Despite some redeeming features, overall we were disappointed in the JL Gift List for our wedding (Spring 2017). Given how popular/common JLGL was, we expected more. The start is fine, and you get a scanner for the store and some free cake in the JL cafe (free cake!), so if you like JL products then this part is good. We wanted our honeymoon to be included as part of the GL so that people could donate to that if they preferred, and this was possible as we were going with Kuoni, JL's partners. This was thankfully possible, meaning we didn't need separate lists for items vs experience, although the website is clunky and you can't add more than 30 characters to describe your honeymoon request. However, the "guide" sheet we were provided on how to use the GL was very amateur and of very poor quality (almost illegible photocopy, full of typos and not at all helpful); further, we found that for a number of items it wasn't possible to add to the GL (e.g. you cannot add any artwork) "in case it runs out of stock", despite the fact that they were only prints and we could see them in store months after the event, suggesting these had a low turnover / are replaced regardless... A number of normal items (e.g. irons) were also replaced with vouchers at a late stage, due to "changing suppliers". There were further replacements / delays in getting some standard items which were "out of stock for GL", depite being in ample supply at JL. Whilst I understand that JL and GL are run separately from a corporate perspective, as a customer we don't expect to have to then do an online JL shop to buy the things that GL had run out of... As a futher minor gripe - there's no way to identify who bought what without doing a manual cross-reference to the online list. To end on a positive, we did end up with a whole bunch of fun things that were of the quality we expected, keeping this review up at 3 stars.

Our experience had a been good, although our items were fairly straightforward. All items delivered but our Denby dinner service is a mix match of colours with over 50% items with defects (little holes in glazing, scratches, very diverse colours, and a badly chipped mug) These are worse than some of our Denby seconds. We now have to arrange an exchange. What a shame for something that should have been such a happy experience.

Having made my gift choice and supplied all the information requested, which was a nice easy process, I was then asked to complete a verification of my credit card. The page time expired and I could not get it back. On 'phoning John Lewis "Customer help line" I explained that when I went back into the Gift List the item had been removed, and asked, "Did that mean my purchase had gone through ?" To be told that this sometimes happens and I could try again tomorrow, after 10.00 a.m. at that time the item in question may have been returned to the List. Surely in this day and age with technology as it is, youshould be able to answer the question "Have I made my purchase?". I found that disappointing. I will try again.

Setting up the John Lewis list was easy and guests had no problems with purchases. Problems started when trying to arrange delivery, many items could not be obtained (despite being in stock on johnlewis.com). Nobody could say when delivery would be or how much it would cost. Finally got our gifts 2 months after our wedding. Everything was there but one item arrived broken, although a refund was quickly arranged. The products are up to the usual John Lewis quality (ie very good) and we are happy overall. The staff were pleasant enough to deal with, just didn't seem to know what was going on with getting the lists together and delivery.