Maidenhead Aquatics  Reviews 

480
TrustScore 3 out of 5

3.2

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 66 reviews, most reviewers were somewhat happy with their experience overall. Many customers frequently commend the staff for their extensive knowledge, helpful advice, and friendly approach, making their visits a pleasure. People appreciate the excellent service and support received, especially when setting up new tanks or seeking guidance on fish care. Reviewers also often find a good selection of healthy fish and quality products available. However, some people mentioned experiencing issues with fish health, reporting sick or diseased fish and high mortality rates shortly after purchase. Additionally, a few other people also felt that staff could be rude, unhelpful, or unprofessional, leading to unsatisfactory customer service interactions. Some customers also noted concerns regarding water testing procedures and fish replacement policies.

What people talk about most

Staff

Reviewers mention ambiguous feedback about staff, with many praising employees for being helpful,... See more

Product

Users describe ambiguous interactions with product, with many reporting significant issues with the health... See more

Quality

Customers consistently note ambiguous experiences with quality, particularly regarding livestock. Many... See more

Customer service

People report ambiguous experiences with customer service, with some reviewers consistently praising the... See more

Service

Consumers find service to be ambiguous, with many reviewers reporting excellent and helpful service, often... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Fishkeeper scotland,Aberdeen Pretty shitty when alot of the fish are ill or neglected(marine section) Especially the tangs,hippo tangs. Should be quarantined ,not allowed to mingle with others.thi... See more

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Been using maidenhead aquatics Keynsham/ now Bishopsworth for over 30 years always ask size of tank what fish etc, which is fair enough but after 30+years you would have thought the customer knew a bi... See more

Company replied

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

The staff at the MK branch are fantastic, friendly, welcoming, knowledgeable, and always happy to offer advice. Customer service has consistently been excellent. Unfortunately, my experience with... See more

Company replied

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Bought a number of fish in their Radyr store on Saturday, looked in the tank yesterday (Monday) and the pleco i bought was dead. Not happy but not a problem as the other fish are thriving and I assume... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Aquarium shop

Information provided by various external sources

Run by fishkeepers for fishkeepers, with an online store and over 160 stores throughout the UK, Maidenhead Aquatics is THE leading aquatics retailer. Visit your local store or shop online today!


Contact info

3.2

Average

TrustScore 3 out of 5

480 reviews

5-star
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1-star

No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Replied to 93% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 week

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3.2

All reviews

(480)

67 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t even send out a gift card…

Couldn’t even send out a gift card after 2 weeks. Kept trying to blame the postal service after not realising that another person from the company had told me that the lady who deals with the gift cards was off sick. Passing the buck. A sure sign of a terrible company.

27 November 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are sorry to hear about your experience. If this is still an issue and you haven't received your gift card, please contact our customer service team at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk, and they will be able to help.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

All I can hear is swearing

All I can hear is swearing. They can't be bothered , sold my partner and obviously sick fish , they don't care , we do , absolutely awful , I hope the other branches aren't the same , they don't deserve a job, now got 30 quid voucher which I can only use there? So can buy more sick fish ? Money not important, welfare of fish more important

30 November 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

We’re very sorry to hear about your experience, and thank you for bringing this to our attention. We take concerns about animal welfare
seriously. To discuss this further, please email us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

TERRIBLE

TERRIBLE. My 600l tank burst, I called maidenhead tong for a new tank and the sales person I spoke to said he had an aqua one horizon set (tank, stand, filter, light and heater) in stock. I reserved this tank on the phone so I could collect that evening after work. I arrived at maidenhead and paid £300 for the tank which clearly states on the box "WITH STAND" i arrived home and began unboxing and quickly realised there was no stand. I called maidenhead and they told me the stand is an extra £140!!! Now I have a tank on the floor with my fish in as I had no where else to put them. DON'T USE MAIDENHEAD AQUATICS!!!

2 December 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are sorry to hear about your experience with us. If you would like to discuss this further, please get in touch with us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great staff and products

Brought some fish for my pond and the young man told me the best way to get rid of the Heron that decimated my pond in summer even with all its protection. Knowledgeable friendly and got me a discount thanks very much buddy

12 November 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you so much for your lovely review! We're really glad to hear you had such a positive experience. It’s great that our team member was able to share some helpful advice about keeping the heron away, and that you found him friendly and knowledgeable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Best shop in mk area

I am from Milton Keynes and I have got to say the Woburn sands shop is the best in the mk area and have stopped go the Milton Keynes ones as there not as clean and always got dead fish and never cleaned out for ages.

5 November 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you so much for sharing your feedback. We really appreciate you taking the time to let us know about your experience.

We’re delighted to hear that you’ve had such positive visits at our Woburn Sands shop. Regarding your experiences at the other locations, we’re sorry to hear they didn’t meet your expectations, and if you would like to discuss this further, please email us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Purchased some fish at £9 each and they…

Purchased some fish at £9 each and they had a lot of babies. 30 ISH survived. Called to see if they would take them and they said yes but would not pay for them. No problem totally understand that. When asked if they could send some bags to transport them in was told no I can buy them online. Was a bit surprised considering they would be selling the fish on at £9 each pure profit.

5 November 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

We are sorry to hear about your experience. If you would like to discuss this further, please email us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Poor service

Bought a tank today on click and collect waited half an hour at store but had to leave as had other things to do will be cancelling order and bye elsewhere staff not helpful very dissatisfied

2 November 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

We’re sorry to hear about your recent experience. Unfortunately, a company-wide glitch affected our Click & Collect system, which prevented some orders from reaching the tills. The issue was brought to our attention and resolved as soon as possible on Monday. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Good

Recently used gosforth/ponteland stores for fish and tanks & accessories. And all has been good. Only 4 star as one early visit was a bit abrupt put after returning recently it was a much better experience

28 October 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback and for giving us another chance. We really appreciate it! We’re glad to hear your more recent visits to our Gosforth and Ponteland stores were much better experiences and that you’re happy with your fish, tanks, and accessories.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

After waiting 20 minutes just to be served and Kidderminster store I decided on buying 5 wreck fish at £160. Expensive I know but it’s what I wanted. After getting home one was dead before I even got them in the tank I phoned the store only to be told if I don’t bring the one back today I’ll not get a refund or anything I couldn’t return that day as I was going to work.
Disappointed to say the least I’ll shop elsewhere in the future

26 October 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

We’re very sorry to hear about your experience and appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. If you would like to discuss this further, please email us directly at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Slow dispatch, slow to refund you

Ordered some plants online on a Wednesday 15th Oct, come Friday 17th ive had no notification regarding the plants being dispatched and posted so i emailed them and they said i would receive them next week by Friday 24th , not good enough i ordered plants from 3 different places on the same day i ordered from here and i received them all by Thursday/Friday the same week so i asked them to cancel and refund me.
On Tuesday 21st 4 days later i had to contact them again because i hadn't received my refund, the reply said ive been issued a refund today.
Had i of not noticed they hadn't refunded me 4 days after asking for the refund they may not of bothered at all.
Slow to post your orders and just as slow at refunded you, i will avoid these guys in future and i cannot recommend them they appear to be complete jokers.

[Reply to the reply]
The guy who dealt with the cancellation and refund was called Dale on both emails.
I think the timeliness for dispatching plants needs to be made more obvious before ordering, there's plenty of places to buy plants that dispatch and deliver live plants within 2/3 days of ordering i would never order plants and wait up to two weeks for them to arrive unless the plants are super rare and impossible to get hold of elsewhere, i especially would not pay £5.99 for such slow dispatch and delivery service of upto 14 days.

15 October 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

I am sorry to hear about your negative experience. While we always aim to dispatch orders promptly, as stated on our website, any order containing live plants on their own or mixed with a combination of other items will be collectively delivered within 14 working days. Including live plants in an order does go against our next-day shipping policy. However, we apologise for the delay in cancelling and refunding your order and will be taking steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I always use this store but was…

I always use this store but was pleasantly surprised on my last visit as the lady who helped me really went out of her way to sort my problem out ( my dog had chewed through my cable for my fish tank lights).
I intended to purchase the whole lighting unit but the size I needed was not in stock and she then she suggested may have the part I needed in a box full of spare parts.
Bingo ! Works perfectly and saved me buying the whole unit
Sadly I did not catch her name, but the lady had an accent, short hair and was middle aged and she made my day, thank you

6 October 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us. We're thrilled to hear that one of our team members was able to help you find exactly what you needed.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

One day order my left foot

Normally a great shop to visit. They didn't have the thing in store I needed so was told to look online I did .page says if you order before 3 o'clock you will get the next day ..so one phone call and 6 days later still waiting for my one day order .

2 October 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you for your feedback. We apologise for the delay with your order. As this item is supplied by a third party, we are currently updating our website to provide more accurate delivery timeframes.

If you would like us to contact the supplier to check your order, please email us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk with your order number. We’ll be happy to look into this for you.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Most abrupt service from abbie marine…

Most abrupt service from abbie .marine tank fish covered in ick (white spots) took my water to be tested they used there own tank water and said my water had amonia and nitrate when the water hadn't even seen a fish will not be returning using a tropical test kit for a marine tank

12 October 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

We’re sorry to hear about your experience and thank you for bringing it to our attention. Please email us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk with details of the store involved so we can look into the matter.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Maidenhead aquatics Dartford….we had a…

Maidenhead aquatics Dartford….we had a great experience learning from Alex about not just the set up but also different fish! We are new to this with 2 excited children wanting fish for the first time and Alex made the process a lot easier. We now have a great set up and starting to grow our family of fish gradually. The store are always there to help and answer any questions in person or over the phone.

27 September 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you for sharing your experience. We're glad Alex could make your first fishkeeping adventure enjoyable and easy.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Distressing experience

On our visit last week, my son asked a young member of staff to prepare three Chocolate Gourami fish for us, as they were on offer, ready for when we had finished looking around the garden centre. When we returned to the counter, the fish were already bagged up and we paid for three. However, once back at the car we checked the bag and discovered that only two small fish had been given to us.
I immediately returned to the store to resolve this issue, while my son waited in the car. I spoke to a blonde woman with a foreign accent who was extremely rude, abrupt, and unprofessional. I explained that we had paid for three larger fish but had only received two smaller ones. Rather than calmly assisting, she raised her voice in an aggressive manner and repeatedly asked what water the fish would be kept in. I explained that my son is a proficient fish keeper and had already discussed the tank with the previous staff member. Despite this, she continued to talk over me and stated that if the fish were to die, the store would not replace them. Her tone and manner were completely unacceptable, leaving me distressed. Eventually, I left the store with the correct fish.
Unfortunately, when we returned to the store on 30th September to purchase lava rock, the same member of staff acted in an even more humiliating manner. As soon as she saw us, she loudly told a colleague — in earshot of both myself and my son — that we had been “stupid” the previous week for not checking the fish before leaving the store, then coming back in, and that we had been “awkward” customers. When I asked her directly if she was referring to us, she laughed in my face and said yes.
This public humiliation was completely unnecessary and deeply upsetting. I already live with Parkinson’s disease, which can make me feel vulnerable and anxious in public situations. To be openly mocked by a member of your staff in front of others left both myself and my son embarrassed and distressed.

30 September 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

We’re sorry to hear about your experience in one of our stores. We have forwarded your concerns to the area manager of the store you mentioned in your email. They will be reviewing the matter and will get in touch with you to discuss it further.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Pleco died within 3 days

Bought a number of fish in their Radyr store on Saturday, looked in the tank yesterday (Monday) and the pleco i bought was dead. Not happy but not a problem as the other fish are thriving and I assumed that as it was within 3 days I'd get a replacement or refund. Was fobbed off by someone who sounded like he didn't even know what day it was, never mind anything else, and he muttered something about coming down in Saturday. I gave up and hung up. Nice place but the staff don't sound professional at all

20 September 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you for sharing your feedback. We’re very sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with the service you received. Providing great customer care is extremely important to us, and we’d like the opportunity to put this right. Please feel free to contact us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk, and a team member will be happy to discuss this with you further.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Best fish shop around!!

We have been attending this shop for years and the staff. Amy, Max & Rich, are fantastic and we have built a wonderful relationship with Amy especially!
Always there for any advice and help needed!
We have very successful fishtanks thanks to these guys! Couldn’t ask for a better team to help us look after our growing passion/hobby!!
There is no comparison when to comes to their friendliness and expertise!!
Nathan & Donna

20 September 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are thrilled to know that you have had a great experience in the store. It is great that you have been able to build that relationship with the staff in the store.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Lovely fish but the staff let the shop…

Lovely fish but the staff let the shop down. We went in to buy fish and they were too busy talking to want to help us. I felt like we were an inconvenience, someone reluctantly helped.

On asking what fish food is best, he pointed randomly to one, which we bought. Stupidly we trusted him as he's supposed to be the 'expert'. Our fish have not eaten this. On research, this type of cold water fish are definitely not meant to eat tropical fish food (I had made a comment about this before buying).

Well I'd recommend going for the variety of fish, don't expect any level of good customer service. Do your research before going, as they will not help you and do not seem to care about what happens to the fish once you have bought them.

13 September 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

I am sorry to hear that this is the level of service you have received. Please email us at customerservice@maidenheadaquatics.co.uk to discuss this in more detail.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Maiden head aquatics (Stourbridge)

All the tropical fish iv brought from maiden head aquatics ,inside cherry lane garden centre (Stourbridge) have lived along time,even years ,they are all healthy well looked after, no dead fish in any of the tanks ,the pricing can be on the more expensive side, but in reality they are great quality and thriving ,also a great choice of cold, tropical and marine fish, plus everything from gravel to tanks ,complete set ups , very good with knowledge especially steve who has been there years! Think he is part of the furniture 🤔 highly recommended for everything fish related

30 August 2025
Unprompted review
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Reply from Maidenhead Aquatics

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We’re delighted to hear that your fish have been healthy and thriving for years. We always aim to provide well-cared-for livestock and a wide range of products to support every fishkeeper. Your kind words about our team will be passed along.

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