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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Considering 220 reviews, reviewers had a great experience with this company. Customers consistently praise the excellent quality of the products, particularly the beef and lamb, noting their delicious taste and lean content. Many appreciate the efficient delivery service, with orders arriving on time, well-packaged, and still frozen. The customer service team is frequently highlighted for being friendly, efficient, and quick to resolve any issues. However, some customers have experienced issues with delivery, including delays, missing items, or defrosted products upon arrival. A few people also mentioned dissatisfaction with the quality of certain cuts, citing excessive fat or gristle, and some noted a decrease in the availability of specific products like free-range pork and poultry.

What people talk about most

Product

Users describe ambiguous interactions with product. Many customers praise the excellent quality of the meat,... See more

Quality

Consumers find quality to be ambiguous. Many reviewers praise the excellent quality of the meat, describing... See more

Delivery service

Customers consistently note ambiguous experiences with delivery service. While some reviewers praise timely... See more

Order

Reviewers highlight ambiguous aspects of order. Many customers report issues like missing items, unannounced... See more

Customer service

People report ambiguous experiences with customer service. Many customers express dissatisfaction, citing... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Been using DR for years. Good quality food at great prices if you make the most of offers etc. Never had any issues that have not been easily & quickly resolved by their friendly& efficient customer s... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I buy beef and lamb products from Donald Russell and they are excellent and good value. It's unfortunate, however, that they have ceased to offer free-range pork and poultry products, so I have to go... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I ordered meat regularly from D R before covid and wouldnt have gone anywhere else. Top quality, choice, price, delivery. This is my 3rd order since these days and i find some of the prices rathe... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Last minute decision to order the Beef Wellington for Christmas day. Ordered on Tuesday with discount as new Customer, delivered today (Thursday) exactly as promised. Well packaged, frozen with dry ic... See more


Company details

  1. Food, Beverages & Tobacco

Written by the company

Based in Aberdeenshire, a region renowned for its high quality produce, Donald Russell is an award-winning fine food specialist and supplier to some of the world’s top restaurants. Enjoyed by customers all over the UK, their passion for great-tasting food has earned them the status of Royal Warrant holder for almost 50 years and 34 Great Taste awards, as judged by discerning Food Critics. Their extensive range includes grass-fed British beef and lamb, locally landed seafood, fully prepared meals and much more.


Contact info

3.8

Great

TrustScore 4 out of 5

3K reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
2-star
1-star

Replied to 46% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 week

How this company uses Trustpilot

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

very unpleasant experience , avoid

ordered duck , pork , venison and beef filet. i arranged delivery for a specific day and it arrived 4 days later ( which meant it had been in transit for 5-6 days ). This sadly meant the meat was defrosted , definitely not chilled and oozing with blood. i did not feel comfortable cooking this for myself or guests as i could not be certain when it had defrosted and how much bacteria there was. The real fun is when you try and get a response from Donald Russell , you will wait days and if you are lucky they will respond , in my case ive had to open a chargeback with my bank to attempt to get a refund

December 5, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Disappointed with delivery and the customerservice follow up

Long standing customer of donald russell but over the last four orders every one has had an issue. The courier they use don't help or follow any instructions resulting in orders being delivered late, and the product has thawed, delays in delivery despite having a specific date outlined to replacing a missing order. Customer follow is below average if you can get through on the phone lines. An indication of the issues they are having. And take an age to respond to emails. The product is good but cant afford the time dealing with the repeated errors. Unlikely to use them again.

December 5, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Christmas 2025 nightmare

I ordered a whole slow cooked shin of beef with all the trimmings for Christmas. The order came, but the shin of beef was missing. I emailed but got no response so I phoned instead. I was informed that when I ordered the beef was out of stock, but they still charged me the full amount of the order and never contacted or emailed me to tell me that the centerpiece was out of stock leaving me with little time to sort something out for Christmas Day. I haven't been partially refunded yet and didn't recieve an apology for their mistake. It's extremely disappointing because I've used this company for years.

December 9, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Birthday surprise spoilt

On 9 November I arranged a birthday gift of £100 of their meats for delivery on Friday 14 November. Order accepted. No suggestion this would not be possible.
The recipient waited in all day with several messages from FedEx confirming delivery by the end of the day. It was eventually delivered on Saturday morning around 11 am after a message stating it would be Monday. Frozen food!!!
DR obviously let down by their delivery agents BUT a written and posted letter of complaint to DR remains unanswered after two weeks. Poor poor poor.

November 25, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Two Tough, Tasteless and dry Entrecôte steaks

Two entrecôte Sirloin steaks ordered. One was cooked rare, it was dry, tough and tasteless and most of it consigned to the bin. The other was cooked and eaten the next evening, same result. The most tasteless item on the plate was the comment.
Interestingly, the back of the pack contains the information code GB 1110 which appears to be the individual number code for Lidl. If this indicates that the steak was produced and prepared for Lidl, how are DR selling it as their own? The BBD for the first steak was Sept 2027 which seems very long, longer than any frozen meat product that I have purchased before. A photo of the pack has been kept. DR have been asked three times to comment on the low quality of the product and the apparent Lidl connection. No answer on the latter point or the BBD. They did finally offer some haddock and chips to compensate but I have unsubscribed and will not buy from them again. Trust has been destroyed.

November 22, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Appears there is a serious problem with…

Appears there is a serious problem with recent delivery because like others I was meant to have a delivery last Thursday which did not turn up. I was emailed to say it would be here on Saturday and nothing! I have tried calling and emailed but cannot get through. I am hoping my delivery will arrive this week but who knows.... Products are amazing but customer service /experience would get a zero star review if that was an option. Please do yourself a favour DO NOT ORDER YOUR CHRISTMAS FOOD FROM HERE! You may find your digging around the cupboard for a tin of corned beef if you put your faith in these guys!

November 27, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi Martin. Please accept my apologies for the disappointment caused. We are experiencing a high volume of calls and emails which means it is taking us longer than normal to respond to everyone. If we have not yet responded please do send us another message or call us on 01467 629666 and one of our advisor will be able to help you. Kind Regards Vicky

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Unable to contact Donald Russell due to…

Unable to contact Donald Russell due to opening hours
I waited over 15mins to speak with someone from Customer services and all I received was an limp apology with no answers as to when my order would be delivered
Four days on and still no information
The food will be ruined
Donald Russell is far from what it used to be years ago
I have requested a refund and have sent Two emails requesting this .
I wonder if this gets on your web site

November 30, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi Sandra. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience and disappointment caused. This is certainly not the level of service we expect to provide our customers with. I can see we have refunded your order in full and if we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to get back in touch, kind regards Vicky

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Changed delivery date - Impossible to contact

Ordered weeks ago. On set delivery date, I got an email late in the afternoon to say it wasn't sent out & would be there next day.

No check that I'd be available the next day & was really inconvenient to stay in a 2nd day. Delivered box was very dirty & damaged and had been sent out for delivery previous day , not how you'd expect a food delivery to arrive.
Still waiting on a reply to my message

November 21, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi DeDee. I am sorry to hear that your order was late and damaged. If we have not yet resolved this with you please do send us another message or call us on 01467 629666 so we can get that resolved for you, kind regards Vicky

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Delivery

I have used Donald Russell countless times and there is no denying the quality of the food is excellent. However it is with regret that I will never use this company again as I placed an order that never arrived. To be fair Donald Russell stated they sent a replacement which again never arrived. Now this may be the delivery companies fault (FedEx) however what is the point in using a company that can not manage to deliver your goods. 2 days wasted waiting at home for a delivery that never arrives. Very poor Donald Russell.

November 28, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi LW. I am sorry to hear of the issues with your deliveries. If we have not resolved this with you please do get back in touch with us and we will put this right for you, kind regards Vicky

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great customer service

I have been buying for year and never had any problem, with the meat arriving well frosted in coolbox with supercold dry ice. The last order sadly arrived 1 day late and came defrosted, as the result Donald Russell refunded me the order.

I always say that you start judging a supplier when something goes wrong, and Donald Russell handled this situation very well, meaning that I will continue to regularly ordering their high quality meat, including some fantastic "cotes de boeuf" and confit ducks.

November 29, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi Eric. I am sorry to hear that your order arrived defrosted. If you have not already been in touch with us please do and we will get that sorted for you, kind regards Vicky

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Very unhappy ex customer

I purchased a slow cooked lamb shoulder which turned out to be mostly fat, and as we had guests it was awful and embarrassing.
As I had ordered one for Christmas delivery as well I called with a view to cancelling the item and replacing the lamb with something else as I had other items on the order. The agent said that the order had already been packaged for delivery, this was the 24th November, and the order would need to be cancelled. It was not due for delivery until the 23rd December! I agreed to this and I would place another order as soon as I received a refund.
Despite 2 phone calls and 2 emails the order is still showing on the Donald Russel website, I have not received an email confirming the cancellation of the order and worst of all no £140 refund.
Over the years I have been a good customer but no more. If this is how they choose to treat their customers I will buy meat from another source. Perhaps if they do not read their emails they will read this and ensure that my Christmas order is cancelled and refund me as soon as possible.

November 24, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi Emma. Please accept my apologies for the delay, this is not the level of service our customers have come to expect from us. I can see the refund has been done for you but if you have any further queries please do get back in touch, kind regards Vicky

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Five stars for produce, one star for delivery


As always, happy with quality of produce from Donald Russell. However, on this occasion, we were extremely unhappy with the idiot from FedEx who "delivered" it. We received an email from FedEx saying it had been delivered (purportedly with a photo, which was not attached to the email). We contacted both FedEx and Donald Russell at that time, but to date (seven days after delivery) have heard nothing from either of them. After investigation, we discovered it was wrongly delivered to our elderly neighbours who had opened the box, despite our name clearly marked on the label 😡. It should also be noted that two of the contents (a box of parsnips and a box of roast potatoes) were open, so either (1) FedEx had been throwing the box around before delivering to the wrong house, or (2) our neighbours had opened them as well. We will never know, but either way it added to the overall situation.

November 21, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi Linda. I am sorry to hear of the issues you had with your delivery. If you have still had no reply from us please do send it again so we can get that rectified with you, kind regards Vicky

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

No contact

Placed an order that was supposed to be delivered last Friday. No delivery, filled in contact form, emailed - no response. Been trying to call all week - held for ages then it said try later and cut off. Now can’t even hold it says try later. Have used FB messenger - just cannot get response. Yet still getting marketing emails! Completely frustrated

November 27, 2025
Unprompted review
Donald Russell logo

Reply from Donald Russell

Hi Bev. I can see we have resolved this with you now. If you have any further queries please do get back in touch, kind regards Vicky

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