月到天心原文 年9月高级口译阅读第三篇原文

年9月高级口译阅读第三篇原文  

John Lewis: never knowingly undersold?
It is possibly the most famous promise in British retailing: "Never knowingly undersold" has been at the heart of John Lewis's business since 1925. But a quietly introduced change has infuriated loyal Customers
who claim the price-match promise is now slipping away.
For many years John Lewis customers have been safe in the knowledge that if they found their purchase for a lower price elsewhere the pany would refund the difference. Carrier bags and marketing campaigns have proudly proclaimed to the world that John Lewis won't be beaten on price.
Yet since September some customers who have asked John Lewis to match the price of goods found cheaper elsewhere on the high street have been turned away.
A Guardian Money reader from Roydon
Essex
contacted us after he bought a Hotpoint washing machine in John Lewis's Welwyn store for £279. A few days later he saw the same model in Argos for £219 – £60 cheaper. John Lewis turned down his claim made under the never knowingly undersold policy
because it said it guaranteed the washing machines for o years
while Argos offered only one year.
The customer plained – unsuccessfully – that the store wasn't being fair as this was not made clear in the literature.
When Money investigated
we found that John Lewis had made a fundamental change to its policy.
In a statement in September
which at the time drew positive headlines
it said it would for the first time match online prices from other retailers as long as they also had a physical high street presence. What was made less clear was that the store would no longer match a price unless its rival offers the exact same warranty.
The policy change might not sound much
but it in effect allows the store to avoid almost all price matching of electrical items – because John Lewis has adopted a policy of offering o-year warranties on almost every such item. Most stores in the UK offer just one year.
When we first raised the reader's plaint with John Lewis it told us: "As part of our mitment to be never knowingly undersold
we match prices based on the bined cost of the product plus charges the petitor may make for a parable warranty or guarantee. We evaluate price-match claims on a like-for-like basis
and breakdown cover is a crucial part of our proposition to our customers."
What it failed to mention was that prior to the September policy rewrite
it would have paid the plainant the £60 difference beeen the John Lewis and Argos washing machines.
Interestingly
the store confirmed it would not price match the cost of buying a product plus a warranty from a third party pany
but would consider a claim if the cheaper retailer offered the chance to buy both together.
David Suddock
head of buying support at John Lewis
who revised the policy
says: "As a result of our mitment to expand our never knowingly undersold policy to include other retailers with online presences we now put a great deal of resources into checking the prices charged by our rivals and lowering ours where appropriate. Our customers are benefiting through significantly reduced prices. They tell us they value the extra warranty periods we offer
and we think it is only fair we should include that in our price match scheme. The terms of the never knowingly undersold policy are clearly presented in both our stores and on the website."
But if the Money postbag is to be believed
most John Lewis customers were unaware of the change. And Martyn Hocking
editor of Which? says: "John Lewis is known for its great customer service
so the change to its never knowingly undersold policy is very disappointing. Customers would naturally expect any price matching policy to relate to the up-front cost of a product
excluding the value of added extras such as warranties and guarantees. As such
we feel that the amended policy is misleading and will lead to frustration for many shoppers."
But Natalie Berg
research director at retail analysts Pla Retail
says John Lewis's move was perhaps inevitable: "The inter has put the power to pare prices in the hands of all of us; some shoppers now use smart phones to check prices as they walk around a store. John Lewis has realised that while price is important
it's not the factor in where to buy. The fact that John Lewis has been one of the winners on the high street in recent months suggests consumers are not just looking for the lowest prices
but they want value – and the perception is that John Lewis delivers this."
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