Alternative Stores is an independent, family-run vegan superstore dedicated to providing a diverse selection of free-from and plant-based products. The company focuses on sourcing high-quality food items, lifestyle products, and wellness solutions tailored for the vegan community. Their extensive inventory includes prominent brands as well as niche and emerging products, catering to both individual consumers and professional kitchens. Customers can shop online at AlternativeStores.com or visit their physical location at Royal Quays. The store is designed for vegans and those seeking plant-based alternatives, offering items such as vegan cheeses, snacks, and beauty products. With new products added weekly and options for express delivery, Alternative Stores aims to meet the evolving needs of its customer base, which values quality and variety in vegan offerings.
Alternative Stores receives mixed feedback from customers, with a notable divide in experiences. Many reviewers praise the quick delivery and excellent service, highlighting the promptness of orders and the quality of products, particularly the vegan selections.
Positive comments reflect satisfaction with the professionalism of staff and the overall shopping experience, with several customers expressing their intent to return. However, a significant number of reviews detail serious issues, including poor customer service, damaged deliveries, and unresponsive communication. Complaints about spoiled food and allergen mislabeling further tarnish the company's reputation. While some consumers enjoy a seamless experience, others face frustrating delays and inadequate support. Overall, the sentiment leans towards disappointment due to the inconsistency in service quality.
Summary generated with AI from recent reviews
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
| Source | Rating | Reviews | Weight | 6-mo | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trustpilot Imported Trustpilot reviews | 3.7 | 35 | 100% | ● Low |
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Jul 2025.
| Month | Average | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 24 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Dec 24 | — | 0 |
| Jan 25 | 5.0 | 1 |
| Feb 25 | — | 0 |
| Mar 25 | 5.0 | 1 |
| Apr 25 | — | 0 |
| May 25 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Jun 25 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Jul 25 | 1.0 | 4 |
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 35 most recent reviews.
“Free delivery and cheaper than other websites that add delivery charges on top of that”
“Terrible customer service”
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Grocery Stores.
| Company | Overall | Legit | Service | Delivery | Quality | Trend | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 3.7 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 3.8 out of 5 (good) | 4.1 out of 5 (good) | 3.5 out of 5 (good) | — | 35 |
| 4.6 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.2 out of 5 (good) | 3.1 out of 5 (fair) | 3.9 out of 5 (good) | — | 1,000 | |
| 4.4 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 4.4 out of 5 (good) | 4.4 out of 5 (good) | — | 100 | |
| 2.0 out of 5 (poor) | 100 out of 100 | 1.8 out of 5 (poor) | 1.4 out of 5 (poor) | 1.8 out of 5 (poor) | −5% | 72 | |
| 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.9 out of 5 (good) | — | — | — | 51 |
Bottom line: Alternative Stores is #4 of 5 on overall rating in this group. On service, Copenhagen Coffee Dealers scores higher (4.9 vs 3.8).
35 reviews of Alternative Stores. Filter by what matters to you.
Over a year ago
Terrible customer service. I've had the same experience as the other reviews that had spoiled food delivered. My parcel was damaged and all the frozen food defrosted and squashed. AlternativeStores of... See more
Over a year ago
Scammers stole my cash! Order spoiled as damaged in delivery on 16/07/2025. No replies to emails or calls since. Today is 22/07/2025. Order number 110356. I will consider upgrading to 3 stars if you r... See more
Over a year ago
Baring in mind this is a website designed to providing alternative foods for dairy and gluten. I came across a product that had wheat in the ingredients but not bolded which is not highlighting this a... See more
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Polarized pattern: few middle ratings. 69% of recent reviews are 4–5★ and 31% are 1–2★.
Terrible customer service. I've had the same experience as the other reviews that had spoiled food delivered. My parcel was damaged and all the frozen food defrosted and squashed. AlternativeStores offered me store credit as a refund but failed to give me the credit. They're now ignoring my emails and calls. It's been over 6 weeks now. Avoid this company!
Scammers stole my cash! Order spoiled as damaged in delivery on 16/07/2025. No replies to emails or calls since. Today is 22/07/2025. Order number 110356. I will consider upgrading to 3 stars if you refund me asap.
My order did not arrive. It was sent by DHL Commerce, and their tracker still shows it's due 'the next working day'. It's been saying that for three months. I have emailed Alternative Stores multiple times, but haven't received a single reply. Taking an order and not delivering seems like simple theft to me. What a disappointment from a supposedly ethical company.
Baring in mind this is a website designed to providing alternative foods for dairy and gluten. I came across a product that had wheat in the ingredients but not bolded which is not highlighting this as an allergn. I got in touch with customer service to advise them and ask them to rectify this so someone doesn’t buy this in error without seeing wheat as a bolded ingredients. Sadly I got an appalling email back to say they most likely wouldn’t be able to look into this and highlight the gluten in the product because they have too many SKU’s I’m utterly disappointed that this company doesn’t think it has the time to highlight a known allergen which is part of the main 14 recognised in the UK and is a legal requirement. Absolutely appalling and disgusting response in my opinion for a company setup as an alternative website.
Customer Service is appalling. My emails and messages left on their answer phone are not responded to. My order was delivered a day later than it was due. The frozen and chilled were defrosted and warm. Delivery was refused. Then I was told I should of taken the ambient items out? I wasn’t prepared to return a tampered with parcel! I had to chase for a refund for spoilt items and asked for ambient to either be re delivered or refunded. No response and it’s nearly 2 weeks on. The box that the items were delivered in was not marked ‘chilled and frozen’ so apparently got left off of the delivery van for the next day. When you spend £83 you expect to get what you ordered and paid extra for the chilled and frozen packaging. We needed these items for a family party. So disappointing. I will never use this company again, still owed £31.34 for the ambient goods.
We ordered a 1 kilo of sos mix , and waited for the despatch and tracking details . Nothing appeared contacted the company of many occassions ,,but they stopped communicating . This is not the first time they've done this to us. Beware if your ordering from outside UK.
Very happy with the first class service and products Highly recommend their sinless egg selection Thank you Leanne for your prompt professionalism Best regards Kaldeep Singh -Dulay
Excellent service order after 5pm came next day it was that good I ordered again came with 2 days and a very impressive product keep up the good work
Absolutely awful company! Firstly, they told me that “they’d been too busy” to send out my order so delayed. Okay, what can y’do. Then it took them days to notify me of some bits being out of stock. They tried ringing me apparently but I work in a hospital so cannot answer and no VM left. I said please send what you have and refund the out of stock products. Week since order was placed and nothing, not even correspondence. Disgusting! I would not recommend to any of my vegan friends.
Ordered a Shibuya Duel Click sight, plus a couple of odds and ends on Monday afternoon delivered Wednesday morning by 9am. Free delivery and cheaper than other websites that add delivery charges on top of that. Can't argue with that! First order placed, will not be the last. *****
Great selection of vegan products and wonderful customer service. Will definitely be ordering again!
I've ordered from Alternative Stores a couple of times now and can confirm they are a trustworthy online company. I mostly ordered products I consume regularly and found their prices reasonable. On my most recent order there was a slight problem, I ordered multiples of a certain item and they found they had one less in stock than I had ordered - I accept that this can happen from time to time and was very happy with how they dealt with it, a prompt phone call to explain, apologise and ask if I would prefer a substitute or a refund for the single unavailable item. I opted for a refund and was refunded very quickly and the change was marked clearly on the receipt inside the parcel. For this reason I would be confident in their customer service in future and trust that, in the event of any issue it would dealt with quickly and efficiently. Overall very happy with items, prices, service and delivery times.
Always quick delivery with dpd tracking where you can set safe places, latest order is next day delivery, tomorrow and previously also only two days. Great products, you can’t get many other places.
Excellent service! Order arrived within a day, and all fresh with good dates on. Well packaged. Reasonable prices. One happy customer who will return!
I've ordered from Alternative Stores twice now and both times i've been extremely happy with the service. They shipped my most recent order out not even an hour after I placed the order. Really impressive stuff. My items always come well packaged. I really recommend them
Would like to thank Alternative Stores for their variety of vegan food and products they offer, staff is so well-informed, which makes it so much easier to find the right products! The price points are reasonable and I will certainly be back on a regular basis. Thank you Alternative Stores
Excellent website, excellent customer service. I regularly order sosmix from Alternative Stores and it’s outstanding. It is AUTHENTIC sosmix- the same brand I have been enjoying for the last decade. It’s becoming increasingly hard to find- thankful Alternative Stores has it!
I wanted to thank John for his helpful suggestions with products to purchase. It is so easy to go to this shop and get all of the Vegan products one uses. If I have to go to a larger store, I can never get what I need. The pricing is fair and quality excellent . For me Alternative has everything with such helpful, friendly staff. See you next week!
Great fast service. Received first order and will definitely buy again. My supermarket stopped stocking my favourite vegan item and found it here. Very pleased
Wish I could give these guys zero! I ordered the sos mix online and was expecting to get the brand they pictured on their website, instead I receive their own brand. Spoke to a very unhelpful lady on the phone about it, who stated 'Siomix is sosmix', but if you are not selling the brand pictured, you should not display this on your website. This is false advertising! The unhelpful lady also stated, 'we haven't had this problem before', trying to highlight that I'm a particularly difficult person. I think it's quite reasonable that I expect to receive what was pictured on the website and not their own brand product.
Alternative Stores is an independent, family-run vegan superstore dedicated to providing a diverse selection of free-from and plant-based products. The company focuses on sourcing high-quality food items, lifestyle products, and wellness solutions tailored for the vegan community. Their extensive inventory includes prominent brands as well as niche and emerging products, catering to both individual consumers and professional kitchens. Customers can shop online at AlternativeStores.com or visit their physical location at Royal Quays. The store is designed for vegans and those seeking plant-based alternatives, offering items such as vegan cheeses, snacks, and beauty products. With new products added weekly and options for express delivery, Alternative Stores aims to meet the evolving needs of its customer base, which values quality and variety in vegan offerings.
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