John Lewis & Partners — Local services in London

Poor customer service on top floor of this branch (and I say this as someone who used to work for Waitrose many years ago) I've just been in to return two items I bought at the Oxford St JL store 4 days previously. I hadn't been provided a paper receipt on purchase but was assured that the receipt was on my John Lewis membership account which I'd logged into on my phone when buying these items. I hadn't downloaded the JL app at this point.

Straight away the ladies serving me told me very bluntly that customers are always given a paper receipt (even though - clearly - I hadn't been). They proceeded to trawl through my plastic bag, uninvited, looking at other receipts and tutting. They stated bluntly that I wouldn't have been able to get the receipt on my membership without the app. I'd presumed I could log in to my account on my phone's web browser as I did on purchase but quickly realised I probably needed the app to get my receipt. Meanwhile I downloaded the app and proceeded to log in to my John Lewis account. As I was doing this, one of the ladies turned to the other and started gossiping about the previous customer, directly in front of me, about the amount of purchases she and her daughter had made, about how they were always coming in etc.

Once in the app I found the receipt straight away under my membership section, as I'd been informed would be the case on purchase. The main lady serving me started huffing and took out the two items of clothing to return. The first went through fine, on the second (slightly more expensive) she kept querying if it was the original item I'd bought, over and over again. It had the labels on as I'd bought it, I'd tried on at home and decided it was too big. She scanned and rescanned the jacket, not giving me any indication as to whether there was system error/mismatch with the receipt. As far as I could see the code and price on the label matched on the receipt. It took nearly 10 minutes for her to agree to refund with no explanation of what she was looking for. Eventually she asked for my card to return payment, which I handed over. At this point she demanded that I show all my other debit/credit cards to prove they matched my name and signature across all cards and the receipt I'd just signed. Finally she stated, in an aggressive manner, that she would refund the amount. I was left feeling interrogated and humiliated. I won't be shopping again at JL, and certainly not this branch, in a hurry. I'm very saddened by the state of their customer service given how much emphasis was placed on this and the customer experience when I worked for the partnership.

If I could recommend a better approach: Train all staff so they know across all branches whether or not paper receipts are given, or just receipts via the membership card these days. If it's the latter, customers should be told they need the app to show the receipt and helped out, not dismissed, if they want to return something. Train staff to take an item to one side if they are concerned it doesn't match the receipt, and get a second opinion. Making a customer stand there, with no explanation, while the queue piles up and the customer is asked over and over again if it's the original item is really humiliating. Emphasis on treating the customer with a bit of dignity and respect, asking before rummaging through a customers belongings and not gossiping about customers in front of...

We waltzed into John Lewis, that bastion of British civility, to return a clothing rack that looked like it had been dragged through the trenches of Ypres. Flakes of paint shedding like a moulting snake, grime embedded in every corner. We were well within the sacred 30-day window, armed with a receipt and packaging, feeling pretty damn good about our chances.

As we stood in line, we spotted the return desk's reigning queen of kindness, a lady who could charm the scales off a fish. She was there, cooing over some bloke's choice of clothing color, doling out compliments like she was being paid by the word. We thought, "Yes, that's who we need—someone with a soul." But luck is a fickle mistress. Instead of Lady Sunshine, we were summoned by The Grump. An unsmiling, jaded husk of a woman who looked like she'd been weaned on vinegar and broken dreams.

And that's when the descent began. She examined the clothing rack with the suspicious gaze of a detective inspecting a crime scene, lips pursed tighter than a duck's arse in a rainstorm. "Wear and dirt? This is your doing," she snapped, accusing us of vandalizing the damn thing ourselves. Never mind that we’d only pulled it out of the packaging for a minute before realizing it was fit for the scrapheap. It took as long as it did because life is busy, and not everyone spends their days lurking behind a customer service counter, waiting for the next victim.

But The Grump wasn’t done. No, she called in reinforcements—Karren with two Rs, a banshee in sensible shoes. Now, if Karren was supposed to be the cavalry, it was the kind of cavalry that shows up, sets your house on fire, and kicks your dog on the way out. She had the demeanor of a woman who’d been crossed one too many times, and here we were, the latest culprits in her miserable little universe. If ever there was a prototype for "Karen with two Rs," Karren was it—a patron saint of the bitter and the damned.

We left the grim scene, abandoning the junk rack like a dirty old rag—and with it, our relationship with John Lewis, now sullied, shredded, and thoroughly unrecoverable. No refund, no apologies, just a fat middle finger from the universe, wrapped in a bow of British...

I’m not usually one to leave a review, but I felt on this occasion, it was right to do so.

I’ve been shopping in John Lewis for over 10 years. I love the brand. It’s safe, you know you’re guaranteed good customer service. I’ve never had a negative experience shopping in your stores.

That’s why last night came as such a big shock to me. On two separate occasions, whilst exchanging a perfume, and then buying a diffuser, I was treated so poorly.

Hema on the check out didn’t even look at me. Appeared negative throughout the transaction, and was more interested in having a chat with another colleague than serving customers. When I asked if I could scan my JL card, she left me waiting for minutes, and then on return, she shouted at me to turn the brightness up and was very aggressive throughout the transaction. She started serving another customer before my receipt was printed!

I was so upset, that I decided for the rest of my purchasing, I’d leave your store and go to the branch at Stratford, where I had a far more positive experience.

This is the brand that customers love, and where your reputation exists because of trust & the partners’ care. I could so easily buy the products I need from any other store or online, and not spend my money with you - but I choose not to because I know I’ll have a better experience shopping with John Lewis. It’s why I’m more than happy to let my grandparents - well into their 90s - shop with you. Because I know they’ll be cared for.

If yesterday was anything to compare it to, I’m tempted never to come back, and make sure my family...