John Lewis & Partners — Local services in Great Britain

Still no refund after over 14 days – disappointing service

I returned a purchase to John Lewis, which they received on 2nd July, and as of 16th July, I have still not received my refund — a clear breach of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, which requires refunds within 14 days of receiving the returned goods purchased online.

Despite being assured the matter was in hand, the refund has not materialised. I’ve had to pay off my credit card in full to avoid interest, which may be a minor inconvenience financially for me, but could be much more serious for others.

This is not my first poor experience with John Lewis — I've previously been given incorrect information about my rights by staff. On one occasion, I encountered a member of staff at the Tom Ford counter who approached me with a passive-aggressive and territorial tone, asking “Can I help you?” in a manner that was clearly intended to discourage interaction with the products. Her expression and body language were hostile, and I felt uncomfortable and unwelcome. I regret not reporting this at the time, as in hindsight, the experience felt discriminatory and threatening due to the unwarranted hostility. No customer should be made to feel this way, and I would ask that your staff be reminded of the importance of respectful and inclusive behaviour.

Further, I have consistently encountered staff who have given inaccurate or misleading product information across electronics, computing, and audio departments. Examples include:

Incorrect claims about products, features and stock availability (earbuds by management and then staff members referred by manager ).

Lack of basic knowledge on common technical terms (e.g., Cat 6 Ethernet cables, processor types, benchmarking computer performance).

Misinformation around returns policies and consumer rights.

These repeated lapses reflect poorly on John Lewis’ reputation. When a customer experiences multiple incidents of poor service and condescending or uninformed behaviour, it undermines trust in the brand.

I hoped this complaint was taken seriously. From my perspective it's not an isolated incident and I'm sick of sub-par service and incompetence at this point, which is one of the reasons I felt compelled to complain.

For a retailer that once prided itself on service and integrity, this continued pattern of disregard for consumer rights is unacceptable.

John Lewis, did not take into account the breach of consumer rights or service experiences initially. But after acknowledgement, apology, good customer service from their representative, reasonable good will gesture and assurances that this matter and other concerns I raised, which seems common concerns e.g. hostile/prejudice perfume counter staff, poor customer service and dirty cafe will be addressed to the store, so as not to happen again.

I have added 1 star for restored faith in the brand, will raise if agreed confirmation of actions to resolve complaints are...

Just took my 16 year old boy, Tommy, into Cardiff to buy him a suit for his Prom. Had flashbacks of my Dad taking me for my first suit. We didn’t have school proms back then, mine was for an interview for a job! We went to Debenhams but it’s not there any more! So Tommy and I first went into some trendy name fashion stores, and they either didn’t do suits or they were just cheap n nasty. We went into some better fashion stores and they were just as tacky, just more expensive. Decided to dive into John Lewis and immediately felt we had a good choice of decent suits at fair prices. We were so well looked after by very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Nor, the lovely lady staffing the changing rooms, was so gentle, kind and attentive to Tommy. She asked him all about his Prom details, his date, his GCSE exams, what subjects he was hoping to study next year, all with genuine interest. Then along came Andy - who was clearly the senior suit and formal dress aficionado. He was, himself, very stylishly dressed. Andy really gave Tommy the full works, as if he was being kitted out in Saville Row. Andy advised on size, tailoring, cut, matching style and collar of shirt, type of shoe to wear with it, how to choose a tie to compliment his girlfriend’s Prom dress and even what sort of belt and how to hitch your trousers as you sit down. Tommy is a tall and handsome young man and he looked and felt a million dollars! While all of this was going on, I added some Italian Organic Cotton Socks and some designer trunk briefs to feel as good underneath as he looked on top. The fun and lovely staff at the till kept the exemplary John Lewis tag-team spirit going, again asking Tommy about the occasion for such a suit and shirt combo and celebrating with me my rite of passage as Dad taking his boy in for his first suit as my Dad had done for me. Listen, we all know and love John Lewis for being a cut above the rest in terms of quality of both goods and services. But this really was one of the very best retail experiences I have ever had. Tommy, on the way back to the car, gave me such a big smile and warm, touching gratitude for the suit and the shopping experience, it will never be forgotten. I hope John Lewis is still there when he takes his boy for his first suit! Andy may be retired by then, but I bet Nor will be head of department, store manager or a company director if she chooses to stay with them that...

They say the fall of the department store is coming... with John Lewis, it's not difficult to see why. Bought a television from here in March and a soundbar. After taking 40 minutes to ring it up, because the soundbar was in stock, but the TV wasn't, two separate transactions and other technical problems. I could get the soundbar on the day, but with no policing of the parcel pick-up car park, there were no spaces as people leave their cars there to go shopping in the store/city centre. So I carry the fairly sizeable device through the store, to the car park. I leave having arranged a date for the TV to be delivered. After a few days and AFTER booking out my diary (self-employed), I am told by John Lewis the TV is actually out of stock. Several weeks later, it's now back in stock, take another day off (no clients means no money) and the TV is delivered. It can't be installed on the wall however, because the box doesn't come with the correct fixings. They leave, TV stays in the box. I order the parts needed as instructed by the team. I book another day off, they return, install the TV but can't install the soundbar, that also needs more fixings.... yep. Another lost work day, they come back and complete this job. The soundbar HDMI cable doesn't reach from the TV, to the Soundbar, installed, one inch below the TV. Order new cable. TV bought in March, work finally completed in June. Get gifted a John Lewis voucher, buy another item, that also sadly has to be delivered. Take day off work, contacted the day before saying they can't deliver it on this day and I need to book another day off to have it delivered on another day. New delivery date and delivery is late, have to cancel clients to wait at home from them over running, curt delivery staff say that they aren't late unless it's an hour later than the delivery time stated. (Wonder if I can tell my clients that? Sorry I know your appointment was at 9am, but I'm not running late unless it's beyond 10am?) From all this, no apology, no contact from customer services and so I will say this, if anyone for a second thinks that John Lewis gives a good customer service, think twice. Buy elsewhere, buy online, if this is the best the high Street has to offer, it's...