never Knowingly Undersold no longer means “any genuine UK retailer” — it effectively means “any retailer on their approved list”.

If you’re planning a big purchase assuming JL will match a cheaper independent retailer later, it’s worth knowing that may not be possible.

Not posting this to bash JL — just to make sure others aren’t caught out like I was

MyRealNameToo

Even if it is on their approved competitor list if the difference is material it's not a straightforward process, at least thats what we found when asking them to match on a fridge and freezer. For small amounts the guys on the floor could do it but for bigger amounts we had to do a tour of a few teams before we finally got to complete the sale with the original guys in the kitchen department. 

Woodstok2000

To be fair, the terms and conditions are pretty clear that they only cover 25 specific competitors:

Price Promise

What was the product and who was the other retailer?

jon81uk

Who was the cheaper retailer?

Why would you not just buy from them? Does John Lewis offer additional services that may justify not being as cheap?

Albermarle

In 2022 they abandoned the policy altogether, but it was brought back in an amended form in Sept 2024, to include online sales and using AI to check prices at 25 competitors.

So for two years there was no possibility to get a reduced price based on prices elsewhere, but now there is again.

MyRealNameToo

jon81uk said:

Who was the cheaper retailer?

Why would you not just buy from them? Does John Lewis offer additional services that may justify not being as cheap?

JL often have a free extended warranty, like 5 years on TVs, 2 years on small electrical etc. 

Some may like dealing with a local store than a nameless, faceless firm at the other end of the country. 

saajan_12

Cust0merZ said:

What I discovered is that the online Price Promise form only allows you to select from a fixed list of ~25 retailers.

In other words, if the cheaper retailer isn’t on their internal list, the online process simply blocks you.

I appreciate policies evolve, but I think it’s important people realise that Never Knowingly Undersold no longer means “any genuine UK retailer” — it effectively means “any retailer on their approved list”

Its not an internal list though, its a published list on their website. Yes the meaning / policy may have changed,  but that has been done transparently and they are not obligated to keep it the same for 40 years. 

TadleyBaggie

I can see their point, with the plethora of Chinese drop shippers that appear to be in UK offering cheap prices and then delivering rubbish, it would be madness price match against just anybody.

MyRealNameToo

TadleyBaggie said:

I can see their point, with the plethora of Chinese drop shippers that appear to be in UK offering cheap prices and then delivering rubbish, it would be madness price match against just anybody.

Very few will price match "anyone", some are very specific on who they will price match and others rely on the clause that say its ultimately at their discretion. Many want the retailer to be in the UK, some what them to have physical stores, some may only match "official stockists", some have a list, some only match local stores, some require the competitor to be holding stock etc etc

Goodluck with trying to get anyone to price match one of the far east merchants claiming to be selling branded goods at 10% of their RRP

Grumpy_chap

Cust0merZ said:

Just a heads-up for anyone relying on John Lewis’s “Never Knowingly Undersold” / Price Promise.

I understand that "never knowingly undersold" was dropped as a marketing strapline a few years back.

I have twice tried to use the JL price promise.

The first time was an electrical and they declined to match on the basis of the longer warranty offered by JL and JL had the item in stock to take that day while the other shop I would have to wait until the next working day to collect.

The second time was a pair of trainers and they declined on the basis that the other retailer was a "membership" club.

Albermarle

Grumpy_chap said:

Cust0merZ said:

Just a heads-up for anyone relying on John Lewis’s “Never Knowingly Undersold” / Price Promise.

I understand that "never knowingly undersold" was dropped as a marketing strapline a few years back.

I have twice tried to use the JL price promise.

The first time was an electrical and they declined to match on the basis of the longer warranty offered by JL and JL had the item in stock to take that day while the other shop I would have to wait until the next working day to collect.

The second time was a pair of trainers and they declined on the basis that the other retailer was a "membership" club.

They scrapped the whole idea in 2022, but a new CEO reintroduced it in 2024 and to include online purchases, but with the 25 retailers restriction. 
Maybe they dropped the strapline even earlier.