John Lewis - simply the best

[Wizard9999]

I have always been a fan of John Lewis as I have absolute faith that they will act on any issues that arise and I know they will honour the "never knowingly undersold" pledge. But recent experience makes me think that they really must be the best retailer in the UK from a customer perspective.

SWMBO and I went to John Lewis to look at a new computer, picked one but it was out of stock but they said they were due in and they would call when they got one. On the way home SWMBO was looking to see if anyone else near us had that model in case it took longer than expected, PC World had it for £100 less. John Lewis phoned the next day to say the computer was back in stock, we told them about PC World and they were happy to match the price.

We had also looked at getting MS Office, all you get these days it seems is a little card with a code to use for download from the Internet. John Lewis sent us the card we had chosen instore. Computer arrived and SWMBO loaded up Office, disaster it didn't have one of the programmes my children need for homework, having looked at the card, that was a bit confusing, it became clear it was the wrong card. It was the same card we had looked at in store and we were charged the right price, but we had misread it. Called John Lewis to explain, not expecting much could be done. "All our fault" said the man at the end of the phone "we should understand those cards and clearly explain them to the customer". Bring the wrong card in, we'll replace it and give you a 50% discount on the one you actually need to compensate for the trouble we have caused you. Wow.

They are so good my only concern is that they can't make any money and will go belly up.

Terry.

 

[finneyb]

I always wonder if its because the staff have a share in the profits ie they have skin in the game.

Brian

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Sounds good to me. Shame the nearest one's a two hundred mile round trip.

 

[Harbo]

They also give a 2yr warranty on their stuff too.

Rod

 

[NickWelford]

No shareholders to satisfy with short term benefits. They are not pressured to make massive profits quickly so can concentrate on long term goals. IIRC, there have only been a handful of CEO's in their 150 year history.

 

[Lons]

We always shop there whenever possible and never had a bad experience. Newcastle branch was previously Bainbridges who's policy was exactly the same We still call it Brainbridges at times.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Also impressed with JL. The staff actually seem to know about the products they sell - something of a novelty with other retailers.

They claim never to be undersold but would happily pay a little extra for the quality of the advice.

 

[RogerS]

Pity that the excellent customer service does not extend to the numpties in their IT department that 'run' (I use the term very loosely in this context) their systems. The concept of actually understanding how people use their systems - both at JL and Waitrose - is consistently beyond their comprehension or interest in resolving and learning how to do things better. Their latest meltdown on their Partnership card 'upgrade' (stop sniggering at the back there) is a case in point.

The phrase 'Not Fit For Purpose' has never been truer when applied to their IT dept.

 

[treeturner123]

RogerS

Have you come across an IT department that IS 'Fit for Purpose'? Whenever I've had a problem with my company computer, I always turn it off and on a couple of times before phoning, that way I know that I am as much an expert as the IT team is!!

Phil

 

[RogerS]

RogerS

Have you come across an IT department that IS 'Fit for Purpose'? Whenever I've had a problem with my company computer, I always turn it off and on a couple of times before phoning, that way I know that I am as much an expert as the IT team is!!

Phil

Yes, there are quite a few around. If there weren't then we'd be in even greater doo-doo !

 

[DiscoStu]

My wife works for JLP and they are a brilliant company with a brilliant ethos.

Essentially their ethos is look after the staff and task the staff with looking after the customer.

All of the staff are partners in the business and therefore they all own a bit of it and they all get an annual bonus based on the profits.

They are also a nice company to deal with for suppliers. I have some farmers in my family and they tell tales of woe with a certain large supermarket who has been in the press recently. They agreed a deal to supply the supermarket with milk. It was agreed that they would only supply this supermarket because of competition etc and a price was agreed. After a few months the supermarket came back and said they needed to drop the price by around 40%. Obviously this was way below the cost price and the supermarket was told so but they insisted and were told it was what they would pay. Now that might sound like business but you need to remember that as a sole supplier you can't just easily start selling elsewhere and you have a product that you can't store and can't stop producing so you end up throwing it away until you can find a new buyer. Oddly they now supply Waitrose and have a fabulous relationship based on trust and openness.

Going back to JLP they really do look after their staff, here are some of the benefits I can remember:

25% off in JLP (Except electrical where it's 12% due to the lack of margin)
15% off in Waitrose

5 or so hotels around the county owned and run just for JLP staff to use

2 yachts that can be used by staff

Untold number of clubs to join

Around £80 a year that can be claimed for cultural enrichment. So if you go to a gig or theatre or sports event you can claim money back for your tickets up to £80 a year

Lots of free services such as solicitor and mortgage advice etc

Discount on so many things.
Cars, Holidays, insurance, AA etc.

Loads of deals with restaurants for discount i.e. 30% off in Frankie and Bennys, 30% off in Strada, etc etc.

Annual profit share ie 15% of your annual salary (percentage varies each year due to profit made)

Annual events etc - Partners in the park.

They have a suite in the O2 so anything that is on there can either be booked or if it's popular then you can enter a ballot to win a place.

So many great things.

My wife has worked for them for around 16 years. After 20 she gets to take 6months off on full pay to go and do whatever she fancies. They even allow staff to take up to a year off to go and do charity work etc.

I'm not sure I've quite got all my facts and figures spot on, but you get the idea.




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[transatlantic]

I've never actually been to one. Mostly because whenever I they come up online as a price comparison, they are always so much more expensive. Having just looked at their website, they just look like a more expensive version of IKEA? ...am I wrong?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Discostu....you missed one....free fly fishing for staff on a fabulous stretch of the Test which costs the public at least £200 per day. JLP own an enormous estate there which they use for various company related activity. Have to say, their business model is a very interesting example of how investing profits in the business keeps it energetic and motivated which benefits all its stakeholders both inside and out.

 

[DiscoStu]

Oh I missed loads! National Trust membership, English Heritage etc etc.

Never thought of John Lewis as anything like Ikea!


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[Phil Pascoe]

Discostu....you missed one....free fly fishing for staff on a fabulous stretch of the Test which costs the public at least £200 per day. JLP own an enormous estate there which they use for various company related activity. Have to say, their business model is a very interesting example of how investing profits in the business keeps it energetic and motivated which benefits all its stakeholders both inside and out.

They would have to pay me way more than than £200 to spend a day fishing.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Oh I missed loads! National Trust membership, English Heritage etc etc.

Never thought of John Lewis as anything like Ikea!


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I've never thought of them like an Ikea ... in fact I've never thought of them. One of the joys of living where I live - I've never seen a John Lewis - or a Waitrose - or an Ikea. :lol:

 

[DiscoStu]

They would have to pay me way more than than £200 to spend a day fishing.

Now I don't fish, in fact I've only ever been once as a child but I wouldn't need to be paid to go. I think I finally got a grip on fishing. You just need to take the fish bit out and it sounds ideal. Pop along to a nice river bank on a nice day, pop up a little shelter, add a comfy chair / bed, bring plenty of supplier inc a small stove for coffee and bacon butty and spend the day doing nothing. Oh and remember to stick a pole out so it looks like you're trying to catch fish.

Sounds like a very pleasant way to spend the day, as long as I didn't have to deal with any wet slippery fish or put smelly dead fish in my car.

 

[AndyT]

Oh I missed loads! National Trust membership, English Heritage etc etc.

Never thought of John Lewis as anything like Ikea!


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I've never thought of them like an Ikea ... in fact I've never thought of them. One of the joys of living where I live - I've never seen a John Lewis - or a Waitrose - or an Ikea. :lol:

But what about

johnlewis.com
waitrose.com
ikea.co.uk

I know that the Internet reaches Cornwall!

Happy shopping, Phil.

 

[DrPhill]

They would have to pay me way more than than £200 to spend a day fishing.

Now I don't fish, in fact I've only ever been once as a child but I wouldn't need to be paid to go. I think I finally got a grip on fishing. You just need to take the fish bit out and it sounds ideal. Pop along to a nice river bank on a nice day, pop up a little shelter, add a comfy chair / bed, bring plenty of supplier inc a small stove for coffee and bacon butty and spend the day doing nothing. Oh and remember to stick a pole out so it looks like you're trying to catch fish.

Sounds like a very pleasant way to spend the day, as long as I didn't have to deal with any wet slippery fish or put smelly dead fish in my car.

+1

When I was young I invented the sport of 'unfishing'. The idea is to use your skill to avoid catching fish. Beginners could leave the hook off the line, intermediates could use a hook but no bait, and experts could use bait, and even place it in parts of the river/lake where there were likely to be fish. The best proponents of the sport could dangle the bait right next to a fish and whip it out just as the fish goes to eat it......

Yeah, sit by a river and do nothing all day. Works for me as long as I do not have to talk about fishing.

 

[Inoffthered]

They are so good my only concern is that they can't make any money and will go belly up.

Terry.

If you ever see the standard JL supply agreement you would know that they will never go bust, but they may run out of companies prepared to be shafted to supply them.
Their terms are brutal and as well as squeezing on price they also:-
deduct 2% as a contribution to marketing costs (based on gross value before any other JL deductions),
there are 5% penalties for any late deliveries,
JL have the right to discount prices and pass the discount straight on to the supplier (so the "never knowingly undersold" thing is not a cost to JL as any rebate given to a customer is deducted from the next payment made to the supplier.
Suppliers are lucky if you get paid 60 days after their invoice...and JL deduct a 3% settlement discount regardless of when they make payment.
Suppliers are also obliged to give JL rebates each year depending on the gross value of supplies.
For any faulty items returned by customers JL recover the full value (not cost) from the supplier and levy a raft of other charges.

I appreciate that retail stores need to make a profit but their treatment of suppliers is appalling and having seen how they are treated I have stopped using JL and associated stores.