| Don't do it! |   |
I wish I'd read some of the reviews on this site before I made the mistake of signing up with JL. Our experience has been rotten, and we haven't even got married yet!
Unfortunately, because of the date of our wedding, our gift list went live in the last couple of days of the clearance event. As a result, not only did all the crockery we wanted and all the bed linen we'd chosen (plus a few other important items, so basically about half of our 'priority gift' list!), but we were only informed of this when the 'gift list summary' arrived at midnight the day the list went live. By that time, of course the invitations had already gone out and we weren't able to do anything about it -- for instance, include another gift list link to an alternative source of decent crockery. We emailed JL and the reply was perfectly nice but amounted to 'sorry, not sorry'. I emailed again to ask when new lines of tablewear might come into stock -- but apparently the gift list department doesn't communicate at all with the rest of the shop, and we were advised that they had no information about it, but they were happy to get us a free coffee and cake if we wanted to go into store to check. Now, that's very nice and all, but I don't have time to travel to another city and go into a John Lewis branch just to browse crockery I've already seen and decided I don't want. Overall, the whole thing has been really, really disappointing, and after reading a few of these reviews I'm now absolutely dreading the delivery of the gifts! Not how I wanted to be feeling less than 5 weeks before the big day.
In other words: it's too late for me, but save yourself!!!!! |
| Zoe - 24/07/2017 |
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| What a disappointment | |
| We went to John Lewis for a wedding list as it's not somewhere we usually shop but we really like the items they sell. The initial experience of choosing our items was a lot of fun and we had free tea and cakes as well. All very nice. Then a week before my big day I get a call to say I need to go on and remove some items as they have now been discontinued, including some pillows. Unfortunately a guest had already purchased the matching duvet cover and it took me suggesting that they check in other stores to actually get some pillow cases sourced! Why had they not checked that already before calling an already stressed bride!? We left it at that and then we waited..... And waited! It was until a month after our wedding that we finally got our gifts delivered and it was the most disappointing day! Our gifts came in 2 large white boxes, with a few items just handed to us, no wrapping paper in sight (which for a higher end shop, you would expect) items were wrapped in their bubble wrap with stock labels and descriptions on them, so there went the surprise of the gifts. The only surprise aspect was that John Lewis couldn't be bothered to put in a list of who had actually got us what!! Strangely enough, marriage does not cause the new bride to suddenly have ESP and therefore, we ended up having to go onmine, onto our list to see what had been purchased and then hunt down the corresponding present, which if there was more than 1 item, were split across both boxes! Really not good enough from such a retailer! If that wasn't enough, I received a letter 3 months after the wedding which was my "final breakdown" which included the list of gift givers and their messages, which went through the options we had selected, including receiving a final breakdown letter 2 weeks after the list closes! Thoroughly disappointed in the whole thing and wish we had gone elsewhere! Will be recommending my friends to stay away from them |
| Anneliese Offord - 10/11/2016 |
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| John Lewis Gift List Sucks! | |
We heard a couple of people gripe about John Lewis, read a piece in the Guardian, so had our reservations. Then we went into our local branch in Welwyn Garden City as were reassured that the problems were resolved. They weren't. In fact, anything but.
- 17 out of 40 of our products were unavailable. They either went to 'online only', were discontinued or went into a sale. It meant we didn't get them. A pain when you're trying to co-ordinate things in your new home
- items were removed without even a courtesy call
- a saga with a garden table we order. This would take a post up on its own. We ended up staying in 3 times to take delivery of it and we kept arriving damaged or not at all. Not to mention the dozens of calls we've had to make to set the deliveries up
- calls from the customer service team not returned
John Lewis Gift List is quite simply not fit for purpose.
We've written a blog post detailing all our problems -
http://johnlewisgiftlistproblems.posterous.com/ |
| Phil S - 29/07/2012 |
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| John Lewis - please don't use them! | |
| Like everyone else I read the John Lewis gift list reviews before getting married - it really is true that they are really bad! We have had so many problems with them and 5 months after our wedding, we still don't have everything. Half of the things werent in stock anymore so we had a lot of gift vouchers. From what could be delivered, a lot was broken or missing and they have refused to give us a refund or compensation. I would advice to use someone else as this has caused us a lot of stress. |
| Sarah - 07/01/2012 |
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| Great service to start, but once you're signed up - forget about it! | |
The biggest problem with selecting gifts for wedding lists from dept stores is the risk of lines being discontinued or sold out! From the day you go in to zap your dream items, to the day they actually arrive, a lot can change!
We thought we'd selected a perfect dinner service, only to find that by the time guests bought items, there was not enough stock left to make up a full service. We were offered vouchers instead but there was nothing else we liked as much in store. What is most frustrating is that the same service is still available at Debenhams!
Now we have JL vouchers and no dinner plates! If I had it all to do over again, I'd have set up a cash gift list and then could buy items from any supplier. |
| Carolyn & James - 12/08/2010 |
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| No Problems and stepped up to the plate! | |
We did not originally Choose JL, but following the rapid demise of Wrapit we were forced to quickly swap our list- item for item to John Lewis. This proved a bit tricky with some things as they were more expensive and there seemed to be less choice on offer.
However- the zapping in store was easy enough along with adding and deleting items online after initial set up.
Guests said list was easy to use.
Our ordered stuff was delivered 2 days after we returned from h'moon. We went to the store to use our vouchers and cash gifts to buy the rest of the list. This all arrived with no problems - except one - a wedgewood vera wang bowl with a bad finish - but JL have taken the dodgy item and a new one is on order and will be delivered soon.
Really cannot fault them, their packaging and delivery service are great. Some items limited choice, but that is my only quibble. |
| CN - 26/11/2008 |
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| Great Service | |
Compiling our list was so easy and great fun - also being able to change things on-line gives you complete control - I almost got obsessed with logging on!!
All our gifts arrived a week after we got back from honeymoon - we had a few things that weren't perfect condition or we'd changed our mind on and these were exchanged/refunded with minimum hassle.
Feedback from our guests has also been that the list was so easy to use with no delivery charges/complications like other gift lists on offer.
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| Mrs H - 24/10/2008 |
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| No problems what so ever | |
| I did my wedding list through John Lewis and had no problems what so ever – the gifts arrived the day I got back from my honeymoon, all in one pieces and correct with a detailed list of who had bought what along with a message from them. |
| DebbieG - 17/10/2008 |
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| I recommend you try elsewhere | |
We chose The Gift List at John Lewis as it was easy for people to use, and seemingly good value
However we didn't receive our goods till nearly 4 months after our wedding!!!
Some items were highlighted available when our guests ordered them but when the delivery arrived they were out of stock and replaced with vouchers.
Customer service was also very poor, with the girl in store looking like she really hated her job. |
| Sarah-Louise - 25/09/2008 |
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| Excellent gift list, great service! | |
Great service from John Lewis at the Manchester and Cheadle branches.
Gift list incredibly easy to setup using a scanner. If staff spot you are doing a list they come and help you locate things to put on it.
Online management of the list was easy. Not all items scanned in store have pictures online so we found guests didnt buy the items that didnt have pictures.
Faulty items were swapped immediately or refunded in vouchers. Items we just decided we didnt want any more were exchanged for vouchers as well. No problems with them at all. |
| Claire Hunter - 18/09/2008 |
