John Lewis & Partners — Attraction in Great Britain

I usually love John Lewis, but yesterday had one of the worst customer services experience ever. Not just in JL!

This review is for both the technical team (for laptops), 2 managers at the Cribbs Causeway branch in Bristol as well as customer services on the phone and an escalation manager.

I collected a Surface Pro 7 order at 11:30 on Saturday 4th of July 2020, and was back by 4 p.m. on the same day. The PC had a flickering windows icon on startup. I tried windows updates and everything else, but nothing worked. So I did data reset and delete and repackaged it and came back to store.

The staff member opened the box, checked the item and switched it on, he asked me to explain what the error was, which I did. He continued to setup the PC, connect to the internet, search for updates and restart a few times which took about 20 minutes and then to my shock, he said unless he can replicate the error, I am not going to get a refund. I explained its nearly impossible to try and replicate a laptop error, and I mentioned windows blue screen as an example (nicknamed blue screen of death) that it can never be replicated. it just happens. But he was still insisting that he must see the fault, otherwise I am not entitled to a refund. I asked for the manager, and he was even worse. He did not know what the website says or what my receipt says as he kept making up his own rules of what JL return policy is. Things that did not exist on my receipt or on the website. I asked for another manager, who still came and said the same thing, that I must replicate the error otherwise I am not entitled to a refund!

I mentioned what if the fault happens after the laptop is on for 2 hours, and the MANAGER replied, in that case they would ask me to walk around the store for 2 hours until they can see the fault themselves! Are they being serious? What kind of a refund policy is that?

So how does this work, if I ever shop from you again, and buy an iron or a kettle or a vacuum cleaner, and bring it back 4 hours later after collection, are you going to ask me to plug it in and use it until the fault happens again? Absolutely ridiculous.

I called customer service who told me something completely different as well (so incompetent, they said the policy is to send to tech team for 2 weeks to investigate - when I mentioned this is if after 30 days, not within 30 days of purchase and that nothing of that sort is on the website/receipt - they went dead silent on the phone). I even got disconnected while with the escalation manager on the phone, and he closed the case on the system by saying he informed me i'm not entitled to a refund, and I hung up on him. He didn't bother calling me back to check. I was stuck in the basement of the store and hardly had an coverage. I didn't hang up or agree for the case to be closed that I agreed not to be refunded.

After 2 hours of being there, asking for my right to a refund, I ended up returning it as a non faulty, being charged £35 to delete my data. Which again, was not on my receipt or the website. They just said this is a courtesy charge to delete my data for GDPR. I did tell them I will raise a complaint and take this further, not only to be refunded the £35, but action needs to be taken against this store and phone customer service who each had their own ideas of that the policy is. If this is your policy, you must update your receipts and your website so that people stop buying from you.

The 2nd manager at one point even told me that JL policy states that I must prove that the fault was present at the point of purchase, when I brought up the JL website and showed him the policy states any fault developed within 30 days, entitles me to a refund, he changed and said its the consumer law that states that (which is doesn't) - no law states refund will only happen if I prove the fault was there at point of purchase, otherwise the refund policy will be 1 minute after usage - not 30 days.

Full complaint...

In January, my partner purchased a Sony camera from John Lewis for professional use. When the parcel arrived, it was immediately clear something was wrong. Instead of the £999 camera, the box contained two bags of salt or sugar, a disposable camera, and other unrelated items—none of which resembled the product he had paid for. We reported the issue immediately, believing it to be a clear case of fraud—likely involving a previous customer returning a tampered package. My partner simply requested the product he purchased. However, rather than acting with urgency and professionalism, John Lewis responded with rudeness, delays, and deflection. He was forced to call multiple times a day just to speak to someone. Calls were disconnected, callbacks were promised but never came, and he was repeatedly bounced between John Lewis, the bank, and Creation Finance. When we requested a formal investigation, we were told John Lewis "didn’t have time" to look into it. After extensive pressure, an investigation was finally opened—over 2 weeks after the parcel was received. We were told it would rely primarily on existing evidence, though we supplied further documentation. During this period, my partner—who relies on this equipment for work—was unable to earn an income, suffering significant financial loss. Out of necessity, he repurchased the exact same camera from Argos. The difference in service was stark: the product arrived same-day, in a properly sealed and tagged box. We even shared proof of this with John Lewis, asking: Why would anyone spend another £999 on the exact same item if they already had it? Just four days after opening their investigation, John Lewis closed it—without further contact—and accused us of fraud. They even stated they were reporting us to Action Fraud. Creation Finance, who provided the financing, conducted their own investigation and concluded that the issue lies not with the payment, but with the goods—and therefore falls entirely under John Lewis’s responsibility. We are now burdened with nearly £2,000 of debt for a product we only received once, along with additional interest from the finance agreement. My partner—while completing his final year at university—has taken on three jobs to manage this financial strain. I’ve also been contributing to support us through this period. Yet John Lewis continues to claim the item was delivered based solely on the parcel’s weight—completely disregarding the evidence we provided and the principle of fair treatment. Out of desperation, we even contacted the Head of Customer Service at John Lewis via LinkedIn, in the hope that someone at senior level would take accountability or at least acknowledge our case. We were ignored. This shows a complete lack of empathy, transparency, and basic customer care—even from the highest level of the organisation. Here’s the bitter irony: Had we acted dishonestly, returned the salt-filled box and claimed we never received the camera, John Lewis’s standard refund process would likely have approved the return without incident. We chose to act with honesty and transparency—and have been punished for it. This sends a disturbing message: that deceit is rewarded and integrity penalised. This situation is not just morally wrong—it is a direct breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Under this law, all goods must be: As described Of satisfactory quality Fit for purpose The item we received was none of these. The law clearly states that if goods do not match their description or are not delivered as agreed, the consumer is entitled to a refund, replacement, or repair. Refusing to honour this legal right—while falsely accusing the customer of fraud—is not only unacceptable, it is unlawful. We are now pursuing legal action because this has gone far beyond a simple complaint. This is the price we’re paying for being honest—and it's a price we should never...

Terrible customer service. I recently had new carpet from John Lewis. The price was higher than my regular carpet shop however thought I would treat myself to what I would have thought would be an even better experience.

How wrong I was! From the moment I (tried) to place my order the problems started. It took well over a week for them to respond to my order & then 13 phone calls from myself such was the long wait on hold, to make payment. The staff I spoke to were dis-interested & rude. Following eventually placing the order I had to wait months for a fitting date (process started in Jan 19 & the carpets were eventually fitted in June 19). There was no courtesy call to let me know an approximate arrival time of the fitter. The subcontractor turned up in a battered unmarked van and parked illegally. He fitted the carpet & I pointed out pink marks at the edges of the carpets on numerous stairs. He replied that he was colourblind however it should come off with a wet wipe. He left my house in a total state with carpets remnants everywhere & pink marks on my carpets. I contacted John Lewis who seemed again disinterested. They told me to get on my hands & knees & remove the pink colour with a bleach solution. They failed to apologise right up until the end when I escalated the situation. When I refused to do this stating that I did not expect to have to do this with new carpets they responded by once again insisting that I deal with this. Only after numerous complaints did I manage to get them to agree to send out someone to rectify my issue. They attempted to send out the original (colour blind ) fitter to which I stated that he was completely unsuitable. Eventually they sent another sub contractor under severe pressure - I had to wait until August 15th 2019. This subcontractor took some considerable time to remove the pink marks & states that if I had attempted what they had suggested with the bleach I would have damaged my carpets. To date despite my requests John Lewis have offered no proper apology & no offer of compensation for my stressful experience. Simply the worst customer service you could encounter - not what I would have expected from a company like John Lewis. Use at...