Raw Deal: Newlyweds with no gifts had to borrow cutlery and crockery

Pat with Joanne at the wedding. John Lewis will know better than to cross swords with Pat again

WHAT’S the best time of your life?

Different people will answer that question in different ways. But I’m sure we could all agree that setting up home for the first time, with your new husband, is a memorable waypoint in life. You need everything – from coasters to cushions, duvets to dusters.

You are helped, however, in the traditional way by friends and relatives giving wedding gifts.

These days, many soon-to-be-wed couples set up gift lists at large shops, identifying items they need. Then guests can have a look at the list and choose items to buy.

It’s a sensible way to go about things, rather than be given four toasters and three kettles by well-meaning aunts and uncles.

Heather Morris and Ruairidh MacKenzie were married on July 8 and started a wedding gift account at John Lewis.

They are setting up house in the Perthshire area, but as Heather was working in Coventry the account was begun at the John Lewis store in Birmingham. They advise customers to have a fun day choosing gifts. This can be done online, or walking round the store selecting items. It is a wonderful experience for a soon-to-be-married young couple.

The list will become “open” (meaning wedding guests can select what they’d like to buy) six weeks before the big day, and a date is selected, at the happy couple’s convenience, when the gifts will be delivered to their home free of charge.

This is where Pat Rhodes, Heather’s grandmother, enters the story.

Pat chose and paid for a gift on the wedding list. The plan was that all the gifts, including Pat’s, would be delivered after Heather and Ruairidh returned from a two-week honeymoon.

But when Pat, who lives in Preston, Lancashire, phoned to chat to Heather on August 25 – hoping Heather would be very pleased with the gift Pat had chosen it turned out the delivery had been arranged for August 14 –but Pat’s gift hadn’t been delivered.

In fact, none of the gifts had been delivered.

John Lewis promised another date, August 21, but although Heather and Ruairidh waited in all day and made numerous phone calls to try to find out what was happening, nothing arrived.

Pat was outraged and immediately emailed the store’s customer services. She was further angered (there are few powers on earth more fearsome than a grandmother taking up cudgels on behalf of a beloved grand-daughter) that John Lewis’s customer services department didn’t even afford her the courtesy of a reply.

Pat knew what to do, she contacted Raw Deal, telling us that the non-appearance of all their wedding gifts meant Heather and Ruairidh were making do with borrowed crockery, cutlery, towels and many other items.

Pat said: “The worst thing is that what should have been a happy and joyous time, setting up their new home, excited at receiving and unwrapping their gifts, has been upsetting and stressful.”

Raw Deal got on to John Lewis.

Several excuses later, a delivery date was set for September 25, a full six weeks after they should have been delivered. This time, thankfully, the delivery was made.

A spokesperson for John Lewis told us: “We have spoken with the newlyweds and have apologised, as we appreciate this has been extremely inconvenient.

“In addition, we plan to discuss a gesture of goodwill with them.”

Pat sent us a picture of herself and her daughter Joanne (Heather’s mum) at the wedding and told us: “Thank you very much for your help in getting this resolved. Well done Raw Deal.”