Bad service?

I said I would report back. John Lewis came at 7.30 am with my new AEG oven having texted last night with the 2 hour delivery slot. They removed the old one, fitted the new one, checked it worked and were gone before 8.30 am. Excellent service.
I think you're right annodomini that they are fine if it's John Lewis themselves but not if the job is outsourced.
They did tell me the lady before my slot had ordered a double height oven to go in a single oven gap, ooops! Apparently there's no hope of JL getting her sorted for Christmas as they are fully booked!

Sad to say, JL have out-sourced curtain making and fitting, a result of a massive 're-structuring' exercise which made many 'partners' redundant. The people who do the work are not 'partners' and therefore have less to lose by shoddy work. A good friend had a similar experience - one curtain was half an inch longer than the other. After much wrangling, she got her money back and got excellent quality and timely service from Dunelm.

Maybe they could reimburse you for the time you're having to take off work unpaid, it's their fault after all.

Could be worth asking.

I would go straight to the CE with an email saying you do not accept their apologies for the bad service and give them a list of the time and money lost. Tell them you expect better from John Lewis.

We bought a kitchen from JL and had it fitted, everything went wrong from day 1. Designer measured up incorrectly, nothing fitted, had to move a doorway several feet and the fitter's work was of a poor standard.
If they didn't make good I threatened to put my gripes all over FB, far more effective than talking to the manager. I didn't think I was unreasonable as the price of the kitchen was the cost of a small house.

I had such bad service there when ordering new carpets and curtains for our whole flat a few years ago that I just left the shop and went elsewhere. Staff training on attitudes to customers was obviously lacking. Their attitude directly led to the loss of a good sized order.

Gosh, this is shocking Christable.
There have been articles and tales of woe about JL’s poor customer service, in the Guardian’s Consumer section, for months now.

It would be worthwhile sharing your experience with them at [email protected] because companies seem to wake up a bit when the Guardian gets involved.

Good luck. Surely a sizeable refund should be on the cards ...

I’m sorry Christable that’s horrifically bad service

It’s bad service from a store that prides itself on good service!
We should all complain about poor service/rude staff, it’s the only way they improve.

I’ve never personally had bad service from JL, but your experience would make me very, very cross Christable, and I’d be making a very big fuss!

glammanana Thank you for your advice. I’ve emailed the ceo. Hopefully It will work. I like the Twitter idea too ?

Excellent service recently here from John Lewis ..... although some of their furniture isn't as good quality as years ago. Deliveries on time and fitters helpful.
I have a new oven being delivered and fitted on Tuesday so will report back here if I notice any difference with their usually good service.
Hope they resolve your complaint Christable.

I would forget about the staff training excuse and post on twitter about the bad service and the money you lost having to take unpaid leave or go straight to the top and find out the name of the CEO and email him directly,I would certainly not let it rest as curtains are so expensive from JL.

I've just had wonderful service from John Lewis after ordering a new hob.

Just thought I'd give the other side !!

I've had shocking service of late from John Lewis too. Not surprised.

I don't see that it has anything to do with staff training (except, perhaps, the rudeness).

Late cancellation and forgetting the curtain pole are just bad service.