lesley vandyke

Very happy with the greenhouse, and expertly installed by Jeremy. He left no mess and completed the job on his own. Would recommend this company.

I am the owner of a micro business who has been sued by Consultiv Utilities for breach of contract for an electricity supply contract that failed to go live.
Their salesman 'Nathan' contacted me a full eleven months before the expiry of my existing contract. When I pointed out that it was too soon, he made the usual claim that 'now is the best time to secure a good deal' and Act Now! In fact the renewal deals he offered were disappointing, specifically with a very high daily standing charge. When I queried this, I was told that they're all like that, that's as good as it gets. He continued to ring me over the following few weeks each time offering slightly better rates, and always very friendly, using my first name and the usual 'how are you today?' sales patter. At the time my existing contract had been brokered by CU, so I trusted them to find me the best deal, and eventually agreed to accept the contract they'd secured for me.
So with a sigh of relief I forgot about the matter.

Some months later I was contacted by Bionic Ltd, another brokerage I've used in previous years. I explained that they were too late. Ah, no problem, I was told. You can only have one supplier, and whichever deal goes through first is the one you'll have, it might be ours or it might be theirs. And Bionics offer was considerably better - a daily standing charge that was £0.20p less, and an electric unit cost £01.53p lower. All this with one phone call, no constant pestering as with CU.

I hope this review will alert others not to break a contract with this litigious company, who emailed me 2 months after the event, aggressively demanding £750 + VAT. CU's declared lost commission on the deal was £550, but £750 is the flat 'per meter' fee. Having taken legal advice, I decided to pay up or risk escalation and even more expense. However, if this happens to you, I suggest kick the can down the road, then plead poverty and negotiate. I finally paid them £500 + VAT.

An expensive lesson learned the hard way; I find it strange that CU have secured such a high star rating on this site, and would certainly question the provenance of these glowing reviews. If I could have left a no-star review I would have, and I look forward to reading their response to this review. They always have an answer don't they?

Quick delivery, products as I expected and very good value for money. I would shop from Dunelm again with confidence.

An order from Hotel Chocolat has become a Christmas tradition in our family - reliably delicious chocolate, well packed and delivered quickly. No problems with the discount code... what's not to like?

Bionic's service is very good. Their operatives are helpful, polite, and know their stuff!

It's very easy to get a quote and order from this company, and I have found their price for aga heating oil to be keener than other organisations. Never had any issues with them, and delivery is usually quick.

Great coffee and a fair price. I really love the gourmet espresso blend, full of flavour without bitterness.
Usually delivery is very quick, often next day. Recently a delivery was delayed in the post - eventually arriving 2 weeks after the order was made. In the meantime the Bean Shop had sent me a replacement when I told them that my coffee hadn't come. So when the original order did finally turn up, I offered to pay for it, but the company let me have it gratis, even though the delay wasn't their fault. Happy customer!

I have recently bought 2 shirts from this company, and overall am very happy with the service and quality. One had to be exchanged as I wasn't happy with the fit, but this process was very straightforward and fuss free. Beautiful quality shirts, both the fabric and quality of finish are superb. If you watch the 'sewing bee' on TV and take a look at the seams, you will understand what I mean! Would definitely recommend.

Happy to use Viovet again, but not if I was in a hurry. Delivery is free if you spend over a certain amount, but it was not as speedy as some of Viovet's competitors - it was a week between acknowledgement of order and dispatch.

Very easy process to get a quote and to place an order. A better price than your main rival, what's not to like!
LA M-J

Smartestenergy: I have never dealt with such an inept shower before. Like many other reviewers, I have spent hours on hold on the phone trying to speak to someone, and waited for email responses which are nowhere near the '3-5 days' they promise. Here is part of the message I sent on 29/12/22, (unanswered at the time of writing this review) which explains the issue:
" I spoke to your telephone agent 'Alison' on 23/11/22 on the matter of my account being over £8000 in credit, and asked for a refund. She told me it would take 30 days. I was unhappy with the delay and she told me 'that she would see what she could do'. Precisely nothing, as I expected, and we are now 37 days on from that conversation and you are still holding my money."
As a sole trader I have a hefty tax bill to pay at the end of this month, so I am expected to get into debt to pay it while this company are collecting interest on my funds. They have known about the overpayments for months, having raised the d/d payment last summer by hundreds of pounds, for no adequate reason! My advice to prospective customers is, as the saying goes, do not touch this company with a bargepole. From Lesley Moxon-Jones, a/c no 100011146482. My personal message to this company is, it's not rocket science - how hard can it be to refund my money? You have no difficulty in taking it.
UPDATE: within 24 hours of posting this, Smartestenergy have made the refund, and telephoned me to apologise. They also very politely suggested that I edit my negative review... so I have added an extra star to the original 1 star. The power of Trustpilot, eh?

I have had a Starling business account for a couple of months now and am very happy that I chose Starling. It was straightforward to open the account, (unlike some of the rival big banks, one of which I tried to open an account with first, but gave up in disgust, they have just not caught up with 21st century.) The app is so straightforward to use, and I love the facility to pay a cheque in just by taking a photo of it. I have given 4 stars instead of 5 because you have to pay a fee if you pay cash into the account.

I have been a loyal zooplus customer for some years and in most ways they tick the boxes: lots of choice, keen prices, quick delivery, good website. However I have received damaged goods 3 times in the past year and - although they have responded quickly and sent replacement goods - why don't they just LISTEN? They pack the goods loosely (including unboxed food sachets) in large boxes without any bubblewrap or packing paper, use a well known delivery company with a reputation for bad service - a sure fire recipe for things to go wrong! It ends with me up picking lumps of wet cat food out of the cat litter and sweeping up heaps of the stuff from my kitchen floor. I would not have accepted the parcel if I had known, but the delivery guy didn't even ring, it was just drop and run. They excelled themselves this time, both the exterior box had a hole in it, as well as the rip in the large bag of cat litter. There are better ways to spend a Friday evening and I am now looking for a new cat food supplier.

I have not used Certas Energy before but would certainly do so again. It was easy to get a quote for oil online and webchat with one of their helpful staff. Good price with a generous voucher code as an incentive, and the delivery driver was efficient and friendly.

Excellent. Delivered early in the allocated time slot and friendly courier.

Very tasty and interesting vegan food. Well packaged with dry ice and reliably and promptly delivered. Large portions at a fair price so you never go hungry or feel short changed. They're very interested in getting suggestions from their customers as to how they might improve their existing dishes and expand their range. Highly recommended.

I tried to activate a credit card online, and failed. Should have been easy, but wasn't. Such a rubbish website, so un-user friendly that I gave up in disgust.

Boilerjuice - what's not to like? It's a very convenient way to buy and I would certainly recommend to others. Other services like local boiler servicing at a competitive rate are also useful. Only disadvantage is that I don't think you can say you just want the tank topped up, you have to specify how many litres. I don't always know how much to order so a 'just fill it up' option would be good. Or have I missed something?

I have bought blinds from Blind Depot twice before, so I knew they would fulfil my expectations. Their website is user-friendly, it is just a case of measuring the window accurately, and they do the rest.
Delivery was very quick and the packaging was good. I am very happy with my new blind, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this company to a friend.