Outstanding customer service. A present sent to my daughter went missing when left on her doorstep. Hotel C responded promptly to my concerns and sent out a replacement. I have given only 4 stars beca... See more
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Hotel Chocolat is a British chocolatier and a unique type of chocolate company that connects luxury chocolate making and retailing with cocoa growing – it is one of the world’s few chocolate makers to actually grow its own cocoa.
Contact info
Mint House, SG8 5HL, Royston, United Kingdom
- 03444 93 23 23
- help@hotelchocolat.com
- hotelchocolat.com
Replied to 20% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 24 hours
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Outstanding Customer Service
My Velvetiser (Mk1) suddenly stopped working a few weeks back. As it was a Christmas gift almost 2 years ago, I had no proof of purchase or packaging. Within a couple of hours of me emailing Hotel Chocolat's Customer Service Team, I had a brand new Velvetiser (Mk2) waiting for me to collect at my local store, in the colour/finish of my choice. Then, when I went to collect the new product, I was treated as if it was an entirely new purchase, given the item with the accompanying glass and cup and complimentary drink selection box in a new tote bag. I was so impressed by how Hotel Chocolate took responsibility, communicated clearly, and put no barriers in the way of me receiving excellent service.
Seriously? Lots of small plastic pouches for drinking chocolate flakes?
You have taken away the big drinking chocolate flake pouches and replaced them with tens of smaller portion pouches. I thought they were made of paper. But no. They’re each made of tough (impossible to rip) plastic. How does that make any sense? Here we are as costumers trying our best to recycle stuff and and you make this decision? It’s not even about the cost of the chocolate per gram. It’s about to idiocy of this decision in a world where more sustainability is required.
Chocolates not edible and terrible customer service
Bought a box of chocolates when we gave them as a present they were shortdated and the chocolates had gone white bloome .sent the photograph to customer services and explaied the problem. The chocolates cost us £18 and they said they would give us a £10 gift voucher only because one chocolate had been eaten terrible customer service from this size company.
The Hotel Chocolat online
The Hotel Chocolat online ordering service is very poor and I don’t recommend using it. The whole process is clunky and user unfriendly.
My order was a gift so it needed to go to a different address. Despite adding and choosing that address in the ordering process my order is set for delivery to me, which has caused great problems. Customer service, whilst polite and as helpful as they could be, could only put a stop on the delivery so it was returned to them, rather than redirecting it, and process a refund. which I’m now expecting. I was advised to then reorder online, which I won’t do as based on this experience I will get the same result. There was no opportunity to review the order - to check the delivery address - before finalising it.
I’ve used other companies to send similar items as gifts without any problems and HC’s process should be just as simple, but isn’t.
Superb customer support
I made a mistake in my order and got the delivery sent to the wearing address. HotelChocolat resent (upgraded to next day delivery) for free as a courtesy as it was an advent calendar that would be late.
Thank you Nishima!
Advent calendar is the biggest con. 96g chocolate for £13.95
The most ridiculous, stingy portioned, advent calendar. Each window has a treat weighing 4g, not 5.2 as stated on the back, I was that shocked. I actually got my digital weighing scales out and weighed the can’t believe I paid £13.95 for it. Don’t waste your money. I’ve got a good mind to take it back.. in fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. What an absolute con. Each chocolate is 4g, not 5.2, 58 per 4g, 15p per gram! ,
Awful customer service
Ordered advent calendars for my son and his girlfriend. Amazon left the parcel on the doorstep in full view of the main road. No surprise it was stolen. Customer service were awful. Not offering a refund or replacement just repeatedly asking the same questions until I lost the will to live and obtained a refund via PayPal. Their chocolates may be amazing but their customer service and delivery are very poor.
Advent calendars not delivered
I ordered two advent calendars. I have received no tracking or delivery information. I was referred to the Shop app. After downloading the app and entering my order details, it just said my order had been placed. Sent the company an email and received an auto-response- we will get back to you as soon as possible. It’s December 1.
Hotel Chocolate store Peterborough
We popped into Hotel Chocolate store peterborough to have an up close look at the new Velvetiser. We currently have the older version and have loved it. We were approached by Becky who we have to say was both friendly, fun and knowledgeable. Becky gave a wonderful demonstration of the new Velvetiser and made us a flavour of our choice. We were very impressed that the new model gave us a hot steaming drink and thus cutting out our need to boil the kettle and heat our cups as with the older model. Love the fact we can also make cold chocolate drinks. Might be nice with some baileys over the festive period. We purchased the new model and I am happy to say it has outweighed the older version. The new creamer whisk brings my drink to a perfect creamy frothiness which is great as I only have skinny milk, which can result in a thinner consistency. Well done Hotel Chocolate and Thankyou to Becky. What a superstar and lovely girl.
Great customer service by Ryan at…
Great customer service by Ryan at Nottingham Neatherfield. Went out of his way to make sure we enjoyed our experience
Customer service was amazing
Customer service was amazing. He was very accommodating to the intolerances of myself and my mother. He was thorough and asked us to confirm before purchasing the chosen drinks. Would highly recommend. Made my birthday super special, thank you!
Great customer service
Great customer service - i purchased the velvetiser in July 2025 and unfortunately it stopped working so i contacted customer service and they agreed to replace it with a brand new one as it was under warranty - no quibbles and responded with the hour.
I love the variety of the hot chocolate and it does taste luxury!
Lovely products
Lovely products. Lovely as a after meal sweet treat. The only problem is that I can’t stop at one.
Cancelled my order after telling me
Cancelled my order after telling me
It was being sent
Awful service
Hotel Chocolat are knowingly selling sub-standard Chocolates
I have been buying Hotel Chocolat products for many years with the certainty that this is a quality product. However, my recent experience has completely changed my mind.
A week ago I bought a box of chocolates as a birthday present. When opened it we found that at least 25% of the contents had grey/whitish bloom. Today I took the box back to the shop to either swap it or obtain a refund.
I was unable to swap the box because all the alternatives on the shelf I was presented with all had the same bloom and indeed the alternatives from the stock room also had bloom.
I was told by the manager that this was a known problem, not just at this shop, but at a number of other shops and that it was a manufacturing problem they have not been able to sort out.
Apparently they will offer these bloomed products on discount but they are obviously not doing this upfront.
I choose to have a refund instead and my interaction with the staff was professional and cordial.
However, I do not think it is acceptable for retailers to knowingly sell sub-standard food items, especially as the product is being sold as a “quality” product and at a premium price. Most customers at the moment are buying these products as Christmas gifts – who wants to open and eat “mouldy-looking” chocolates on Christmas Day.
Fab customer service
We went to Hotel Chocolat in Cribbs Causeway on Friday evening to exchange an item bought in error, not food. The shop was fairly busy and a young lady was dealing with a very large return for a customer. She stayed calm and polite and did everything exactly as you would have wanted. The customer herself was very pleasant and it was great to watch someone so young with such confidence deal with her. She then went on to sort out and solve our error without any fuss or bother. I worked in customer service for many years and young people like that don’t come along to often so I asked her her name, Lily, so l could write something to say what a credit to your company she is.
Terrible customer s
We bought some chocolates a large box of seriously dark, plus tipsy chocolates from Cambridge John Lewis. When we opened them they were white, powdery and spoiled. We tried a few and agreed they were not right. We do not live near Cambridge. I messaged Hotel Chocolate direct, sent photos of the chocolates and fact the date on box was 2 weeks away. They agreed that the chocolates were spoiled and have sent a £15 voucher. I have argued that they cost £25.50 but they said as we tried a few they will not give us a voucher for the full amount. This is utterly ridiculous. Moreso as I am a VIP member and they can see I have spent hundreds of pounds with them, even buying the advent this year.
This customer service is so bad, I will take it up further.
Charging delivery for email gift card
Just went onto the Hotel Chocolate web site to purchase an email gift card. Surprise surprise I did not complete the purchase as they wanted to charge £3.95 for delivery. Bloody cheek!!
Very Bad Amazon delivery!
Supposed have been delivered to an address on Friday, yet tracking showed it was undeliverable! Recipient has a doorcam, and was in all day, video showed NO delivery attempt was made.
On contacting customer service, I spoke to a lovely lady called Aurora, who was exceptionally helpful, and a replacement was sent with next day delivery, so I can't fault there customer service! The products are indeed quality, but they loose 2 stars for using amazon as delivery, which is terrible, although the replacement was sent by Royal mail.
It's a massive shame that a premium chocolate retailer is using amazon for most deliveries, as it let's them down. I'd rather purchase in store in future, and won't be buying on line again.
Sending marketing text messages at 9am on Saturday
Whenever I want to send some chocolates to someone, Hotel Chocolat comes to my mind first. But they sent me a text message on my number at 9am on Saturday! How stupid and annoying is that? Will never buy anything from them again. And will never recommend it to anyone. I'll tell my friends and family about their stupid and aggressive marketing tactic!
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