The Whisky Exchange

[Deactivated Member]

Hello all,

Several weeks back I made an order to the Whisky Exchange. The delivery address is 45 miles from London, so I did not expect any problems. As to today I haven't received the goods, and am left wondering what is going on, since the store hasn't replied to my emails either, and I can see that the bottlings have since disappeared from their sites' listings. ?

This is my first experience with this company, so I am compelled to ask if anyone else has had any experiences with them, positive or negative?

It does surprise me a tad that I am not receiving any response. Next week as I will have the time, I will pick up the phone..

[corbuso]

Hi MRJ,

I made a few orders in the past with the Whisky Exchange (TWE) and I never had any problems.
I might be that they had a problem with their e-mail systems. Don't hesitate to call them if needed.

Corbuso

[bamber]

Ring them. I've bought *a lot* form them over the years and they've only been late on one order (a few days). Other than that they've been flawless.

[richard]

i have never had a problem with sukkinder i have dealt with him many times over 15 years never had a problem

richard

[TreacleSponge]

I've bought from the Whisky Exchange several times - they've been very reliable and and delivery has always been on time. I expect when you get chance to telephone them it will be quickly resolved.

[TheLaddie]

Hi. I too have only had positive experiences with the exchange. Hopefully this is just an isolated thing and I'm sure they will endeavour to sort it for you.

[adogranonthepitch]

no issues with The Whisky Exchange. Great firm.

[dram_time]

Me too, only good dealings, there was once a wait for bottles to be delivered to them, but a quick email and it was all sorted out.

Phone them at your first chance, i am sure that there is a perfectly good reason for your wait.

great company.

Dt.

[Bullie]

I can only relate to most of the above written. No problems whatsoever. Fast replies on emails and fast deliveries. I have only good things to say about TWE.

[Deactivated Member]

Dear all,

I am a bit puzzled - am I just very unlucky, or what is taking place here?

After having to enquire twice separately regarding what on earth had happened to my order, I received an email from someone called Jean Francois Dehe. He made a very vague reference to an email supposedly sent to me more than two days after my order was processed, and stated that they do not have the goods I ordered, and may get them sometime, if I am still interested.

Heavens! First of all, this implies to me that these dear gents were selling goods they were NOT in possession of!

After all, I received an order confirmation, and actually nothing else afterwards (so not even the whatever email that was supposedly dispatched to me more than two days after my order was made). Hmm. This is not good business conduct, if you ask me.

Secondly, had I not started to chase them about, I would have not heard anything further apart from the credit card billing.

I really wish to clear this matter in earnest with the company, but Mr. Dehe did not even copy the claimed email to his communication so that I could have seen what was written.

But I am astonished - if internet is a significant source of orders, then how is it possible they sell goods they seem not to have - and even confirm the orders? Similarly, if a problem did exist, why I received nothing from them (even supposing that the first communication WAS sent despite of me not receiving it, how come it took them three days to react?).

I do write this with true concern to alarm fellow whisky enthusiasts: Any company that sells goods they actually do not have, are not in my humble opinion conducting their business very admirably. I shall keep you posted as to what takes place with this issue.

[kildalton]

I never had troubles with them but this time I'm still awaiting a bottle.
I ordered it and I was able to track it through the delivery system.
When I saw it was "delivered" I immediately contacted TWE telling I never got the parcel.
I soon got a reply from the same guy and he told me the would investigate,then I got another mail telling the parcel was found and it was to be redelivered, but still i've not got it.
I wrote again but I'm stiil awaiting a reply.

Anyway I don't think TWE to be a bad shop, maybe in my case there's a postal trouble.
Only I hope the contact me again or I'll have to write them another time.

I'll keep You informed

[Lawrence]

Have you tried telephoning them???????????? This might remove out any communication problems.

[Di Blasi]

I too only have great things to say about The Whisky Exchange! My first order a few years back had a bit of confusion, perhaps cause it was coming to Norway, (aaarrrrgh, never again!!) Also, they shipped the tin and bottle seperately due to the 2kg weight charge limit or something, and I wasn't aware of this, so of course the bottle arrived second. But the delay with the bottle was with the Health and Social Office of Norway, who conveniently had to keep if awhile to examine it. Other orders I've placed with them have arrived to their UK destination within a day or two! I'll continue ordering from them.

[Deactivated Member]

I've never dealt with TWE, but for some reason I have the impression that they do some brokering, meaning they will offer stuff for sale that they don't have on hand but know they can get. This is not as dodgy a practice as it might seem. Try buying a used book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble--same idea.

[Deactivated Member]

Lawrence, I will certainly telephone them once I've the time and I don't have to call from the other end of the world (trying to save a little on roaming fees).

The point, however, remains that as a company that deals through the internet, I would expect that business and enquiries can be conducted via email efficiently as well. By same logic why resort to a phone when one can just pop in the shop and handle any issues..

It is reassuring to see they've got a satisfied clientele world wide. Perhaps then they shall also deal with my questions with good conduct.

If as Mr TH suggests they do broker goods, I do think this should be clearly indicated on their website as per products that are not in stock - or they might be kind enough to at least speedily respond to a customer and explain the situation. Neither is true. There is no indication of this on their website, nor did I ever receive anything except a confirmation of my order. Tut tut..

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I too have had orders through TWE and have never had any issues from them and had quick deliveries to Ireland.

Firstly in relation to your confirmation email. This is an automatically generated email confirming your request and is standard from a lot of online businesses, all this is, is a confirmation of what you ordered with a nice line saying that tey will dispatch as soon as possible.

Secondly as they deal in a massivly wide range of products they can only keep low volumes of stock. So it is not inconceivable that they would be out of stock and the site not updated. I did have one bottle that was out of stock and was given the choice of waiting or proceeding with the rest of the order. I chose to wait and the entire order was dispatched within the time frame I was qouted (which by the way was only 4 days extra). The bottle was immediately removed from the site and is to this day but they obviously tracked down another bottle and shipped it to me.

It does sound like miscommunication on their behalf and as said previously a phone call or another mail.

Try to remain calm and I would imagine if you have been billed they either have the stock or it has been dispatched (so your covered by insurance at this stage) They never bill unless they are dispatching. As I said there was a 4 day delay on my order but I was not billed until that day.

I would be very surprised if they shirk their responsibilities but keep us informed.

[Deactivated Member]

M.R.J., you haven't said you were charged, have you? Piecing this together from what you and others have said, it looks like this to me:

1. You placed an order.

2. You received confirmation--i.e. "order received".

3. Within three days, they sent you word that the bottle you ordered was out of stock. However, this email never got to you. It happens. Do you have spam filters, and a spam folder? Sometimes communications from businesses end up there by accident. Probably too late to dredge it up now.

4. After some time, quite naturally alarmed, you contacted them again.

5. They responded, repeating once again that the bottle was out of stock, and asking if you still wanted them to find one for you.

Does this sound about right? What did you tell them at that point? If this is how it happened, then the whole problem was simply one lost email. An unfortunate happenstance, to be sure, but nothing untoward. Given the testimony of others about TWE, I'd say you should give them the benefit of the doubt. They may yet be unable to find what you wanted, but that doesn't mean they are disreputable. Online catalogs often have out-of-date info, and it's possible it was only out-of-date by hours--someone may have beat you to it by that much.

In all the comments here from TWE customers, there isn't one complaint. If there was anyone here who thought they were in any way dodgy, you'd have heard about it by now.

[Deactivated Member]

And another thought--most online businesses would simply tell you they no longer have the goods, and you are out of luck. These people seem willing to go out of their way to find what you want. It's hard to fault them for that.

[Deactivated Member]

Hello all,

There's a rather interesting twist to this tale, it would seem, and one that intertwines with the 'wisdom' of the UK's legislation.

The problems have apparently stemmed from the UK duty stamp scheme. There are delays in releasing stock from the bonded warehouses. The stock exists but has not gone through stamping, so the company has a backlog.

I must say I am relieved for finally having received a logical explanation, as well as an apology for delayed communications.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Hello all,

There's a rather interesting twist to this tale, it would seem, and one that intertwines with the 'wisdom' of the UK's legislation.

The problems have apparently stemmed from the UK duty stamp scheme. There are delays in releasing stock from the bonded warehouses. The stock exists but has not gone through stamping, so the company has a backlog.

I must say I am relieved for finally having received a logical explanation, as well as an apology for delayed communications.

That is great to hear.... I suppose you are one of many in this situation and with all the inquiries they might of missed you. No excuse but at least they are talking to you now.

[kildalton]

This is just to confirm that TWE is a great shop.
They sent me another bottle, unfortunately the first one was bad delivered to a different location due the awful italian mailing service.
They also sent me a miniature pack as a gift!
Very very professional, they had not responsability for the fact but still apologized.
Great attention towards the customer and really a great shop!

[The Dazzler]

These new laws with the duty stamps certainly have caused many problems. Since the 1st of October every bottle released to the UK market must be stamped with an official stamp which declares that duty has been paid on that bottle. Many distillers have had a major backlog due to this. Diageo being possibly the worst hit, (due to range of stocks). Every bottle which was already bottled and labeled and waiting in storage had to be sent back through the labeling plants to have these stamps added. Also with Christmas coming up, the Whisky Industries bumper time for sales I imagine the likes of Diageo want to make sure all their major brands have been stamped, ie Bells, Johnny Walker and Classic Malts leaving certain, lesser brands at the end of the line.

Slainte

[dram_time]

These new laws with the duty stamps certainly have caused many problems. Since the 1st of October every bottle released to the UK market must be stamped with an official stamp which declares that duty has been paid on that bottle. Many distillers have had a major backlog due to this. Diageo being possibly the worst hit, (due to range of stocks). Every bottle which was already bottled and labeled and waiting in storage had to be sent back through the labeling plants to have these stamps added. Also with Christmas coming up, the Whisky Industries bumper time for sales I imagine the likes of Diageo want to make sure all their major brands have been stamped, ie Bells, Johnny Walker and Classic Malts leaving certain, lesser brands at the end of the line.

Slainte

But it's not like they didn't know it was going to happen, So why the delay?? Most of the bottles I have bought lately still do not have stamps on, Infact only one had the new stamp, Black Bottle, seems to have had a disign change aswell.

But back to the original post, placed and recieved an order with 'TWE' all in five days. Not bad.

Dt.

[crun]

I tried using this company for the first time last month. On November 27th I placed an on-line order. On the 4th December I had not heard or received anything so I e-mailed. I had a reply saying one of the items was out of stock and would I like an alternative. I subsequently e-mailed them every two days asking what the delivery timescale would be - I had no reply. I then tried telephoning on four separate days , and the phone just rang out ,. no one replied. I then tried faxing , all to no avail. I have now sent them an e-mail and a fax expessing my dissapointment with the way I have been ignored and have told them to cancel the order. I shall obviously never consider using this company again.

[Di Blasi]

Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience crun! I've had good experiences in the 3 or 4 times I've dealt with them. I have always placed my orders by phone, gotten through no problem. Not to make excuses for them, but perhaps they are super busy with the holiday season and having difficulty keeping up with everything? Also, they have an excellent stock and selection, along with excellent competitive prices. Good luck if you decide to try again. And welcome to the forum!!

[les taylor]

My experience with TWE was last month I ordered 2 bottles on the wednesday afternoon. Friday morning they were here as promised. Sorry to hear about the bad experiences.

[vitara7]

ive used the whiskyexchange on numerous occations, and always recived the bottles i ordered within a couple of days.

[r900p]

Crun, do try again, as DiBlasi says its holidays, i know emails arn't answered straight away, but phoning always works. If it has rung out everytime you have phoned them, it could be something so simply as having the wrong number,its 02086069388, if you want to check. As them not having bottles in, well this time of year its really busy and they arn't going to have time to change the web page everytime they sell a bottle.

Keep trying, even if you get through very close to xmas, packages that i have recieved always arrive the day after i place the order, providing i ordered before 12. If you really against these guys, don't forget Royal Mile Whiskies also in London, Vintage House (on the web but all orders i think are dealt with by Soho whiskies), Soho whiskies. Vintage House you must however ring. You'll find contact details for these i'm sure in the whiskymad directory.

Good luck.

[martin grant]

I have never yet dealt with The Whisky Exchange, but speaking as someone who is fairly new to collecting whisky I am sure it is only time before I do. I have to say I have heard only good things about them in the past. I have heard rumours that TWE have recently moved their warehousing operations. Surely this would cause a number of logistical nightmares. Marry this with the delays from suppliers due to the change in UK duty stamping legislation and you could have an explanation for the delay in delivery. I'm sure I would be fairly confident as and when I end up buying from them. Hopefully your bottle has arrived safe and sound by now.

[Deactivated Member]

As I started the discussion regarding the whisky exchange, I wanted now to set the record straight: Just before Christmas, I finally received the products ordered, all well and so forth.

It took a few months, and I do feel the communication from the Whisky Exchange could have been more bril, but nevertheless I got what I wanted, so I am not knocking them down for this matter. Admittedly I was very puzzled for a while - and concerned.

All's well that ends well.

[les taylor]

Well done M.R.J glad it turned out well for you, and thanks for keeping us up to date with the outcome. It was probably for some reason a bad experience that probably would not be repeated again.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

As I started the discussion regarding the whisky exchange, I wanted now to set the record straight: Just before Christmas, I finally received the products ordered, all well and so forth.

It took a few months, and I do feel the communication from the Whisky Exchange could have been more bril, but nevertheless I got what I wanted, so I am not knocking them down for this matter. Admittedly I was very puzzled for a while - and concerned.

All's well that ends well.

However even I would be a bit annoyed at a delay of a couple of months from the Guys at Whisky Ex as it seems quite excessive from their norm. Seems like you may have been very unlucky in this case. Did you get any sweetner to compensate like a bottle of Glen Yuckie at 4.99 a bottle

[Di Blasi]

Yes, thanks for the update M.R.J. Glad to hear you've received your order finally, and hopefully their communication skills improve.

[Deactivated Member]

No extras in it.

As to my reference to the communications, I would have been far more understanding if I was immediately told what is the reasons behind them not being able to fullfill my order, since at that time they were advertising the goods on their website. Instead first response was several weeks of no communications, then a vague message stating 'don't have the goods, wanna change your order' and finally after much unnecessary emailing, an explanation that goods were stuck due to the stamping scheme.

Still, as I said, I am not upset with them since I got what they wanted, and they were able to deliver what they advertised. Well done!