Verified Company
The droewors is very dry, I’ve never had something dryer in my life, could go as beef flavoured cardboard. The bacon biltong was the same. The normal biltong had a deep metallic taste which I’ve never had in biltong before. As for the pricing, it was decent or so I thought but the cashier completely messed it up. I was double charged for items (I even asked about one of these she said something about manually changing) but she did not delete the double scan and instead just added another. The sign said 30% off expired goods but I only got 20%. I think you need to reconsider the positioning of the till as something clearly did not work here
We went back to ST Marcus and the service was fantastic, the young lady at the counter made us feel valued and I will shop at ST Marcus again because of the warm welcome. They also a little tasters out which was lovely.
Reply from St Marcus Fine Foods Ltd Lower Kingswood
2026.02.18
Thank you for the feedback Reine, we’re glad you had a great experience. Thanks for the 5 stars!
Sold me a onesie which was the incorrect size and then when I tried to return it they made up story about a stain. Absolutely disgusting way to treat a customer.
Reply from St Marcus Fine Foods Ltd Lower Kingswood
2025.11.28
We’re sorry to hear you feel this way. We did receive your return and were happy to refund upon return... Unfortunately, when the item arrived back to us it had two visible stains, which meant we were unable to process a refund as we cannot resell used or marked baby clothing for hygiene reasons.
To be fair to you, we offered to return the item so you could choose to donate it, gift it, or use it as you wish.
To be fair to you, we offered to return the item so you could choose to donate it, gift it, or use it as you wish.
I'm assuming all the St Marcus SA stores that come up on Google are under the same ownership. My order came from the warehouse and there isn't anywhere to write a Google review on my terrible experience, so here goes...
I bought in bulk to meet the pricey £75 minimum spend for free delivery. Sadly upon receiving my products they were all expiring within 3 - 7 weeks. One item didn't even have a best before date. I wrote on the notes of my order to please pick longer lasting expiry dates.
I understand that this is not always possible, but they did call me to tell me a product wasn't in stock, so surely on this call they could have addressed my order note and I could have decided on the call if I preferred to cancel my order.
I also returned some medicinal tasting products and 2 samples of the opened ones. Bear in mind, not only I tasted the strange tastes - my family and friends did too. I was only refunded for the sealed bags, and they didn't reimburse the delivery cost as promised. I have reached out to them multiple times on the sales email, and they just ignore you if you're not making a purchase. I mentioned this on another review and was replied to publicly to contact them via the email address I was already using. I did that, and still ignored. The delivery cost was the same if I had or hadn't included the 2 opened items as I paid for a pre-established weight.
Never purchasing from them again. Atrocious customer service, communication and product shelf life. I have since found an SA store that stocks much better quality products and who don't need a minimum spend for delivery, plus delivery is much quicker.
Reply from St Marcus Fine Foods Ltd Lower Kingswood
2025.11.28
Our team has been in conversation with you since 1st October.
So feel free to respond to that email thread.
The products we dispatched to you were the longest-dated items available at the time. South African crisps and snacks are manufactured with a shorter overall shelf life (typically 16 weeks), and the shipping journey from South Africa naturally reduces this further. A remaining 3-7 weeks is standard across all UK importers, and we always pick the best dates possible.
Regarding the items you returned, every product we received back was fully refunded. The masala you sent back later still had several weeks of shelf life remaining. The Tutti Frutti was refunded as part of your return.
We didn't receive any additional reviews or emails from you that went unanswered.
As we processed your return and refund, it wouldn't be possible for us to both ignore your emails and complete your refund at the same time.
Taste can vary person to person, especially with speciality South African products, but we take quality complaints seriously. The items you mentioned were sold from the same batch to other customers without issue, so it does seem to come down to personal preference in this case.
So feel free to respond to that email thread.
The products we dispatched to you were the longest-dated items available at the time. South African crisps and snacks are manufactured with a shorter overall shelf life (typically 16 weeks), and the shipping journey from South Africa naturally reduces this further. A remaining 3-7 weeks is standard across all UK importers, and we always pick the best dates possible.
Regarding the items you returned, every product we received back was fully refunded. The masala you sent back later still had several weeks of shelf life remaining. The Tutti Frutti was refunded as part of your return.
We didn't receive any additional reviews or emails from you that went unanswered.
As we processed your return and refund, it wouldn't be possible for us to both ignore your emails and complete your refund at the same time.
Taste can vary person to person, especially with speciality South African products, but we take quality complaints seriously. The items you mentioned were sold from the same batch to other customers without issue, so it does seem to come down to personal preference in this case.
Expiry dates are too soon and bad communication
I am sad I had to write this review as I really wanted to like and support this place. But, I am not ordering from here again. Spent over £75 to get free delivery. But expiry dates are all a few weeks or just over a month from when the package arrived. One bag of crisps didn't even have a best before date and smelt like fish when I opened the bag. The candy I purchased 5 bags of, has a strange bitter taste that i have never tasted when eating this specific candy before. Contacted them to process a return label to send only the bags I have not opened back, and they just respond with a return address and then ignored. Not sure why we must bear costs for groceries or shipping costs for products that are due within less than a month or are not good quality. I ordered from a different SA store and got products with expiry dates that are next year, plus didn't need to spend over a certain amount to get free delivery. I will be using that place going forward.
Date of experience: 29 September, 2025
Date of experience: 29 September, 2025
Reply from St Marcus Fine Foods Ltd Lower Kingswood
2025.10.16
I’m really sorry for your experience, especially the lack of follow-up. That’s not the standard we aim for. As an importer, many groceries spend close to a month in transit, which can shorten the remaining shelf life once they reach our shelves.
Please email sales@stmarcus.co.uk with your order number so we can sort this out for you. We’ll cover return postage for any unopened items and arrange a refund or replacement, and we’ll review our internal checks and communication to prevent this happening again.
Please email sales@stmarcus.co.uk with your order number so we can sort this out for you. We’ll cover return postage for any unopened items and arrange a refund or replacement, and we’ll review our internal checks and communication to prevent this happening again.