John Paul Eldridge

Amazon Kindle -

I’ve have owned a Kindle for nearly 20 years, and been with Amazon even longer.
Amazon from next week are removing the ability to download purchased books to a computer hard drive, the only place they can be stored is on a kindle device or mobile kindle app where they are encrypted with a DRM. This effectively removes physical ownership of the book file unless you have a kindle device, despite ‘buying’ them from Amazon for years. Downloading has also been set so it has to be done for each individual book, no bulk downloads any more. So for a kindle library of over 1000 books it’s very time consuming.
I recently purchased a new Paperwhite Signature which bricked after a week, customer services would only supply a refurbished second hand device which when delivered had a scratched case and faulty firmware. After hours of calls trying to communicate with staff who’s first language was not English was very frustrating.Appalling customer service. All access is via the BOT, that eventually gets a call to you after navigating endless menus.
The final straw is Amazon CEOs open support of Trump and his cronies and their policies towards Europe and Ukraine. I may be one customer but having looked at Kobos offering, ethics, customer support ratings and ability to use a library I will be moving across and closing my account, I don’t think, judging by other media reports I will be the last.
Kindle is no longer what it was, nor is the wider Amazon eco system.

Excellent product, good communication from the initial ordering process to delivery.

A heads up if you’re considering purchasing from Solent Beds. We have purchased from them before and had quality issues addressed quickly and without fuss but not on this occasion.
We purchased an extendable table and four chairs. They arrived and were assembled by Solent Beds but it was immediately obvious that the table was faulty. It was only supplied with two of its four feet and one side of the top was warped so that in places it stood proud of the other leaf. When the table was extended it this was even more apparent. It was not possible to adjust the top and despite what Solent Beds suggested the missing feet were not the problem, it was a poorly manufactured sintered stone top. The fitter agreed saying it wasn’t acceptable took photographs and we rejected the table.
We then had telephone ping pong with customer services who had to keep referring back to their manager for decisions. Eventually we were told that they would only refund the table or replace it, if we accepted a refund it would only be for the table and not for the chairs, despite the fact that they were part of the original order. It was agreed that the table was poorly manufactured. We like design but because we could not get a refund on the chairs suggested replacing the table with the fixed top version, reducing the likelihood of receiving another defective top as the top would be one piece.
They would do this but unbelievably would withhold £100 of our refund as a ‘re selection admin charge’. We asked the question - what was to stop us getting the refund for the defective table one day and returning the following day to order the fixed version thereby saving £100 ? Their answer - nothing stopping us.
Solent Beds supplied us with a defective poorly manufactured table, we reasonably asked them to replace it with the fixed version, negating the possibility of being supplied with another defective table. Solent Beds think it acceptable to charge £100 to re order a replacement for defective goods and despite the chairs being ordered with the table won’t refund them. To charge £100 to cover the administration for ordering an alternative for goods that they supplied in a defective condition and refusing to refund items purchased to complement the defective item is an extremely poor policy and clearly indicative of this companies true attitude towards its customers.

Great store, friendly staff and a good selection.

Tried to get a quote for a 2023 BMW RT from CN as they are shown as the preferred broker for BMW Motorrad.
Completed the online proposal and was sent an email requesting I called them. The phone number on the email is incorrect and doesn’t even ring. Finally when I got through I had a 55 minute call wait to be told that the bike could not be quoted on due to its value??
Most BMW bikes retail over 20 k!
I would be happy to have discussed this feedback on the phone but a) There is no email anywhere on the website unless you are an existing customer and b) why would I wait for nearly an hour in a queue.
Very poor level of service.

Always found Argos to be a fair company to deal with until I purchased a mobile phone them. The phone is advertised as having an android OS. What they don't tell you is that the OS is a cut down version so that the phone will not run many of the more power Hungary apps. The phone I purchased will not fulfil the purpose I purchased it for. I tried to return the phone for a refund or exchange to the Newport, Isle of Wight store but they refused point blank to take it back.
The spec of the phone is misleading, very disappointing level of service from Argos and the 'computer says no' staff at Newport.

Scam company purporting to be O2. The site takes a payment implying that they will send the unlock code by return.
This is not the case, you will then receive a second email requesting a further payment of nearly £40 to release the code. The email has no return address. All you can do is track the order.
They refer to terms and conditions which ARE NOT displayed on the site.
Scam.

Our Nano hot tap failed just out of warranty on Christmas Eve. We made contact with customer services and eventually had a conversation with Eugene. Long story short, despite being out of warranty the situation was resolved without fuss, lengthy call waits and hoops to jump through. Boiler is being replaced.
Excellent sevice.

Legal protection cover. I was badly bitten by a dog leaving permanent scarring. I made a claim under my E Sure personal injury cover, providing medical reports, photographs, the police report, a witness who could identify the dog and the owner. I also provided social media posts that showed the owner with the dog. The panel solicitors appointed by esure wrote several times to the dog owner who did not cooperate - not responding etc. Bottom line is that unless they think they can recover their costs from the third party the matter won’t be pursued. In this case he said he didn’t have insurance. They accepted his word and discontinued the matter. Save your money and go to a no win no fee solicitor. That way you will get the same service with no premium.
I challenged this decision and after 12 weeks esure finally responded to say they don’t provide the cover it’s provided by a third party insurer speak to them.
Shocking service, worthless cover in my case.

We purchased a set of garden furniture last year, used it for three months before putting it into dry storage. When we brought it out this year for the summer we found that the stain / preserver had peeled in patches on all of the items of furniture, tables chairs and loungers. We contacted IKEA to be told that this was not covered on warranty. We did a little investigation and found that this was not uncommon on IKEA garden furniture and is caused by too thick an application of preservative. We went back to CS asking them to reconsider, reiterating that the furniture had only been used for three months. Their response was ‘go to the ombudsman’. Very disappointed as we have purchased much of our furniture from IKEA and to date had been impressed by their value for money, quality and CS.
The issue now is after three months use all the furniture will need to be stripped back to bare wood and re treated. Hardly fit for purpose.

I now have two Cardo units, having recently purchased the second unit for my wife. I had a query around pairing and submitted a ticket to customer support, not holding up much hope in getting a quick response. To my surprise I received a phone call the next working day. Very helpful and knowledgable member of staff. He was able to talk me through a solution and gave me a few operating tips as well. Very impressed, excellent customer service.

Ordered a set of handlebar guards, they didn’t arrive within the time stated on their website. I phoned, tried web chat, their advertised tracker system and emailed. Eventually I had a short response from ‘Shaun’ to say it would be with me Tuesday. Tuesday came and went, no guards. I have since tried again unsuccessfully to contact them numerous times. They do not respond to any form of communication.
Now with pay pal which takes a month to resolve before I get my £124 back and can order somewhere else.
Avoid this company, zero customer service.

Requesting our repair was straightforward but we were promised a call back the following morning to book to fitter. This didn’t happen and we had to chase the call.
Then the fun started.
It took four weeks to get the glass replaced due to a ‘supply issue’. I can understand that is beyond the company’s control but they didn’t have a fitter in our area which didn’t help, We had to chase updates and there was no temporary repair offered. The glass that needed replacing was a side window and I understand other companies will fit a Perspex pane. I had to cobble up a sheet of polythene which is not water tight or any good at speed. In effect from the day of the incident we were without our car for four weeks.
I think the company could have done more to effect a temporary repair and have better communication bearing in mind I was tied in by my insurance.

Excellent service. Easy site to navigate, competitive pricing and lightning fast delivery.

I have been insured with Saga car insurance for a number of years and have been happy until … Recently my drivers window was smashed by a stone thrown up by a passing car.
I duly contacted the 24 hr call centre on my policy document, paid the £75 glass excess and …. two weeks later I am still waiting for the glass to be replaced. I can’t use the car as the alarm keeps activating and it is insecure.
Despite repeated attempts I can’t get any answer from their contact centre even after a 40 minute wait, I have emailed as requested by the pre recorded message, no response. I have emailed and phoned their complaints department, no response.
My policy states I am entitled to a hire car if my car is off the road, the windscreen sub contractor who service the 24 hr contact centre state I need to contact Saga direct to arrange this but I can’t get a response.
Completely worthless policy.

Update - Finally spoke to the auto glass department this morning, unable to help but was promised a call back. No call received.
Had the response below - BOT service only, following day contacted by the web team via email, promised to monitor and get back by the end of the working day. No they didn’t. Customer complaint line have responded to my email now for three days.
Now bank holiday weekend, my car will have be off the road for three weeks. No hire car, no communication.

Absolute disgrace.
Email has stated the courier has tried twice to deliver despite the recipient being in the house.
Tried to redirect the parcel to a neighbour opposite - nope, the gazetteer used by Evri doesn’t list all the numbers in the street.
Tried to use the web chat - nope, it is limited to a status update and redirects back to the parcel re direct ….
I’ll phone the number given out on FB and that’s buried in the internet (not on their website interestingly…) to speak to customer services during their advertised opening hours….nope an automated status update and redirect back to the app….
Re branded from Hermes due to the poor customer service and TV exposure on their internal working practices but the same issues remain.
GET A PROBLEM WITH DELIVERY AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SPEAK TO A HUMAN BEING
I would never use this service by choice and I will now seek suppliers who don’t use them, I would rather pay a little extra and have a professional service.
Companies who use Evri / Hermes need to understand that this appalling level of service impacts on their reputation too.

Reliable and cheaper than council service.

I needed a 32 mm socket at short notice. Found the item online via the Halfords website. Ordered using the click and collect. Item was cheaper than eBay and Amazon, even for the professional range.
Had an email within minutes to say it had been picked and was ready for collection.
In store the staff were as ever friendly and I was served almost immediately.
Positive experience as ever at the Newport IOW store.

Visited the Newport Isle of Wight store today. As you enter there is an A4 sign stating customers are required to wear face masks. The meet and greet staff at the entrance were not wearing masks, neither were the two staff on the tills. Despite this they have a continuous loop playing on the sound system requesting customers to wear masks, use the sanitiser and socially distance.
Because of the the store layout distancing is virtually impossible and yet they don’t enforce their own covid safety guidance or it seems require their own staff to do so. Not a safe environment.