ALTERNATE.co.uk Anmeldelser 

UK BUYERS BEWARE: Ordered a coffee maker from what appeared to be a UK site with price displayed in GB£'s. it wasn't until i received the confirmation email and the tracking details that we realised the item is in GERMANY. Item took an age to arrive, only to find BOTH coffee maker and the milk aerator has moulded Euro Schuko plugs. When I contacted them, I was offered "£4 to go and buy an adapter as we normally supply an adapter in the box". Not only does this not meet UK law, I really don't want 2 bulky adapters in the wall sockets of my brand new kitchen! UK law states: "Under the Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994, it is a criminal offence to place on the market or supply in the UK an appliance which is not fitted with either (i) a UK 3-pin plug, or (ii) a non-UK plug permanently fitted with a UK safety-approved conversion plug. It is not enough, for example, to provide a 3-pin plug adapter or to make the origin of the appliance clear on the product detail page. A loose adapter in the box in which the product is supplied is not sufficient." My experience with this company makes me advise all UK buyers to BUY ELSEWHERE.

Should have listened to all the poor comments - stay well away from this company.
Ordered an item, delivery driver in a didgy fruit and veg van turns up with the item (unpacked by the way) scans a label and then tells me he has to take the item away again as it is unpaid.
Needless to say I paid by credit card online. Called the company, was promissed a call back which never happened and a day later no sign of a re-delivery attempt. Will give them another 24 hours and if no luck will ask my credit card company to revoke the transaction as clearly fraudulent

Very poor customer services. I waited nearly a month for my delivery. I sent them numerous emails over time asking for a update. Only to receive out the blue that they did have any stock! An that they won’t have any stock for a few months!

They are taking peoples money without any inventory, absolutely disgraceful, with poor management, I would not recommend to anyone to shop with them.

Ordered coffee machine as a gift for daughter and her boyfriend for Christmas. Was informed product would be delivered 17 December instead arrived yesterday. No packaging and box had come away at the bottom. Daughter took delivery as was out and was not expecting delivery. Spoilt the surprise. Tried contacting company. NO RESPONSE

Wish I.d read reviews before ordering.
Do not buy from here. I ordered and decided to cancel . There is a link to cancel order. However then you get emails. One in English confirms order. Then one in German telling you not to call or email as they are really busy!.
Then they don't reply at all. ..you're better paying more i recommend AO.com their customer svc beats anyone..

Without being too dramatic, this is the worst company that I ever shopped with. I bought from them a few times and what a mistake that was. Everything takes months to arrive even if it says available. You'll wait for about a month but I once waited almost 3 months for my parcel. They don't notify you or respond to emails. Terrible packing job, never any padding, the box is regularly broken with stuff hanging out the bottom. Don't buy stuff that can get damaged because it will get damaged
Just avoid and look elswhere. It's a long way and the parcels look like they have been dragged behind a truck all the way from Germany every single time

Recently ordered a bunch of fireman sam toys for my little boy for Christmas as they seem to be discontinued in the UK but still available in Germany! I almost didn't bother when I saw such a poor review score on here but then I noticed they were all a few years old and mainly for electronic parts so I gave them a go.

I am SO glad I did! Lots of emails to let me know what was going on and then tracking info for my order that arrived very quickly considering it had to travel a fair distance! I was really happy with the purchase the toys arrived perfect condition, german wording on the packaging which Is to be expected but the packaging is thrown away right away anyway and I am sure my son will be over the moon!

No hidden fees and much more reasonable price then what some UK online stores were asking for. I will he using them again in the future for any hard to find toys that Germany seem to be in abundance of!

5 stars from me and a countess amount from my son in sure on Christmas day when he gets to enjoy his favourite character toys all the way from Germany!

Thank you!

Ordered a bread maker from this company's UK website. I was slightly worried when all of the subsequent paperwork came from Germany. My worries were confirmed when the response to my query about delivery was an automatic response IN GERMAN. Finally the bread maker did arrive. The packaging was undamaged but when opened we found the bread maker was fitted with a European plug and the lid was broken. We have tried to contact Alternate by email to discuss but have had no response in over a week.

Absolute scammers!
Ordered an item with an "almost too good to be true" price tag that was supposedly in stock, they contacted me the day after the due date to say they were sorry but the item was actually out of stock. Which was strange as the web site (still!) says its in stock.
Ah well, not a problem: cancel my order.
Cancellation confirmed.
3 weeks later, still no refund or response to my emails.
This is not for a small amount either, we are talking ~350 for a computer part which I need for work.
I have had to order through another retailer so I can continue to work but am now seriously out of pocket, which in these troubling times I could really do without.
Just glad I ordered through a credit card so I am proceeding to claim the money back through my bank.
My advice to anyone thinking of using these slippery, unethical peddlers: DON'T!
They will take your money and run.

I was very wary of alternate.co.uk reading reviews but their price for the i7 8700t cpu was too good so I took a chance. Can’t fault them at all. Ordered 16th September, Arrived 21st September. Delivered by UPS and received adequate notifications etc. I feel low reviews left previously are more aimed at delivery services rather than alternative.co.uk. From my own experience I will certainly use them again in future. Thankyou

Comments about this company are either very positive or dreadful so it is important to try to understand what makes for a positive review as opposed to a negative review so that people thinking about making a purchase from ‘Alternate’ know which way to jump. Generally, customers are very pleased when an item arrives very quickly, is priced competitively and is undamaged on arrival and appears to be brand new. Mostly, but not exclusively, they are unhappy about their purchase experience when things go wrong with the delivery, where the blame really rests with the delivery company rather than the supplier. Can anything be done to avoid this? Not much but a useful precaution is to try to find out from the internet (YouTube ‘unboxing’ is useful in this respect) how an item will be packaged. Thick cardboard with lots of environmentally unfriendly polystyrene generally ensures that an item will get to you in an undamaged state.
Usually, I have found that purchasing from Germany is a safe option and to date I have not been disappointed. I have just bought a Canon Pixma G6050 printer from ‘Alternate’ (unavailable in the UK and/or more expensive at the time of writing) and all went well - Saturday order, delivery the following Wednesday. When ordering I used a credit card to offer some protection and took potential packaging into consideration. Remember about reviews - more people are likely to write a review when things go wrong than when things go right. Writing reviews takes time and if there is nothing to get off your chest, human nature is simply to enjoy one's purchase if nothing went wrong.

We purchased a coffee machine and arrived broken, we tried to contact them via e-mail and their Germany number, no response at all. Do not purchase anything from this website, if something goes wrong, you will not be able reach them and you ll end up loosing your money, like us.

I purchased a 35m Gardena Hose Reel. Delivery was slow. The item arrived damaged.

I contacted them by phone to Germany and by email several times but so far (after 3 weeks) have had no success with them. most times I am not able to get through to them by phone and when I do they make promises that they do not follow through on. They do not seem to respond to emails either.

I now have an item I am unable to use and have lost my money.

I would certainly recommend to everyone to avoid using them as should you encounter any issues, you cannot rely on their customer service.

Quick to take Yr money.... Dont even try to get it back....

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY- READ ALL THE REVIEWS!!!! Do. Not risk it, you will never see your money again if anything goes wrong!!!!

I ordered a foot spa and it's still not arrived. The only communication I got from Alternate was a tracking number. My goods are sat in a depot in Leeds awaiting a response from them to correct the address they got wrong. Terrible customer service

I was initiatially concerned after seeing mixed reviews, I was also sketched out after seeing just how much cheaper it was on the site compared to Amazon (I was buying a 32GB G.Skill Trident Z kit with super good timings, £400 on Amazon, £303 in total on Alternate, and that's for the Neo variation which could be added value depending on who you are). I paid on a credit card, prepared to get a chargeback if it went badly.

But it didn't. No problems at all. The only (minor) issue I had was working out the UPS tracking (Alternate email said it wasn't a typical tracking code, tried following their guide, it didn't work, tried the regular UPS tracker to see what happens, lo and behold it works). I've got my RAM, it's the exact model I paid for. I haven't started using the sticks yet as I'm waiting on new hardware to arrive first, but if there's any issues G.Skill has lifetime warranty so I'm safe. Overall, damn happy to save £100!

Very poor customer service after apparent breach of UK law
Very poor customer service. I bought a Bosch AXT 25 TC shredder on Alternate's UK website (UPDATE 10/06/20 - I have just checked the card payment and the beneficiary was alternate.co.uk) which when it arrived (from Germany) did not have a lead or plug.
I believe that the sale of most electrical equipment (including this shredder) in the UK requires that it be fitted with a fused 3 pin plug. Bosch do not sell a compatible lead (presumably because it would be unlawful here in the UK). They have also confirmed that their UK models are supplied with a 3 pin plug.
Alternate have not acknowledged that the sale was unlawful (nor have they suggested it was lawful).
The shredder is no longer promoted on their .co.uk website (10/06/20).
After much dithering on their part they agreed the shredder could be returned, they have however failed to supply an appropriate paid return label (the label provided was for Parcelforce whose weight limit is 30kg and the shredder and box exceed that).
They have yet to refund the invoice amount (which it would appear they weren't entitled to in the first place as selling the appliance in the UK appears to have been unlawful/illegal).
They have ceased to respond to my emails requesting that they arrange collection of the shredder by an appropriate courier.
I have now filed a report using the Online Dispute Resolution link.
One would have thought that if they have made an unlawful sale they would want to resolve the matter quickly!
UPDATE 12/06/20 - Alternate have ceased communication with me.
I have now referred the matter to Bosch (both in the UK and their head office in Germany) advising them of the facts and requesting that they refund the payment for the shredder.
UPDATE 18/06/20 - I received a credit note (although I had requested a refund). The credit note was rejected and a refund demanded in an email sent to Alternate fao Carsten Kellman CEO.
The shredder was collected by UPS (although I was not notified it would be collected).
A full refund was made to my card account.
I received an apology from Alternate regarding their conduct.
I will not be buying from Alternate in future and would definitely not recommend them to others.

I was wary of using this company due to these reviews, however they had the Rowenta fan I desperately wanted, at the cheapest price on the internet, so I took the risk. I paid for it on a Friday, received it the following Thursday via UPS with no issues at all. The product was new, sealed and in perfect condition (though it had a European plug, but easily solved with an adaptor). It must be a ‘hit or miss’ kind of company, however I struck lucky here and I’m really pleased with the company and my product.

Completely FANTASTIC!! I ordered a Karcher K2 and then I located this Trustpilot page which got me thinking if I'd made the right choice due to what I'd read. Everything went great as I ordered last week - received daily updates on my parcel progress, invoice and to my surprise today, it has arrived in a correct packaging and it's brand new I'm about to test drive it later. Thank you Alternate.co.uk and I'll be sure to recommend you friends and family.