Joseph S

I’ve just tried ordering some goods on the website and it was like pulling teeth. I waited an unreasonable time for the card payment screen to come through twice and it said eventually that there was something wrong. It turns out that most of the goods I was trying to buy had suddenly gone out of stock within the ten minutes I was trying to buy them. Really? Between 8 and 9 in the morning? When most people aren’t working and will likely have no reason to get up at that time? Now I don’t doubt that Pixar films would fly off the shelves. But old stop-motion mythology films such as Sinbad? It doesn’t add up.

And using bot farms to kick messages like this into the long grass is really, really shameful. It’s a lot like using a centenarian RAF hero to justify an overhyped disease you use as a pretext to shrink the economy post-Brexit. You could be using that money for better IT. The Seattle tax-dodging slave drivers have a connection that suits my phone and I don’t see why I should change. Against my principles, I’ll be taking my custom to them until the high street opens again. I just hope you’re still there when it happens.

I love browsing HMV and Fopp. So bearing in mind about the lockdown, the administration, the competition from online retailers, streaming and subscription services, I thought I’d show brand loyalty to do my bit to ensure that at least some of the firm is left when the dust settles from the current situation.

I ordered 4 box sets online and they charged me twice for one that cost £40 and I swear it was nothing to do with me (listing the VAT separately in the checkout makes it muddy and I shouldn’t have to check the item number if I didn’t intentionally alter it). And I don’t have a PC, Mac or printer to print the refund form offhand no libraries or Internet cafes are open right now.

Also, the “pay by card” feature is very slow and doesn’t work properly, as I recently found out when I ordered another £38 of stuff. And when you go back to the basket, the items are still there but cost nothing, won’t let you proceed and you have to repeat the process. And if that wasn’t enough, the website doesn’t download properly (nothing to do with my connection) AND the search bar sometimes disappears!

You’re going to have to do a lot, lot, LOT better than this! If you still have to pay furloughed staff, owe the government millions of pounds, can’t work around the clock AND want to compete with a bunch of Seattle-based tax dodgers who don’t give their workers secure hours, give them lousy conditions, operate 24/7 and have a wider selection, you’ll need to invest in better IT. No ifs or buts. Do you want to go out of business?!

Telephone 0113 397 6400
Switchboard 0113 397 6400

They can’t possibly ignore ALL of us!

Telephone 0113 397 6400
Switchboard 0113 397 6400

They can’t possibly ignore ALL of us!

Telephone 0113 397 6400
Switchboard 0113 397 6400

They can’t possibly ignore ALL of us!

Never use or trust this website! It’s completely fraudulent and overrated. They allow firms like Hermes and Music Magpie to post fake positive reviews around the clock. They don’t even have that many customers in a year: let alone a day! You contact their compliance department about it and they give no response. You’re also told to flag fake reviews: which is not only implausible, but they don’t act on it either. THEY even post fake reviews on their own review page around the clock! Instead of learning where they went wrong and taking the bad publicity: they just stick their fingers in their ears and try to drown you out. How are you meant to “trust” a website that’s so untrustworthy?

But the most maddening thing? They take down your reviews that aren’t libellous, contain no profanities, reflect genuine experiences and again: never contact you when you say it’s a misunderstanding. Hiding behind their computers like pathetic little cowards. And get this! They even took down a review of Hermes - the French fashion brand - designed to guide people away from that page who wanted to post negative reviews about the courier of the same name and didn’t respond. It was genuinely helpful as their review page was flooded with misplaced vitriol. I can only assume that they’re in MyHermes’ pockets. But this compliance department DO exist: it’s just that they only get back to you when it suits them. They got back to me when I mentioned Trustpilot were using spambots and stooges: this creep Anton was quick then!

So like their allies Hermes, I am none the wiser as to how these reviews of mine on Hermes, Twitter and the Post Office were taken down. I would accordingly amend them, so again, it leaves me with the assumption they’re greasing their palms too. Not only are there millions of bot farms and stooges: the website is flooded with morons. People using assumed names like “Mike Hunt” and assumed locations like “Indonesia” (even though they clearly live in Lanarkshire from their reviews) using foul language and threatening people. It’s funny how the algorithm never picks up on them or they’re apparently never flagged! People giving one star reviews on stupid things like supermarkets running out of baguettes, staff of their ethnic group having the inappropriate style and the worst: thousands of teenage girls bombarding YouTube’s review page due to a boyband having their views removed. And of course: people writing complete rubbish. I even started having a go at a woman posting a 5 star review - even though she acknowledged Hermes had several problems. You flag it and guess what? NOTHING!

You know what you should be thoroughly ashamed of? The fact that some poor, uninitiated old person with limited contact and no IT skills will see one of your phoney reviews on the side of a bus or in a newspaper and think “That must be alright!” before they’re royally shafted by one of these cowboys. God knows how you managed to claw your way to the top! Well I’ve contacted Watchdog about you and see what they have to say. An absolute travesty you’re even allowed to exist!