La Redoute www.redoute.co.uk Review

Good Points
They have a great catalgoue and excellent prices.

Bad Points
Completely, utterly and horribly unable to deliver their product. I ask you, please, do NOT order from them. Read on...

General Comments
I have to admit it: I love La Redoute's product. So I have tried and tried to make my relationship with them work. But after four consecutive failed orders, I have met every kind of customer service and sales bungle: order mismanagement (they sent only one pillow sham when I ordered four); loss of items; incorrect information on the website (stock listed as available when it isn't); kind but incompetent staff (they could not find my order, or figure out who I was); invasion of privacy (they called my bank and asked for bank information on my debit card instead of calling me); and plain ridiculously inane business practice.



Now I don't say these things without cause. Here is an example. They said my address didn't match their system so they cancelled my order without informing me. Later I discovered it didn't match because my flat number was listed on the first line instead of second. To cancel the order, they sent me a LETTER to inform me, even though the address, they said, was incorrect?!?! I received the letter -- not an email, even though I ordered online-- two weeks later.



They, like every other UK business, only have a PAY phone number (yes Americans, you have to PAY to call their customer service number when they screw up. About 50 cents a minute. And then you have to hold).



Customer service does respond to emails, but incompletely and usually after about five or six days. When I emailed about the order (the missing pillow sham order also included two other missing items that were "In Stock" when I ordered them), the agent did not respond to the missing shams issue. She just said the other two items were out of stock when I ordered them (why didn't the service indicate this?) and said the email would be forwarded on to another department for further response. No phone calls, no personal letters (I included my phone number, in case they wanted to follow up).



Before these problems started, I gave the catalogue to a friend. She ordered and had the same problems.



I hope that in the future they get their service issues worked out. But for now, ladies, trust me: save yourself the hassle and don't bother. Maybe you won't have a problem, but chances are you will. I rated this value for the money zero because, with all the hassle and time wasted, I could have been out on the high street, shopping.



E.H.

London