Swell UK Ltd Reviews 

1 item sent broken. 2 items were totally missed off my order. It took me about 5 emails over the space of a week to get them to rectify the situation.

I ordered and paid for 2 discus , with postage £220. On the day of arrival only 1 fish turned up. It looked healthy and ok. I phoned swell uk to explain only 1 fish and was told that due to Iran they could not get the other fish so they would refund me. All ok. Next day another fish arrived, not the colour I ordered and very small for the money. It was floating upside down in the bag. I quickly opened it and floated it for an hour adding my tank water. It recovered slightly so I added to my tank to give it it's best chance. Next day it was covered in fir. I removed and flushed £100 down the toilet. Very poor quality fish. Avoid at all cost. No point calling customer care as they have no idea. Live and learn.

Do not order anything from them. I ordered a pond liner. It said I will get it delivered in 3-4 days. I ordered it on a Sunday but wasn’t dispatched until Thursday. So booked a weekend off work . Won’t be delivered until Tuesday now so waist of time.

So, I’m not one for leaving reviews, let alone bad ones, however when you have horrific experiences I think it only right to let others know and as I have seen in a lot of other reviews, most complaints seem to be aimed at customer service.
This also would have been a one star review if it wasn’t for certain staff helping as much as they could.
I have a filter that is under warranty and the UV decided to fill the canister housing the bulb with water. So I rang Swell and waited for 20 minutes to speak to customer services. Eventually spoke to Luke, who was pleasant and sorted a return out for me. I then sent the UV and all of its components back to Swell, Luke informed me that it would take up to 14 days to look at to repair or replace, I asked that it was replaced with it being water ingress on to an electrical area, he said he would try.
14 days pass and so I email and ring through out the following day with no response. The next day after 30 or so minutes I got through and spoke to Luke again, who now seemed to be not bothered and said it will be sent out when it’s ready.
To cut a very long story short, this then went on for another 2 weeks! Every day I sent emails, everyday I would sit on the phone waiting for 20 to 40 minutes for someone to answer and then being told another load of rubbish. During the second two weeks they did send out the UV kit and told me it was a new kit, however I have my suspicions that it was the same kit sent out with a new bulb, because as soon as I plugged it in again, it blew the electrics and the bulb enclosure had filled with water.
So again I sent it all back and after waiting on the phone again, 2 or 3 days later I managed to speak to a supervisor called Hannah, this after 2 attempts of asking to speak to the manager and being told they would call me back, which unsurprisingly they didn’t. Hannah was very apologetic and helpful and she got me a new set sent out that day, which I knew must have been new as the set I had head only been sent back on the same day.
The new set arrived, but the cylinder housing the UV was missing, so again, sat on the phone for around 30 minutes before eventually speaking, unfortunately, to Luke again. He proceeded to “sort something out”and said I would get an email informing me that it was in its way. I received nothing, so I emailed Luke, who sent me an email stating that it will get sent when it gets sent!
The next day, nothing again, so I ring and wait on the phone for another 30 minutes or so, but when the phone is answered this time, I demand to speak to the manager, Lisa, the manager, speaks with me, informs me after I have told her how appalled I am with the customer service and with how long this was all taking, that she had been brought in 4 weeks prior to literally deal with how awful customer service is, it clearly hasn’t always been like it but now in 2026 it is awful! Lisa then proceeds straight away to get the missing part sent out and it arrives with me the next day and thankfully! The UV is back up and running.
Because of Hannah and Lisa’s service my review is 2 stars, if it had just been off how Luke’s customer service was, it would have been 1 star.
So i thank you for reading my review and sadly for Swell UK I would not recommend them to anyone, ever and I will not be using them in the future for any purchases and would advise anyone looking to buy from them, to check out all the reviews and don’t take the “31000” Feefo reviews for granted before reading the latest few and the Google reviews and the Facebook reviews etc….
Steer clear and buy from somewhere else!

Bought a 20 litre tank, after a week the tank explored and ruined my floor, they replaced the tank eventually with no compensation for damage to my floor. I've had problems with the light now, reported it to them and still waiting over a month for replacement, now they want the broken light returned before issuing new light, i would not recommend the company to my worst enemy, they don't answer the phone and it takes them weeks to respond to emails, not happy with totally useless service

AVOID
I have been a previous customer so I am extremely shocked by the way this company has treated me. I placed an order £300 heard nothing, no tracking, contacted the company after a few days to be told it would be delivered on 27/03 nothing arrived I called again to be told by their courier it was out for delivery the next day Saturday 28/03 nothing arrived again. Why lie. They have lost my custom.

Swell UK Ltd - my experience. Order Oase Vitronic 55W UV cost £189.99
1. Saturday 20th March 2026 ordered and paid via Klarna

2. Wednesday 25th March 2026 order received - item was clearly second hand, not new and had been returned to Swell UK previously by a lady residing in Blackpool. I know this was returned to Swell UK by a lady living in Blackpool because a letter she sent to Swell UK with her return and her private details were still in the box she’d returned. The bulb tube cover was completely smashed, glass was everywhere within the box. I’d be sent a second hand damaged item sold as new for £189.99!

3. Wednesday 25th March 2026 after a 35 minute wait for the phone to be answered I spoke with Swell UK customer services. They asked me to send in a photo of the box and damaged item. I did whilst they waited on the phone. They apologised, asked me to destroy the other customers details and said they’d send a replacement glass bulb cover/tube out to me by priority and I’d receive it within 24 hours/48 hours at the outside.

4. I have heard nothing since 72 hours later - Saturday 28th March 2026. I tried to ring Swell UK, theres an answer machine they are closed until Monday.

5. Meanwhile my Koi are swimming in green water because of Swell UKs incompetence and very dodgy practice.

6. Reported Swell UK to Klarna, asked for a full refund and ordered another light from another provider.

7. I am writing to the lady in Blackpool to inform her how Swell Uk has failed to comply with the Data Protection Act and has no regard with protecting customers private information.

I have today purchased the damaged parts Swell UK sent me from another provider and so far am £39 out of pocket for this. Once the parts received Monday I’ll see by combining the new part and the used system Swell UK sent me whether I have a working UV system. Due to a lack of response from Swell UK on Monday I will also be reporting this to trading standards.

Swell UK possibly in all my 70 years, the very worst company I have ever dealt with!

Reading all the other reviews and looking at my experience , I’d say most of us agree, buy from Swell UK and you’re taking a massive risk of throwing away your money. Very, very poor indeed!

Abysmal service.

E-mailed in with some queries, after trying and failing to reach customer service via telephone.

Eventually received a reply to my e-mail days later, with a condescending attitude that didn't explain anything.

I was originally given a discount code (for a separate order that was messed up), this didn't work, but was explained away as not applying to some products on site (not sale, and not indicated at all on product page).

I want to like this company, they certainly seem to lead on lowest prices, but I'll order elsewhere and save the hassle until they maybe sort out their e-commerce business model down the line.

Ordered a bulb for my bearded dragon it came broken in 3 pieces then they would send another one fast delivery still didn’t come for another week and it came today BROKEN AGAIN they don’t have fragile on the box or anything and the bubble wrap is utterly pointless being in there

Item was delivered broken with fish pellets falling out of the box. Instead of sending an immediate replacement and collecting the broken box at the same time to minimize the inconvenience , they insisted on there return first and then took there time sending out a replacement . It took nearly a month to sort out and no reduction in the original cost . Their courier company spilt pellets over my drive when collecting the broken box and swell expected me to use my parcel tape to repair their broken box. Shocking customer service , arrogant and slow to respond .

I have waited for 2 weeks for replacement parts, and I cannot get a reply from them. The service is rubbish, and the parts have still not arrived.

I ordered a fish on Thursday with delivery confirmed for Saturday. Not only did it not arrive on the promised date, but when I tried to contact customer service on Saturday, the phone lines were closed all weekend. I had no way to get updates on a live delivery and had to stay home the entire weekend just in case it turned up.
When I finally got through on Monday, the staff member I spoke to was unhelpful, dismissive, and didn’t seem to care at all. I was told the delivery could be “any day” and that they’d email the breeder, but I never heard anything back.
The delivery company eventually emailed me with a date (Wednesday), and they were the only part of this process that actually worked properly.
When the fish arrived, the box was completely soaked. The bag had burst in transit, leaving the fish in about an inch of water. It’s a miracle it was still alive. On top of that, the fish I received was not the fish I ordered. It was dull, unhealthy-looking. the fish is a male betta (correct, but wrong type and morph) — meaning I can’t even buy the correct fish now, as they would fight.
After paying a lot for the fish and delivery, the whole experience has been shocking. Poor communication, incorrect livestock, and serious welfare issues. I’m now stuck with a fish I didn’t want and didn’t order

I wouldn’t even give this company 1 star but I had to, I brought some aquarium plants on a Friday, I needed them for Saturday so I payed the extra postage to get them next day delivery ( Saturday) this was my first order from Swell, the delivery didn’t happen on the Saturday I tracked it and it said they were sorry they couldn’t deliver today, thinking this was strange as they were only 5 stops away at one point, nothing was delivered Sunday which I knew they wouldn’t as they don’t deliver Sundays, I contacted swells customer service explaining that I needed them on the Saturday thinking I would get an explanation but the email response I had from Holly was disgusting basically didn’t give a crap, sent me the original tracking number for me to track the same order, I already had this? A few emails got sent and returned and still they couldn’t be bothered with me, fair enough this was only a small order but that doesn’t matter, I had to beg them to refund me my extra postage I paid for the next day, it was £2 I managed to get that back after a lot of emails, I asked to speak to a manager as I still didn’t have my order delivered this was 3 days, I had a email off Nicole manager, who once again did not give a crap, eventually it arrived 4 days late, the plants weren’t the best and I got my £2 refund, it turned out that swell sent the parcel out on normal post Monday to Saturday that’s why it didn’t get to me, so charging me extra for a service I didn’t get, no apologies from them,what a joke of a company never would I buy again from them. One word sums them up CRAP.

Appears there phone lines are always in staff training and take weeks to respond to an email, or if at all. I returned an item 5 weeks ago and I’m still awaiting a refund. I’ve now had to raise a dispute with PayPal. Worst service.

Waiting 7 weeks on a refund which was meant to take 5 days, they now can’t find the item, two weeks to respond to an email, won’t pick up the phones. Avoid these scammers at all costs

Absolutely the worst company to buy fish products from, how this company has not been closed down or investigated is beyond a joke. We bought a tank and stand last year in May 2025, even the delivery took longer than expected and trying to get in contact with anyone is non existent, they have no urgency to reply to emails or pick the phone up. We purchased a Juwel Lido 120L tank with the stand, the tank started leaking nearly 4 weeks ago, Swell took 2 days to respond to the email, they was more concerned about pictures being sent to them, then a member of their staff Luke had the cheek to say pictures do not warrant a leak,even though I was asked to send pictures, as Swell was taking so long to reply I had to purchase another tank to save my livestock, we had to try and fix the tank ourselves as this was going on for about 4 weeks and I was getting no where with them. Even known retailers said to avoid this company like the plague, AVOID!! They are only interested in taking your money.

Shocking service!

Ordered some sand and stone for my aquarium and paid for 'Next Day Delivery' before 1pm on Friday, expecting to arrive on Saturday as shown at checkout before I purchased. Got the order confirmation, but no dispatch notice. Chased over the weekend - nothing arrived. Finally got a response on Tuesday, saying they have received the order. Asked them to cancel it as I had already shopped elsewhere and no longer needed the items. Had no reply until Thursday, when they said they had finally dispatched the order (nearly a week later). But had refunded the next-day delivery charge. I said I want to cancel the order, and I had requested this earlier this week.

Horrible company, ordered something by accident emailed within 5 mins of placing the order for it to be cancelled next day got a response saying it’s already been dispatched I can refuse or return it for a full refund, the parcels then left on the street been stolen so I cannot return or refuse it, email communication is a joke over 40 emails back and forth, had to open a PayPal case and screenshot all the communication to get a full refund, if these guys were more local I would defo bang some heads of there desks absolutely furious with this incompetent company

Would give zero if I could ordered a 4ft vivarium in November came damaged wanted to keep it and was told I would receive replacement parts I am still waiting after a string of emails and phone calls and all the.promises of parts being ordered I still have nothing and desperate to get my snake into his bigger viv but cant as glass was broken. Customer service are nice enough but just keep telling you same thing and nothing resolved its been hurrendous

Ordered 2 small tanks, both turned up with chips in, one with only a small chip but the other needs returned, been waiting now for a week to my return request but nothing, called but can never get through, no response to emails, happy to take your money but useless at customer support, wouldn't take another swell product if it was free.

Update: after sending in a separate form from the website I got contacted 10 days after I first raised the issue, the form says the online returns are faster but the broken item form was what got the job done, new tank sent out and arived in good condition.