Our Consumer champions column receives a regular flow of complaints about John Lewis when we used to see none. And now an anonymous member of staff has been in touch …Staff morale is at rock bottom. Training and wages are barely above minimum, and the IT systems are so old it makes dealing with some problems impossible. Workers are told to rep complaining customers off the phone to hit targets – whether their problem’s been resolved or not.
This isn’t a description of the working environment at a little-known internet startup or ailing retailer. This is the Capita-managed John Lewis call centre in Glasgow – according to a worker there who contacted my colleague Miles Brignall following our epic earlier this year detailing rising complaints. Related: Has John Lewis lost the digital-age plot? How else can John Lewis maintain its “never deliberately undersold” slogan without slashing costs to the bone?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com