Fortnum and Mason

I just went to Fortnum and Mason and had a horrible experience when coming home with a coconut to find (upon opening it) that it was completely rotten and fuming with horrendous gases. This is not my first bad experience with this posh 'palace of luxury'. I recently went here with my east coast aunt for tea, oh gee... the scones were dry (Starbucks are better), and the sandwiches were greasy and disgusting. Overpriced, bad service and possibly lethal products.

This place is great and the quality of the items on sale is splendid. One the best top 10 places in London.

Nice shop but avoid afternoon tea here. I went with a small group of friends for a Christmas treat and it was diabolical to try and book (the phone kept ringing and the only way I managed to book was to eventually email customer services), we were kept waiting for over 20 minutes and what was eventually brought to us was microscopic and very poor value for the price.

Good products, decent environment, especially above the food floors (but even there space and layout seems to have improved after refurb).

But... service generally poor. Dear Fortnums, stop hiring hordes of 16-year-old YTS kids from the local secondary school, and start employing decent staff trained in customer service skills. That goes for the shop and for the restaurants.

I think it's the best store in town. It's the only place I treat myself to lunch when I'm in town. Far superior to Harrods. Staff always smart and friendly. Love the new refit.

Brilliant in every way. Fabulous foods - try the 'Hot & Sour Olives', they're amazing! The chocolates are divine. Staff are great and friendly too. I love this place!

Very, very poor delivery and customer service. Champagne ordered for birthday gift and has been delivered to wrong person at wrong address and we are still searching for it 10 days later. No apologies made and no goodwill gestures.

Overpriced and no proper service like there used to be. Overall, greatly disappointed.

A quintessentially ENGLISH store, a feast for both the eyes and tastebuds. The shop windows and interior visual merchandising are excellent. The service is excellent too. Staff dress as they should, either in morning coats or, in the case of the managers, suits with a carnation in the lapel. Why can't more stores be like this?!!

Fortnum and Mason is a totally overrated department store. In my experience, it's merely a fancy supermarket with overpriced food that, to be quite honest, you could buy from Waitrose for half the price. Disappointing.

Fantastic store, best staff, and most professional managers, especially in the Food Hall. Far superior to Harrods Food Hall which, by the way, is apparently run by an ex-Sainsbury's manager! Highly recommended.

On my recent visit I was most sad to see that the windows were no longer what they used to be. They have lost all imagination and magical appeal that they once had. I was also sad to see how stark the new interiors looked. What's more, trying to find some assistance in the Food Hall was almost impossible. A great shame!

The best perfume department in London- especially the Clive Christian counter. The rest of the store is awful though.

The best carrot cake ever (after extensive research!)

The best place to buy the best smoked salmon (Scottish, of course!) in the world. Also Fortnum & Mason's own Turkish Delights in a wood box (GBP 25).

They will tell you which week they are going to deliver... best stay indoors for the whole week then and wait for them. More rubbish than British Gas!

I'm a gourmand so Fortnum & Mason is where you'll find me when I'm not at La Fromagerie... Buy the Halen Mon smoked salt... now!

It is a beautiful store, with very helpful staff. Their windows are always nice and the interior is also very nice!

Nowhere near as good or as big as Harrods or Harvey Nicks foodhalls.

Try getting through on the phone - impossible.

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