John Lewis is going down the tubes...

Yesterday I experienced a retail nightmare!  Alright, not quite a nightmare, but a very, very annoying and exasperating experience.   And all due to John Lewis cutting back on customer service to the point where it hardly exists at all.

We have been faithful John Lewis shoppers for as long as we can remember.   Our mothers used to shop in John Lewis.  Maybe our grandmothers shopped in John Lewis, although I can't verify that now.   John Lewis was always first port of call for curtain fabric, bedding, china, kitchen equipment, washing machines, dryers, fridges...I could go on.   You get the picture.  Practically a religion!

So, when we needed a new carpet we naturally went to John Lewis.  We chose the carpet and got the estimator to come and measure and a couple of days after his visit, went along to our local branch (a 25 minute walk away) to sign the contract.   We were told that we'd be contacted for a payment.  No, we couldn't pay in the store, all the admin had been centralised.  Nothing is handled in-store.  We should have smelled the rat then.

A week goes by without any contact so we present ourselves once more in person at the carpet department.  The same apologetic sales person explains that since admin has been centralised, they are having difficulty keeping up with the volume of work.  Which, translated, means that nothing has happened with our order.   Peter decides we will pay on the spot, in the hope that this will speed things up.  The weary salesman doesn't think this will make any difference but takes our money to keep Peter happy! 

Then I begin to realise that sitting around waiting for them to get through their backlog isn't our only choice.   I pick up the phone to a local business.  The phone is answered in 2 rings.  Yes, they can get the carpet. Yes the estimator will call that afternoon.  Yes, they will get a sample sent by post.  The estimator comes, measures, goes back to the office and phones through an estimate.  Within £14 of the John Lewis price.  The carpet will be laid within two weeks.

Then I try to call John Lewis to cancel our order.   No reply from the centralised carpet and flooring administration hub.  High volume of calls.  I wait on the line 15 minutes without getting through.  I phone the store  and press the number for carpets and floorings...the phone rings and rings.  "A lot of people are trying to call us at present".  I bet they are!   Another 20 minutes listening to the holding music.   In the end I throw on my coat and stomp the 25 minutes to the branch.  In the EMPTY carpet department a young man is titivating a display.  He is oblivious of the dangerous rise in my blood pressure.  I point to the phone on his desk.  "Is that for decorative purposes only?"  I know it was rude, but really!   They can't even route phone calls to an empty department within the store. I cancelled the order and got our money back.  That's £500 worth of business they threw away.

Phew.  I feel better now!