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We spent £18,000 on a new kitchen in 2012. We chose John Lewis for its reputation for customer service.
In spring 2016 we noticed that laminate was peeling off two of our wall units, which were within their five-year warranty. John Lewis inspected them and agreed to replace the two carcasses.
Over the next 18 months we were repeatedly sent replacements that were the wrong size, the wrong finish or damaged.
In January 2018 we were sent samples of the two available finishes and chose the option that matched the rest of the units.
However, they continued to send the wrong carcasses and we were then told that the manufacturer had recently discontinued our existing finish and we would have to accept a different look. Had it not been for John Lewis’s incompetence for more than two years, we would have had matching replacements.
We were eventually told some old matching stock had been found and after a wait of several months we took delivery, only to find they were the wrong finish yet again.
John Lewis announced that we had no choice but to accept these. When we complained, they changed their tune and decided that our original carcasses were in fact not defective but had been damaged by steam from cooking.
We have endured three years of wrong deliveries only to be told that we either have to put up with John Lewis’s incompetence or lump it.
BB, Hampton, Middlesex
The tales of bungling and insouciance on the part of Britain’s once great store are depressing – 69% of the 7,000 reviews on Trustpilot rate its customer services as bad.
John Lewis now insists the damage to the carcasses was caused by steam, although you say that since you and your husband are pilots and away from home for long periods, the kitchen is only lightly used.
In any case, a kitchen should be designed to withstand damp. The store admits that the finish you required stopped being manufactured in early 2017, a year after the new carcasses had been ordered and 18 months before you were informed of the fact.
During two weeks of negotiations with its press office, it first insisted you would have to accept carcasses in a different finish, as its terms and conditions state that an alternative will be offered if items cease to be produced. This ignores the fact that the correct finish was still in production during the first year of bungled deliveries.
Eventually, it capitulated and agreed to replace all the units so that they match, as well as offer £1,000 in recognition of the time it’s taken.
“The delays in ordering replacement carcasses were due to human error and we recognise this falls short of the high level of service our customers are right to expect of us. Since then we have made a number of improvements to ensure this does not happen to any other customers,” says a spokesperson.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions
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