AU Vodka review: One of the worst customer service experiences

One of the worst customer service experiences I’ve had in years.

I placed an order with AU Vodka well in advance of Christmas specifically for use as Christmas gifts. Only part of the order arrived, and the remainder did not arrive in time for Christmas at all. As a result, family members did not receive their intended gifts on Christmas Day and I was forced to give cash gifts instead, incurring additional and completely avoidable expense.

What made this significantly worse was how AU Vodka handled the situation. In the days leading up to Christmas, my emails were met with generic, policy-driven responses that showed no empathy or understanding of the fact that their failure was actively spoiling Christmas. There was no attempt to meaningfully resolve the issue while there was still time to do so.

After Christmas, the remaining items were cancelled by AU Vodka without my agreement. A refund was issued only for the items that were not delivered, and the only “compensation” offered was a £10 discount code that requires placing another order. This was offered repeatedly despite being declined, which felt dismissive rather than apologetic.

At no point was any genuine goodwill shown. A reasonable retailer might have refunded the items that were delivered as a gesture of goodwill to recognise the stress, disruption, and financial impact caused before Christmas. AU Vodka chose not to do this.

I have been a customer of AU Vodka for a long time and expected far better from the brand. Instead, this was a complete failure in delivery, service recovery, and empathy. This is genuinely among the poorest customer service experiences I’ve encountered, and it has completely put me off using AU Vodka again.

If you are ordering for a time-critical occasion such as Christmas, be aware that AU Vodka may fail to deliver — and when they do, they show little concern for the impact on their customers.

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