Harrods

I loved my visit to this department store which was quite different than Ameridcan department stores.

I ordered a hamper mid November to send to Korea as a thank you gift for the hospitality shown to us by our friends in Seoul. I chose Harrods for its excellent world class reputation. What a huge mistake. Whilst ordering, the website told me on 2 occasions that the order had not gone through and to try again. When I checked my emails the order had in fact gone through and I was charged 3 times. This was resolved quickly, fortunately. By the start of December my fiends told me that the hamper had not arrived. I made some enquiries of my own to find that the hamper had been returned to Harrods from Seoul. Harrods had not contacted me to let me know there was a problem. I emailed but only received the automated reply. I rang Customer Services and after a long wait listening to the same Christmas carol, I got through to someone, who apologised profusely and promised that the parcel would be sent again by express and that the hamper would arrive by Christmas and that I would receive an email confirming this. I was delighted and again I told my friends that they would be receiving their hamper after all. This joy was short lived. I received no confirmation and again sent an email to find out what had happened. I was told that I could either wait for the hamper to get back to Harrods......nobody knew where it was 5 weeks after the original order....or I could have my money back. I couldn't have a new hamper as they were now out of stock! I explained to Customer Services that I now had the embarrassing task of explaining to our Korean friends that this great British Company, well respected throughout the world, are in fact completely useless. Their attitude stinks and this whole nightmare is a very poor reflection on the company and on Great Britain.

We ordered quite a few kitchen items from the store which took around six weeks to reach us - I did find this rather unnaceptable.

This is the 2nd time when it happens. First time was last year, just about the same time. But I thought I shouldn't write any reviews as everybody has the right to have a bad day. Right?

But this year has been worse. After adding all the items into the basket, and trying to make the payment, something went wrong. The only message I've got is that payment has failed. First I thought there's a problem with the card, so I have checked with the bank. Everything was fine with it. So I gave another go, and another, but still no luck. The most frustrating thing is when you add all the items to your basket, including individual messages for each, and after the payment fails, even the items disappear from the basket. And it happened not only once. I'm persistent, so I have tried many times, and failed each time.

By the end of the day I have decided to call them. After dictating the messages to the person who was handling my issue (took me about 30) minutes, we have tried to made the payment. But again, same issue. They have told me it's an issue with the server and they will have to transfer me to a different department in order to make the payment. Calmly I have accepted. But as soon as I've been transferred to a different department, they have told me that this is not the right department to make online purchases, so they put me on hold. And the same happened with the next and the next, for about 10 minutes, until I hung up.

I'm not sure why am I insisting making the order from them anymore after this issues. I might as well go to Selfridges or somewhere else. I'm just curious to know, is this something only happening to me or is an issue happening to others as well?

I shouldn't forget to mention that I have been contacted by Customer Service to resolve the issue. They were nice and cooperative and very keen to help fix the problem. But even after spending couple of hours on the phone, the issue hasn't been fixed.

This is a good lesson for me for next year!

The item I ordered was excellent... but it was delayed delivery by more than a week with no explanation at all. Not good when you are waiting on it for a birthday gift!

I think next time I would prefer to go to the actual store. Its so pretty inside and much more fun than buying online anyway :)

Ordered some truffles on a Monday thinking they would be delivered by Friday. 1st class in the world of harrods is at least a week.

Now at I have received them I can see that they weren't even packed until Friday.

Following a chasing email on thursday and several over the weekend, Harrods customer service is at best average

Not worth the extra.

I had to order a present last minute before travelling - the customer service i received was brilliant - the staff were great at scheduling a call back to arrange the order and even scheduled the delivery to suit me and when i'd be able to receive it. I'd happily order again for the promt and high level of customer service i received.

I would advise I ordered 5 items on the online site, which allowed me to search, select and of course pay for. I also paid for next day delivery. Nothing came. I then received notification 48 hours later that each of the 5 items I purchased could not be fulfilled. What? Then why take my money? Why let me waste one and a half hours shopping on the site? What a shockingly bad service. WARN OTHERS.

Gutted as Christmas decoration department used to be second to none, has drastically gone down hill in terms of choice, quality and uniqueness! Has always been priced in the upper realms but is no longer justifiable on any level. Won't be making a special 4 hour round trip next year. Very disappointed! Only redeeming feature is quality of service and knowledge of the staff

The store itself is impressive, but we had a voucher for afternoon tea for 2 people. It was a gift from Buyagift.com, which are usually very good. We travelled for many hours and at great expense to be largely ignored and very disappointed. the tearooms are very grand with a pleasant ambience however there were many people queueing to come in and no one to greet and seat them, many of the tables were left uncleared, so people could not sit down. Some people were seated at dirty tables and had them stripped in front of them, including the cloth! no one attended to us voluntarily after initially bringing the very mediocre sandwiches and small cakes. when I requested help with the tea, the waitress poured orange pekoe into my half cup of earl grey, when she finally brought me a new cup she spilt it all over the table. The day did not in anyway feel like a treat, I have had better service in roadside cafes, and I was so very glad we did not bring my elderly mother in law, as she would have been so so disappointed. Afternoon tea costs £29.00 per person