John Lewis Online

[jasmin26]

Ordered a TV on Thursday for £1500 and the money came out Friday morning , went to get cash out of ATM on the evening and it said my balance was £12 . Nearly had a heart attack , rang my bank and was told John Lewis had also applied for another £1500 to be taken and that money was now ring fenced waiting for them to take the money. After four phones they have admitted their error but say I have to wait up to five days for it be corrected. How can they take it so quickly but not put it right in the same timescale ? I have been left with hardly any money since Friday .

[ukbod2015]

It happens all the time - I upgraded a flight booking with virgin and, because of a quirk of their system, they had to refund and charge me again for the relevant part. The additional cash went immediately the refund took 8 weeks.

[gingejbee]

Mistakes do happen...even with excellent companies like JLP.
When it's sorted, I'd ask for compensation for the inconvenience...they can be quite generous. (I had an £80 item which arrived a day after they said it would...and got £25 refunded because they admitted "poor performance".
Worth a try?

[jasmin26]

£1500 is a lot of money for me not to be able to access. I am just surprised that it can take so long for them to put it right.

[gingejbee]

I must say that this is one reason that I never pay directly from my current account - always on my credit card, so the card company handles any mistakes.
(This may be Nature's way of telling you that £1500 is way too much to spend on a telly!)

[ladyalex]

I'd ring John Lewis again and ask to speak to someone higher up.
I'd also ring the bank again and see if you can come to some arrangement with them re a temporary overdraught.
This is very poor customer service from both parties.

[Ellipsis]

> I have to wait up to five days for it be corrected
> excellent companies like JLP

An excellent company would not take 5 days to handle a refund that was a simple financial error on their part. It's not as if they are waiting for a product to be returned.

If the money is not in your account in the morning I would call them back and make plain its importance to you. Keep calm and be reasonable at all times, and make clear how unreasonable their position is. If you get nowhere then ask to speak to somebody higher up who can help. It's not difficult to make a same-day bank transfer and there is no reasonable reason for them not to do this.

[mazie]

Hi Jasmin. My Son and DiL have had the most shocking service from John Lewis in the last 2 weeks. If it was me I would be e-mailing this chap. Link below

http://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=9070

[Hopkirk]

Threaten to cancel the whole order if they don't sort it immediately.

Carry out the threat if you need to.

[Sycamore3House]

It is usually the bank that does the ring fencing as a security measure not the company. JLP have made a mistake and the bank ring fence it as a security to see if JLP apply again for it.

[fiction-factory]

I recall reading about this happening before with John Lewis- I think it was on Radio 4's Money Box about 6 months ago.
I recall it was something to do with an amount being ring fenced when you make an order and then the same amount being ring fenced when they process the order. Was it a straightforward order or was there a twist along the way such as a change of order?

[jasmin26]

It was a straightforward order X

[fiction-factory]

I remember the Money Box item now. They ringfence the money and then take the same amount. Whilst they don't actually take the first amount it's not available to you for a period

[fiction-factory]

There is a case here
https://www.facebook.com/JohnLewisRetail/posts/622599824429546

[jasmin26]

Got my money back today plus compensation

[mazie]

Great news jasmin.

[ladyalex]

That is good news.