Downtown Spirits

Do not shop here!! This store makes you deposit $50 just to enter. They hold your money for 2-3 business days no matter what amount you spend. The employees give false information on when you'll get your money back and how to get a receipt. Which you can't get right away if at all so you leave with the hopes that they don't overcharge. Cool concept but broken process! I suggest going somewhere else

the just walk out technology overcharged me. they make you deposit $49, i only bought $8 worth of items and was charged $42. no way to get in touch with customer service over the phone, very disappointing

Not a fan of their business practices. They have you scan a credit card which takes a $49 deposit automatically, then you choose items on the shelf with pricing, then when you're leaving it automatically calculates what you purchased. They can't give you a receipt so you know how much you were charged and do not find out until you can see it on your credit card charges which can be days later. How do you know if you're being way overcharged for something that was priced differently on the shelf and if you don't live close, how do they refund or fix it? Not coming back, and wish I didn't buy here.

Horrible - you need a credit card - no paper receipt - no bags to use to carry out. If you touch something....it hits your credit card. No cash. You are not informed the way it does business! Never again - the store is like a maze! The prices are very high and talk about membership of what?

They were amazing. So efficient, kept me updated, called immediately about substitute and arrived perfect. My first time ordering. So easy.

Wonderful selection and staff. I have been a member since 2019 for the bourbon drawings, and this new cashier-less store was too easy! Was in and out, no line, I’ll definitely be back.

Theoretically a good selection of absinthe except they were sold out of several of the more interesting choices the day of my visit. Hopefully the next time I'm in town they'll be restocked. Nonetheless, it's worth the visit to check out their selection, whatever your preferred libation!

I’ve used Downtown Spirits’ online ordering and delivery service twice now since the pandemic started and had great experiences both times. They have a large selection online and make it really easy to order and set up deliveries. Most recently, I placed an order and had to change the delivery time window because of a change in my schedule. I reached out to them via email and they called me an hour later to ask when was a better time. They re-scheduled it with no hassle and even though the driver had a hard time finding my apartment building (damn you GPS!), the service I got from the delivery driver matched the company. I have nothing but good things to say about Downtown Spirits.

This is not a bad experience for people who are (prospective?) regulars, but for someone in Seattle from out of town who is just trying to get a quick liquor run in, BEWARE. You need to download an app and are required to create a login and provide payment information to gain access to the store. There is a free trial period, so you can technically cancel at anytime within the window and negate the subscription fees, but A) that takes effort and time (in addition to just standing in lobby like a dunce signing up for an app for three minutes just to buy a six pack), and B) the app hits your credit card with multiple fees to validate authorization ($50, $1, both immediately reversed, and the initial subscription fee of $3.30, which I will have to see if I get back eventually since I cancelled immediately after leaving). I appreciate and applaud the efforts to protect employees and minimize inventory shrink due to theft, but it's just too much for a "drop in" in a heavy tourism city, in my opinion. This place is new, so perhaps they will come up with a method to allow people to come in on a "one-time" free pass if they look safe and agree to leave their license or fancy watch at the front desk or something.. Also, if you are operating on a budget, this is a tough way to shop because you don't know how much you are spending until it's too late. Sometimes you're not great at math or you don't know how much tax is, and you want to interact with a human at checkout and maybe take a thing or two out of your cart to stay below a dollar threshold. This won't be possible for you unfortunately. I'm sure that in the end this business will thrive and run SAFELY because the selection is great and the staff is friendly and the prices are extremely competitive, and I hope it does, but I have never been more turned off by a shopping experience in my life and would never return if given the opportunity. I'll pay a 25% premium for less desirable selection at CVS any day.

Don't swing in here to pick stuff up. You need their app and there is no alternative checkout method so I doubt they are planning to change that business model anytime soon. The store looked clean so there's a plus but that could just be because no one wants to deal with setting up a profile to shop there. Pretty bizarre choice for being in such a dense area.