“The fact that Debenhams use a courier company like Hermes is totally beyond me (These guys have even featured on BBC Watchdog for poor service) You would think a a long standing brand such as Debenhams would use a reliable company to deliver their products.
I ordered an item on Saturday and paid for next day delivery, waited in all day on the Sunday only to receive an email at 1830hrs stating "Your parcel has been delivered to your porch" I had to raise an eyebrow at this point because i don't have porch. As it turns out the parcel was delivered to completely the wrong street. I don't really expect to have to go knocking on doors in an adjacent street to try and track down my parcel (Without success I would add)
I called Debenhams the following day and they kindly offered to send another item which was due to arrive today. As I was not at home I specifically requested that the parcel be delivered to a neighbour whom I knew would be home.
The sorry saga continued when i got an email from the courier stating "We couldn't deliver your parcel as you weren't home" (I was already aware of the fact I wasn't home)
In exasperation I called Debenhams "Customer service" and got put through to a young woman from down town Bangkok. My name is Pete but she insisted on calling me, Mr Pat, then Pat, then addressed me by my surname only as if I was being berated by my headmaster.
I requested a cancellation of my order and a refund only to be told that I would not get a refund until "Debhams" (Her words) received the item back which would take ten days.
When I pointed out to her, that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 this was illegal because of the fact that I have not received and goods and or services that I had paid for. She then informed the her and her colleague (Who both obviously have a wealth of knowledge in UK consumer law) were right, I was wrong and i would not get a refund until the item had been received back at the "Debhams" warehouse (I think she said warehouse anyway)
I asked the question as to whether or not "Debhams" would actually receive this item from Hermes as they had failed to get it to me on two separate occasions. I was met with a stony silence followed by "I'm sorry Mr Pat"
At this point I hung up and dialed the alternative Debenhams UK customer service number without little more success but at least this guy had the courtesy to use my correct name.
APPALLING DEBENHAMS! JUST APPALLING”
“Poor and shoddy service
Staff charged more than discounts clearly stated. I eventually got a refund. I have logged a complaint with head office over a week ago and they have yet to respond. No wonder your stores are closing down!!!”
“Custom fees are a given if you are buying internationally - fine. However my issue is their delivery process uses this scammer company called 'EZclear' who are basically a customs 'agent' or other words a bunch of chancers who exploit and hijack parcels until you cough up their ridiculous 'admin' and custom fees. Usually this is done through the delivery company (DHL / UPS / Canada Post etc.) - so why is this so different?
To cut a story short - Debenhams provided the incorrect item amount to customs and was subsequently overcharged on the custom fees (almost double) the item price. When following up to all concerned no one wanted to take responsibility and sort it so I went back to Debenhams and their customer services couldn't care less - their responses are generic, don't bother reading your emails properly/following up - give you some rubbish responses like 'due to security risk we can't forward invoices to other emails'. They knocked up a revised invoice in about 2 mins which was still wrong and asked me to sort it myself by going to the local customs office which isn't possible as it's in the middle of nowhere and no guarantee it would even work. I don't know how many times I explained what the issue was and got a generic copy paste response that 'custom fees are responsibility of customer etc.' and was blatantly clear they hadn't read the emails at all. Why should I have to keep following up if I'm the customer?!
M&S are able to charge $5 (duty delivered paid) international delivery that includes custom fees! Debenhams is almost 3x that includes customs!
Won't be ordering again until this drastically improves - disgraceful 'service'.”
“Why is the high street failing?? It is failing because the big old companies like Debenhams are still not providing the customer experience that the modern shopper wants.
My experience of a recent trip to Debenhams was:
* There were no staff available to help when needed (we were ignored by over busy staff)
* Stock issues - at two different counters they did not have the make up my wife wanted to buy.
* At a Tom Ford scent counter all the trial bottles were empty so I could not try the scent I was thinking of buying (so i didn't bother)
* I queued to purchase a scarf only to be told they did not have the detagging gadget needed so I was instructed to go to another till where I had to queue again.
This was an opportunity for Debenhams to show me why I should think of using their store in future. If they do not nail customer satisfaction every time they will die (I work in Customer Success).”
“Really excellent customer service.
Following an accident in the Sunderland Store restaurant on 30 December 2018 when an eight year old child was burned by a spillage of hot soup, the reaction of the staff was impeccable and we were very grateful for their professional and rapid response. A fantastic example of good service which has raised the image of Debenhams in our opinion.”
“Very poor Customer Service and even worse delivery service by Hermes sending you emails saying they have delivered stuff when they haven't. Don't bother unless you want to spend over hour on phone being told you will be getting you items but never turn up. Ordered items on 16th December still not got all of order meant to be 2-5 delivery. Then insult you by offering a £5 gift voucher.”
“Do not buy anything from this store. My wife bought a bracelet. The clusp would not close when she brought it home. She toook it back to Debenhams, and was told they could not do anything. The store staff were ignorant of my wifes shy nature and lack of english knowledge as she is Indian. The store just refused her request on all counts, untill my niece who had worked in retail industry intervened. Every thing changed, and my wife received a new braclet that worked. Incidently, 3 years ago i told my wife not to go to Debenhams becuase she bought a watch and didn't work when she brought it home. When she took back, she was told "thats normal" . My wife rang me from the store, I told the checkout girl, I am coming over. The watched replaced instantly, after I told the checkout girl and her manager how "stupid they were". DOES ONE NEED THIS - JUST DONT GO THERE.”
“I ordered the Oak effect 'Stowaway' extending table with the set of 4 Oak effect 'Stowaway' chairs online on the 24th November 2018. Then I received a confirmation email stating that they will be delivered on the 7th December. The set of chairs actually turned up on the 3rd December which is great. But the table never turned up! Emailed to Debenhams the first time and got a reply on the 4th December with a delivery date set on the 8th December. I waited at home for 12 hours from 8am to 8pm, nope, the table didn't turn up.
Emailed Debenhams again the second time chasing my table. Replied on the 10th December with "the item has not been dispatched." As I needed my table together and the chairs for Christmas, I emailed back and request for a confirmed delivery date.
Third email received from Debenhams on the 12th December, "the item Oak effect 'Stowaway' extending table was cancelled."
What a service is this? No solution nor any alternative. Then I get a £10 e-coupon as promised on the 13 December after my complaint, which I still haven't received after a week.
Anyway, I don't care about the coupon as it is nothing. I then asked Debenhams to arrange a courier to pick up the chairs as I'm not going to use it without the table, obviously! All is arranged and confirmed on the 14th December by email that the courier will come on the 20th December.
Again, waited for over 11 hours in total, with the first phone call made to the Customer Services Team at 5pm to ensure the courier will come on the day. "Yes, they are" is the answer I got. Rang the Customer Services Team again at 7pm, waited and spoke to several people, phone call lasted for 30 mins. "No, they are not coming today. Please call again tomorrow to arrange for a collection."
Honestly, this is the worst online shopping experience ever and it is from Debenhams! Unbelievable! There is no Customer Services at all and nothing gets done even after the confirmation. I will never shop with Debenhams again!”
“Appalling service. My order was dispatched on 3rd December for delivery on 7th but after 4 phone calls to customer service I am still waiting for it to arrive. I have been told it first of all went to the wrong address and now it has been sent to the wrong distribution centre. I have continually been fobbed off by customer service with promises of delivery and am pretty fed up with the whole experience. I certainly won’t be using the Debenhams website again.”
“Really awful experience. Bought a dress for a wedding online on the 22nd of November and should have been dispatched the latest on the 28th. Still no sign of it. It's been two weeks and a half now.
I wrote two emails complaining.
They answer to my first email that they were going to find out what the problem was and they would contact me in 3 working days. Nobody contact me. I wrote the second email complaining again, they said there were sorry I didn't get any answer to my first email and that they would contact me in 48 hours. Nobody contact me again.
I was never able to track the packet. I never get answers, they just ignore me.
Very unprofessional service, I do not recommend to anybody to use the online shopping in Debenhams.”
“Ordered 2 items as C&C, got just 1, another one got lost, no one get in touch with me, had to phone and wait half an hour to get some answers, not happy at all”
“All items were just how they looked online when i received them. Delivery arrived on time, very happy with the service received. Will be ordering again”
“Hermes order supposedly signed for by me when I was out at work 10 miles away. Debenham's suggest I wait THREE days while they investigate. Order worth £168. Plan to report the fraudulent use of my signature to the police.”
