Drinks&Co UK Reviews 225

Rip off shipping costs... What else can be said.
You find they have a spirits bottle 5£ cheaper than competition, and then charge 20£ to deliver it when the others are doing it for free?
Plus they have no stock and have to source it from random providers, missing their delivery deadline all the time.

I wish I had read these reviews before I got involved with this company. It is not really a legit wine operation. They take responsibility for nothing apart from receiving your money; they don’t have anything to do with the wine, and nothing to do with the delivery. Exactly same experience as below. Order didn’t come, I spent ages trying to find it - they didn’t help when the order was lost, never replied to emails, didn’t pick up the phone. After a month of doing all the hard work to unsuccessfully track it down (!) I gave up and asked for my money back. Even though their own website promises to refund if not delivered in 30 days, they would not give me my money, blaming the sender, blaming the delivery company, etc. They even blamed online maps at one stage! Just getting to the stage of hearing their excuses has taken relentless effort and constant follow up.

Firstly they listed a wine that they couldn't source and it took them 4 days to tell me. It then took 2 weeks to process my refund, only after I relentlessly chased them. No apology apart from saying they were sorry I felt dissatisfied. My other order is already days outside its delivery window with no contact. Customer service is really poor - apparently its all the customer's fault. Nico, co-founder, simply doesn't reply to emails.

Univinum took my payment and failed to deliver the rum I ordered. They blamed the courier and refused to refund what I had paid. Don't use them.

#Uvinum [Uvinum]This company as you can see in previous reviews appear to have a reputation for substituting the wines you order. Now I can't confirm if this is true or not but i started to worry about it after ordering a box of specific red wine. When the courier arrived one week later (rather than the advertised 48hrs), I wanted to open the sealed box, which was suspiciously heavily wrapped and held no clues as to the contents. The courier wanted my signature before i opened it and i refused and told them to return it. As I suspected and later #Uvinum did confirm that if i wanted to return the wine, even if it was a substitute wine I would have to pay the carriage.
They have since offered a refund for the wine but not the courier shipping cost to deliver and return €25. I would say given all of the above AVOID Uvinum and choose a company that ship the #wine in the original bodega boxes or who guarantee to deliver what you order.
Esta compañía, tal y como podéis ver en reseñas anteriores, tiene fama de substituir los vinos pedidos. No puedo confirmar si esto es cierto o no, pero empecé a preocuparme despúes de haber ordenado una caja de un vino específico. Cuando el agente logístico llegó una semana más tarde (en lugar de las anunciadas 48 horas), quise abrir la caja sellada, que estaba sospechosamente envuelta y no mostraba ninguna pista sobre el contenido. El transportista quería mi firma antes de que yo pudiese abrirla, a lo que me negué y le dije que devolviese la caja. Más tarde, y tal y como sospechaba, Uvinum me confirma que si quisiera devolver la caja, aunque fuera porque dentro habría un #vino que ellos hubieran substituido, yo tendría que pagar los costes logísticos.
Uvinum ha procedido a reeembolsar el importe por el vino, pero no por el transporte. Diría, tras lo expuesto, que Uvinum es a EVITAR y que elijáis una compañía que envíe el vino en las cajas originales de la bodega o que garantice enviar lo que solicitáis.
Uvinum´s reply:-
Uvinum Dear Alex, I'm very sorry to hear about your bad shopping experience. I discussed your case with our customer support team to understand what had happened and here's my understanding: You received a parcel which was "suspiciously heavy wrapped". Previously, you had read bad reviews about us substituting wines and this is why you made the choice to not accept the parcel and not check your products. I don't know where you've heard about us randomly swapping wine bottles but this wouldn't make any sense, wouldn't it? After talking with our customer support, you got your money back excluding delivery costs because there was no reason to refuse the parcel yet. If you accept the parcel, open it and there's a wrong product in it, you can always send it back for free. About the bad reviews, it's like all reviews at all sites: people are always more likely to write reviews after suffering bad experiences but we are also proud of lots of great evaluations and reviews from many customers all over Europe. Please, rest assured that we're trying our best to make our clients happy and improve our service. That's why we're even more upset to reading your bad review about us - in two languages. Let's hope that this was your last bad experience with online shopping and maybe in a future, you'll give us another chance and see how easy it can really be. Until then, have a nice day and enjoy yourself! No hard feelings :)
Alex Laurent´s reply:-
Thank you for your reply and in the most part you are completely and utterly incorrect, which is no doubt why your service is so bad and will ultimately end in disaster unless you change your procedures.
1. I was not allowed to open the parcel before I signed. The courier refused to allow me to do so. Of course I wanted to establish what was inside and would have signed for it had it been the wine that was ordered.
2. So your policy of the way you box the product in plain brown boxes, heavily wrapped in cellophane immediately gives rise to suspicion.
3. Add to this the genuine reviews from clients receiving/offered substituted wines, it does not bode well. Many of the other ¨reviews´on your site are made by your own staff members, a point I am going to address in later posts.
4. The client should not be faced with a choice of:- if you want to open the box you must do so after signing and then the client is expected to arrange and pay the courier cost (both ways) €25, because of your company´s inability to operate in a fair and transparent manner.
5. Your support staff are equally as unhelpful and have asked me to accept that they deduct the courier cost for delivery and return of a parcel I never accepted. I can assure you that I will receive a FULL REFUND via my bank , who know better than to question my word, when I say that i never received the product/service I expected when I made the transaction.
6. If you are unable/unwilling to issue a full refund, then the bank will. I will see you in court rather than pay you €25
7. Two days ago on bodeboca.com (a company i have never used before) I order the same wine, and their service is faultless. I have received the wine within 48hrs via a reputable Spanish courier SEUR. Both Bodeboca and Seur have sent us emails and SMS messages throughout the entire process, keeping me informed of the status of the order and the precise delivery hour. Thereby avoiding me waiting in all day for a delivery that may or may not come.
8. Your draconian service, which would not allow us to receive any updates on the status of the order, not even by telephone when we called, Unless we register with your website. Presumably in order that you can collect more data from the customer, than is unecessary and send meaningless offers, rather than concentrate on informing the client and fulfilling your obligations.
9. Bodeboca never insisted on any such things.
10. I am going to take legal action against your company and facebook, which I note that the Spanish watchdog has already done in the case of FB
11. In you case you will NOT be surprised to know that your company illegally obtained personal data from my credit card details that lead you to be able to access via the FB advertising network my personal FB account details and then started to bombarded my FB news feed with your adverts and offering the very same ( exact same) wine brand and year, and only that wine. For the avoidance of doubt when I say illegally access, I mean that the only information used in the order of the wine on your website was my credit card. This is the only and sole piece of information that you had to then obtain my FB account. As the FB account is not in the same name, and does not use the same email as was used for the order on your website. Therefore without any doubt whatsoever, FB and you in collusion obtained my FB details without my consent by just the credit card number, a fact.
#independencefortheconsumer
Gracias por vuestra respuesta que es, en su mayor parte, completamente incorrecta, lo que sin duda muestra porqué vuestro servicio es tan pésimo y finalmente acabará en desastre a no ser que cambiéis vuestros procedimientos.
1. No me fue permitido abrir el paquete sin firmarlo antes. El mensajero rehusó permitirme el hacerlo. Por supuesto, yo quería establecer lo que había dentro y habría firmado si hubiera sido el vino que había pedido.
2. Vuestra política de embalaje, usando cajas marrones lisas, densamente envueltas en celofán, de inmediato conduce a sospechar.
3. Sumado a esto, reseñas auténticas de clientes que han recibido/sido ofrecidos vinos substitutos, no augura nada bueno. Muchas de las otras “reseñas” en vuestra web están hechas por miembros de vuestro propio personal, algo a lo que haré alusión en futuras publicaciones.
4. El cliente no tendría que enfrentarse a una situación en la que, si quiere abrir la caja, tiene que hacerlo después de haber firmado, esperándose de él que pague 25€ por los costes de mensajería (ambos trayectos) sólo porque vuestra compañía es incapaz de operar de una manera honesta y transparente.
5. Vuestro equipo de soporte es igualmente de poca ayuda y me han pedido que acepte el pago de los portes de entrega y devolución de un bulto que nunca he aceptado. Puedo aseguraros que recibiré un reembolso íntegro a través de mi banco, quien no cuestiona mi palabra cuando afirmo que nunca recibí el producto/servicio que esperaba cuando realicé la transacción.
6. Si sois incapaces o reacios a hacer un reembolso íntegro, el banco lo hará. Prefiero veros en los tribunales antes que abonaros los 25€.
7. Dos días atrás, en bodeboca.com (una compañía que no había usado nunca) pedí el mismo vino y su servicio es impecable. He recibido el vino en 48 horas a través de una compañía logística española acreditada, SEUR. Ambos Bodeboca y SEUR me han enviado emails y SMS durante todo el proceso, manteniéndome informado del estado del pedido y la hora exacta de entrega, evitándome el tener que esperar todo el día por una entrega que puede que llegue o no.
8. Vuestro draconiano servicio no nos permitió recibir ninguna actualización en el estado del pedido, ni siquiera vía telefónica cuando llamamos, a no ser que nos registráramos en vuestra página web, presuntamente para así poder recoger más datos sobre el cliente y enviarle ofertas sin sentido, en vez de concentraros en informar al cliente y satisfacer sus expectativas.
9. Bodeboca nunca insistió en tales cosas.
10. Voy a tomar acciones legales contra vuestra compañía y Facebook, cosa que el watchdog español ya ha hecho en el caso de Facebook:
11. Por vuestra parte, no creo que os sorprenda saber que vuestra compañía obtuvo de forma ilegal datos sobre mi tarjeta de crédito, lo que os llevó a poder tener acceso a través de la red de anuncios de Facebook a datos sobre mi cuenta personal y así bombardear mi sección de noticias en FB con vuestros anunci ofreciéndome única y exactamente el mismo vino, la misma marca y la misma añada.

Despite previous reviews I used this company to purchase a case of Gordon's gin. The order was handled efficiently and the product arrived in good order. The shipping case was very strong and protected the product well in transit. The carton construction was new to me and the best I have seen. I was impressed enough to buy a second case and the same standards were in force.

BEWARE ......
order placed for 6 bottles which came from there different outlets so they charge carriage from the separate outlets.
5 bottles came in one box which was split at the bottom and missing bottles which has had no resolution yet after 7 days and loads of emails.
then to top it all i returned the single bottle as the carriage was more than double the bottle purchased, to be told carriage was going to be removed from any reimbursement.
I THOUGHT I WAS BUYING GOODS FROM ONE COMPANY AND PAYING ONE LOT OF CARRIAGE.
BEFORE YOU HIT THE PAY BUTTON TAKE THE TIME TO READ THROUGH THE INVOICE.
STILL WAITING FOR A RESOLUTION TO THE MISSING BOTTLES SAGA....... 4 WEEKS 7 E MAILS AND 4 PHONE CALLS .......
CONCLUSION
the single bottle purchase cost £8.63 carriage £19.47 then i was told to send it back which i did. this is the reply.
The courier just gave us the confirmation of the 2 damaged bottles.

On the other hand, the courier of the package you've rejected charged us for the shipping back to the shop La Vinatería. The total cost of shipping, one way + return of the package you've rejected is 67.54€.

We were supposed to refund you the bottle you've rejected (9,15€) plus the 2 missing bottles of Seagram's Gin (27,38€), in total 36,53€, but we have to charge you the 67,54€ that the courier is charging us. So, as you can see, in this case we cannot refund money to you, because the issue costed us more than the amount we were supposed to reimburse. We feel really sorry about this.

Thank you for contacting Uvinum.

Best regards,
German Paccaloni | Uvinum Customer Service Team

how can a single bottle of drink cost soo much in carrage.
BAD EXPERIENCE.... DONT GET CAUGHT
PS THE BOTTLES WERNT DAMAGED IT WAS THE BOX

Slightly skeptical of this unfamiliar website but no issues whatsoever.
Ordered 3 bottles of booze.
Easy to use website with good communication throughout.
Was notified it had been shipped.
Was notified it had been delivered.
Delivered in suitable packaging and all perfectly intact.
Delivery is about £14 but booze is still cheaper than anywhere in UK so price is a major plus.
Would happily order again :)

When your order arrives with no problem then great.

However, if you have any problems you will find there is 'zero' support mechanism in place. My emails where ignored, or a response would come back after days (over 3 days). Their ticketing system couldn't be logged into either.

If you want to order with univum always use paypal , at least then your money is safe.

Any other advice is to shop around, there are companies much cheaper and friendlier available.

Happy shopping

Placed an order, but was only part delivered. Complained & eventually received a response, but only offered to refund purchase cost not delivery, although even that not received yet. In the unlikely event I was to re-order to replace the missing, I'd end up paying delivery twice.
I'll go to a reputable retailer next time, not this bunch.

Would definitely use again, bought 6 bottles of Vodka and they have arrived within a week.
i did originally questions whether this site is good or not from the reviews on here which seem to be hit and miss however i didn't have a problem.
i was a bit suspicious of whether this was a legitimate site. So i made an order with a credit card of over £100 so i could use the section 78 on my credit card if it went wrong.
if you don't trust the site just place an order for over £100 on a credit card so you covered...

The customer service is non existent. They do not answer emails. If you phone they expect you to chase up late deliveries with UPS yourself.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.
At least not unless you wish to lose your money.
I bought some rum from them back in Oct 2015. I never got it. They did not make it clear in their spiel that the rum would be coming from Spain and that it would be subjected to import duties (these details were hidden in the small print). It was seized by the Border Police who informed me that they destroy these goods automatically even if I wanted to pay the import taxes.
When I contacted Uvinum they blamed everyone but themselves. They’ve make promise after empty promise to refund my money but never once kept their word. I doubt that they are capable of honouring a single thing they say.
They also said in one of their e-mails that they “usually manage to get these goods past the Border Police without payment” which suggests that they know they are doing wrong.
Use them if you wish but don’t expect anything but lies.
PS. I have complained to my credit card company and to Trading Standards re this sham company.

Great company, excellent service, prices and customer service.

Pleased. I have ordered 4 times with Uvinum and have been impressed on each occasion. I have purchased from different suppliers covering mainly Spanish, French, and Italian wines. The ranges are comprehensive with reasonable reviews and tips. Delivery is prompt, and packaging, delivery as promised. The range of wines is more varied than the high street, with an ability to choose unusual, co-operative, and family estate wines.

Am, and will continue to be a customer.

Placed an order for £500 alcohol.
Only to receive a letter from hm revenue saying no tax was paid and the package will get seized and to contact the seller to get money back.

After 6 weeks of constantly calling uvinum, today they've told me it's tuff! There's nothing they can do.
I have lost £500.
Awful company.
DO NOT ORDER FROM UVINUM!

Paid my money and never received the goods.They advertise as Europe`s biggest wine shop.They say trust our service.When customs seizes the good and won`t even let the duty be paid as it is distance selling and the company is responsible they say we are only a middle man.We are not responsible.Read the small print.

I paid for spirits for my sons engagement worth over £150. Order not received, I then get a letter from HM Customs to tell me no duty was paid therefore my entire order is to confiscated and destroyed.
Sent emails to Uvinum and tried posting questions on their website under help. No response.
Stay well clear of this scam.

Ordered some American Rye at a very good price and it arrived 4 working days later. Very pleased.

Three experiences with Uvinum so far.

Two deliveries: good to excellent value and delivery within three days.

One order cancelled (by me). Cancellation agreed without a murmur, and refund made within three days.