John Lewis 'Never Knowingly Undersold' - NKU still a massive confidence trick?

More problems with the John Lewis 'Never Knowingly Undersold' policy not being followed over the weekend.

A very large discrepancy between the price of a Samsung Note 9 512GB smartphone at John Lewis (£1099) and all the Samsung Experience Stores across the UK (£599).

Various reasons given for refusing the claim ranged from 'item is out of stock with the competitor', through 'As the item was seen at a lower price in a competitors store rather than their website, please visit your local John Lewis & Partners branch so that one of our Partners can investigate the price match further', to 'the Samsung Stores do not meet the terms of the policy'.

Basically, anything to avoid matching the price.

We did visit one of the stores, which had a Samsung Experience Store, with ample stocks, within 300 metres of it. Raised the price issue, and was told they wouldn't match the price if the gap was too big - they might make a loss on it!

They have now agreed to match the price for the one already ordered, but only after a complaint to the CEO - and, surprise surprise, the John Lewis price remains just as it was at £500 more than its High Street competitor.

Just how long will it be before John Lewis are stopped from using this 'Never Knowingly Undersold' trickery to try to con people into believing that they're competitively priced?

MSE investigated the practice some time back - time for someone to take another look at this downright deceit and unfair trading. John Lewis are the first to complain about unfair trading on the part of other retailers - time to look at its own shady practices.