“Horrible experience recently. I don’t say that lightly, and this may well be my first negative review on a vegan company. Where possible, I'm all for praising and supporting and recommending vegan services.
First of all, the order was supposed to arrive mid/late January. This was clearly stated across the website, likely due to high demand around Christmas.
However, the order arrived three weeks (!) early, just as I was about to leave and wouldn’t be home for the Christmas period. Had it arrived two days later, no one would have been there to accept it. This change was not communicated in any way and was highly impractical, especially considering many of the items would have gone off. I had to stuff everything into my overfull freezer to prevent spoilage.
Secondly, the jam jar (which was very pricey) arrived broken. It had not been insulated in any way and was placed right at the side of the box, so it felt almost inevitable that it would break. The other items were covered in jam and shards of glass.
When I raised this issue, instead of offering a monetary refund, I was given a £5 voucher to cover the cost of the jam jar. This would not even cover shipping on a future order and felt inadequate. Communication about this overall was not up to standard.
All in all, I love the brands represented on this website. However, this recent experience makes me think twice about recommending the company or ordering from them again.”
“We purchased 1kg of sos mix +p&p ,we then waited for despatch advice and tracking details nothing appeared. Contacted customer support who assured us they would dispatch details. Customer service then stopped communicating , no replies to e-mails ,telephone calls no delivery, we were always very polite . This is not the first time this has happened, they seem to deliberately stop communicating when there is a problem. we had to ask for a refund from our payment service provider. no apology from Alternative stores.”
“Since the contraction of the high street it has become increasingly difficult to source out of the ordinary (veggie) food stuffs. We lost two good health food shops in quick order; that was where my association with Alternative started, through necessity. The frozen delivery is especially worthy of a mention with special cold packaging that is good for several days if the need arises. I tend to do two big orders a year to replenish the freezer and cupboards; the free postage price point holds no sway with this Yorkshireman, honest.
Communications are first class, and!, you can speak to a human if need be. I recommend Alternative Stores without hesitation base on several years hassle free dealings. Long may you thrive.”
“An excellent vegan store which has regular tasting events and special offers. A big fridge and freezer section as well as introducing new brands. They supply to our Cafe and are always very helpful and efficient.”
“It's a family run business with very good customer service. There is no hitch or complaint so petty that the older man (I believe the father) doesn't take it as his personal quest to sort it. Often they have stuff out of stock (cough cough Vegenaise) but it seems to cycle every few weeks. I've used it both online and at the physical shop, both good experiences.”
