iStyles.com

High quality skins and very good service - even in the UK

I keep returning to iStyles because they're the only people with a huge range of skins which you can also get in matte - and matte skins look so much better than glossy. There is a slight delay in delivery because I'm in the UK, but this is probably not due to iStyles but rather to the mail service. However the skins are worth the small wait and I will be back the next time I have a new device which needs skinning!

Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Excellent all round

This outfit (pun intended...) not only provide very good quality clothing for men (cravats, waistcoats, etc.), but provide them immediately - their delivery time is next day! They've got some good designs, too, which is not always the case because a lot of menswear is boring and washed-out when it comes to colours and patterns. The website is clear and easy to navigate ('Blue Waistcoats', 'Silver Waistcoats') with plenty of extra information such as 'How to tie a cravat'. The prices are more than reasonable as well - so very highly recommended!

18 February 2013

Reply from Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Hi, Thanks for the great review! You ordered items that we had in stock so we were able to send them out the day of the order using a next day sevice. We are so pleased that they arrived in time!Jan - Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Cult Pens

If you need a writing instrument - these are your people!

Choosing pens has never been my favourite activity, ever since I had to choose my first Parker pen for school when I was ten - in front of a very snooty shop owner and his assistant, with my mother apologising for my left-handedness in the background. However when I first rang Cult Pens for advice ("I need a fountain pen which writes smoothly, writes immediately even though I haven't used it for days, and will handle a heavy-handed left-hander") this was a completely different experience. They were friendly, helpful, knowledgeable - and they certainly didn't push me towards the most expensive pen (far from it). I ended up with a pen that's just right for me and I'm still happy with it a year later. Since then I've rung up with other strange requests ("My partner needs a pen which is also a good stylus, has more than one colour ink, and will fit into a normal-sized pen loop") and had the same super service and ended up equally happy.

Cult Pens don't only sell an amazing range of fountain pens from the everyday through the weird and wonderful to the ridiculously expensive (well I wouldn't pay £549 for a pen), but also a huge range of ink colours (I've got a glorious dark brown for my fountain pen), refills, nibs etc. and other writing-related items such as pencil sharpeners, paper, cutters, etc. The prices are good, too - if you find better it won't be by much, and Cult Pens is next-day delivery so it's unlikely to be worth the difference even if you do find it.

Highly recommended.

Pet Supermarket

A frustrating waste of money and time

This company used to be good - however they are now very poor indeed. The prices may look cheap but so, sadly is the service. They not only have an expensive 0844 telephone number but you are kept hanging on the line - and then you are often disconnected. Is this a way of keeping their prices 'low', or just inefficiency?

Pet Supermarket also now use the dreaded Yodel delivery company. So you may expect your order when you see it - and you most likely will never see it. Then, of course, will have to telephone Pet Supermarket about the non-arrival, on their expensive, non-answered telephone line...

Avoid - try Zooplus instead, they're heaps better.

Amazon

A real 'How To' for other companies

I find myself shopping on Amazon rather than with other companies even where Amazon is slightly more expensive, simply because a) it's so easy and fast, and b) if anything goes wrong the customer service is so good. Having said this, due to the ‘Super Saver’ delivery scheme (as in free delivery) they offer, Amazon is usually the cheapest anyway.

With the Kindle, Amazon have done that thing that many (most?) other companies find so difficult: they’ve listened to the customer. The Kindle was always good, but Amazon have gone on developing it and, where there have obviously been conflicts between what different types of customer want of the Kindle, they've developed new and retained the previous version(s). This says it all about Amazon’s business model - and the price point is finely judged as well, balancing between Amazon covering its research and development and getting people to buy, so the customer will purchase eBooks from Amazon on a continuing basis.

If all retailers and providers were this good, life would be considerably less frustrating...

Yodel

Dire

In our small hamlet we've had parcels signed off as 'delivered' when they haven't been, delivery attempts apparently made and cards left when people have been in the house at the time of the alleged attempts, parcels left just anywhere in a 'hunt the parcel' kind of fashion, parcels very badly damaged - and generally no end of trouble and frustration since Yodel took over local deliveries. An absolute nightmare of a delivery company.

Robert Richardson found this review useful

Higher Nature

Excellent supplements; friendly, efficient customer service

I've been using supplements from Higher Nature for longer than I can remember now - and I've got nothing but praise for both the supplements and the people at Higher Nature.

The people are friendly, helpful, down-to-earth and knowledgeable. They never do the 'hard sell' on you and always seem to have your best interests at heart. The 'club' system you can join, and the Higher Nature repeat order system, mean that there are extremely good savings to be made on the prices of the supplements. The charming lady who deals with the payment system, Joan, makes sorting out any problems you may have with payments (for example when you have a change of credit card) simplicity itself because she's just plain efficient.

Best of all, the supplements make a huge difference to your health!