Remember when John Lewis was a great British company who valued service and customer satisfaction? Yeah, that does not exist anymore. Went to buy an item today in Milton Keynes that was showing in stock - taking several hours out of my day to drive from LB to MK and back. Turns out that the stock is the shop floor model. No issues I say, just sell me that one. Cue kerfuffle and me having to call a manager. Upshot - they refused to sell me the shop floor model, the one showing in stock online, because they would have to “open another box” when a replacement came in. Think about the idiocy in the logistics of that answer for a moment. They wont sell the floor model because they would have to open another box. Point blank refused. Computer says no policy moment. Blank faces. Get out the store. Don’t ask us again. Tried to ring the call centre. Guess where this one great companies call centre is? Yup, South Africa. Literally as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. Can you escalate please. No, we have no way of calling the UK team. No way of calling the UK team? Absolute madness. I have since emailed them, three more South African replies refusing to explain why they find it onerous to open another box, why it shows in stock or why shelf models show as stock. Did I get my Stove? Nope. Did I waste 2 hours+. Yup. Do JL, the famed customer parter UK company care? Nope. Cut. Paste. We are sorry. Blah. Blah. Stock levels. Blah. Policy. Blah. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Will I think twice about ever using this store again, given the benefit of paying slightly more is the customer service, that no longer exists. Yes, I’ll think once, twice, thrice and go elsewhere. I suggest you do to. John Lewis Partnership - you should be ashamed.

Edit - in addition to the response below, still from the South Africa call centre and parroting the same response they have given me all day, without actually speaking to ANYONE in the UK. Here is what the website says - "Stock levels change quickly - Check below to see if this product is in stock in your local shop before visiting”. Nothing at all about this new arbitrary 3 items in stock silliness. What has happened to this brand? Ultimately, I’m out and have bought the item cheaper elsewhere and will be hard pushed to shop here again. The famed John Lewis difference is no more. Never Knowingly Undersold is now Knowingly Underselling Daily. Bye JL. It wasn’t fun.