Customer Service and Loch Fyne Whisky

Yes I know LFW have been idolised in these pages. Their customer service was second to none, delivery was brilliantly quick, and any queries were dealt with. For that reason our cabal's non SMWS purchases went through LFW if at all possible.

Last year LFW were bought out by one the bigger boys, the Whisky Shop. Article here.

Things didn't seem too bad, but a recent experience means I won't be ordering from them.

So we placed an order for four bottles, one very nice old Glen Grant, a Springbank and a couple of the Hazelburn Rundlets and Kilderkins release.
I had to email twice before getting a reply - asking if they had the R & K.

As the R & K wasn't on the website yet, I had to call through the order.
We realised pretty quick that the price we'd been charged wasn't what was advertised on the website. So I email back and pointed this out, got a reply saying sure we'll sort that out.

Yeah about that.

There were over 12 emails, 8 phone calls, and two weeks before the difference was refunded. Sure it wasn't a significant amount, but really - getting assured every time that 'yes, that'll be refunded today' - effectively a repeating lie - doesn't make it likely that I'll think happy thoughts about the company, or want to spend more money there.

So LFW are off our xmas card list, and our whisky ordering list. I think we'll add Whisky Shop onto that blanket ban too.

So who does that leave? I'm quite happy to order from the distilleries themselves, unfortunately not all of them have online ordering (Benriach, Glenglassaugh are you reading this?!) so I'm open to suggestions. I've used Royal Mile Whiskies and Whisky Exchange a few times, and aside from WEx being a little pricey I've been happy with them.
But we'd rather support a small company, so suggest away....
I'd say we'd order 4-6 bottles about 4-6 times a year, obviously slightly more at Xmas :)

B

Stupid ignorant surveys

I'm pissed off.

I have had to fill in some forms tonight. For a place in Ulster. I am seriously pissed off at the pig ignorant questions for the HR side.

These included:
Religion - where they listed a number of god-bothering twats, then had none, and other.
Now, religion is a choice. Therefore the null position is always nothing, but not 'none', anything else is the alternative hypothesis (it's kinda similar to smoking, we're all non-smokers until we start).
so I'm going to guess that the correct response is other and something else - however you define the null hypothesis.

the next question had sexual orientation, which had 'decline to answer' as an option. now surely sexual orientation is genetically determined (or at least influenced), so why does that have decline to answer - and the god *choice* doesn't?

ignorance.

and stupidity.

I may have pointed this out on the survey feedback.