Bainbridges :- A Mixed Bag. (John Lewis)

Member Name: thanatoszane

Product:	John Lewis
Date:	11/02/01 (12159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great computer department

Disadvantages: What's service?

In Newcastle, there is no John Lewis department store, but there is Bainbridges, part of the John Lewis Partnership.

Bainbridges is a bit of a mixed bag. Until recently, they didn't accept credit cards, which was a bit of a pain if you wanted to purchase large items. Now that they do, however, I am shopping there more often.

Their computer department is fairly small, but has most things I want, from peripherals and software to consumables such as paper and cartridges for most printers. Their prices are pretty good, usually a few pounds cheaper than Dixons and any neighbouring department stores, and that's IF the other stores, such as Fenwicks and M&S actually stock the products at all! Also, the customer service is amazing. The staff actually know what they are talking about, and, if there is a solution to your computer problem that doesn't involve buying from them, they will tell you about it. They have even went so far as to demonstrate how to do certain things on their own computers!

That said, this kind of quality of service is isolated to this department.

I cross stitch a lot at the moment, and find that while the prices of threads, aida, and other bits and bobs in Bainbridges are reasonable, the quality of service isn't great, and the choice availbale is pretty poor too. The aida is pre-packed and never the right size, they don't do bookmark ribbon or plastick bookmark coverings, and they don't have a great selection of beads.

You wait ages to get served, mostly because the staff are too busy talking to eachother to notice customers, and when they do serve you, if all you're buying is some DMC threads at 52p a shot, they look down their noses at you.

I don't know why this is, but a lot of the things you get from the haberdashery at Bainbridges just seems bad quality. Press - studs, zips, suspender clips, needles, etc, are all fairly expensive compared to what you wo
uld pay if you bought them from a market stall, and yet they break really, really easily. I know one person who bought some suspender clips from Bainbriges, used them once, and they snapped. Pay half the price at a local market, and they last ages.

How about a pack of titanium needles from them that the sales person said were unbreakable, yet you get them home and manage to snap six of them in one night sewing velvet.

Perhaps they use a cheap supplier, and charge a huge markup. I certainly don't see the same problems with Fenwicks. Everything I've bought from them has been good quality, and the service is a lot more friendly.

The other departments in Bainbridges suffer the same kind of problems with service, you are ignored for ages, then get grunted at when they do serve you. I haven't had any problems with electrical goods once I've gotten them home, but it shouldn't take almost an hour to actually purchase a toaster! That does include them going out the back to find me a boxed one, but even so....

Bainbridges have the best computer department in Newcastle, but the rest of the shop lets it down.


======UPDATE=======

I went back to Bainbridges recently looking for a computer chair, and ended up buying a laptop, ex repair, but exceedingly cheap and high spec.

I actually originally just asked for the spec of the laptop, then told them I had to think about it, because I hadn't come looking for a laptop, but a computer chair.

The guy who was serving me told me not to bother buying a chair from them, because their computer chairs were very expensive, and not all that good. He pointed me in the direction of another store in town instead, and suggested I go for a coffee before letting them know if I wanted the laptop or not.

In the end I bought the laptop. It came with all the leads, nicely batched up, and a clean install. They offered insurance, but said that they weren't on comission so weren't bothered if I bought it or not, and let me go on my way.

Within a week I was experiencing problems with the battery.

I took the laptop back, and handed it over for testing. The lady in customer service offered Mark and I vouchers for a free coffee while we waited the hour it would take for the tests.

I gave them the laptop in my laptop case, which had CDs, memory cards and other items in it. When I returned to pick the laptop back up, it was presented completely intact.

The tech who performed the tests came out and explained that the battery had indeed been faulty, and that when he replaced it and tested it again, he found that several other batteries the shop had were also faulty. He'd found a working one for us, and apologised profusely for the problem.

I've had no problems since then, and am very happy with my purchase.

This is actually the second time I have had a problem with an item purchased from Bainbridges, and on both occasions the service has been great. You can't blame a department store for an after sales fault with electrical equipment, but you can look at how they deal with those problems when they occur.

The only problem is that once again this was great service from their IT department and their customer services. If only they could make the rest of their shop as good.

I've upped the rating to four stars because the staff are honest and the customer service team so good. I guess I can cope with snooty looks because I'm not good looking enough to buy makeup from them.

Summary: