Laura Ashley

I love this shop. Always find lots of fabulous house items. Great helpful staff.
5 7 years ago (18-10-2017)

My wife and I called in on 20 Oct and again today 25 Oct. We had planned to purchase a sofa some wing chairs and other stuff and had done some prep work on line. We made contact with a Jayne ( unfortunately there are I believe three with this name at the branch.) On both occasions Jayne was extremely efficient and helpful in spite of signs of bickering among other sales persons. There were constant interruptions and competition for use of the computer. We began to place the order and on Jayne's suggestion my wife agreed to open a credit card account and I expressed a wish to take advantage of the 0% credit over 30 months via the Barclays deal. We were asked a load of questions ,about ability to pay, which I was not prepared for and found very intrusive, particularly sitting by a computer in the middle of the shop. We continued with the formalities however until there was a problem when the Barclays online credit system recorded that it was unable to match the names and numbers on either of our debit cards. A phone call by Jayne to some or other department to check this out was inconclusive. Having never enjoyed any credit ,other than from business creditors I wanted the credit to prove that 0 % does actually work and that I had benefitted from it - plus an idle talking point in golf club chatter. The tactic used here suggests that Barclays did not like the feel of our numbers and did not want our business. Instead of coming clean it would appear that a deliberate lie was told as I and my wife plus the salesperson were sitting in front of the debit cards, having twice checked that there were no entry errors. Had we not already wasted so much time we would have walked out, and almost thought of settling the full amount with a debit card, to see whether the system suddenly managed to recognise the names and numbers. As a matter of principal we did not. Whatever happens I am rattled by this behaviour and have asked for an investigation and a reply. The last time this happened to us was in Italy where it is commonplace for credit or debit cards not to work, which there of course it has something to do with cash being more attractive? Richard Stimson
2 9 years ago (25-10-2015)