Charterhouse Aquatics Reviews 17,554

Everything was great 👍 then this past 12 months things have taken a drastic downturn. Everything I seem to order has problems or damage of late . I don’t know what has changed with this company but it’s a step down in service and I’m disappointed. Whatever it is charterhouse? you really need to look into it? Customer service as an online store is imperative and your reviews are going down ! The complaints are where you need to look at ‘ and improve ! Or your customers will go elsewhere. I’ve spent Thousands over the years and never once have you given a discount or anything !! Cheers guys “ for nothing . Once my order is satisfactorily concluded? I will not make any further purchases from charterhouse.

I have ordered some chem and other bits for a new tank cycling from another online shop (Swell) and I have placed my order last Friday. It has not been dispatched for a week despite a couple of calls to them where they affirmed me it would be sent on the same day.

I also ordered more bits from Charterhouse aquatics on Tuesday night, dispatched Wednesday morning and delivered Thursday. Quite annoyed about Swell not dispatching the items for a week and me wanting them for weekend, I placed order for same items on Charterhouse Aquatics on Thursday night and again dispatched promptly on Friday morning and delivered today (Saturday) - pretty impressed with the delivery speed especially as it was feee delivery option.

All well packaged and arrived safely, very happy with the service and will definitely use again! Thank you!

Really brilliant service i would highly recommend

I ordered reef marine salt from Charterhouse Aquatics on 24th February. A week later, I hadn’t received any delivery confirmation, so I emailed them. I got an AI-generated reply saying the item was out of stock and I could expect delivery by 25th March.

I was already on my last batch of marine salt for a water change that was due that week, so now I’m forced to spend extra money elsewhere because Charterhouse Aquatics let me down. I requested a refund three days ago, and no one has replied. It feels like they are relying entirely on AI to handle emails, with no real human support.

Because they won’t respond, I now have to take the matter up with PayPal to get my money back.

They used to be reliable and deliver on time, but lately their service has seriously deteriorated. For any marine enthusiast, you cannot trust them the website doesn’t even indicate when items are out of stock.

To be honest this is one of the best places in the UK to buy aquatic goods online, prices are great and possibly the widest range of products there is. If you find it cheaper, they’ll match the price too.
If there is a problem with your order (rare cases) their customer service is excellent and Marcus there is super helpful and sorts the problem professionally and in a friendly manner. Excellent company!

Purchased a light that cost just shy of £500 in December for my Marine tank. After 7 weeks the light is faulty (as confirmed by Maxspect). I have asked for a refund and Charterhouse will only offer a repair. I know some people might think that’s fine, however if a light develops a fault after 7 weeks it doesn’t bode well for the life expectancy of the light. I would expect anything electronic to last more than 7 weeks. After spending almost £3000 with this company since September time I just thought they would try a bit harder. They are point blank refusing a refund and a repair only.

Previously gave them five stars, but have reduced it to three due to their Subscription Service. Firstly, the staff appear to discourage you using it. Secondly, it might save you 5% BUT still no guarantee you will get the product on time even though they know it is a regular on-going order, they don't specifically hold it for you despite it being on-going. Thirdly if ONE of your subscription items are out of stock, it will delay everything, until that one item hopefully comes back in stock.

What is the point of a subscription if no real difference to buying as needed. I mean your really not saving much.

Excellent company to deal with!

Always keeps you updated in regards to deliveries which I may add, are always faster than they estimate which is an added bonus.
Thank you to all the staff at Charterhouse Aquatics, keep up the good work 🙏

First rate customer service... very helpful, clear comms... excellent first experience with the company!

My experience with this company has been incredibly frustrating from start to finish. Two days in advance of the scheduled delivery, I called to make sure everything was in order. I was reassured that there were no issues and that my order would arrive on the booked date. Despite this, the package was never even sent because a team member missed it.

They admitted the mistake was on their end, yet their attitude was basically, “That’s just how the system works.” Instead of taking responsibility, they acted almost as if they were the ones being inconvenienced.

I booked a day of my holiday specifically to be home for a pallet drop that never happened because nothing had been shipped. Now I’ve had to take a second day of holiday for the reattempt. Despite all of this — the missed shipment, the dismissive customer service, the incorrect shipping charges, and the loss of two days of my time — there was no meaningful apology and not even a token gesture offered.
On top of that, I had ordered several other items separately. Each order went over the £50 free-shipping threshold, but one of the items had a 3–4 week lead time. I asked if the items that were already in stock could be shipped first, and I was told I’d need to pay an additional £9.95. When I checked my original order, I noticed that because I used a voucher, the system dropped the order below the free-shipping threshold and charged me £3.95 — which shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But once again the attitude was, “That’s just how the system works.”

If the order was split, logically it should have been £3.95 × 2 = £7.90. I had already paid £3.95 on the original order, so the remaining charge should have been another £3.95. Instead, they reduced it to £6 and told me that’s what I had to pay. (Is my math not mathing?!)

What makes this even more disappointing is that I’ve spent thousands with this company over the years and have always been a loyal customer.

After this entire experience, I cannot recommend this company. The errors were frustrating enough, but the dismissive attitude and lack of accountability made it significantly worse.

Outstanding even when things don’t go to original plan.

I have always been happy with my mail orders from Charterhouse Aquatics but finally have a reason to leave a review. My order (an aquarium heater) was unfortunately delivered broken and inoperative - these thing happen but invariably bring on apprehension on what the post-sale experience will be like. I am happy to advise that my experience was outstanding. I sent an e-mail reporting the problem, received the automated acknowledgement but then a personal response 40 minutes later. The response indicated a replacement would be sent - which duly arrived 20 hours after I raised the issue in the first place. No hassle waiting for the faulty item to be returned, no long wait for a reply. A truly exceptional post sale experience.

Had some bad luck with my fish tank that required a return of several new items. The return process was easy and the customer service was first class. Will buy from them again once my issues are resolved.

Honestly great company and great customer service.
I had a few issues with DPD items turning up smashed but Marcus and the team delt with it amazing.
The issue i faced wasn't down to the team, but down to DPD.
Great vaule, great customer service and helped me choose my first reef tank

Absolutely ridiculous, I bought a bunch of frozen fish food from them and they sent it without any cooling or ice packs so of course they arrived completely defrosted and are now useless?? I understand shipping frozen food is hard, but if you can’t do it don’t sell it!

Absolutely fantastic service from when i placed the order to literally receiving Juwel Rio Aqaurium within 2 days and at a fantastic price. Aqaurium arrived well packaged and wrapped, had a small issue with missing cover for filter but was sent a replacement without hesitation very quickly , great customer service with 1 very happy , satisfied customer. Thank you.

Waited now 4 days for much need food for my spiders not happy had to travel miles to pick some up!!! Waste of time and money!! Never again avoid if you need things ASAP crap

Not had an issue with Chaterhouse Aquatics as a company, HOWEVER, they use ERVI for their so called "free" delivery. So based on that thrilled from 5 Star to 3 Star. Any company that elects to use ERVI, shows they are NOT committed to Customer Service / Care. Dump Ervi and will change review from 3 to 5 stars.

I was a loyal customer for years, spending thousands, but their after-sales service is poor. They refused my gift card on an order with a standard offer, delayed shipping until all items were in stock, and made me pay return postage even when they’d recommended the wrong product. Good at taking money, but loyalty counts for nothing. They don’t care if you spend thousands. I’m glad I recently stopped buying from them and when I did again I got stung again.

Fantastic service from beginning to end. Handled my order well and quick to ship. Evri mishandled my parcel and lost it. Immediately spoke to Charterhouse, who recalled the lost parcel and sent out another using DPD to arrive the next day. I will definitely be using them again!

2nd april ordered a pump for my fishtank it said 3-4 weeks for delivery this was fine, well 4 weeks past and i heard absolutely nothing so i emailed chasing up my item to be told it would be at the end of the month (this was in may), well it did not appear and i had no update.

We are now in june i email again, remember i ordered this in april with a 4 week delivery timeframe, low and behold i have been told end of the month again i have now told them to cancel it.

This is beyond a joke why sell it if its not in stock at least make it clear before purchasing that its an indefinite wait.