Union Hand-Roasted Coffee Reviews 58

Useless - ordered coffee and it still hadn’t been roasted 3 days later..let alone despatched so over a week to deliver coffee. This was my first order and will be my last.

I've been purchasing coffee from Union semi-regularly for 2 / 3 years now. I've had a number of very tasty coffees over the years from Union, but recently there seem to be some quality issues with the roast. In the past few months, I've had a number of coffees from Union which have tasted outright bad. I bought a bag of Bobolink beans which seemed to have a number of underdeveloped beans and completely ruined the taste of the cup. Just yesterday I bought a bag of Maraba beans (usually one of my favourites) and many of the beans look partly burned / scorched which has again, made the coffee brewed from this bag taste significantly more bitter and unpleasant than I expect from Union's Maraba.

I'm not sure if I'm just getting terribly unlucky, but I have encountered a sufficient number of problems recently to persuade me that I should stick with other roasters for now.

This is my third order with Union. Products have been excellent and delivery was fast.

I received a selection of Union's coffees as a gift for Christmas 2023. Unfortunately, the grind was not a match for my espresso machine and the results were poor. A single email to Union and I had a replacement order delivered in no time at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the coffee and was super impressed by the customer service...and I wasn't even the customer!!!

Amazing customer service from Tom and lovely coffee as well.

False information sent regarding a shipment, failed to reply to email and had to make 4 calls to eventually speak with them.
Admitted that my order hadn't been processed despite email confirmation that it was on its way.
Quite deceitful really, they've lost a customer.

The coffee was ok while it lasted, the last couple of months reveals that their systems are terrible though.

What's the point of having features like 'skip next order' and 'inactivate subscription' if their systems process your order regardless. 8 weeks or so ago I pressed I wanted to skip the next order on my sub, so was surprised when I got the usual email saying it was 'in the system'. A sharp email to them led to it being stopped.
So following that I inactivated the subscription (seems there's no way to cancel it). Guess what, this morning I got the email saying my new order is in the system.

They're like an ex who won't take the hint. It's over guys, I just don't trust you anymore. And before you fob me off with excuses about your system making an error... it's your system ****ing up your CX - sort it, it's not a valid excuse!

A decent subscription service. Website lets you quickly change grind type and delivery date. I like the little info card for each coffee so you read about its origin and so on.

I've had a coffee subscription for a year or so, I have whole means - always very fresh. We have recently had a few bags of El Topacio Washed Bourbon which is absolutely beautiful, can't get over how well this coffee comes out at home.

I've been using these guys for a while now and really like their coffee. However they screwed up on the last order and sent me the wrong coffee.
I sent a brief email to them on Saturday, on Monday at 11 am I had a response. The right coffee was on its way (it arrived Wednesday). The whole thing was sorted, it cost me nothing except writing the original email. Completely stress free.
Mistakes happen, and responding well to a problem can win you friends and loyalty. This time there is nothing that they could have done better, so they get 5 stars.

Buggy website meant i couldn't redeem my gift voucher via mobile. Tried doing it through the website and it's asking for my bank details to lock me into an ongoing subscription which I don't want, but I can't use my voucher unless I do!?

Shouldn't be this hard to order coffee.

Zero customer service. Tried the subscription service but coffee never turned up when expected. More recently, I wasn’t given a despatch date for over a week. No response from customer services. Eventually a standard ‘it’s Royal Mail’s fault’ even though they’d not even sent it out yet! Surprised to see so many other negative reviews on here but I fear they accurately reflect the experience I had. Cancelled my subscription and now moving elsewhere.

I have no issues with the product, but Union should cancel their contract with the DPD delivery partner.

DPD provides atrocious service in South West London, packages are always delayed and even when they are supposed to be delivered, the driver is never even bothered to ring the doorbell - just marks "missed you, see you 2 days later at the local pick up shop".

I honestly don't understand how DPD is still in business, given that the whole purpose of the company is to devlier goods, which they consitently fail to do.

Avoid DPD delivery at all costs.

I'd recommend to avoid making large orders that qualify for DPD delivery at the Union online store as well. You can contact their customer support and ask for a different delivery option (the person I spoke with was very nice and understanding), but I'm not sure if that's something you'd want to do every single time.

In the end, it's a frustrating experience - reasonably good product, but awful delivery arrangements.
There's definitely room for improvement here.

Order was not despatched for longer than advertised, despite paying for express delivery. Then, after refund was issued I get an email over a week later, telling me DPD will deliver my order tomorrow. What a mess.

The BEST coffee beans I've had by far!!!! Life changing discovery! I can't drink anything else now it tastes and smells stale in comparison. These are fresh even in supermarkets but even fresher if you order online directly and cheaper if u buy by the kilo u save money. Ethically and responsibly sourced recycleble packaging, you know the farmer isn't being ripped off by some bigger company in-between, whose roasted it and when. You will not regret buying this coffee. I highly recommend the gajah mountain sumatra. The smell when you open them is exquisite, even the sound of the bean grinding compared to a Starbucks or Costa bean us so different,you can not only taste and smell but hear the quality, which make for a wonderfully multi sensory coffee drinking experience. Thank you to the founders Steve and Tim, u have truly made my days stuck at home and coffee drinking more enjoyable

Worst coffee I've ever tasted!!! Bought three different bags/flavours and all three were undrinkable and disgusting. Pricey and certainly not worth it. I'll be sticking with my Tesco Finest Sumatra coffee grounds - it's a fraction of the price and tastes rich and delicious. Contacted Union Coffee about this matter and they never responded. Customer service is non-existent. Fortunately got my money back through PayPal. Would not recommend Union Coffee - bad products and non-existent customer service!!! Appalling.

Ordered a four pack bundle of wholebean, and received cafetiere grind. Not ideal, but contacted the company via email, and received a response the same day from Tom: a thorough friendly response and they resent the four pack as wholebeans without quibble. So good customer response there. Can't comment on the coffees as I'm just on the start of my coffee exploration, but would recommend anyone to start here with their bundle too.

The coffee is great, the choice of DPD to deliver or not deliver the orders isn't so good given they fail to deliver then expect you to go to a drop location. If I had wanted to walk to a shop for my coffee I wouldn't have ordered it online.

I have bought coffee from this company for some years now and I can really tell the difference in taste profile and quality when I have coffee out and about! The ethical stance of the company appeals to me, and I really enjoy trying new beans which smell and taste amazing! I have even bought coffee as gifts for foodie friend and families and have got a big thumbs up from them too!

Having supplied the coffee shop for over since 2012 - I have had no rep for the past three years, don’t help out with any customer service, if you’re short on coffee you have to pay some outrageous fee, The quality of the decaf went downhill which is what eventually made me switch.