Penhaligon's Reviews

Being a long standing customer, and having received daily messages about the summer sale and various promotions available to me, I was keen to buy some products that I use. This year the sale was online only. Having placed my order (2 bottles of fragrance and a complimentary gift for spending over £180) and payment confirmed, I received an error code - “a product in the cart is not purchasable”. Reached out to customer service. 2 days later they asked me to try a different browser, and then a different device, and then to clear cache….same issue. Finally, after another 2 days they wrote to say “Thank you for your contacting us and for your interest in Penhaligon's. We sorry but it is out of stock. Do not hesitate to contact us if you need further help.”

I reached out to ask if someone could help or whether they would honour the sale (I didn’t mind waiting for the products to be available). They would not do this and it transpired the problem was not about availability as the identical products were offered to me at the non sale price.

Shocking customer service for any retailer let alone one that promotes itself at the luxury end. I shall be taking my custom elsewhere.

First online shopping experience with the company. Missing items from delivery. Experienced very poor customer service when I rang and tried to explain what happened. Still waiting for this to be acknowledged never mind dealt with. Such a shame as I had high expectations of the company.

Placed an order on 30th June
PEN GB 23269245 and it is now 15th of July and has still not been processed!
Contacted them on numerous occasions by phone, email & chat regarding this:
1st I was told because they are extremely busy, 2nd time because an item is out of stock and then told yesterday it’s down to a technical issue and should be shipped in the next couple of days, I’ll believe it when I see it! Then to my disbelief I placed an order this morning PEN GB 23607324 because I’d won a free Blenheim bouquet fragrance and it was cancelled! contacted them and was told they couldn’t verify my card details and to use PayPal or klarna! Why should I ? This is a load of rubbish because I then contacted my bank who informed me they had approved the transaction on my card which I already knew because I can see the pending transaction on my app but penhalighon’s had reversed it! absolute joke tbh and put me right off ordering in the future, and been proper let down on getting gifts in time, I don’t think they like giving away the free items maybe? Such a shame because I really love their products but something seriously wrong with their online ordering.

Like a few others reviewing here I placed an order on 30th June and can see the payment in my device's transaction history.

I emailed 6th July to ask for an update and was advised it had been dispatched and would be with me by 9th July.

I emailed again to ask for a dispatch note on 10th July as it never arrived and I couldn't even track it on the website as I kept getting an 'order not found' error code.

I didn't receive a response and followed up on the 12th July.

Still having heard nothing by the 14th July, I sent another enquiry through the website contact form and received an email pretty quickly saying that my order had never been processed due to a technical error and that they were placing it on hold until I confirmed if I wanted to cancel or not. They could not provide any insight on when my order would be dispatched, if I did want to keep it. This confused me as I can see the items I had are still in stock to buy... I asked for the order to be cancelled as I have no faith in the items arriving and requested written confirmation that any refunds have been processed. I've not received anything yet.

I understand technical issues occur but this shows the email update I received on 6th July was absolutely untrue... it had never been dispatched.

I wish they had told me earlier (i.e., on any one of my three earlier emails) that there was a technical fault so that I didn't waste time trying to chase an order that was clearly never going to arrive. Really, really disappointing service from a 'luxury' perfumer... and surprised the company were happy to just leave me hanging for over two weeks regarding the status of my order, as I doubt they would have provided any update if I hadn't emailed!

Update 20th July: I never received a cancellation confirmation email as advised, the payment has not been refunded, and the items unexpectedly arrived today.

Very annoyed shop assistants in the Covent Garden store. There are quite a few similar reviews in Google and that’s absolutely true. We were there with other customers and were treated differently. Staffs were annoyed and unhelpful when we asked for assistance, but when it comes with locals they certainly approach very differently. Please be respectful to all customers.

I have been waiting two weeks for an order. Contacted the customer service team to ask for the expected delivery date to be told my order is on hold as an item was out of stock. I was asked if I would like the other parts of my order sent in the meantime, I promptly confirmed I would. The following day no update or reply to my email, tried the online chat service where once again the advisor stopped replying. Found the number to call but they can’t promise they can split the order or escalate my delivery…the in stock items have still not been dispatched. This is my first order with the company but the customer service will stop me ordering again

13/07 Sent the details they asked for on this review early yesterday morning. Still no progress. No reply to my last three emails to the customer service team. Appalling

14/07 Hi, I called your Customer service team this morning and true to their word they called me back confirming the same. They advised I will receive my order tomorrow however it has been several hours since this call and I still haven’t received an email with tracking details to confirm this.

15/07 - I have received an order today, but instead of the three A Lady’s Scented Charms Gift Sets I ordered I have received three Empressa EDP 5ml. To top it all off the item I was told was out of stock and holding everything up was actually in the delivery today!

I had the pleasure of being treated by my mum to a scent profile experience in Jarrolds Norwich. What a wonderful experience We both had. We were looked after by Lianne, she was very knowledgeable and introduced me to cousin Mathew and I’m now completely converted from my usual orange blossom. I have been to a few penhaligons stores in London as they are closer to me and never had such warm and friendly service. She was extremely short staffed, and still managed to give us a 5 star service. We came for a mother and daughter treat, and we were hugely treated. Thank you Lianne.

The online service is appalling. I've been waiting for a delivery for almost two weeks, have been in touch to chase it several times, have been promised responses that never come, only to discover today the order was never received in the warehouse.
It's a really simple purchase, paid £5.50 for delivery on June 30, and I'm still none the wiser if I will actually receive what I paid for. You shouldn't take peoples money for products and services you cannot provide. Quite disgusting.

GB22846263 + GB22610528
I returned both of these parcels in June, I had to send an email & upload the proof of posting receipts.
I have had no correspondence from Penhaligon’s, to say they had been returned. I phoned customer service & Bernard, assured me, he would call me to let me know if the parcels had arrived, but he didn’t!!
I phoned again the following day, to be told the parcels had arrived back in the warehouse, but they don’t let customers know for 10 working days!
I was then told I will have to wait a further 10 working days until I receive my £395 refund.
I’m still waiting for any sort of communication from Penhaligon’s….
I definitely won’t be using this company online again if they treat their customers with such contempt.
To have to wait 4 weeks for a refund is unacceptable,
Unfortunately I am disabled so I have to do a lot of online shopping, sometimes I do have to send items back but I have never had to wait 4 weeks for a refund from any other companies, some are far bigger than Penhaligon’s!!

Apparently another technical issue as to why I haven’t had my refund, it would seem this is a common occurrence judging by the replies to other reviews on this site.
Considering how many bad reviews there are on here, you would think Penhaligon’s would have sorted out the technical issues they keep having, or is it just another lame excuse?
Their reviews are pretty disgraceful, obviously they’re all too arrogant to be embarrassed & the chief executive, quite clearly doesn’t read the lousy reviews.
I wait with bated breath for my refund.
I will update when I receive it.

It seems from reading these reviews there are two Penhaligons.

Amazing service in store and horrible nightmares with the postal service.

I've been a customer for about 12 years and bought both.

Buying in store is an absolute delight. You have time to find the right fragrance for you or as a gift (though its best wearing it on the skin as it will smell differently on every person.)

I've been to the Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brighton, Chester and London stores. Each one is different and worth going to. Harrods has a private room upstairs and the Islington store is fun for bargain hunting after season.

The fragrances are amazing and I try to have a different one for every holiday or to give or receive one at a birthday etc.

Come into a store and spend a while trying different things on your skin.

This is the worse fragrance trader.
They have refused to refund me eventhought they have received all items in their warehouse. They have a man in their 0800. Jmber who barely speak and understands English. Their is no one to speak to apart from him. He said its up to accountsbfo refund me. I had to go to PayPal a d stay on computer for 30mins to make a claim.
Pathetic!!

The assistant is very helpful for me!

Appalling customer service. Flew business class with Singapore Air. As part of the gift pack they included a card for Pengaligons to collect a gift from in store. My friend and I travelled to the store and were told that none of the shops in Singapore received the gift. Clearly just a ploy to drive customers to their store. I contacted customer service who have twice told me they have sent me a gift in the mail which never arrived and now they’re ignoring me. I would never spend money here if they can’t honour their promises.

Wonderful flagship shop on Regent Street but supercillious young man who offered no service worthy of the name. Returned to Fortnum and Mason's to buy the perfume from them. There the service and expertise are second to none. It reflects on the leadership just as much as on the staff.

Always wanted a bottle of penhaligon when I finely purchased a bottle of constance was so excited then disappointment overtook it smelt amazing for 60 minutes won't be wasting another 200÷pound 30 mins after leaving this review Kayleigth from customer service got in touch and did everything possible to help me amazing customer service