Ms Marianne Kern

Clearly, Hey!Broadband must be training its Tech Support staff in the art of coping with anxiety-stricken customers! I can’t think of any other way Ash Baichen could have dealt so intuitively with my situation when I called about my home phone.

When he was assigned to look into my problem, Ash therefore had a double challenge on his hands – fixing my technical problem AND understanding and dealing with my anxieties, which could so easily have made his job that much more complicated.

I think I need only say that he resolved the problem in less than two hours. I would have been more than satisfied with that result, but the fact that his manner was unfailingly patient and unpatronizing made my experience with what was my first problem since joining Hey!Broadband all the more remarkable.

So thank you, Ashmit Baichen, for your superb technical and problem-solving skills. And thank you, Hey!Broadband, for having escalated my problem to the appropriate part of your organisation with such dispatch – despite my having reported it so late on a non-working day.

Together the service you provided me exceeded all my expectations and, indeed, your own obligations and high standards.

I purchased a custom sisal rug from Designer Carpets to replace some carpet tiles my cats were using to exercise their claws. The order was trouble-free and the rug is wonderful.

The cats love it. Not only do they use it for scratching, but now they're stretching out on it for hours on end - so much so that I've got to beg them to let me into the bathroom!

As for the company - I couldn't ask for better, friendlier customer service.

Great service and no complications settling.

The product is superb. I've already purchased additional boxes of a smaller size, but expect to buy still more of them in various sizes.

I already used two of them to tidy up my conservatory, where I was storing so many raffle prizes and assorted cats' accessories that there was no longer space for my dining furniture. My friends have already been stunned by the difference.

Equally importantly, Must Have Ideas's customer service is topnotch, and delivery took place not only on time, but before expected.

The delivery was perfect in every respect - timely, in accordance with my instructions, and the product was undamaged in any way.

I had very high hopes for the vacuum cleaner, too, especially after having had a Vax upright that kept clogging up without any means of detaching the hose to clean it.

I had also taken a risk with a stick vacuum cleaner, which didn't raise the pile, and for which I needed to be Herculese to take it apart to use as a hand-held vacuum.

So my benchmark for the Hoover was very high, and I was amazed to find that it exceeded even my exaggerated expectations. Hoover was sold out of the HL5 with the pet turbo, but the discount coupon made purchasing that separately from Amazon affordable.

I'm delighted to report that the Hoover has, after using only four times, begun to raise the pile. My carpet has begun to recover the glow that it had when it was new nearly ten years ago.

I bought this cordless vacuum about a year ago, knowing that it would be inferior to any upright model. So I was prepared to make allowances for its inability to raise the pile on my carpet - or for the fact that, invariably, when I've finished using it, I'm just extremely unsatisfied with the result.

That said, there are other factors about the machine that warrant my poor rating.

Chief among them: it gets clogged with pet hair and cat litter every time I use it. I have not, as far as I can recall, been able to clean all the carpets in my house without having to remove the debris that hasn't been successfully loaded into the canister.

And to make it worse, once the machine is assembled, you need to be Hercules to detach any of the parts. This is why I so rarely use it to vacuum my stairs - I'd rather take a dustpan and brush to them than struggle with the ordeal of converting it to a handheld cleaner.

So, when the machine gets clogged, I'm forced to disassemble it to access the blockage - meaning that I have to put up with both the clogs and the misery of trying to take it apart!

I gave this wretched thing a very long benefit of the doubt. Now, however, I'm so fed up with it that I felt it necessary to warn anyone who reads this review that they're likely to experience the same problems with it or any other Honiture vacuum that's structured similarly.

I'm always delighted by everything to do with my treatment at Oxford BUPA.

My feelings about my BUPA dental policy are another matter altogether. My sole use for the policy thus far has been for dental checkups and scale and polish. But the allowance for these services is dismally inadequate to cover more than one appointment each year.

I'm planning to cancel my policy, and enrol in the Smile Plan. At least, then, I shouldn't have to face laying out more than £100 per visit - over and above what I've been paying for premiums.

Orders have always been processed without any mistakes

I was just switched from Lloyds Direct to Pharmacy2U and am appalled by the fact that, especially because Lloyds Direct has been taken over by Pharmacy2U, my prescription medicines and my payment details haven't been transferred. This means that I've got to enter them myself, and I resent it.

A single star is not a sufficiently bad rating for Pharmacy2U.

I'm now looking for an alternative supplier for delivery of my prescriptions.

The background to this review is that I, as a former Shell Energy customer, was assured that switching my account to Octopus would be entirely transparent and I could rely on the transition being managed without my having to do anything.

So, when I began accessing my online Octopus account, I was unaware that it would take a few days for my data to be fully integrated into the user interface. And I - prematurely - assumed that I had lost the benefit of some of Shell Energy's best online features.

More importantly, however, although my Shell account balance was successfully transferred to Octopus, the direct debit for my final bill from Shell hadn't yet been collected before Octopus began charging my account for my latest consumption.

Having no indication as to whether the Shell balance would be collected separately from the new energy charges, I was understandably alarmed by the possibility of being charged twice for the Shell balance.

And, at the time of my last review, I had not had any replies to my (several) email queries about it. So the tone of my review was influenced by my apprehension about a potential - albeit temporary - financial loss.

And so to today's extremely positive experience - warranting a five-star review. An Octopus representative named Samir Mas - who, as it happens, used to work for Shell Energy - called me and talked me through all the issues I had emailed Octopus about.

Not only was he completely familiar with my situation, but he was more than competent to resolve all of the issues I had raised. And he was in no hurry to finish our conversation and get me off his hands. So I was able to query a few other matters that were unrelated to the subject of his call.

So full marks to Octopus for not ignoring my queries, and even higher marks (if possible) to Samir Mas, who deserves to be rewarded for his excellent customer service.

I think my title is self-explanatory.

I have, for some years, used the 1-star rating simply because I couldn't rate the companies I used lower than that. And, if TrustPilot were to look carefully at most of the 1-star reviews, they'd find that I'm not alone in feeling this way.

Having been taken over from Shell, I expected Octopus to provide me with the same excellent app as I had with Shell - one that's compatible with desktop computers.

I've got very good reasons for not wanting to use my iPhone to manage my domestic energy supply. Shell's desktop version of its app was a dream to use. Unfortunately, Octopus's app isn't compatible with any desktop computers, let alone my Mac mini.

When I queried the compatibility problem I was told that the devices and systems they use are a matter of "company policy" - so tough ****, we won't do anything about it.

Not only is Octopus's customer service unacceptable as far as what they'll provide. I am angry and offended by the attitude and tone of the employee who answered my query.

I believe in voting with my feet and am looking for a new energy supplier - after only 3 days with Octopus at the most.

And if, when I switch, Octopus charges me an exit fee for each of my gas and electricity, I shall not waste any time raising a complaint with Citizens Advice. Given that I had no choice about the Shell takeover, and no warning that I wouldn't receive the same level of IT facilities, my view is that there should be a cooling-off period for all Shell customers who have reason to be dissatisfied with Octopus.

Trustpilot should include a 0-star rating. Judging by the other customers' sorry experiences with Octopus, that's about what they'd get from other people like me.

What went wrong with my experience?

I "won" an M&S Egift card for £10 (£5 each for two tickets) is what went wrong.

I've just read through 20 pages of 1-star customer ratings, and I can see that I'm not alone in my disgust and outrage at the substitution of the gift card for a cash prize.

When I first joined PPL all prizes were cash and I don't recall when PPL started giving non-cash prizes. Why was there no notice when PPL started to cheat the public with such worthless "prizes"? Surely PPL knew that there would be at least as much outrage as the furore that transpired when the subscription was raised to £12.

The M&S Ecards assume that the "winners" live within a reasonable distance of an M&S Store; or, if they never shop at M&S (like me) they're willing to open an account so that they can redeem the card online.

And the letterbox prizes - for which the "winners" are offered no choice - don't even deserve to be described as "prizes".

I think it's time to petition the Gambling Commission to revoke PPL's license.

The valeted was superb in every respect and I couldn't be happier with the results.

I should also commend the admin staff, who spent considerable time and effort discussing my particular requirements to determine exactly which packages best suited my needs.

EVRI didn't give me a delivery date/slot, and today notified me:

- first, that because I hadn't registered a "safe place" with them the parcel couldn't be delivered
- subsequently, that the parcel couldn't be delivered today because "the business" is closed. What business is that?

Finally, when I tried using its chat service, I learned that the delivery has been "slightly delayed".

Clearly, Evri can't be trusted. I shall notify all retailers from whom I purchase online that, if they insist on using Evri, they will have lost my business.

Brilliant!

Delivered on time. More importantly, I experienced no delay in applying my subscription for no delivery charges on the same day as when I placed my order.

No need for me to pay for anything except the £99 excess because my vet submitted the claim. Although ManyPets may not be unique in this respect, it's an important factor for me because, with my previous insurer, I had to get special authorisation for this.

As with all my experience of Bissell, everything was faultless.