Laithwaites

I was surprised to see the negative reviews, but after reading them, many are because they evidently didn't read the fine print and understand they were signing up for a club, and one actually said "It appears to be a scam" after they "read" (not ordered) about the club which seems quite unfair. My husband and I have been very pleased with the selections, and enjoy going through the box when it arrives to see what we have received - wines from all over the world! It's been fun! We've had zero issues.

After my previous review, Laithwaites had an excellent customer service representative get in touch and figure out what happened. She had to re-order the entire case, as our previous (May!) order was completely lost. Thank goodness they finally got someone to take our situation seriously and look at our order details! We received the (so far excellent) case of wine shortly after the representative assisted us. Hope Laithwaites works on training their customer service people to be as good as this one. Thir ratings would certainly improve.

I've been a constant laithwaites customer for at least 18/20 years & never been disappointed with their wines, delivery or helpful friendly staff. Recently, having heard from a friend I had recommended to Laithwaites that she had read bad reviews about them led me to this page. I have to say that during my time with them I've trialled & compared other such wine clubs but have never found any of them to even equal laithwaites let alone better them. A. D. Of Rochester Me3 8

This company is not to be be trusted. I bought a box of wine and they claim that automatically signs me up for their "wine club" where they routinely send what they think I want and charge much higher prices. This is such a dodgy scam I am surprised they haven't been shut down. The scary part is that they still have my credit card number.

We were customers of Virgin Wine Club for over 10 years. A couple years in, we upped to VIP Club. It made a difference in the quality of wines. Last year Laithwaites took over the Virgin label. My guess is that they already were the processor for some time before that. We recently cancelled Laithwaites. The wines were of less quality and they paid no attention to preferences we had registered. If our status was VIP, I feel sorry for those in the regular club, but actually I'm guessing there is no difference. Luckily, we live in a state were great wineries abound and we see no reason to stick with poor attention to our tastes.

After receiving specific delivery instructions, which specified that someone over the age of 20 would have to be home to sign for the wine, and waiting at home all day, the wine was not delivered. The next day, it was left on the porch (box on its side, no less), no signature requested. None of the bottles I received were the ones listed in the brochure. Very poor customer service!

I've been a member since the start of the pandemic. I love that the reds and whites come from different countries. I found it easier to call and order rather than do it online. Customer service is good. Shipping has always been timely even with the pandemic. There was only one wine that I really didn't like and they gave me credit for the bottle. I like the 'special offers'. Good value!

Their customer service is lacking in almost every way I can think of. I had to jump through many hoops to cancel my subscription and when I did that it caused a ripple effect of issues with an order that was supposed to be on the way to me that I already paid for. Then they said the order was on hold due to a shortage of packing materials. Not impressed with this company at all.

Am I the only person that could not make a connection on Laithwaites.com/nine? It took 8 minutes fr a really nice lady from to answer the phone. She was quite courteous, took a
while to find my selection in her system, but she is worth the wait.

I have been a LW wine club member for several years and have developed a stable of good value wines with some outstanding selections and good sales. However I have always had some difficult to navigate aspects of ordering, clubs and especially delivery issues that are at least frustrating and worsening. Forget about customer service, the service is offshore, hard to speak with and unresponsive, functioning as an answering service that rarely connects you to anyone that can resolve your issues. Their quality of their introductory offers far exceeds the wines included in the quarterly club issues. Most recently I have written 4 emails and placed a call to get the proper state sales tax calculated and corrected on 2 orders, no response in three days. They had wine shipped this weekend in WI in the face of sub-zero temperatures, it is sitting in a trailer outside three hours away for three days, so far. Their website and record keeping are cumbersome, I still receive emails titled with a wine club that I quit 2-3 years ago and that no longer exists. There seems to be a loss of direction and focus on service during the transition of leadership from the founder to his three sons. I am awaiting contact from a company representative following the multiple emails and call to customer service, I am very close to quitting altogether, leading to their loss of a $1000+/year customer.

My elderly mother, who recently passed, had an account with this wine club that she cancelled. In spite of cancelling and receiving written notice of that, this company continued to try to send her shipments and charge her credit card account. She refused the last shipment, telling FedEx to send it back. This is not what FedEx did, and now this company is trying to charge my deceased mother for this shipment. I have called their "customer service" department and when I should have heard, "So sorry for your loss, we'll clear this account." I got an inane amount of run around. BEWARE!

December 16,2023

1st. Mandatory "Holiday" case (unless you mail, log-on or phone to decline) ordered 10/29/2023...has NOT arrived.

2nd. Quarterly case ordered 11/29/2023...has not arrived.

Its time to CANCEL!

Purchased a case of Juicy Beaujolais Nouveau and was not pleased with the taste. I didn't contact the company but did write a review on their site. After a few days I noticed a full refund that I didn't ask for was issued to my credit card. Nice that they stand behind the guarantee listed on their site without my asking. I also have made many purchases in the past and the wine was outstanding.

We have used Laithwaites for many years now, certainly for two decades. In recent years our Laithwaites advisor Daniel Earl has proven to be a star. He knows our likes and dislikes, is prompt to draw attention to what is available among those but doesn't hesitate to draw our attention to grape varieties, wine regions, vineyards and countries we've not experienced. We've learned to be adventurous but clearly do not hesitate to say if we are disappointed and immediately Daniel finds a way to solve any problem and compensate if necessary. He is truthfully matchless.

5 of 6 of the wines I received are blends. When i called about this, the rep wasn't even sure which ones I got or what kinds they were.
Their policy says 100% money back guarantee - simple as that. Well, it was not simple as that. I was told I would be emailed a label to return them, which I have not received. Then I was told I have to be the one to schedule a pick up with fedex. And that I have to be home again when they come. Not simple to me. So I am now stuck with cheap wines and cannot get a refund. They send emails and call often. I asked to be removed from any lists that they have. We'll see if that actually happens. Move on. There are several other good wine delivery services.

This company charged my card for a case of wine I didn't order and didn't receive. Several weeks and several phone calls later, I am still waiting on my refund. The worst part is that Laithwaites Wines SAYS they refunded my money to my PayPal account, but PayPal says it was never received. So I'm stuck in the middle of a he-said she-said type of situation that has yet to be resolved. Laithwaites Wines has cost me a lot of time and money for nothing. I cancelled my membership after only two cases of wine.

In about 40 years of buying from Tony Laithwaite I have had maybe 2 very minor problems. With so many wines to chose from perhaps the complainers should do some "Wine home work".
Cheers,
Brian.
Sundaytimes Wine Club.

Would've given zero or half stars if that's an option.
1. Shipping without advance notification despite their claim they send an advance notice. False.
2. Poor customer service. Reversing charges wasn't done correctly so had to call multiple times to correct them.
3. Wine quality deteriorated significantly after the first shipment.

Wow; glad I checked here b4 ordering. Natgeo, stuff like this hurts your name. Although Fox News owner bought natgeo so that name is probably crap forever. First thing they did was fire the magazines entire staff!

I used to be a member of laithwaites via BA wine club. Got an introductory offer courtesy of English Heritage - supposedly 50% off. Haven't tasted the reds yet, so may turn out ok, but astonished to find a Cimarosa (lidl own brand) amongst the whites! Not too bad, but buy it in Lidl for £4 or less - what are you playing at Laithwaites?

Ordered from previously, was able to get my intro offer and cancle. This 2nd time 2 wines must have been spoiled. Sent an email and was refunded right away. From my exp. Would recommend. Just cancel in the 30 day window if you don't want the high club prices auto shipped.

Ordered a case of wine on 3rd December - money deducted 3/12. Now 18/12 - NO WINE! Tracking number states item was 'Your parcel has been picked up by one of our couriers' - that was on 11/12 - no one now knows where the wine is, when it will be delivered - if in fact it ever will! Called Laithwaites - no help! Called Aramex - don't leave a message as there's no one there - sent an email - no response!

Do beware if you deal with this very disreputable company - they will take your money & give you absolutely nothing! Pity I didn't read their poor reviews before I parted with my money!

Laithwaites & Aramex totally suit themselves - they are both useful & don't offer any customer service whatsoever!.

I thought I would try a case of twelve wines, the offer appearing to be a decent one. Twelve bottles for about £54 seemed worth a punt. I wish I hadn't bothered. Most of it was undrinkable muck and I can only assume that they wanted to get rid of some rubbish on the cheap. I cancelled my account soon after, but that didn't stop Laithwaites from bombarding me with letters, emails and even telephone calls. I have requested removal from their mailing list so many times that I've lost count, but nothing seems to deter them.