Kevin

I have bought a Jetpac esim for a vacation once before and downloaded it and used it without any difficulty. I have just bought another package to use on a forthcoming holiday, and this time ran into a problem.
I tried to install and activate the esim automatically [the recommended way], but received a failure message, something about the code not being valid.
As an esim novice I did not know what to do, so I sent a 'please help me' message to Jetpac. This triggered an automatic acknowledgement stating that someone would respond within 24 hours. And sure enough, a few hours later I received a very clear message telling me what to do, and offering further help if I still had problems. The suggested solution worked without difficulty so I did not need any additional help.
One of the real tests of an online company like Jetpac is how they respond if you need help. Jetpac did not disappoint. Good, clear and prompt support.

I have an annual travel insurance policy which I made a claim on last year following a medical incident. And I have just renewed the policy for another year.
I give a good review for two reasons:
- my claim for holiday cancellation was processed quickly and fairly. I received the refund within 1 week of submitting the claim.
- the recent renewal premium had increased compared to the previous year. It is impossible for me to know if this is due to overall insurance cost increases, me being 1 year older or the medical issue that led to my earlier claim. Probably a combination of all three. But the increase feels reasonable to me.
There may be cheaper travel insurance available, but I prefer to use a company that I trust to pay out when I make a claim.

I joined RAC breakdown one year ago as they have a reasonable reputation and the premium was fair. I had no call-outs during the year so I cannot comment on the breakdown service.
But at the end of the year the renewal invitation arrived with a 25% premium increase. This is clearly ridiculous, just trying it on to see if I am stupid enough to pay it. So I shopped around and found a better policy with Green Flag. Then the trouble started.
I discovered that they had automatically put me onto an auto-renewal. I logged into the app, and MyRAC on the web. On both of these you can change many things about your cover, but cannot stop the auto-renewal. You are told to call the RAC if you are 'thinking of leaving'.
I called many times, and after navigating the menu to get to the 'thinking of leaving team' I consistently received a message saying they were very busy, please call later, goodbye. In frustration, I then called the team dealing with new business, and strangely they answered the phone quite quickly. But they said they had to transfer me to the leaving team, and on the first attempt I just got the same 'we are busy, goodbye' message. On the second call, after me firmly asking the agent to make sure that I was put through to a person, I managed to speak to someone in the leaving team. He was very keen to keep me with the RAC, and wanted to offer me a lower premium. He found it hard to understand that I had already taken out a policy with someone else and in any case by this stage I was so fed up with the RAC I wanted nothing to do with them. Eventually he agreed to cancel the auto-renewal, and told me that I would receive an email confirmation in the following 15-20 minutes. Needless to say the email confirmation has not arrived. So I will check my credit card very carefully to make sure that they haven't charged me.
Long story - but the overall message is: be careful. they make it easy to join, but try all sorts of tricks to stop you leaving

Davies Group acted as claims manager for a recent claim on my Staysure travel insurance. I had never heard of Davies Group before this. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. My claim was dealt with very quickly and efficiently. The resulting claim agreement was fair, and the payment into my bank account was made within no more than a few days.

I changed from my existing provider to 1PMobile mainly because I wanted to use the EE network, which has better coverage in rural areas, but I didn't want to pay the EE price.
The transfer, including the all-important porting across of my existing number, was very smooth.
I have not had a problem so I have not tested customer service, and I only have 2 weeks experience of 1pMobile, so I only give 4-stars at this stage. But so far my experience has been perfect.

My wife uses EE and consistently has better network coverage than I was getting on the Three network. I found EE to be quite expensive, so I looked for a cheaper operator using the EE network and came across 1pMobile.
Setting up and activating the account was very straightforward, as was the essential transfer of my existing number to 1pMobile. So so-far so-good.
My only small disappointment is that 1pMobile doesn’t have an app, so you need to use passwords and two-factor identification to log into your online account to see what is going on. But this is not difficult, and you don’t need to do it very often.

I ordered a book described as being in ‘very good’ condition. When I received it there was damage to the spine - it was starting to tear away from the rest of the book, which would only get worse with use.
The book clearly wasn’t in very good condition. But I give a 5* review because this was very easy to sort out with Customer Services. I received a full refund a few days later

The eSim package was simple to buy. It was simple to download and setup. It worked flawlessly. And at a fair price.
As it worked without any difficulty I cannot comment on the all-important customer service.

I was looking to buy a new laptop to replace my tired old one. I was helped by a very knowledgeable and helpful assistant who listened to what I wanted, then showed me three laptops meeting my needs. He then left me alone to look and try these, and decide what I wanted to do, ie no strong sales pressure applied.
The laptop I chose [HP] was in stock and had a fair price.
The only negative point is that the laptop, like almost all others, runs on microsoft windows. And transferring my data, applications and accounts from my old laptop to the new one is a typical microsoft experience - clunky, hard to understand, fails/locks up from time to time. But this is no reflection on either Currys or HP. Just normal life with microsoft.

I called with a query about the progress of an application for an export tariff for my solar panels. The phone was answered without delay by Charles, who quickly sorted out what was going on. And helped to move it forward. Very good customer service.

I ordered three items - a heated towel rail, set of valves and a basin waste. Strangely, they were all delivered separately. I was given good tracking information on the towel rail and valves, but no information about the delivery of the basin waste. But one quick call to customer services sorted this out.
Then the towel rail and valves arrived in perfect condition. But when it arrived the basin waste was damaged. However it was easy to sort this out, and a replacement waste was delivered a few days later.
All in all, a good service.

Good products at fair prices. And with quick and reliable delivery.

Perfect service. Before ordering I had a query which I send in by email. I received a very quick and clear response, so I was confident that I was ordering the right part. Then the delivery was prompt, with several emails keeping me up to date with the progress.

I wanted a particular jointing compound for filling the gaps on patio stones. Bradfords stocked what I wanted at a fair price. And usefully offered free delivery

Everything was good. The company had a good selection of different seals for different applications. The website was clear with dimensions for each seal. So it was easy to find the right one.
The delivery was prompt, with good packaging so no risk of damage in transit.
And most important the part was easy to fit, felt to be good quality and worked well.

BOXT fitted a replacement hub for my Nest Smart Thermostat under warranty. They were very easy to deal with, coming on the following day.

The website is easy to navigate, and contains clear guides to help work out what you want to order.
Most usefully, I received a call from a very helpful lady to go through the order [this is a standard process] and make sure that it is correct. She also made some useful suggestions on how to slightly change what I had specified.
As I have so far only placed the order, I cannot comment on the shutters until I receive them.

I am currently registering my new puppy on Smarttrace. I submit this review because Smarttrace offer a 10% discount on the subscription if you submit a review.
At this stage I have no idea if Smarttrace works well or not.
Update: I never received the 10% discount, so this looks like a trick to push you to give a good review. Disappointing => So I reduce my rating.

A consistently good service.

The website is easy to navigate. Almost whatever you want is in-stock. When ordering for click-and-collect it rarely takes more than a few minutes before receiving an SMS to say that the order is ready. The collect is simple and hassle-free (no complex ID checks, just give your name). And the staff are invariably friendly.

Very efficient. The tap was exactly as ordered. The delivery was fast, with good tracking info