Ebuyer.com

Very good service & product selection

Being a technology & computer geek I order lots of products with ebuyer - find this is the UK's cheapest place for most items!

The site is always pleasing to use, and the customer reviews of each product within the site are a great way to find out what you're actually getting for your money.

I've always found dispatch and delivery quick, minus the odd stock problem (which does happen to all companies people, there isn't an infinite amount of every item!) and once where my item was coming from a different warehouse and they had an issue with dispatch over the weekend. I did phone their number (which is NOT "premium rate" as others put it, but "national rate") and they got it sorted pronto - even gave me free deliver on my next order because of this.

Overall, very pleasing service and company with a few minor issues which you will undoubtedly experience with all similar companies.

:)

Asos

Great store. 5 stars doesn't say enough

I am a frequent customer of Asos.com and must place 2 or 3 orders per month. Their web site is amazingly easy to use (unlike some other fashion outlets), they have HUGE stock of pretty much all clothing, and their own branded clothing is actually quite premium for the price you pay.

I've recently taken out their premier service which gives me unlimited next-day deliveries throughout the year for £24.99 pre-paid fee. Awesome, right?

I've only ever had to return 1 item because I was sent L - I take M. The return process was very simple and there were no problems or comebacks - even though I'd opened the packaging of the item AND removed the tag on it too!

Overall, I can't speak highly enough of Asos - even my friends use them without any problems or issues too. :)

1and1

Terrible business ethics, slow servers & network

A few months ago I put an end to my second and final contract with 1&1.

I first used 1&1 2 maybe 3 years ago for hosting a small web project. They were quick to take my money, but account setup took a little longer - which was down to "problems with the system" or soemthing like that. If a system has failed then I don't mind, that is acceptable.
So I finally get in to my hosting control panel (which is truly awful and very hard to work, by the way!) and manage to upload & set up my web site.
A few weeks go by without any problems or issues, everything working great. Then, shock horror, all of a sudden my PHP stops working! I submit a ticket with them, a guy runs through and says there's nothing wrong at their end, it must be my script. I couldn't understand how this happened, because it was working for a few weeks just fine! Anyhow, I went along with this explanation, re-uploaded the file in question and things were okay again. Not for long, though!
My e-mail stops forwarding to Google Mail address. I checked everything was set up just fine in the control panel - and it was. Contacted support, they ran through, said there was no problems at their end and it must be Google Mail. Err hello - Google run the world's most used network - why would there be faults with this when I can receive e-mail sent directly to the address just fine? (it turns out 1&1 had network routing issues which I later found out on a forum)

Finally, something happened to the server I was hosted on and I lost all of my data. Luckily I kept backups so I was able to restore my site on another host very quickly - 1&1 took their time to say the least! So this was the point where I gave up with them, around 6 months in to my service.

Recently, I (foolishly) took out a hosting package with them for another web project, and I was hit by almost all the same issues! E-mails weren't being forwarded in a timely manner - if at all, network speed was very slow (I can't stream 1Mb/s video, even on a 18Mb synced premium broadband service), and their support was as bad as ever.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, most (if not all) of their products have a 12 month contract - so if you find 1&1 to be lemons you'll have to put up with them for the remainder of the contract, or lose money and switch elsewhere.

The above issues actually pushed me so far to begin setting up my own hosting company that can actually provide a usable & reputable service. In short, I would not advise anyone to consider 1&1 for any service.

Orange

Mediocre network, Pathetic support

I'm on my last 2 months of an 18 month contract with Orange. This was my first Pay Monthly contract - previously I've only used Pay as you Go. Thus because this was my first contract my expectations weren't exactly high and I suppose in a way I wasn't expecting much better service than PayG.

Network: Orange have just made a claim that they have the best (or fastest, I forget which) network, covering more UK people than any other network. Let me tell you, this is NOT the case. Whilst I've always been able to pick up some sort of reception around the country, around half of the time this was not usable and I had to "do a little dance" in different positions to get acceptable call quality. This is NOT what I expected when paying £45 /month.

Support: I was on their top band (Band 6 I think it was) and I got their "premier support team" which one of their rep's said was their most advanced support team and I was privileged to get this. Well, I'm not sure how privileged I was with 10-15 minute waiting times, about 5 "press 1 for..." options to go through to get there, and rude & unsupportive reps. Definitely not what I expect for £45.

Upgrades: Last month I was due to upgrade my mobile phone. I ordered with Phones4U which meant my account was "locked" and thus I couldn't upgrade before my 15 months - EVEN IF I WISHED TO PAY FOR THE HANDSET. -- why would they do that?
So, 2 days before my upgrade date I call up Orange, wait 20 mins to speak to someone, and then ask them which phones are available. None of them tickled my fancy and I'd seen the HTC HD Mini in Carphone Warehouse which I quite liked. I asked if they could source me one of those - no; it's not on the regular list and "we do not order in phones to please customers". -- rude much?
So, I gave him an ultimatum - either I would be able to order my HTC HD Mini on the date I was due to upgrade, or I'd go to another network that would give me one. Upgrade date - ring ring - "Hello.... from Orange" so I ask for the HTC HD Mini, only to get the same answer. I told the lady I would be changing network if I didn't get this phone and she said "I'm sorry you feel this way".

Next day, I go and order a NEW contract with Vodafone through Phones4U, get everything sorted, all set up & left the shop within 20 mins. Yes, that's LESS TIME ordering a new phone than WAITING ON HOLD for Orange. Pathetic, right?

Icing on the cake: 3 days after ordering my new phone on a new contract, I get another call from Orange asking why I haven't chosen to upgrade yet. I told the guy that I wouldn't be supplied with the handset that I wanted (didn't tell him I'd already got it on Voda!) and he went through the same procedure with me, but (!!) when I told him I was thinking of changing to Vodafone all hell broke loose; he was then willing to give me the same handset at the same price as Voda were!
I think it's absolutely ABYSMAL that you've got to threaten leaving the company for them to give you what you want. I was paying £45 /month - surely that was enough to keep me happy? What a bunch of *something I can't say in this review*

Why should I have to put up with poor network coverage, expensive monthly bills (now paying £20 less on Voda for same usage limits and same price handset), ridiculous support that takes an age to pick up AND right hand doesn't know what the left is doing? My advice; do not consider Orange, unless they are your absolute last resort. You probably will regret it!

Olorin found this review useful

Simplyacer

Amazing services and pricing

I've already ordered two laptops from them, and I'm soon to be ordering another! The web site is easy to use, the support & advice (telephone) is good and quick to pick up, the delivery prices are VERY reasonable and the overall prices are also very cheap. In fact, before I purchased my last laptop with them I'd researched across the UK to find a cheaper supplier - they were the cheapest by £25! Overall, very impressed with this company and would highly recommend them.