anyone know whats going on w Fortnum & Mason delivery?

[user230408924]

Every year for as long as I can remember I've placed Christmas orders (for us and for gifts to friends) from Fortnum and Mason at about this time as a special treat - close enough for stuff to get there in time for Christmas but not too long in advance so it isn't a Christmas surprise.

This year almost everything (so this is today 11 dec) is dispatch from 26 December- all the chocolate, tea, gift things - so Christmas gifting is out.
Their normal delivery period is 7 working days - which would be next Friday 20th and you can pay more for quicker named day delivery.

I get this is a niche first world problem but it just struck me as very odd and out of the ordinary that nothing is available for christmas delivery at this point.

Does anyone know why this is? They aren't in financial trouble are they? or have they got supply trouble? Seems really odd for such a normally busy time.

That's really bad!

I ordered a birthday hamper for delivery tomorrow (named day delivery I.e. their birthday) several days ago and had an order confirmation email.

But I’ve not had an email to say it’s shipped so am concerned it won’t arrive which will be so disappointing for the intended recipient.

I’ve been on hold to Fortnum & Mason for 30 minutes

that's terrrible @Lostmymojo22 . F&M used to have such gold standard customer service - which is kind of what you expect for premium products.

If you are looking for other companies for nice foodie items
Dukeshill and
Foreman & Field are both great for quality and customer service.

Of course it is which is why I won't be ordering again

Seems so sloppy for a heritage brand like F&M to damage their reputation by being incompetent with the e-commerce side of things. Focusing on great customer service in store whilst treating online customers to less than stellar service seems lazy and short sighted.

I got my email telling me my order had been shipped last night and it arrived this morning so it still might arrive

If the tin is bashed up I would complain - they know people are buying the tins for reuse so I would expect it to be in good nick. I have had success by filling in an eform before - better than WhatsApp where if you don't reply for a few minutes they cut the conversation off.

Are you telling me I could have sold all of their empty tins instead of recycling?!?!?!?!?!?!? 😂

I paid 2 weeks ago for delivery today and it has not been dispatched. Customer service cannot tell me anything.

I should know better really, last year I ordered a glass teapot and it arrived poorly packaged and broken. I sent it back for a replacement in more robust selfridges packaging and a week later the same broken teapot arrived back to me in the selfridges box!

Just coming back to say that the goods I ordered last week, have arrived today all in good Nick but one day later than advised. I hope everyone else is as lucky.

If you are looking for other companies for nice foodie items
Dukeshill and
Foreman & Field are both great for quality and customer service.

Second this. Dukeshill make F&M hams (they are quite open about it) and their customer service is excellent, easy to speak to an actual human. I've also had good experiences with Formans.

F&M do lovely things but if they keep getting supply/delivery so wrong that is less important.

The birthday was yesterday…
Still no sign of the hamper, or any email giving an indication of what is going on or when it might be shipped.
They are going away next week so the next challenge is to try to cancel the order otherwise there will be no one there to receive it.
Wish he luck getting through to customer services :/

Thank you for the tips about other hamper suppliers for next time.

Well my order arrived a day late but 2 items were missing, 1 was broken and 1 was missing its box.

Do not order online! Read trip advisor and trust pilot reviews. Their delivery service is terrible. I ordered a hamper and have had a nightmare, endless issues, wrong delivery date, no response to customer service. But Looking at the reviews I was lucky, at least mine arrived….

i paid 200 quid including extra for postage in mid November and their service was an absolute shit show. For a company to charge those prices and then miss delivery dates, send wrong items, send damaged items is not acceptable. And the online orders don’t come from the shop, they come from a warehouse. And check your facts, they have more than one shop anyway. You’re quite rude and have no idea what you’re talking about.

Just chasing up my small order. No response on whatsapp but customer service picked up within 20 mins. My order should be here but no update from F&M, fingers crossed it turns up next week.

The comments on here and the link provided are shocking. It's a frigging premium brand FFS.

Interesting when I did a search about their owners that indirectly they also are a major part-owner of Primark, a store I only ever go in as a short cut if it is needed.

I think the OP has valid concerns. If they cannot fulfil all orders, the least they could do is stop any new online ones until they can cope.

Telling that the owners seem to be venture capitalists, there are many example of such groups taking over businesses and the customer service getting much worse.

Oh dear this doesn't bode well....I placed an order on Monday and selected (and paid for) named day delivery tomorrow albeit as yet it doesn't appear to have been dispatched...

I had a text last night saying that my delivery was coming today (order placed 7 December with a promised delivery on or before 16 December). 'Wonderful, I thought'.

Just checked the delivery tracker, and only 1 of the 7 items I ordered are in it (and of course it's the one item I didn't really need, for DH who is totally chilled about Christmas, it's the other items for other family members who were only getting F&M things that are missing).

Sorry Dad, looks like you may be getting Aldi marzipans this year, not Fortnums!

Their customer service is appalling right now too. I don't think I'll be ordering from them again which is a shame, but it seems that these days, they're actually shite!

I've just received my order on the date they said I would and it's all there and in good condition and packed as I would expect from them....so maybe not entirely falling apart at the seams. It's a shame though that so many have had bad experiences this year.

Our order (we treat ourselves to a few bits and pieces, in lieu of the stockings dh and I used to do for such other) arrived on the right day, and with no problems, so hopefully everyone else’s orders are the same.

I will NEVER order from Fortnum and Mason again

It is now Christmas Eve and the order (11 items) I placed for our own family with a named delivery for Saturday 21 Dec failed to arrive, although 2 of the items arrived early on 19 Dec when no one was in to receive them.

The icing on the cake is that I cancelled this order on 13 December after the non- arrival
of a birthday hamper sent to a family member.

Having waited 25 minutes to get through to customer services twice, and a never-answered-by-an-agent live chat, (based in South Africa) I was assured by the lovely-sounding Carmelita it was all cancelled, but then the first 2 items of 11 showed up 6 days later.

They are obviously aggressively policing their Trustpilot reviews as swathes of 1 star reviews (including mine) have been taken down.

This is honestly the worst customer service I have ever received from any company.They also appear to be trying their best to bury all this rather than hold their hands up and sort out the mess.

Ah, yours was in South Africa? I think mine was somewhere in Asia. Perfectly nice lady but couldn't do anything to compensate for all the problems with my order (multiple product issues too, not just delivery) without checking with a boss for ten minutes. But at least I got a response. Never heard anything back on WhatsApp despite them pushing it.

Awful experience and I used to love this company.

Oh! dear me!