Dave

Honestly, it's really hard to rate an ISP unless you've needed to ask them to solve a problem. Almost any ISP can connect you OK, but it's how they handle problems that really distinguishes the good from the bad.

So this review is tricky for me, because I've been connected for a few months, and there have been no problems so I've not (yet) needed to test out their support service!

What I do know is that the installation engineer (Jermaine, who left a review card) arrived on time, and worked around a couple of challenges in the building to get me set up without too much fuss. And since then, the service has seemed very solid, almost always meeting (or slightly exceeding) the stated speeds, and with low latency. So far so good.

If, in the future, I have a problem that requires me to contact support, I might need to update this review. But until then, I have no complaints.

I've used A&A as my home ISP for several years, and I can say that their level of service is incomparable.

I think they're well-suited to 'technically-minded' customers, as they readily expose quite a lot of realtime technical detail about the connection, which has helped me to understand in detail how well my internet connection is faring.

On the couple of occasions that I've needed to contact their support (both times due to a problem with underlying BT/TalkTalk wholesale infrastructure), I have got through immediately to a technical person, who was happy to give me direct and straightforward information about what was going on, and have sorted out the issues without any delay on their side. No rote, obfuscating customer service scripts here!

Probably the main shortcoming, from my perspective, is that in my area A&A can only offer services sold on top of other companies' ageing ADSL infrastructure. And while A&A do as good a job as could be possible in delivering these services, there are aspects that they simply cannot have direct control over.

It's on that basis, then, that I'm sad to be leaving A&A (and moving to a FTTP provider who have just connected up the block of flats that I live in). If I could stay with A&A and still move to fibre, I would do so without hesitation. But, today, that option is not available to me, and I simply cannot stay on ADSL any longer! Maybe in the future, A&A may have access to some fibre infrastructure that serves my block of flats, and I would be happy to use their services again. Until then, I'll look back fondly on the great service they have provided.

It's 2023. There are dozens of on-demand streaming apps. They more-or-less all work, with the notable exception of ITVX. ITVX never works. I have never successfully watched a program to the end. Usually within the first few minutes, the dreaded "something went wrong" message pops up, and that's it -- you're not watching the rest of that program, ever.

The adverts work just fine though. Great for watching constant, repeated adverts, without the distraction of any actual TV content.

Simple ordering, reliable delivery, good product.

This is the second time I've used Pimlico Plumbers. Both times, they have been punctual and professional, and done a high quality job. I see them as a firm to rely on, when you cannot face being messed around like so many other plumbers tend to do. This does come at quite a price though -- they are rather expensive.

Punctual, reliable, and friendly, as seems to be normal for DPD these days.

The app is also quite useful for tracking the driver on the day of delivery.

Well, they're not literally lifesavers, of course. But Doddle is a really, really handy service for those of us who don't have the time, inclination or ability to wait in all day for parcel deliveries. I've had dozens of parcels delivered to Doddle, and collected them without any hassle (and often a smile and a friendly word from those working behind the desk).

While The Whisky Exchange might not always feature the absolute lowest prices on all of its whiskies, but 90% of the time it will be hard to beat their prices.

Combine this with an impressively wide range, and reliable delivery (in my experience), and you can understand why The Whisky Exchange is usually my first option for buying whisky.