mooch

They seem to get worse with every passing day. I'm ex-Orange and called them up to have them please stop the marketing texts that have started tipping into my inbox. (7 just in October) During the call their call-handler confirmed to me that the price of my contract has gone up now, since EE formally took over Orange. (They've also put my free minutes down from unlimited to 500!) Then it went weird..

Call-handler stubbornly refused to admit the reality that (in my words) : EE has chosen not to honour the price I was paying with Orange.

She wasn't having it. She insisted that EE had not actually chosen this and kept repeating that she "doesn't have to agree" with me. It was a baffling response, since i really am just stating fact...that EE clearly has clearly chosen (for whatever their reasons) not to honour the price and the tariff that I had with Orange. (Oh, how I miss them!). But she carried on; insisting (while arguing the toss) that she wasn't trying to argue with me here. She flippantly told me ..

"But prices just go up sometimes. You're free to shop elsewhere, you don't have to pay it. Your plan is really really cheap"

So, I am free to leave. I do realise that. I was hoping not to have to. Her point was: Stop moaning, cos EE is not interested in hearing it. She thought me petty for making the point. And she was unable, I think, to hear a bad word said against her employer. Then she put me on hold for 5 minutes because "I'm upset now" and her manager had to come on the line. I hope she's recovered. The word 'snowflake' really comes to mind.

I'm planning to write another review shortly detailing all the terrible issues i've had it with EE since they ever started 'taking over' Orange. This is really just the latest. Their spammy texts have tested my patience once more. Don't start arguing the toss with customers who are just stating facts.

Just stuck two items into my basket, click on the basket and on that page it says "What are my delivery options?" Click on that and all i'm offered is postal, no Click and Collect. Ring them up and she hasn't got a clue. Comes back and tells me 'some issue with the website', vague as anything. I asked what, she couldn't say. I asked when it might get fixed, she couldn't say. This is a discount weekend i notice. I bet it's no coincidence. Hung up she was so disingenuous.

Hateful company. Ordered from them online, over a week later and nothing. Rang them, she 'checks something' and tells me "I'll call you back". Over 24 hours later, nothing from her. Then their Twitter person tells me "Royal Mail lost it in the post, we've sent again" without even asking me if I still wanted it. (no thanks, you liars) Doesn't offer up any proof that they lost it. Charged me 3.95 P+P to send, 4.49 to return and £5 on the phone to them (since i'm in Scotland). Avoid them.

Two stores close to me, Partick and Anniesland. I find many of the older staff in both stores especially kind and friendly but the younger staff have so much to learn from them.

Ask them anything and it's just all too much trouble for them. And I am never rude; I'm smart enough not to be. But all you get back from them is grumpy attitude*. Very surly, and makes for a totally depressing shopping experience. Is it coming from the top?

* I can give you three examples if you want them.

How do Lidl get away with having such obvious contempt for their customers?! It blows my mind.

Really politely asked the girl in Lidl this evening if she wouldn't mind opening the till again given the length of the other 'robot' queue (which she can see aswell as me) and I'm just met with surly resistance and attitude. Spoken to like you are muck on their shoe. That contempt must come from the top or they would never get away with it. Is it like this in Germany too?!

Their website doesn't even give their address in the Contact Us so I don't trust them and definitely won't be buying from them. Putting your address on the site is actually a legal requirement aswell.

EDIT 24 April 2019: They have since blocked my email account

I just cancelled my Aberdeen booking with Hostelling Scotland. Sadly, they couldn't even refund me correctly, and charged me 10% of the price as it would have been before the 15% promo discount got applied. I asked them to spell out the maths (in case maybe i was wrong). They ignored that. So I asked again (24 hours later) then they replied to just waive the 10% cancellation charge and refund that aswell. They could not stretch to a sorry. Then they have actually blocked my email address to stop me contacting them from it again. Which is quite unbelievable, really. Nothing says "Welcome to Scotland" quite like the failing customer service of Hostelling Scotland. They really are quite a revelation.
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Some observations of Hostelling Scotland aka SYHA

- Booking system is especially unhelpful after recent 'upgrade' in 2018. Unlike the booking system of the YHA in England it does not let people see a range of dates ahead with the prices displayed but compels you to be specific on dates and change them constantly to try and find the cheapest rooms! It's totally unhelpful.

- Promotional Discounts. Booking system fails to make it clear that discount offers (when they're on) do not apply to the £3 nightly membership fee but 'just' the room. I couldn't understand why the website was miscalculating and then waited ages for someone at head office reservations email address to even give me the answer on that. (as if I've got all the time in the world you know) The hostel manager at Aberdeen even had no idea either. Incompetence all round really. (she waived the fee instead).

- Booked a single ensuite and having read the hostel's online factsheet (very helpful, thanks) I knew they only had one single ensuite in the whole place, so was confused when it remained online even after booking. I was concerned (as anyone might be) about turning up to a room that was actually double booked.
Transpires that they can/may leave these rooms online - with view to letting other single travellers pay the same booking price - and give those travellers double ensuites or even twin ensuites instead. Going for the booking in the hand vs the booking in the bush so to speak.

- In reality this means that Hostelling Scotland will let a single traveller pay £27 for a single bed, but let other single travellers pay £27 for a double bed; and there's a fair question there about pricing fairness. Hostel manager made no attempt to answer that point.

- Big delays on booking queries from anyone at Glebe St and frequently they just cut the thread off of emails. That's the behaviour of an organisation for whom customer service is clearly no priority and that thinks it answers to no-one really.

- No formal complaints procedure - just a "feedback" email address that is read by their marketing guy Graham Sheach. You might have a very serious complaint to make (one traveller on their Facebook page had his boots stolen) but rest assured that you will get a robot reply from Graham Sheach that does nothing to address your points or help you. You'll have to email their operations manager Sabine Mackenzie instead. Smackenzie [at] hostellingscotland.org.uk and i shall be doing that.

- Took them 2 weeks to send me the specs.
- No email updates at all in that time
- Frames felt cheap, so i sent them back, at my expense.
- You can't return specs without a claims form first, which they compel you to ring up for
- You have 7 days from that point to get the specs back to them.
- I rang them up at 11am or something but it took them till 6pm to even email me the form ! (Seriously, this process should be automated!)
- They're obviously trying to lose one day out of that 7 already and hope you miss the deadline. Pretty sure you're speaking to people in India when you call.
- Sent two frames back (on 26 Feb, cost £3.95) and made sure to get a signature and proof of posting. Got an email confirming they'd received them and a refund might take "3 to 5 days but possibly longer"
- 7 days later still no actual refund, so I went to Paypal to get it chased and only then did they process it.

There's no excuse for taking so long to refund me after confirming receipt. I would never buy glasses from them again. It felt like I was buying from cowboys.

I saved a basket of stuff to trade (got the emails to prove it) but went back one day and the whole basket had gone completely ! Emailed them about it and two days later they hadn't replied. When I nudged it again the basket of stuff suddenly reappeared - but with no explanation at all.

But then i couldn't add anymore to the basket. Emailed them again and they told me 'That's how it is'. Then, few days later I went back and I could now add to it again, which i did. Then everything in the basket duplicated - so I had to go through and manually delete all the duplicates! Seriously unreliable software. By this point they were just ignoring my emails; you get the impression they really couldn't care less.

I've no Trade ID because I've since asked them to delete my account altogether and i didn't snip a picture of it first.

EDIT
Curious to see how many "ziffit are great" reviews (that say nothing else and give no detail at all) will flood the site now, since sticking this up.

Bought my glasses here in 2018 and recently went and trod on them ! Rang up (the store I bought them from) and asked them for my pupillary distance (PD) which you need if you're thinking of buying glasses anywhere online. They're not obliged to give you this information, and girl who answered the phone (Natasha) went straight into script...

"It's not something that's contained in your prescription, it's a measurement we take when we're dispensing glasses, so you would have to come in for that"

The call ended there. Then I rang back. "Can you confirm, are you saying that you literally don't record or hold this information?" And then.. she literally hangs up the phone on me. (!) I ring back... it rings for about 20 rings .. then the manager Katie finally takes the call. She insists that they don't record or hold my PD and they couldn't give it out because this would hold them liable in the event of something awful that you felt compelled to sue them for.

Well, you certainly can't give it out if you don't even hold it, can you. "And if I was in hospital and needed glasses ordering over the phone? What then? Are you saying you would guess my PD" (online retailers also guess it, if you don't have it) Yes, she says.

I've since been into another branch, who kindly took my PD again and let me have it. They just got me to sign a disclaimer form. The manager there also helped me to request my records from the other (Glasgow Maryhill) store. So I can find out if they were lying to me. I really think they were.

The manager at the Glasgow Maryhill store is actually very sweet, maybe she's been corrupted by corporate bull----. And what kind of outfit is it that hangs up on people for asking a question? I wasn't rude in the slightest. Vision Express haven't completely lost my custom, because the manager at the other branch went out of her way to help me and restore my faith in them, but this matter isn't dropped yet.

UPDATE
I emailed them, as requested in their reply below. 3 days on there was still no word of reply to that. Only after me nudging them to insist they tell me what attention they were giving this the area manager finally got in touch and, lo and behold, they had my Optical Centre (OCs) measurements on file all along. You add these together to get your Pupillary Distance. As I suspected all along - they just lied to me.

Just had a go on this site for the first time. The prescription in my left eye is -7.25 Sphere and -1.25 Cyl and 100 Axis. It's throwing up an error message (below). I note that the Superdrug Optician site has not given me the same problem; that went through fine. This is a terrible start for Glasses Direct.

There appears to be a problem with the information you entered:

The total value of Left Distance's sphere and cylinder must be within -8 and 8
If you are sure you've put in the correct values and are still getting errors or if you would like help with your prescription, call our team of Dispensing Opticians on 01793 746 555.

They literally don't reply to emails. I was emailing them Nov last year cos their website was malfunctioning and kept deferring to a different address in their drop down to that I was selecting. So, i entered my address manually to get through that and then it wouldn't accept my card for payment either and i was compelled to use Paypal. Emailed them 3 x and they literally never replied to me. How rude are they?!

Placed an order with them and 4 days later still no word on despatch. Emailed them. 2 more days passed and they hadn't replied. So I rang them. She tells me "We've had a problem with the email" (doesn't elaborate on that) and claims she didn't see the email I sent. Asks me to send the email again, which I do, and tells me "I will call you right away". She didn't.

Eventually get a call back and the tile samples I ordered are sent out but I won't be shopping with them. Came across as very incompetent.

They're just so slow to respond to anything. Phone or email or online chat, it's all the same story. I've waited an age (over 5 mins) to get through on the phone before (car just wouldn't stop beeping and it was giving me no clues as to why) and I ended up having to extend my booking and pay more because of it. They just don't employ enough staff, I think.

Their website could be far better too, showing car bays that are near me without making me put in a date and time. Sometimes you want to know what's around before you try to book. Some info on their website is also inaccurate - website tells you that you can't add a driver to your account if they don't reside at the same address but it turns out that you can. Plenty of people will have read that and not even tried.

I recently ordered some mudguards, from Cycle Republic on 04 October (to collect in-store). By 11 Oct I'd had no update on my order from them and my order still said "Processing". I phoned them up to chase and they told me "Your mudguards are in-store; sorry we couldn't update the order because we didn't know it had arrived. That's because the supplier (Zyro Fisher) delivered the order using their own courier instead of using ours".

As excuses go, that is certainly one I've not heard before. And nothing on this parcel with the order # on apparently - so the store couldn't contact me, apparently, when it got there.

EDIT: When I went to collect these, he did something online that generated a 'Your item is here' email, finally, to my inbox. He only had my name though (since customer services had rung the store, when I complained) but I'm still not sure how he managed to generate this (when i went to collect) if they couldn't manage that when the item got there. I meant to ask, when the guards had been fitted but then I forgot.

This is the same co. that took 16 mins to confirm my payment when I ordered (!), that bounced my emails to customer service ("server problems") and that had me ringing them 3 times because 2 staff who said they would ring me back just didn't. On the second call the woman there (Sophie) starts talking about my "bike order" when I haven't even ordered a bike. You work in customer service and you can't even talk about the right order?! Just incompetent. When I accused Cycle Republic of having no grip on the situation at all, if this is happening with their suppliers, chap on the third call (Paul) replies with "But all online retailers have problems". That's just not an acceptable answer. Lesson learned. Will not order from them again. Shame really cos the staff in my local store are actually great.

I've emailed Zyro Fisher aswell to ask for their side of the story - and an apology. I've had no reply.

Maybe it depends where you go. The Glasgow store was nothing special for service though. I was enquiring on some vinyl and spoke to Pauline. Quickly found some vinyl I liked and asked for a quote. She does the sums on a calculator but doesn't offer up the price breakdown to me, just wanted to hand me a little total on one of their business cards. Weird. So, I have to ask for it, then she writes down all her figures (no words though). I said:

"Thanks, that's helpful. I'll take that home"

"No, you can't take that paper out the store" she says

Seriously, what? It was just a piece of A4 paper with her scribblings on it.

I said "I'll be honest, this is putting me off, it's not great for customer service".

"It's company policy" she says.

So, then I have to write it all down for myself. Now I've got home and my figures don't even match the total she came up with, so I'm really confused. What kind of service is this, that you can't even let people walk out with a quote?

She told me that the price of the adhesive spray would go down as it was just one room now (we were originally discussing two) and then when I'm writing down the figures she pretends she never actually said that (she categorically did) and you must buy a whole can at 11.99. Got the impression she was making it up as she went along and I lost my trust in her. So I won't be buying from you.

EDIT: Thanks for your reply but i already spoke to Tracey on the email and when I asked for a quote she told me "We don't offer a telesales service". I see Pauline in the Glasgow store got her friend to write in though (see review from 'Policy for Tyres' on 18 Sept 2018). How sweet. Full of praise and no detail, classic fake review.

Avoid this outfit, I won't ever use them again. Ordered from them on Amazon on Fri evening, they didn't give my parcel to the Hermes courier till following Weds. Hermes tracking page kept telling me "we are waiting for the item from the retailer". Transtoools just blamed slow updates; they couldn't have cared less. I should have just picked a different seller when Amazon's Doddle option wasn't given for this purchase from them (but for other sellers, selling the same product, it is) They sent me a tin that had 3 dents in it and wouldn't even sit flat cos the bottom was blown out.

Ordered a rug at 3pm on a Sunday; confirmation email comes through but mentions nothing about when to expect delivery. It wasn't until 11.33 on the Weds that I got a text from them to say it was on its way, with Yodel, and could come at any time up to 9pm the same day. I'd read the FAQs - what with the email telling me nothing - and that tells you that you'll get a text from the courier on the night before. Nope. You've to drop everything and get home and wait around for (up to) 9 hours because they can't text you properly, in good time, to organise your day.

You would think a retailer like Habitat could do better than this for heaven's sake. You should get a tracking no. as soon as you order and their website should let you track it.

FAQs also say that if you ordered a rug you can actually book a delivery slot but it turns out that's only if it's a certain size of rug. Order confirmation email gives no clarity on that either and you're just left totally confused.

Terrible service from Habitat and customer service was equally bad. Emails unanswered, Twitter guy and phone guy telling me different days for delivery and phone guy reassuring me I would get a text the night before, when I didn't. He was just guessing the answers to anything I asked him.

It just keeps getting worse. Here's a timeline..

14 June I signed up for their service

14 June Template email from them titled "Time for a proper introduction" which sets out the timeline. Start date given as 05 July.

18 June Email from them telling me "we cannot identify your gas MPRN this has delayed your start with utility point" I reply with it 8 mins later.

21 June Acknowledged me (now 3 days later) and told me start date delayed to 15 July.

22 June I emailed asking what was the issue was with my gas MPRN no. exactly and why the delay (So Energy and OVO never had a problem at this address)

23 June Template "Just checking in" email confirming next steps that tells me they will take me over on 12 July. But first direct debit still down for 15 July. (seriously, what?!) I reply just asking for reply to my 22 June email, querying MPRN issue and the delay.

26 June I chase that again

26 June They reply telling me "We can confirm that we are not delaying your start date we are following the industry rules of given the 14 day cool period and a 14 day registration for your gas supplier. This means that we cannot continue with the 5th July."

So they tell me that despite 05 July being all over my Introduction email. And now it changed to 12 July apparently !

They replied on Trustpilot too. (See my review titled "Full of schoolboy excuses") They said there that :

"All suppliers have access to the National Database which provides us with your meter information for example, your gas MPRN (supply number). Sometimes, when we do take over, this information does not pull through from the database which can cause a delay in switching. Not receiving the MPRN's has happened a few times with us so we are actively looking into this and it is being resolved to avoid these situations happening again in the future. "

They clearly didn't know what they were doing.

They were very hesitant to let me use a referral code on the phone too (when i took up the service) That went like this..

Me: I have a referral code I'd like to use please
UP: Hm, do you know them? Do you have their email address? It might get rejected.
Me: No, i don't know them I got this code from Trustpilot. Everyone is posting them, they obviously think they can use them. Did you misinform people? How about you try it anyway and see if it accepts it?
UP: It's been accepted.
Me: Okay, good.

No word of it in the Intro email. so I had to chase that on email aswell and was told..

"I can confirm that there is a note on your application to say you have been referred. The £25.00 is credited to your accounts when you have both gone live and switched."

Anyway, I've pulled out (in the cooling off period). I dread to think what else they will mess up and I don't want to lose my life chasing their errors.

I'm starting to think Utility Point is a company just full of excuses.

When complaints came through (thick and fast) on Trustpilot about calls and emails going unanswered they condescended everyone by telling them 'We're really busy replying to other people and it can take a while to make sure we deal with them to our high levels of service' (paraphrased). Basically; 'Everybody else is getting great customer service, just not you' apparently.

When I finally got a call back (4 days later - to take up their service) and complained about that aswell their guy just came out with more schoolboy excuses about 'We're proving so popular, there was this thing on Money Saving Expert and there was that advert over there, and that one over there'. So, in other words, you don't have enough staff then.

Now I've just had an email telling me they couldn't find my gas MPRN number - but no reason given. Er, okay. Isn't this exactly the sort of thing you should know how to do?! Interestingly, So Energy and OVO never had a problem with it, at this same address.

I replied with the MPRN no. immediately (from a bill) and another 4 days later they email back, 'Sorry for the delay in replying, your start date is now .. basically 10 days later'. I'm inclined to think that their email was just a handy excuse they're using to delay the start of my services, which is really occurring for other reasons. (like so many new customers and probably one person processing everyone).

I'm genuinely thinking of pulling out in the cooling off period. Outfox the Market and Zog energy (gas only) are both contenders. Utility Point want their customers to be ever-so grateful and gullible all at once.