I have a John Lewis Partnership MasterCard and on my June/July statement I found £465.37 had been debited by the company as an “adjustment” to my account.
I queried this and was advised that someone from customer service would get back to me. They didn’t, so I made a complaint via the website.
The reply I received said the money had been put into a Barclays account – not much help to me as I don’t have an account with Barclays.
I telephoned again and an adviser told me an error had been made and that the £465.37 had been transferred to another client. Again I was assured someone would get back to me; again no one did.
I then received a response to my web complaint offering a profuse apology, some compensatory partnership points and a refund if I phoned through my bank details, which it already had as I pay by direct debit. I duly did this and was told the money would take up to four working days to arrive back in my account.
Surprise, surprise – four working days later and no refund. Can you sort this out for me? JK, Hextable, Kent
This is an extraordinary cock-up by a brand that is supposed to represent quality and reliability. Customers were left upset last autumn when a website revamp caused a technical breakdown, leaving their card direct debits unpaid. John Lewis said it had increased its customer service teams to improve the service, but your experience suggests otherwise.
It is worrying enough that the company helped itself to a chunk of your savings, but its seeming insouciance when you attempted to reclaim it is breathtaking. Nor is it any consolation that management calls you the day The Observer gets in touch and finds it is able to action a refund immediately.
“We appreciate our error should have been resolved more quickly,” says a spokesperson. “This is something we will address with further training.”
It has added an extra £100 as compensation, which you plan to donate to charity.
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.
