Charlie Crowther-Smith

One can only really judge an insurance company if one is unfortunate enough to have to claim against the policy. We have only just taken out a policy, so all we can judge is how easy and efficient it was to do so. The agent to whom we spoke, Ilyas, was friendly, efficient and thorough, making sure at every step of the process that we understood the terms of the policy, and checking that it meets our needs. We were very impressed.

I was struggling to find a company that could supply a particular sandal in my size, when I came across Blunts. The ordering process was straightforward, and the goods arrived very quickly and were as described. They were a little pricier than other suppliers were quoting, but had the distinct advantage of being in stock!

I have used CartridgeSave before, as they deliver an excellent service: lowest price I've found for original HP toner cartridges (unfortunately my printer doesn't like compatibles), and very speedy delivery. I will use them again unless this changes!

I've just received a cold call from "David" offering me some sort of deal which will save me 50% if I replace my windows in the next 12 months. He then started asking me for personal details such as my surname so he could verify my identity and allow the person who would call me within 45 minutes to address me by my name. I said "Hang on, you called me - you should know my name". He ignored this and reverted to what was obviously a script. I decided the call was fishy and hung up. He called me back immediately (twice); I hung up again (twice). I then Googled the company and discovered that "David" is probably an AI bot, and an unwelcome one at that.

This is the first time I've used Catridge Save, and I was very impressed. Very good prices for original HP toner cartridges, and next day delivery as promised. If this is typical service from them, I will definitely use them again.

I'm old-fashioned and like a breast pocket on my shirts; I decided to try Brook Taverner as many of their casual shirts have one as standard, whereas those from the company I normally buy from do not, and charge an arm and a leg to add one. The choice of shirts was good, the ordering process very easy, and the shirts were delivered very promptly. My only niggle was that, on one of the shirts, the pocket is so small as to be almost useless. Were it not for that, my rating would have been 5-star.

Booking the transfer online was very simple. The very friendly driver was on time, let us know that he had arrived, and whisked us from our hotel to the airport with the minimum of fuss. What's not to like?

I needed a new door seal for my Bosch washing machine. It was easy to find the correct seal for my machine, and it arrived very quickly after I ordered it. I had intended to fit it myself, using the eSpares video tutorial (which was very clear), but halfway through removing the front of the machine I hit a brick wall as my model was not the same as the one used in the video and I simply could not work out how to carry on. In the end I had to call out a repairman, who finished the job - with a little help from me, as fitting the inner spring is a lot easier with three hands than with two.

Unlike most of my insurance renewals this year, the premium increase has been both modest and reasonable. I had one minor issue in that I emailed Hometree asking them to amend my payment method from Annual to Monthly direct debit. I received an email confirming receipt and stating that the payment method would be annual DD, but this was swiftly followed (minutes later) by an email correcting this to monthly. Very happy with this renewal now!

I am going on a Caribbean cruise later this year and have existing medical conditions, and managed to purchase a suitable policy at a much more reasonable price than those suggested by various comparison websites. I have been insured with Staysure for several years now (albeit not for worldwide coverage) and have found them to offer good value for money. A couple of niggles, though: it was annoying that, even though I'd logged in to my account, I kept on having to re-enter my medical details every time I changed my requirements (for example, when comparing single- and multi-trip prices). The discount pricing was not very transparent, either: I would have liked to see just what was discounted and what wasn't.

I needed a replacement handle for one of the cupboards in my 10-year old fitted kitchen. The original kitchen company no longer carried the items, but pointed me in the direction of Kitchen Fittings Direct. They were able to supply the part, at a very reasonable price, with quick and easy delivery. I would definitely use them again!

I'm quite happy with the coffee, and I'm glad to say that the shopping experience has improved. It used to be a pain if, like me, you don't want a regular subscription but to order capsules as and when you need them, but Grind have sorted that out. It's still not perfect: the "Mix & match" process is a bit clunky. For example, it states you can order "up to three" different blends, but you cannot specify two - it has to be three. Also, you can't specify the exact numbers you want to order - for instance, if ordering 60 capsules, you can't specify the mix as 50 caffeinated and 10 decaf.
My final gripe is that the caffeinated and decaf capsules (at least in the house blend, which we buy) look too similar - you have to peer at them quite carefully to spot the difference.
But I'm being picky: I shall continue to buy Grind capsules, knowing that they're compostible.

I keep a close watch on my energy consumption, so I was not happy when I received an email recently telling me that OVO was going to increase my monthly direct debit to ensure that my account was not in the red at the end of my plan. Currently, my account is nearly £1,000 in credit at the end of each month, so any increase in my DD means that I would be lending OVO even more money each month, which I'm not prepared to do. Obviously I'm using less energy during the summer months, and my consumption will increase as winters draws on, but I am perfectly capable of adjusting my DD myself (or making a lump sum payment) to ensure that I do not come to the end of my plan with a debit balance. I therefore initiated an online chat session to request that my DD remains unchanged. The adviser informed me that all they could do was offer to reduce my DD by £1 per month "as a discount" - a meaningless statement that showed that they had not understood my request at all. When I queried what their offer meant, they failed to reply, and I eventually terminated the chat. A couple of days later, on the 9th August, I rang OVO's customer helpline, and spoke to a very friendly and efficient woman who told me that, as I'd requested, my DD would not be increased (although OVO's automated systems might well attempt to increase the DD again next month., even though I expect once again to have a large credit balance). The eventual outcome of my interaction with OVO's customer service was therefore satisfactory; I just wish it hadn't (a) been necessary in the first place and (b) taken up so much of my time.

Yodel were meant to deliver my new phone yesterday. The tracking app showed that the parcel had arrived at the local depot at 08:27, and delivery would be made that day. No further updates were made all day. I had to go out in the evening, so I updated the delivery preference to "Leave with [my next-door] neighbour", after checking that he'd be in. When I returned home, I found that it hadn't been delivered (although the tracking app had a new entry stating that the parcel had arrived at the local depot at 21:25 - after apparently not having left the depot all day!). I therefore tried to remove the "Leave with Neighbour" instruction on the tracking app, only to discover that it couldn't be amended. This morning, I did a live chat with an agent, who told me that the parcel was definitely at the depot, and scheduled for delivery today. Worryingly, he added that the driver will "attempt" to deliver it today. However, he was unable, or unwilling, to confirm that the delivery would be made to my house, rather than my neighbour's (the tracking app still shows the "Leave with Neighbour" instruction in place), or to provide me with a 2-hour window in which the delivery will be attempted. I have several issues with what has happened: (a) there has been no explanation of, or apology for, the failure to delivery the parcel as promised, (b) the tracking app is useless if the information it displays is neither accurate nor up to date, (c) the app is badly designed if, having set the delivery preferences for a delivery, the customer cannot reset them when circumstances change (especially when the change is due to a failure on Yodel's part) and (d) not providing the customer with any kind of estimated time of delivery other than "any time before 9pm" is simply not acceptable.

The best thing about Halfords' Tyres on the Drive is its convenience - just book it and wait for the technician to turn up and fit the new tyre. The technician, Ryan Lloyd, was polite, friendly and efficient, and kept me well informed as to his arrival, and everything to do with the job itself. The only negative thing was the online booking system, which gave me the wrong tyre size when I entered the car's registration number, and refused to accept my manual correction, forcing me to make the booking by phone, which wasted a little time.

I have always found Cartridge People staff to be helpful and efficient. My most recent order included a toner cartridge which repeatedly gave an error message whenever I tried to install it in my laser printer. I rang Cartridge People and spoke to George, who arranged to send out a replacement cartridge immediately; it arrived the following day, and is working perfectly.

I was due to have a parcel collected from my house. I received a text saying that it would be collected between 10:03 and 12:03. When nothing had happened by 13:00 (and the tracking details had not been updated) I did an online live chat and was told by the agent that it would be collected "very soon". An hour and a half later, it had still not been collected, nor had the tracking details (which included the information that the driver had 0 stops before my collection!). I did another live chat; this time the agent was extremely unhelpful and answered none of my questions, simply telling me that I just had to wait until 9pm, as the drivers collected up to that time. He then arbitrarily shut the chat down. I had explained that I had things to do, and indeed had to go out for half an hour. On my return, the tracking details had finally been upodated - to say that Yodel had tried to collect the parcel, but it "was not available". Not true: it was outside the front door, in full view of anyone who approached the door. I tried to ring the company to complain (again), but the contact number does not provide the option to speak to a person, so I had to make do with yet another live chat. The agent promised that the issue would be resolved within 24 hours and I would be updated. We shall see. I have wasted most of my day waiting for something which hasn't happened.

I needed a replacement thermostat control knob for my Rangemaster oven, but the website couldn't confirm whether the one displayed was the correct one, as my particular model wasn't listed. I submitted an online query; the answer came within a day and confirmed that the part was correct. The order process was simple, the part was resonably priced, and it arrived promptly. I am very happy with the service I received.

I've order from Jeanstore before, and been generally satisfied. However, the black jeans I've just ordered were about two inches longer in the leg than the pair (same brand, same style, same waist width and leg length) I bought from Jeanstore a couple of months ago which fitted me fine. Having found a brand and style I like, it's frustrating that the measurements can't be trusted.

The product (a pinch grip for a handheld shower), when it arrived, was fine - as described, and pretty easy to fit. However, next day delivery was promised but didn't happen. A message on the courier company's tracking system said that delivery had been delayed (no reason given), and that it would be delivered on the next working day. It wasn't. I sent a message to Plumbworld (because my contract was with them, not the courier company they used) asking for an explanation and a delivery date, but got no reply at all. The product was finally delivered two days later - four days later than promised. There was no explanation of, or apology for, the delay.