Sarah Mukherjee

I gave my husband, a whiskey experience day, which was supposed to include lunch and the tasting of 25 whiskeys, as his Christmas present. He booked with the company for today, and has just let me know that no one has turned up to the venue. We were given no advance notice that this event has presumedly been cancelled, my husband has wasted time and money getting into London, and it seems impossible to talk to anyone at Virgin to resolve the issue. They are apparently a digital only customer service department, and my WhatsApp messages have remained unanswered. Avoid.

I paid £71 for a bouquet for Mothers Day that this company promised would arrive today. Nothing delivered, and no update to tell me where the bouquet is, which will presumably be ruined after days in transit. My mother in law is very upset. Avoid.

My husband wanted to switch from Vodafone on 7th February. He went into our local store, which has a Tesco Mobile outlet, and signed up for a new phone and monthly contract. He was assured that the phone would be with him within 24 hours. He paid the first monthly instalment - £51.49 - up front. Several days later, the phone had not arrived and so he phoned Tesco
Mobile customer services to be told that the contract had been cancelled and he would not be receiving the ‘phone. He was given no explanation and was told very rudely that he has to go back into the store to start the process again. My husband naturally asked when his £51 would be returned, he was told 3-5 days. After five days, he called again and was told Tesco Mobile could find no trace of my husband’s transaction on the system and he was advised to return to to the store in question. The store staff were perplexed but also got no joy from head office as to where my husband’s money was. We are still £51 down, with no ‘phone, no contact and no sign of our money being returned. Disgraceful does not even begin to express what we feel about this - effectively theft.

To add to the long list of other complaints from other customers: I ordered my son some kit that was in stock (apparently) quoting 10 days delivery. This was on 8th December. I received an order confirmation citing 10th January. I rang them (others are right, the number on the invoice doesn't work, try 0115 9817363) to be told about these seemingly unfixable "supply issues", and that they were waiting for my goods to be embroidered (which, with a modern machine, should take about 5 minutes). If only the sales team in the company, who have persuaded so many schools and colleges to work with them, were as good at actually delivering for customers! I work with several universities and you can be sure I will be highlighting this terrible record in future.

I will be honest. I had a very bad experience with this company before Christmas, and had to complain in the strongest terms about the service. Eventually, after a lot of complaining, we received the dressing gown, and I have to say it’s lovely. Beautiful colours, well made and lovely monogram and in time for Christmas.