Alternative Stores Avis 58

Absolutely awful. This store used to be run brilliantly. I’ve been a customer for years and years.,But since it changed hands, its customer service has become appalling and its product selection and availability has seriously dropped in standard. So sad to see such a previously good company become absolutely awful.

Terrible company. Customer service never answer the phone. They say "leave a message and we will get back to you "
They don't. Avoid Alternative Stores at all costs.

I should’ve read these reviews before placing an order. I ordered a week before Easter as they claimed to deliver within two working days. I have contacted them today is my order didn’t arrive and they simply replied saying they were having logistical issues and I would get it sometime after the Easter holiday couldn’t even give me a day or tell me if they had shipped the order. They are still displaying on their website order today first of April and get delivery on the 2nd of April which they clearly can’t fulfil. They haven’t agreed to refund shipping or any part of the order as of yet and the order was almost entirely Easter eggs when I replied to their initial message I just got a reply back we are off-line but it was typed not an automated reply. I would’ve been annoyed because the eggs won’t be here for Easter and would never have ordered otherwise but had they offered or agreed to refund the express delivery fee and perhaps a portion of the order I would’ve accepted that. they haven’t offered any resolution which is a shame as had the products been of unacceptable quality and arrived within the agreed timeframe. I would’ve ordered from them much more often they do stock a very good range of products but that’s meaningless if they don’t make it from their warehouse to the customers home.

I ordered over £80 of chilled food. It was dispatched yesterday and delivery was due today but it was not delivered. Possibly a DPD mess-up.
I tried repeatedly to contact Alternative Stores throughout the day via their phone number and their online contact form, with no reply and no call back from them. Absolutely appalling to not have any customer support when food is literally spoiled with delivery delays.
Had I seen the reviews here before ordering I wouldn’t have bought from this company

I ordered some vitamin capsules a week ago but the jars were empty in the delivery.
I've what's app'd, emailed and left voice mail messages but no one has returned my call.
It cost me £30 for empty jars so not cheap.
They sent me a automated what's app message today asking me to review the products.

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.

Have been ordering from this website for years, the sos mix is a firm favourite in our house, its the nicest around in my opinion.
Customer service via watsap was also great. Only ever had one issue, and it was sorted quickly with some extra choccy treats as an apology. Thank you 🥰

Whenever you order from Alternative Stores, they let you know how the order is progressing and when it’s been dispatched, which is always really quickly. They are super reliable and also very friendly. Can’t recommend them enough! 👍🏻

Wow. I knew Vbites before alternative stores. I'd tried the vegan egg (tubes) at a food exhibition and have been desperate to have it. We treated ourselves for Christmas and just had the BEST vegan breakfast for New Years. Fast delivery and no issues.

Left it too late to order direct from one of my faux cheese places. Came across this store online, placed an order before I read the reviews, then panicked.

I shouldn't have. They arrived within 48 hours, packed perfectly, chilled, and with a long best before dates on them all. So straight into the fridge they went, to be gobbled up over the festive period.

I'll definitely order again!

Most gorgeous shop with great products for vegan & vegetarian or for anyone come quick enough and nicely packed .I will order more soon please keep going as we need you lovely shop lovely people xx

Amazing customer service thank you Kim for your help 😊😊😊

I've had previous good experiences with alternative stores. But now they charge for the order but don't appear to dispatch goods or answer emails. I'll be avoiding them in the future, shame as they have a great range to choose from.

No goods received. Been a customer for years. No more after this, they wont even reply to me but they have kept my money. Going to have to get my bank to do a chargeback

Completely useless. Order chilled goods, paid extortionate amount of delivery, marketed as 1-2 days. It took them 4 days to pack the goods, which were just sent normally delivery, so took a further 4 days to arrive. By the time the chilled dogs arrived they were at room temperature, so not really safe to eat. The issue is exasperated by the fact customer service just ignore you.

I've ordered from Alternative Stores a few times now and the delivery always came on time.
The time before last, I contacted them cause I needed the delivery to be made on a certain day and the customer service there were very accommodating. the response was quick and I got the delivery on the requested date. The last order was also requested to be delivered on a specific day and the delivery company notice was strange. On the day of the delivery I called the customer service to find out when should I expect the delivery. I was told that due to a system order between the store and the delivery company, it will only be deliver the following week. After I explained that I needed it today, they checked and I got the order the following day before 10am.
Mistake can happen. Depend what you do when they do. And Alternative Stores did the right thing - they aknowledged the mistake, apologised and made sure I will get it the next available option (even if it means it's Saturday morning)!
This is Customer Service !!!

I wish I'd read the reviews before I'd ordered from this company.
I paid for a next day delivery and got a notification two days later that the goods were being dispatched. However they never arrived. I called to find out that apparently DHL had left in a hurry and not picked up my parcel. They assured me they would send it for a Saturday delivery. Pre-1030. It arrived at 12:30 pm!
So disappointed because upon opening the package which was left out in the rain and soggy that they had sent me the wrong goods.
I email them and they replied on Monday saying they would refund my shipping charge which I asked for and would send me some goodies and the correct products as an apology.
It's now Friday nothing has arrived and they are not answering their phones.
AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!

I've ordered from Alternative Stores before on several occasions having received a good service.
However, last month I ordered again in good faith expecting a delivery within a week after their email that my order had been placed.
Unusually no dispatch email notification followed this up. Four emails over the following month trying to find out what went wrong were met with a bland 'we'll get in touch as soon as we can' - an automatic response.
A more cavalier or less business like response is hard to imagine.
I suppose I was lulled into a false sense of security on account of being a regular customer.
Please take great care when ordering from this company.

I asked a product question regarding the form of Vitamin B12 used in said product... The member of staff I spoke to took my email address and had my mobile number... Was promised a response within hours, and yet, days later, heard nothing....I had to contact the manufacturer several times to obtain the information I required, which I eventually did.....If Alternative were unable to provide the information I was seeking, why didn't they have the decency to let me know rather than do nothing....I also don't see a single response to the many reviews on here which speaks volumes!!.

I ordered some Sosmix and a few snacks. There was a bit of a delay due to an item being out of stock, which was sorted out promptly. Thanks very much :)