Geraldine Comiskey

Gifts.ie is a real gift to anyone looking for a convenient way to buy and send a gift. I've used it to find quirky presents for a friend who lives on the other side of the city. It's far more convenient than posting them.

Like Yelp (see my other review) this is totally unreliable (in my experience). I keep finding listings that are out-of-date, misleading, inaccurate and (today) fake.

Yelp often comes up in search results but the information is always (in my experience) inaccurate and very misleading. Fake companies are listed (I recently found a listening for an equestrian centre which I happen to know is out in the countryside, and was mystified as Yelp gave an address for it in the middle of a town and their interactive map included a "streetview" showing the interior of an office building!). Yelp has been rubbish for a few years now, but I just clicked on this listing out of curiosity as I recognised the name of the equestrian centre. I don't know if someone actually went to the trouble of creating a fake Yelp listing for an existing business or if Yelp just somehow scrambled the search results - but in my experience Yelp has never given accurate results.

I love buying items from the St Martin Apostolate, online or (preferably, in person). I recently ordered some little gifts for my mother's friends including the cute little statuettes of St Martin as he would have looked as a child (if this sounds confusing, just look at the brochure). They were beautiful and wrapped with great care.

Most of the surveys are full of loaded questions and if you don't answer them according to the survey producers' preconceived ideas you are screened out. I was told I gave "contradictory" answers in one survey. Others screen out certain demographics due to age, employment etc - which would be fair if they didn't waste your time clearing you to begin answering the questions. I screened myself out of some because their terms and conditions included giving them the "right" to change said terms and conditions and even sue for breach of the terms! I am the kind of person who likes to read the small print... The only positive about this is the facility to use it to donate to charities (I gave my points to Doctors Without Borders) - but it's less time-consuming to just donate.

I haven't opened my package yet but I've never had a problem with items I ordered from Currys.

Lovely products (stylish, luxurious bedlinen) and delivered promptly. The only thing I would change about Very is the "buy now, pay later" / "buy in instalments" option (which I didn't choose). While it probably makes sense if you are brilliant at budgeting, I believe it would tempt the very vulnerable.

Ordered larger bottles in case I run out (though I've deliberately skipped a few days so as not to become dependent, and reduced my dosage). They arrived promptly. The combination of bugleweed and motherwort, diluted and sweetened with apple juice, is really helping me with the thyroid issues; my neck and inner ears are no longer hurting, I've stopped sweating, am sleeping well (and energetic on waking) and my heart rate is stable.

I avoid banking apps like the plague, but got dragged into a headwrecking, time-consuming cesspool of stress when I got a message on my Stocard to say they were closing and prompting me to transfer all my loyalty cards to Klarna.
Thinking it was simply a replacement service, I dutifully keyed in my phone number and email address and followed the prompts until I had an "account". Then I saw the words that were a red flag to anyone who is living on a tight budget: "Buy now, pay later".
I closed my account but they told me it would be 30 days before they would confirm that it was closed.
Luckily I haven't given them my credit or debit card details but to avoid any risk of being charged I cancelled my loyalty cards.

Once again this year, Mx5 Parts rescued my little buddy, sending vital parts to the mechanic. They have every part for every model of the Mazda MX-5. I cannot rate this supplier highly enough and say a special prayer for them to St Christopher (patron saint of motorists) every time I set off on a long road trip.

I stopped ordering from Just Eat because I got sick of finding my inbox stuffed with useless discounts (midweek / places I don't order from). I appreciate they're trying to drum up business on quiet days and promote their less popular clients - but the customers know what they want to eat, and when.

Mx5 Parts are tops for supplying parts which are impossible to get from general auto factors and even the manufacturers. I urgently needed a few crucial parts for the power steering system in my Mk2.5. Mx5 Parts delivered them by air freight to the garage. Later in the year I bought a new grille and half cover - again, they were perfect and delivered promptly. Great value too.

I came across Napiers while I was looking for bugleweed, a gentle, natural herbal supplement, in tincture form. While this tincture is available elsewhere, I needed to know I was buying it from a reputable source, for my own safety. I was reassured by the fact that Napiers is a traditional herbalist's with a longstanding tradition of supplying natural remedies, and a large panel of expert herbalists and alternative health practitioners trained in the ancient disciplines. I ordered tinctures of Bugleweed and, because it is also recommended for my conditions (hyperthyroidism and anxiety), Motherwort, and both arrived by express post. After four days of using these, I am definitely feeling better: energetic and relaxed. I'm going to continue to take them while attending my doctor for ongoing check-ups.

I cancelled my Link account because I had a bad experience with a company who used Link and Stripe in an attempt to sign me up for a service with a monthly fee. When I posted review to warn others about this practice, the company offering the service tried to patronise me, blaming me for apparently being too stupid not to realise that their request for ID information was the initiation of a "purchase". Link and Stripe should have safeguards in place - eg, a text and email asking the customer if they are willing to share their credit card information with another company.

[Update: The company's patronising and gaslighting reply to my review only confirms my opinion of them.]
I found Zamzar when I searched for "free pdf to audio". I signed up using my Google account. A pop-up appeared on screen inviting me to choose a paid plan; I declined. To confirm my identity
Zamzar sent me a phone text and I keyed in the number from the text; I noticed the text had been sent via Stripe. Then I saw another prompt for the paid plan - along with the Link logo and the last four digits of my credit card! Naturally I was disgusted and closed the page. After this experience, I won't be using Zamzar, and I will think carefully about using Stripe or Link. If I find that Zamzar or any entity representing them / engaged by them has deducted any sum from my credit card, I will be getting the bank to reverse-charge.

Excellent free platform for raising awareness of issues. The only gripe I have with it is the plethora of follow-up emails - but then petitions are all about pester power.

It's great for ordering most items, but random items can't be delivered to Ireland (where I live). When you complain, they blame Brexit - even though they deliver other items from the co.uk address to Ireland. Another glitch in their system concerns reviews; they ban people for no apparent reason.

I asked GoDaddy to close my domain because I had already cancelled the hosting (could not afford Siteground's bill to renew). The very patient customer care operative (who has a long name but said I can call her "Jazz") offered to switch my auto-renewal to manual renewal. So I still have the option to revive my website. She told me GoDaddy also provide site-hosting. She wasn't pushy which I really appreciate.

Amazon used DPD to deliver my book to a friend in rural Ireland. I got an email to say it had been delivered, but the attached photo showed a package lying in the muck and grass beside a pillar out on the road - looking like it was dumped by the side of the road. The map showed another location far away from the house. I contacted customer service and someone called Ciara told me the GPS showed that it had been delivered to the door. They sent me another photo, this time an aerial view, with a trail marked out from the door to the end of the drive and a note saying it was "1 minute / 42 m" [presumably meters]. I don't know whether they're basing this on a person who can walk easily or not; for all they know, my friend could be disabled (I know he is looking after his wife at present as she is recovering from an operation and can't be expected to trudge down the drive in the rain). They also seem to be confusing "gateway on a public road" with "door". I got no apology, no promise to return and drop the parcel up to the door.