Lillywhites

This has gotta be the worst shop in London for customer service. 'Usuck' is clearly a member of staff who needs to try a bit harder to be nice to the customers instead of tutting at every request.

To all these noobs (aka 'lobsterman'), Lillywhites is not about customer service, it's about sports bargains - that's why you can find the cheapest stock there. If you want to have a fake feeling you are the king of the world, go to John Lewis, where pathetic beings like you can intimidate staff as much as you like.

A dingy hovel. Has a poor selection of equipment and is more concerned with putting baseball caps on insecure and unimaginative teenagers than selling quality sports gear. Don't be fooled by the exterior, it's an out-of-town bargain barn.

About 6 years ago it was a great store selling things you usually couldn't get anywhere else, at a high price with great customer service. Now it is like any other poor sports shop, a bargain basement of piled high cheap stock, and with Neanderthal-like customer service. Very upsetting to see... just like Sports World now.

This store is not only poorly laid out, the staff/customer relationship is awful! I was met with very poor manners by a member of their staff and when I mentioned this to a 'manager' at the tills, he laughed! So I wrote a letter to the store manager - 2 months later, no reply. In the interim period I sent a copy of this letter to 'Customer Service' at their head office. Again, no reply. Apparently, Lillywhites have no desire to offer any level of customer service, merely to pile it high and sell it cheap. A very poor reflection on British retailing. I will NOT shop in the Piccadilly store again and would not recommend it to anyone.

I walked in naked and they fully clothed me... awesome! Thanks guys!

The best sports store in the world!

Compared to what it used to be like, it's rubbish.

Now a shop for chavs. A sad demise for one of London's great institutions.

A dreadful shop. The old Lillywhites was fantastic, but it now just sells cheap rubbish. The various departments used to have experts in their respective sports, but the current staff are just rude.

What used to be a great shop has now gone cheap! Rude, untrained staff and no more big sports names. Big shame.

This is not the place it used to be. After having been served by some really rude shop assistant, I asked to speak to the manager, and ended up talking to a charming young lady who could barely understand English! I can understand that they'd hire foreign people to work there, but surely they should make sure that their managers are able to understand basic English... Ridiculous.

I worked at Lillywhites from '65 to '67 as a trainee buyer and salesman. Following a fire in the store most people were made redundant and there were tears when we left. It was the most enjoyable place to work and all staff had to have in-depth knowledge of the product range, for it was the finest sports shop in the world. Frequently the Duke of Edinburgh would shop there.

I recently visited the store and was a little sad to see how standards have dropped.The displays were not good and the store did not cater for the high quality end of the market which Harrods does. In view of its location, it needs better quality products on display to justify calling it Lilllywhites. Otherwise, why not then call it Sports Direct?

Like many other readers, I remember the old, great Lillywhites. Now it is packed to the rafters with low quality brands, mostly owned by SportsDirect, e.g. Donnay and Dunlop. What a descent. There are no premium or even good quality brands. The staff are friendly but have little expertise in sports. It's fairly evident they aren't that well paid.

I made the mistake of assuming that Lillywhites was still the good quality sports shop that I used to patronise when I lived in London. I have just been there again, and it is now nothing more than a cheap and nasty market stall in the heart of London. So sad! The staff were unhelpful, untrained and usually unable to be found. It saddens me that a London store that had such international standing is now reduced to this. R.I.P Lillywhites, it WAS so good to know you.

From looking at your comments, I've had a good laugh. Have any of you even stopped to consider the abuse and down and out rudeness of some people who shop there? What you have to remember is that we buy in bulk and sell the stock on so it is cheap. Cheap stock is aimed at people who aren't richie rich but who aren't poor either.

As for the phone comments, we aim to provide our best service to the people who come into the store. If you saw how much we had to spend on staff and how much pay we all received, you would understand that our focus has to be what goes on in store and we do not always have the time to answer the phones... we do have work to do, believe it or not!

Fantasic store, great prices, amazing choice. These products are NOT seconds or last year's stock!

First of all, get off your lazy backsides and go to the store, rather than trying to phone them to see if they have in what you are looking for. Don’t you think their priority will be to serve the customers in the store rather than someone on the end of the phone who may not even purchase?

Yes, Lillywhites is not what it was, selling a plethora of sports goods and accessories at overinflated prices. That is because by doing that, and catering for this market, they very very nearly went bust and had to be bought out. Retail has changed - get over it.

I agree in terms of customer services. I'm currently on the phone having been put through to 5 different people to find out whether they stock NFL Jerseys! Instead of finding out, they just put you through to someone else... arghhh!!

Awful, awful, awful. Just like many UK companies and service providers, the service is appalling!

I have been trying to get hold of a staff member to get some info over the phone, but it's proved nigh on impossible. What kind of people are working there? Do they not want the custom? First it takes at least 15 minutes until someone picks up and then they either put the phone down or put me through to someone else who does the same. First impression is very bad. I think I'll take my money somewhere where people actually want it and care about the customer.

•  Favourites
•  Wish List