Please beware of SWINCO - avoid this company

kylataff

Avoid at all costs – a very unprofessional company

I have placed 2 orders in total with Swinco. The first order had a handful of items missing, I emailed them and received a refund, not for the right amount, but after a second email this was corrected quickly. It was dealt with appropriately and I had no qualms with using the company again – I do not tend to base my opinions on simply one transaction, mistakes happen and I am always willing to give a second chance. This was my mistake!

When my second order arrived I was quite disappointed to find that half of the items were missing – that is quite a lot to ‘misplace’ and so I emailed the owner again – Paul Swinco.
Well, he really does epitomize the term ‘unprofessional’. Basically Mr Swinco insinuated that I was either lying or could not count how many items were in my parcel. He said he had packed my parcel himself, remembered putting the items in and would check his CCTV.

I replied (very politely - despite his insinuations and general tone in the email he had sent to me) that I would be very grateful if he could check his CCTV as I knew that it would corroborate my story and he would be able to see for himself that my items were not packed - therefore quickly resolving the issue.

My email was ignored.

I emailed again asking if he had had chance to check the CCTV and thus refund me (I can only assume the ‘CCTV’ comment was false. – as this email too was ignored.

I emailed once again , requesting a refund as per Distance Selling Regulations Act 2000.

He did reply to me, although, all that was sent was a voucher reference to be redeemed at his shop.
I explained that as I had not been happy with the service received, I would not be placing any future orders and so a voucher was of no use to me. So I would just accept a refund for the items not received. (as a consumer I am in-fact entitled to a full refund of the entire order based on the Distance Selling Regulations Act ).
Now, If I email him all I receive is the same email entitling me to a voucher. He refuses to correspond or offer any refund.

To be honest the refund is for a small amount but this has now become a matter of principle.. Had Mr Swinco been polite and helpful, professional and courteous I probably wouldn’t have even bothered with requesting a refund but his complete and utter lack of respect and unprofessionalism has really annoyed me. It would appear that Mr Swinco does not comprehend the concept of customer service – my advice to potential customers – DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER this company. I highly recommend Approved Foods.co.uk – they are a very professional company indeed . I have used them dozens of times and they have always been fantastic. ( and with a much much larger choice of items than Mr Swinco’s tiny little venture)

galadrielfay

I've ordered there twice and never had a problem at all.

melbell

Two orders and two items not received claims. Your a customer Swinco can do without.

kylataff

mmmm......Melbel......could your real name be Mr Paul Swinco by any chance???
How am I a customer they could do without when it is the company that has failed to deliver the items ?- why am I the bad guy? Is it the culture now that customers are assumed to be lying, deceitful individuals and the companies beyond reproach?
I have ordered from Approved Foods dozens of times and not once has the order been incorrect, and as I stated above I put the first mistake down as "just one of those little mix ups" and was more than happy to give them another shot. But the rude insinuations (much like your own Melbel - hence my suggesting that you are either Mr Swinco or an associate) coupled with the poor customer service made me feel that I had an obligation to forewarn future customers.

Valli

kylataff wrote: »

Avoid at all costs – a very unprofessional company

I have placed 2 orders in total with Swinco. The first order had a handful of items missing, I emailed them and received a refund, not for the right amount, but after a second email this was corrected quickly. It was dealt with appropriately and I had no qualms with using the company again – I do not tend to base my opinions on simply one transaction, mistakes happen and I am always willing to give a second chance. This was my mistake!

When my second order arrived I was quite disappointed to find that half of the items were missing – that is quite a lot to ‘misplace’ and so I emailed the owner again – Paul Swinco.
Well, he really does epitomize the term ‘unprofessional’. Basically Mr Swinco insinuated that I was either lying or could not count how many items were in my parcel. He said he had packed my parcel himself, remembered putting the items in and would check his CCTV.

I replied (very politely - despite his insinuations and general tone in the email he had sent to me) that I would be very grateful if he could check his CCTV as I knew that it would corroborate my story and he would be able to see for himself that my items were not packed - therefore quickly resolving the issue.

My email was ignored.

I emailed again asking if he had had chance to check the CCTV and thus refund me (I can only assume the ‘CCTV’ comment was false. – as this email too was ignored.

I emailed once again , requesting a refund as per Distance Selling Regulations Act 2000.

He did reply to me, although, all that was sent was a voucher reference to be redeemed at his shop.
I explained that as I had not been happy with the service received, I would not be placing any future orders and so a voucher was of no use to me. So I would just accept a refund for the items not received. (as a consumer I am in-fact entitled to a full refund of the entire order based on the Distance Selling Regulations Act ).
Now, If I email him all I receive is the same email entitling me to a voucher. He refuses to correspond or offer any refund.

To be honest the refund is for a small amount but this has now become a matter of principle.. Had Mr Swinco been polite and helpful, professional and courteous I probably wouldn’t have even bothered with requesting a refund but his complete and utter lack of respect and unprofessionalism has really annoyed me. It would appear that Mr Swinco does not comprehend the concept of customer service – my advice to potential customers – DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER this company. I highly recommend Approved Foods.co.uk – they are a very professional company indeed . I have used them dozens of times and they have always been fantastic. ( and with a much much larger choice of items than Mr Swinco’s tiny little venture)

melbell wrote: »

Two orders and two items not received claims. Your a customer Swinco can do without.

kylataff wrote: »

mmmm......Melbel......could your real name be Mr Paul Swinco by any chance???
How am I a customer they could do without when it is the company that has failed to deliver the items ?- why am I the bad guy? Is it the culture now that customers are assumed to be lying, deceitful individuals and the companies beyond reproach?
I have ordered from Approved Foods dozens of times and not once has the order been incorrect, and as I stated above I put the first mistake down as "just one of those little mix ups" and was more than happy to give them another shot. But the rude insinuations (much like your own Melbel - hence my suggesting that you are either Mr Swinco or an associate) coupled with the poor customer service made me feel that I had an obligation to forewarn future customers.

And, once again, a poster accuses someone who defends a company as being an employee of the company.
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

You, OP could quite easily be a disgruntled former employee with a grudge, the owner/manager of a rival company, a former matrimonial partner of the company chairman with an axe to grind...

Who are we to know?

melbell

kylataff wrote: »

mmmm......Melbel......could your real name be Mr Paul Swinco by any chance???
How am I a customer they could do without when it is the company that has failed to deliver the items ?- why am I the bad guy? Is it the culture now that customers are assumed to be lying, deceitful individuals and the companies beyond reproach?
I have ordered from Approved Foods dozens of times and not once has the order been incorrect, and as I stated above I put the first mistake down as "just one of those little mix ups" and was more than happy to give them another shot. But the rude insinuations (much like your own Melbel - hence my suggesting that you are either Mr Swinco or an associate) coupled with the poor customer service made me feel that I had an obligation to forewarn future customers.

Sadly my name isn't that.

See it from the companies point of view. You place two orders and make two Item not received claims. You scream of scammer to the company so they don't want to deal with you hense the curt replies.

giraffe69

See it from the companies point of view. You place two orders and make two Item not received claims. You scream of scammer to the company so they don't want to deal with you hense the curt replies.

So what they should do is settle it and decline to accept future orders. If they offered a voucher then it seems they are accepting some liability for what went wrong so sorting it out by making a proper refund(for,we are told, is a small amount) would end this.

melbell

Maybe the voucher was issued as a GoGW?

But a customer who is making INR claims constantly will result in being blacklisted.

giraffe69

Maybe the voucher was issued as a GoGW?

But a customer who is making INR claims constantly will result in being blacklisted.

Sort it. Do it properly and then, if you must, blacklist. I don't see failing to deliver what is required, claiming "computer says no", declining to answer emails is much of a gesture of goodwill. Hard to define twice as "constantly" IMO.

melbell

100% of orders with items missing

The customer is in Swincos eyes constantly clamiming. If this was amazon her account would be closed and sent on her way.

She screams of scammer.

kylataff

Valli wrote: »

And, once again, a poster accuses someone who defends a company as being an employee of the company.
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

You, OP could quite easily be a disgruntled former employee with a grudge, the owner/manager of a rival company, a former matrimonial partner of the company chairman with an axe to grind...

Who are we to know?

And, once again, a poster accuses someone who leaves negative feedback of a company as being
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

a disgruntled former employee with a grudge, the owner/manager of a rival company, a former matrimonial partner of the company chairman with an axe to grind..........

my sincerest apologies, I was under the misapprehension that this was a forum to inform and protect consumers.

I had no idea that only positive feedback was allowed as obviously negative feedback must have come from a disgruntled employee, or someone with a grudge. Its a good job Martin Lewis isn't so narrow minded or we wouldn't have this site to help us now would we?

A further update.......after my original post .........and very shortly after Melbells post (coincidence??) I received an email from Mr Swinco threatening me unless I removed my post on MSE.....Buy from this company or not, its up to you - I was merely trying to inform people of my experience.