Charbonnel et Walker Reviews 37

I have been a fan of the Milk Sea Salt Caramel Thins for years and happily paid the premium price for what felt like a genuinely superior product. After a gap of around two years I treated myself to a box recently and was immediately struck by how much the quality has fallen.
The taste is noticeably different. The chocolate has lost the depth and smoothness that justified the price point and now has a waxy, generic sweetness that I associate with mass-produced confectionery rather than a heritage chocolatier. For a 200g box at nearly £20, that is a difficult thing to overlook.

Charbonnel et Walker trades heavily on its royal warrant and its reputation as a luxury brand. That reputation creates an expectation that the product in the box will match the price on the label. Right now, it does not. I have no issue paying a premium for quality but this no longer feels like quality. It feels like a brand coasting on its name while quietly reducing what is inside the packaging.

I hope this is a temporary dip rather than a permanent shift in direction. For now I will be spending my money elsewhere until there is evidence the original standard has been restored.

They don't seem to respond to any criticism on Trust Pilot, so I doubt there will be a return to their once impressive quality.

Expected quality got overly sweet fatty tasting chocolate with rubbish ingredients like palm oil, absolutely not worth the premium price - avoid!

I often visit your store in Cabot place on the isle off Dogs ,and every time Iv been I have been lucky enough to have been served by the most amazing member of your staff her name is Eden and I felt compelled to let your Company know what a Gem off an employee you have in her I actually look forward to visiting Your establishment not only because of your amazing confectionery but because I know I will be served by Eden with kindness politeness and her knowledge of your products is outstanding .Her attention towards myself and other customers is warm inviting and her sales patter makes me buy more confectionery than a should so please let her know that she is truly appreciated in the job that she does and the happiness she brings to others .

Poor quality chocolate full of chemicals

Very unpleasant box of chocolates for £50. It seems the recipes and ingredients have drastically dropped in quality. I was expecting to be blown away with these chocolates based on the marketing and prices. The ingredients should have been clean and free from all the fake syrups, flavours and palm fats, sadly not. They are honestly no different to a cheap box of chocolates, absolutely not worth the price tag. The ONLY good thing is the lovely quality packaging, however, the contents was awful.

Don’t be fooled by the marketing and price tag. Cheaply made nasty chocolates.

After an initial error in my order the staff Charbonnelnet walker , quickly replied and sorted this out in a matter of days brilliant chocolate brilliant customer service

The reason I have given 2 stars is because the packaging is lovely. These chocolates are absolutely NOT worth the price.
You would expect a rich, decadent tasting chocolate for the price - these are extremely sweet with no distinctive flavour at all. The fact they think they can charge this much for rubbish is outrageous. Go for laderach or Neuhaus if you want excellent chocolate. Or even Waitrose No1 range is really good!

I ordered a £100 box set for my wife's Christmas present. After a couple of weeks I phoned to see if they had been sent. They had been lost in transit so a replacement was sent out that day, with a 'sorry' incusion of dark chocolates for free (a £20 sorry) which arrived the next day. We sneaked a couple of the dark chocolates and they are just lovely. Thank you so much to the lovely lady who took the call.

If only I could offer the same praise as others but I cannot. The quality of Charbonnel et Walker chocolates is legendary and for over 60 years I have forgiven their high prices. But before ordering their previously wonderful Easter Egg I noticed that they said that the chocolates come not "in the egg itself" as previously but "in the gift" Before parting with £45 I reckoned it was worth it to check. Responding to my email they confirmed that the chocolates were indeed in the egg itself. Not so. They now do what the sub £10 egg people do. In the box. Outside the egg. That's not worth £45. An email follow up said sorry for the misunderstanding. That's not the Charbonnel treatment of the past. Misleading followed by misrepresentation. A sad change in a great company.

Absolutely bowled over by the incredible service we continuously receive from Charbonnel and Walker.

We order several large boxes a year and the quality and choice is second to none. Fascinated to learn that some of the chocolates are based on recipes that were initially concocted decades ago!

The online ordering is brilliant with deliveries usually arriving within a couple of days.

All recipients of gift we have sent have also been hugely impressed.

The Violet and Rose Creams are second to none!

Minor problem with a box of chocolates. First class excellent customer service, polite, professional, dealt with the issue.
An excellent example of how customer service should work, if only other retailers adhered to the same standards.

I have been sending these chocolates out to my auntie, my sister and two neices now for around a year. Just recently I decided to send some to myself.
I'm quite fussy with chocolate and I have to say that I probably just equated Bond Street and price with quality. I was wrong.
These chocolates simply don't cut the mustard.
I guess the moral here is, try them first, then send to others if they pass muster. Don't be fooled by a fancy address.
Getting a decent box of chocolates is more difficult now than ever in the U.K.
Standards are at rock bottom it would appear.

It’s an overpriced, substandard quality brand. I fell for it once making an expensive £70 mistake for a birthday gift. Not worth it, Thornton’s would beat this in a blind test. In this case you don’t get what you pay for, you get much much less.

Caramelised biscuit truffles...love the flavour, however got a hair in the middle of one which was extremely unpleasant and surprisingly long, coated in chocolate!

I always feel like royalty when I have these little treats. The caramelised truffles are my favourite.

Amazing customer service when my order was handled badly after being labelled fragile - thank you Sarah for dealing with the situation patiently and will care.

Chocolates were delicious as always and beautiful packaging for the valentines range. <3

I spent £80 on 5 boxes of truffles for family members at Christmas - and I wish I hadn't. Without exception, there were no distinctive or rich flavours, just a sickly sweet milk chocolate wrapped around a sweet generic sugary centre with absolutely no flavour at all.

Give the prices, this is pretty outrageous. Either they are knowingly scamming people, or they have zero quality control. Avoid at all costs.

Great service in all areas! The chocolate is absolutely divine and would recommend. So pleased with my order and is always beautifully presented.

Shocking product presentation and customer service. We spent over £350 on Christmas gifts only to have them delivered in the largest box possible with no packing to protect them from the football pitch that DPD test all parcels on before delivery. All the boxes were marked and damaged. The ribbons seemed to have been tied by someone who was blindfolded with their hands tied behind their back ! Spoke to a lady in customer service who was unapologetic and unbothered about the shoddy service. They arranged a courier to replace the order and collect the inferior products a week later but did not confirm by phone prior to delivery so I missed the courier this morning. They are now refusing to rearrange and expect me to return the goods at my cost before they will refund. Two days before Christmas, this is obviously not an option. Utterly farcical and definitely not what is expected from a company that currently holds a Royal Warrant ....won't be using/buying again.

They took 35 days to confirm and deliver my order. Meanwhile I have sent several emails not of which were replied.
I will not use it any longer and I don't recommend it.

Charbonnel et Walker has a fabuolous name and reputation (as well as good memories for me), but the chocolate(s) I had, was/were of mediocre quality at best.

I hate to post negative reviews, almost never do, but this one really deserves it. Both taste and texture of the chocolate itself are cheap, leaving an unpleasant taste in the mouth afterwards. On their website, it is stated: "the aftertaste duration (...) reveals the quality of ingredients used in your chocolate".... Yep, that is very clear....

The chocolates/pralines aren't refined at all; a massive thick wall of chocolate covers an uninteresting, sweet (cheap) filling.

Priced at €40 for 240 grams (easter egg, in this case), quality should be top notch. This is a scam.

Apparently the company's management has chosen to leverage upon its great name by buying (I can't imagine they would produce this themselves...) rubbish and selling it as premium de luxe. Never again for me!