“I have still to receive the coffee beans I ordered and paid for on 1st September. Whittard used Yodel to deliver my order but Yodel’s tracking says my parcel is still with Whittard. I am sick of chasing my expensive order. Last week customer service told me that the parcel would be arriving shortly, but it is not here yet. A further email to Whittard has not even been answered. I have bought a lot of coffee from Whittard over many years but would not advise anyone to shop with Whittard now. If anything goes wrong, they could not care less.”
“Terrible issues with product being delivered. Unacceptable time length with no explanation. Shop didn't offer any help just that web orders were different from them.”
“Despite attempting to place an order two days running and putting my correct card number in which has more than adequate funds, the order kept rejecting my card because it needed 12-20 numbers, my card has the correct number but I was told the bank payment has failed. I suggest that this is the worst online experience I have ever had and as I am disabled I use online shopping all the time. My order was for my granddaughters birthday, being sent to her address not mine! i am now placed in a very difficult situation she is a lover of tea despite her youngish age! so this experience will mean nothing will arrive from me on her birthday! thank you very much!”
“Placed an order, should have taken 4 working days max. A week later I contact them to find out where it is, and get told they've not been shipping due to a "stock take". No warning, only way to find out was to contact them. I asked to cancel the order, but they refused as it was more than 30 minutes after the order was placed, (yes, that is actually their policy) despite the fact they didn't ship it for a further 4 days. Aparently they didn't find out about the stock take/orders not shipping until it was too late to put a warning on their website or send an email to customers (so a week isn't long enough to send a mass email or add some text - a blatant lie). No compensation, not even a 5% off your next order gesture of good will. They hold their customers in complete contempt and it appears to be a bunch of incompetent fools running the business. There are better, cheaper, more efficient and more ethical places to get coffee, I highly recommend you look around before giving any money to these conmen, it's only a matter of time before a business like this goes bust in this economic climate, and if you get caught placing an order when that happens I guarantee you'll never see the order or get your money back.”
“There online issues are still ongoing. Deliveries are taking weeks and not days as stated in their terms and conditions. Only 1 person in Customer services and you can only contact them by social media as they have switched their phone line over to answering machine, so don't bother leaving a message as noone will get back to you.”
“I ordered a china tea cup and saucer. It's the smallest tea cup I have ever seen and it has the texture and lightness of plastic. I also had a stressful experience by the delivery company Yodel who Whittard uses. All in all a waste of money and a very unpleasant delivery experience.”
“Whittards in Portobello Road only stock ONE decaffeinated coffee and ONE decaffeinated tea. When I asked the sales assistant to make a customer request to management he was positively disinterested and dismissive. I'm not surprised to see that only 31% of whittard reviewers recommend them.”
I'm sorry that you had a disappointing and unsatisfactory experience on your recent visit to store - please be assured that your feedback has been passed onto the relevant department and area manager to look into further.
We have emailed you a response as well.
Hanna @ Whittard
“I am frustrated that the first time I decide to order direct from Whittards it is such a debacle. I usually ask friends to buy tea and ship it. This time I decided to buy direct and it has been a disaster. I thought I would have my tea in a few days and it is almost three weeks and I have to keep emailing to find any status at all. I find out the order was lost and do I want them to refund or ship the order again. I replied ship again on 31Dec10 and have heard nothing back. I thought the Tea is really good and the company is long-standing, they will fix this. To my chagrin, I find out that your customer service is horrible.”
Hi Dave,
I'm so sorry that you have had such a difficult time with your order. I hope that it has now been resolved and you've got your tea delivered but please email info@whittard.co.uk if you have any outstanding queries or issues.
Hanna @ Whittard
“A lot of stress, time and expense for way overpriced goods. Nova Double-Walled Mugs.
A lot of stress, time and expense for way overpriced goods. See the other two recent reviews on the second page regarding broken products (on the Whittard website). Beware however, Whittard can conveniently decide what reviews they publish or not publish on their website which also happens to fit in with their company and how it behaves and treats people in general when in the wrong let alone customers paying their very expensive prices from what I’ve seen so far.
Even though I had seen at least one of the recent reviews (on the Whittard website) regarding the mugs arriving broken before ordering one reply stated 'we've recently changed our delivery packaging and are working on ensuring it is the best possible experience for all.' So from this I thought that the company may have learnt from the mistakes it had made and on more than one occasion. This was my mistake and is obviously not the case and this company made sure I paid for my mistake.
The mugs were only protected by basically paper (ruffled wrapping paper with holes) and then placed in the box which had no inner protection. This is simply not enough protection for delicate glass items such as these. One mug was alright the other was broken in many pieces. Also the package was I think transported to 2-3 different sites so there is basically no excuse for what is basically shockingly incompetent packaging methods and process for the glass mugs.
When I telephoned the company about this after explaining everything I received lame excuses including 'not many of the mugs have been broken previously' (only 2 out of the 7 reviews at that time that I know of on the Whittard website and the many other reviews here with similar complaints) and that 'bubble wrap isn't used as it's plastic'. I can partly understand that from an environmental point of view but if there's no suitable alternative in existence it may be that or broken goods. There was no mention of perhaps trying to implement a suitable alternative and again just lame excuses that basically didn't have any useful applications or solutions. I was told on several occasions from this company that 'my feedback would be passed on' but I highly doubt this from my experience so far. Another excuse included 'perhaps not all of the mugs were packaged like yours' and again like on one of the other reviews I was told that 'some of the packaging processes had been changed' which again were basically quite weak (and untrue) attempts to defend shockingly incompetent packaging methods and process for the glass mugs.
By this point I had spent some time on the telephone explaining everything and also suggesting how to improve things as well as writing an email and taking photographs that I was told to do and was more stress, work and time. I was made to basically fight for any kind of compensation for the whole thing and also made to fight for a full refund which I got but only in the end.
This whole experience has displayed gross incompetence and then on top of it I get excuses for my trouble (which also included being 'economical with the truth' at best) to defend it (see above) and had to fight for a full refund. When looking at the mugs both the broken and unbroken one I would have expected something a little more robust for £8 and I think it's a rip off for £8. Also the description of the product I think is over selling it and I actually discussed this over the telephone when making the order and again I was told 'my feedback would be passed on' which is starting to wear a bit thin now even if it were to have any kind of effect or even true for that matter. I'm tired of excuses and lies from this company.
If you’re also thinking of buying the 'SoHo Latte Glasses' from this site do yourself a favour and don't get sucked into purchasing from this company like I did. You can save yourself a lot of time and hassle and buy some that are basically identical from one of the larger supermarkets. You'll also pay 50% of the price, get them quicker as well as bypassing the over priced postage rates of this company. You'll also get them in one piece.
With situations like this I try to suggest improvements and possible solutions in an attempt for others to not have the same experience as I did. I have done this up to this point by trying to suggest more suitable material for packing delicate items and on several occasions including when speaking over the telephone for the good it did which has been explained in this review. Packing delicate items like this is reasonably simple and more amateur stuff generally speaking especially for a large professional company like this. Like I said over the telephone though the term 'professional' can mean something or nothing in this context. More towards nothing with this company unfortunately. Maybe they're making so much money it simply doesn't matter that some delicate items are being broken.
However my suggestion for improvement here would include a seminar course for staff and management regarding how to pack delicate items sufficiently prior to posting them so customers don't receive broken goods. Following this another course but perhaps one that is more technical and a more natural progression for staff and management would include 'toilet training' for implementation and application for the staff toilet facilities. Subjects and modules covered could include;
1. Using the toilet.
2. Making sure everything is directed within the toilet bowel.
3. Not forgetting to flush the toilet.
4. Not forgetting the washing of the hands with technique.
I'm sure the cleaner would appreciate it if there is one and this stuff is actually quite technical once done well and properly. You just need to see other toilet facilities to see that. After that who knows? Sky's the limit! Merry Christmas 2019! (even though one of the presents is broken).”
“Disgraceful. Online, they were selling Darjeeling and Assam discounted in the Black Friday sale. As I work in Birmingham, I thought I would visit the store and get it in person. At the store I was charged full price. That is the last time I will use Whittard. Their prices are high enough, so I it is not acceptable that they use false advertising to get your custom.”
“Disappointed to buy a box of decaffeinated breakfast tea No 24 and find every single bag split open. Too far away from a store to return. Not cheap either.”
“Whittard said the teapot I ordered was lost. Would refund the amount to my bank. This was beginning of December, still waiting. Will take this further.”
Hi Margaret,
So sorry to hear that you have had problems with your order. I can confirm that our customer service team have responded to your email, offering a refund or a replacement.
Best wishes,
Ebru @ Whittard
“I placed an online order of mainly tea on sale on 27/12/18, was sent a mail informing me of the cancellation of one of the items (which was non sale, so no idea why it was cancelled), and a refund for that. The order arrived on 7/1/19, containing only half of the products I had ordered (I wasn't charged for the missing ones) with no explanation whatsoever. As it was a weekend, customer service wouldn't answer the phone, so I sent an email asking why items were missing that were even at this point still available online, and despite another email never heard again.Several unanswered phone calls and voice massages later I managed to speak to someone today who told me she had no idea what happened and unfortunately all sale items I wanted were NOW out of stock, so just too bad. The one item originally cancelled will now be posted to me- we shall see whether it arrives.
Absolutely appalling customer service, I have never experienced anything like it.”
Hi there,
So sorry you have experienced difficulty with your order. If you can please let me know your Whittard order number, I can look into this for you.
Best wishes,
Ebru @ Whittard
“Incomplete order received - 2 emails sent with only automated replies received and no further action by customer services- it would appear whittard have little concern for customer satisfaction.”
Hi there,
So sorry you have experienced difficulty with your order. If you can please let me know your Whittard order number, I can look into this for you.
Best wishes,
Ebru @ Whittard
Hi there,
So sorry to hear you are not happy with your sand timer. Thank you for making us aware that the timing is incorrect, we will investigate this.
Best wishes,
Ebru @ Whittard
“company sent email saying my order was sent 2 weeks ago. Still have not received have sent 2 email, was told that I would receive the order by today. I have looked on the tracker and the order has not been sent. Why lie.”
Hi there,
So sorry you have experienced difficulty with your order. If you can please let me know your Whittard order number, I can look into this for you.
Best wishes,
Ebru @ Whittard
“Fantastic goodies! Tea and hot chocolate, plus elegant porcelain ware associated with tea, hot choc and coffee. Been searching for ages to find tea making equipment, sand-glass tea-timers, a choice of chocolate drinks and a range of teas. You don't have to be a gormet to appreciate such lovely beverages with the trimmings and trappings to go with. Wonderful accidental discovery when browsing on Amazon.”
“Buying coffee beans is always a little treat for me. So when I do I order from Whittards. Their website is easy to use. You can buy or reserve for pick up. I have tried other coffee beans from other places but you just cannot beat Whittards so I stay with them. I do have a Whittards shop I can get to easily but often have it delivered too. My sister who moved to Somerset also likes their coffee beans but has to order online as no shop near her.”
