This is the third time we’ve used Fortnum for Christmas corporate gifting, it’ll be the last.

Despite laboriously filling out a clunky Excel order form with item reference numbers, quantities, addresses and specific delivery dates, Fortnum simply didn’t fulfil the order as planned.

Early deliveries spoilt surprises for others, late deliveries left others wondering if they’d been left out. Perishables, such as scotch eggs and pork pies were delivered with one or two days of their shelf life left, rendering them useless.


Our previous orders had been mediocre to poor, but this year was totally unacceptable. The Concierge process does not make things easier; you never get through to the same representative and no one seems to work in the same building. Most are working from home with the only means of reaching a manager being email or Teams. This means that resolutions to issues either never arrive or arrive very slowly.

Overall, our Christmas gifting experience has been made harder by virtue of Fortnum’s inefficiencies and inability to deliver on orders. We haven’t lodged a complaint about our experience, the prospect of enduring more sluggish, bureaucratic correspondence would almost certainly add to our woes. Instead, we’ll go elsewhere next year and hope that this review prevents others from suffering the same festive fate as us… humbug