The institution otherwise known as the John Lewis Partnership
John Lewis was founded in 1928. It currently employs 83,000 staff and has a turnover of over £10 billion a year.
In September 2018 John Lewis announced that their profits have fallen by 99% (from £83m to £1.2m), their first pretax loss in over a decade.
Chairman (Sir Charlie Mayfield) has already partly blamed Brexit for this for their disappointing figures. Dominic Raab criticized the chain for these comments.
Charlie Mayfield, said the main reason for its fall in profits was the £40m cost to its department stores of matching twice as many discount extravaganzas than in the same period last year. The results had been hit by heavy discounting at other retailers, which forces its department stores to lower prices under their signature “never knowingly undersold” pledge.
The company also added that the “level of uncertainty facing consumers and the economy, in part due to ongoing Brexit negotiations” made it difficult to forecast trading for the next six months but it expected full-year profits to be down.
“I didn’t actually say that Brexit is to blame for our results. But the fact is that sterling is weaker and one of the factors in that is uncertainty, I hoped not to see a no-deal Brexit, that would be a very bad outcome for the UK and the consequences are extremely unpredictable.”
Despite rumours that John Lewis has spent £5m on hiring Elton John for its Christmas ad campaign this year, Mayfield said the department store had not spent “a penny more” than last year on its advertising.
In January 2017 John Lewis promoted Paula Nickolds, who joined the company as a graduate trainee 22 previously, to be the first female managing director in the department store group’s 152-year history. “Paula has got the partnership in her DNA. “She is ferociously bright and a very good people person. She is hugely respected and a woman with outstanding taste,” said one person who knows Nickolds well.
Richard Hyman, the veteran retail analyst, said Nickolds was a great pick to lead the next phase of development at John Lewis because she was an “old fashioned retailer” who was in touch with what customers wanted and would help keep the brand relevant in a tough economic climate. “Anybody can reduce costs if they compromise on quality or service.
It would be a big mistake for John Lewis to jeopardize the single strongest competitive advantage it has which is customer service,” Hyman said.
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.johnlewis.com
Good luck with that. Think I am right in saying that John Lewis has outsourced their complaints handling? Very easy to blame Brexit for everything, perhaps Sir Charlie and Paula should take a look as to what their customers think?
I have been a John Lewis customer for many, many years and have used them primarily for their excellent customer service. Don’t know what the fuck has happened there but looking at the evidence will not be using them again and think it is fair to say that their time is almost up.
John Lewis RIP. Or Mike Ashley?
Nominated by Willie Stroker
John Lewis sell overpriced goods and I imagine more people are buying the same or similar items online far cheaper. Nothing to do with Brexit, everything to do with people not wanting to be ripped off.
Goodbye John Lewis.
12
Profits up = great company, superior brands, kind staff
Profits down = Brexit
💤
Fuck off with your obsessive consumerism and take Waitrose with you. Cunts.
12
Profits down but thankfully John Lewis has managed to keep Elton John in overpriced flora and Peter Mandelson-shaped dildos for another year by spraying him with millions for a drippy, re-hashed 70s melody.
10
They lost the plot years ago.
Went into the Kingston upon Thames branch at Christmas. They wanted £9 for a paper gift bag. FFS.
Promptly walked out.
Overpriced and over hyped.
9
These cunts were my ISP. On expiry of 12 month contract they increase the price by 30%. Telephone them. 30% increase totally unjustifiable blah, blah, blah. Talked to a John Lewis – speak programmed moron for 10 minutes getting nowhere. Confirmed I would move provider. Moron immediately offers to continue old contract terms. So why couldn’t you say that 10 minutes ago you cunt. I confirm agreement. That’s what you have to do these days isn’t it? Unnecessary aggro because of fucking corporate greed. John Lewis not the only culprits. First month fine. Second, third, fourth month when I was out of UK they slap the 30% back on the bill. Call them on return to UK. First moron says sorry and will refund the 30% wrongly billed but just have to confirm with accounts department. Second moron in accounts says I didn’t confirm continuing contract on old terms. Yes I did. No you didn’t. Fuck off sonny I don’t tell lies. There’s no record of your acceptance. No? It was done by telephone. Your procedure not mine. Where’s your record? We don’t keep records of telephone agreements. Fuck off John Lewis. Greedy, gouging, money-grubbing cunts with service staff as dense as osmium. And their broadband speeds were shite. And they sell overpriced shite in their stores. Rip-off merchants.
6
Let’s get it right. Brexit isn’t to blame for anything because it hasn’t happened. If you need a scapegoat blame the dirty remoaner cunts who refuse to allow Brexit to happen. Every one of them a money grabbing, democracy denying piece of dogshit.
I don’t like them by the way.
11
How can they be overpriced when their key ad. Slogan is ‘never knowingly undersold’?
2
I needed two new mattresses. Went into John Lewis, prices around £800 and upwards. No staff around in the mattress area but about three chatting a few feet away. Walked out.
Went online and got 2 x 2000 spring King sizes for £250 each and they’re as comfortable as Larry.
4
Where from? I’m looking to replace my king size too.
2
Mattressnextday.co.uk
Link below to the model. I got one for me and one for hubby. Hubby is 6’6″ and of Rugby build and his mattress hasn’t sagged – been a year now since purchase.
https://www.mattressnextday.co.uk/product/spring-king-pocket-tuscany-2000-natural-mattress&option=5
Customer service is non-existent but I didn’t care.
2
Thanks for that.
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Just posted a detailed reply but it’s gone into quarantine.
Go to mattressnextday.co.uk. I bought two of the Spring King Pocket 2000. Still on their site for 249.95 a pop.
No it didn’t it went into the spam box but we saved it for you.
Love Admin xxx
1
Once upon a time, John Lewis was an excellent shop. Even as recently as 1998, when I got married, their “Bride’s Book” service could not have been bettered.
My (now ex) wife was already a devotee – a JL-junkie – and I must admit I too was impressed not only by their unfussy, understated and quietly excellent customer care, but also the range of goods in stock. No matter how mundane and inexpensive the item, the level of service was uniformly unstinting. Where else could you find exotic habadashery and unusual kilims under the same roof as three types of Astonish™ hob top polish?
When we went our separate ways, I initially stopped visiting John Lewis due to the poignancy of association with my ex. What once was a weekly visit (or more), became twice in ten years. On both those occasions I have been badly disappointed. The most recent was an “emergency” purchase of a plain white soufflé dish, around 4 years ago to replace my girlfriend’s broken one (she was getting dangerously angry I’d broken it). I quickly found online a much better quality French one with the proper unglazed rim, very fine porcelain, for a little more money.
Despite it being unused, with all labels and packaging intact (moreover a Jonelle® own-brand item) the chippy, Mancy up-her-arse chick refused me a refund (£16), as I had no receipt. A gift voucher or keep it. I dropped the dish on the ground, causing much rubber-necking, and left with the chick still mouthing off nicely.
I’ll never knowingly be going back.
12
Had that here, new management came in and cut prices to encourage new custom not realising a number of key business issues they would incur.
New cheapo customer are generally a bit thick so we need more in customer services to deal whith fuckwhits.
we need to sell more for less to cover profit margin and cover the new expanding customer service section.
we received a profit warning redundancy notice a while ago because although sales were up profits were down (due to new management structure and customer service expansion)
another failed business experiment.
Remember anyone can sell £10 notes for £5 your sales are fantastic but your profits are nonexistent.
4
Hiring Lady Elton for £5million? Expecting a Christmas rush on butt plugs and sparkly jackets?
8
Lord knows why the Watford Turdburglar is such a popular Christmas ad fixture.
Seems nowadays the old queen is the kiss of death for any business. £5m buys a few tubs of KY Jelly and king size saveloys.
6
They seem to be a reasonable on-line option but I don’t think there are any stores within 50 miles of me anyway.
2
John Lewis Partnership… marketed as operating on socialist principles… why am I not surprised they’ve hit the buffers?
7
Indeed. In an ideal, unicorn-filled world, every JL employee would be working hard to make the business a massive success, providing unrivalled customer service and a faultless buying experience.
In reality it doesn’t work and the customer ends up paying a fat premium to keep the shareholder employees in bonuses, which have likely become expected as opposed to earned, in far too many cases.
4
Coincidence maybe, but the first female female John Lewis MD was appointed in January 2017 and by September 2018 profits had disappeared and the first loss for over a decade…… hmmmm…. not sure what to make of that.
Maybe box ticking is not such a wise idea…..
4
The next one will be a one-legged lesbian refugee from Somalia who used to be a 20-stone, male ISIL warrior so I’m sure profits will soar again, Dick.
3
Well that is a relief Captain M so it is all (eco friendly) steam ahead to the land of unicorns, rainbows and limitless profits for the JL partnership.
At last John Lewis can finally stop spinning in his grave.
0
Yes, a point I was hoping to get across on the non. Not lost on you Dick.
2
Indeed Willie, surprised that no-one else mentioned it sooner.
0
Lewis’s in Manchester went years ago… It is now the chav/eurofilth temple that is Primark…. Looks like the old Debenhams on Market Street is also fucked… There will only be Kendalls on Deansgate left…
1
Let’s face it, all the old school department stores/supermarkets are/have/will go tits up!
The likes of Comet, Woolworth’s, C&A, MFI, Dixons, Safeways, BHS, Toys R Us – they all went tits up way before Brexit was even thought about. And now we have Debenhams about to join the club, with House of Frazer and now John Arse possibly going in the say direction.
But to blame Brexit for their ills is just bollocks, but an easy answer to every retail difficulty. Never mind about listening to customer needs, or realising that actually their good are way over priced and don’t equate to good quality any more.
3
Have just accepted a payment from John Lewis for a total fuck up for which they were completely not at fault and bear absolutely no responsibility for.
Reckon they will be gone soon so get the money while I can.
Cunts
2
Online shopping. That’s all you need to know about shopping right now.
Mike Ashley is right, in 10 years the high street will be dead. Which begs the question why is he buying all the (empty) stores. For property development?
1