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Asics are the only brand I've tried that fully supports my body when walking. I can judge support based on how my knees and feet feel after walking a few miles. Only Asics and Reebok have provided the support I need but the latter were useless in the rain, letting in lots of water. I have trusted Asics for years and am grateful they exist but wish they were easier to get in all countries. Sometimes I have to return to the UK just to order Asics in my size as they are not always available in sports shops overseas.

I am writing this review as I am very impressed by the amazing service I got this week. I ordered a pair of Asics and they felt too big. Despite wearing them outside for 2 days until I realised I needed a half-size smaller, I discovered I was allowed to return them up to 90 days as an Asics member. I went into an Asics store to try on the half-size smaller just to check. They were perfect so I bought the new size and the shop organised the returns of the larger ones. I was refunded for the larger ones 2 days later. Very quickly.

In a collapsing systems UK, it was amazing to receive this treatment and service as this has generally disappeared in the UK.

Amazing!

Thank you Asics and please keep up the great work. The only brand I now trust to be honest.

I bought a pair of Cosmic Runner trainers at the Deichmann store in Timisoara, Romania. My trainers had fallen apart and I desperately needed a new pair. I was very surprised by how poor the support was in these sports shoes. I walk for miles regularly and I realised very quickly that there was next to no support in these trainers. I could not return them as I was passing through Romania and had left a couple of days later.
I had to buy a new pair of trainers days later as these Nikes provided no support for my body. I actually went to the Nike store in the UK to ask if they were fake. They said they were not fakes.
Back to Asics, the brand that actually supports my walking. A shame I couldn't find them in my size in Timisoara. I'm still shocked at how terrible the Nikes are. What a waste of money! Never again!

I bought a pair of Cosmic Runner trainers at the store in Timisoara, Romania. My trainers had fallen apart and I desperately needed a new pair. I was very surprised by how poor the support was in these sports shoes. I walk for miles regularly and I realised very quickly that there was next to no support in these trainers. I could not return them as I was passing through Romania and had left a couple of days later.
I had to buy a new pair of trainers days later as these Nikes provided no support for my body. I actually went to the Nike store in the UK to ask if they were fake. They said they were not fakes.
Back to Asics, the brand that actually supports my walking. A shame I couldn't find them in my size in Timisoara. I'm still shocked at how terrible the Nikes are. What a waste of money! Never again!

I thought it would be heard better here than contacting customer service which I imagine would be as useless as when I've spoken to in-store managers.

Firstly, I do like Primark. Many of us have become Primark shoppers in one way or another. For years I have bought bits there quite happily. I am writing this review to let Primark know that they need to do some quality investigations as I have noticed products have deteriorated in quality. The dye does not seem to be fixed on all products.

Examples are:
-The black eye mask currently on sale left trails of black dye across multiple bed sheets. As they were in hotels, I have no idea if they were able to remove it but I had to apologise to a couple of hotels and offer payment after realising it was the mask. Needless to say I threw the mask away immediately.
-The 5 packs of black socks that I've been getting for over 10 years now seem to dye my feet black.
-Black flips flops also dyed my feet black.

Surely this is a health and safety issue? Please check the quality controls as something is going wrong here.

Lastly, I have noticed that in a huge Primark store with 90% female staff they often put the 10% male staff on the female underwear section. Why? When I challenged the manager about this he said he couldn't discriminate between the genders. This is ridiculous. What woman wants to talk to a teenage boy about their underwear?!
Every other section had female employees so this is just woke nonsense. If he wasn't discriminating he'd put a female there! You will lose sales any time there is a male in the female underwear section. And, I'm no prude.

I have spent 2 hours today trying to get into the app. I have often had the app on my phones and fly regularly with Ryanair but today the app would not let me log on and I also cannot book the flight via your website. Why have you made these tech changes? They are not working as follows:

The app: I installed it as I often do. I tried to log in but it asked for a new step involving a code sent to my email address. I did this about 8 times. Each time the code was unsuccessful. I therefore tried to reset my password. On the app it said it had failed to reset while sending me an email confirming the reset. I was now unsure what my password was - the old or the new? I tried to contact your live chat but this failed without a booking confirmation number. I tried to call instead but could not pass the AI without a confirmation number. I called about 7-8 times trying different words and options but got nowhere. I tried the live chat again but this time got through to an agent called Wojciech G who couldn't help me, couldn't put me through to a manager and suggested raising a complaint. He sent me a link to the complaint form which again required a log in that I couldn't do! He said failing that, I'd have to open a second account. Why would I want 2 accounts? He then ended the chat without my agreement to do so. Ryanair - honestly! This is my Saturday and it has been taken up by you!

The website - I thought I would try logging on your website using my laptop. It seemed that copying and pasting the verification code directly from my email to the website worked when typing the letters/digits did not. This is not helpful for the app as I don't always log into my emails on my phone.
Once I managed to get into the account on the website, not the app, I searched the flight I wanted only to find once I selected the flight, the options only half appeared on the screen so I GIVE UP!

I'm changing my travel plans and will go via bus and Wizzair instead!

Ryanair, your app made things simple. Today has been the hardest flight booking experience ever.

Truly awful

I applied for a part-time 15 hour a week temp minimum wage job at one of their shops. This involved filling in a short online form and attaching my CV. Simple I thought but then found myself at stage 2 which involved a virtual interview with a third party called Sapia based in Australia! There was no indication prior to stage 1 that my data was going to be shared with a third party. If there were, I would never have applied. For all I knew, there may have been more stages and more parties to receive my personal data. Not only is this an outrageous risk to people's data and illegal sharing, but they still have not erased it! I asked for urgent erasure on 18th November straight after realising they were sharing data without my permission. I was told by the GDPR team that they had asked the recruitment team to do this asap. When I heard nothing days later, I called customer service only to find myself speaking to someone in South Africa! They said I would hear from the team. Still nothing.
Do they spread our data all over the world just so they can make as much profit as possible? So much for health and wellness. They don't care about people or the stress they have caused. Maybe the press would be interested. Shocking.
All this for a minimum wage unskilled job that anyone can do! And then they say Brits won't do minimum wage jobs. Well not if they make it this ridiculous!!!

Update 11/12/2025
Since this is taking way too long, I contacted Sapia to check that they had erased my data. They responded very quickly to say that they need to be contacted by H&B in order to erase it. So H&B hasn't even contacted them over 3 weeks after I urgently raised my issue that they'd shared my data without consent. Disgraceful

Motorola Moto G05 is the worst phone I've ever been stuck with. I only bought in May 2025 but will be looking to return to Samsung in the Black Friday deals. The caller ID withheld doesn't work and I can't access Google Playstore ever without clearing the cache each time for example. It has far too much bloatware and apps independently change the permissions I've given them. Motorola and GMD have been my worst mobile phone experiences ever! GMD was sent back after opening so Motorola is marginally better but I'd advise to stay away from this awful brand.

Terrible terrible experience since 4G. My sim actually works better in the EU than in the UK where it is from because there is something wrong with Three's 4G connection here. I have been to many EU countries over the past 2 years and only have problems in the UK. I have experienced the same in London, the north east of England and Scotland so they can't blame one region. There are days when it works and days when I can't even make a phone call like today. I had calls I needed to make and now I'm stuck. There's no point in going into the shop for service either as I did this twice before and they just want to swap the sim which makes no difference because it is the service that is dire. Resetting the network or restarting the phone make no difference either. I've advised people to steer clear of Three.

17/11/2025
In response to Three's response - how predictable! Swap the sim! Isn't that why I said I'm not going to a shop? I did that already and nothing changes. Not calling either 'cause I'll waste my life being told to reset Network settings by some annoying script-speaking employee in some barely audible far away country call centre.
The signal is back on now (hours later) yet I've done nothing and gone nowhere so it is you, Three, that is a mess. For 15 years I had no issues with signals. Since 4G it is very unreliable. Yes, there are differences across the UK - usually on a level of bad, worse, even worse.
You didn't even mention why it works better in the EU? Functioning 4G perhaps or better networks there that you borrow? Or perhaps they haven't upgraded to the rubbish 4G?

Stop making excuses and get your act together!

When a hostel shared my passport with Chekin against my stated wishes not to use a third party app, I was very annoyed. The hostel manager and I emailed Chekin a week ago asking for urgent erasure of my data and we both called Chekin using different phones. I have sent Chekin an SMS and called repeatedly for days. Not once have they responded to the emails or answered the phone or SMS. How can these be trusted with personal data if they are uncontactable!

My 1 star is for the difficulty getting connected to support when needed, not Booking.com in general. Lately they have got AI answering the phones but it is impossible to get passed the AI to speak to an agent. On 0203 564 6725 and 0203 320 2609 (listed in my booking) I could not get passed the AI so I had to surf the net for 20 minutes to try and find a different number. I found 0203 320 2625 in a chat and it worked.

Booking.com please sort this out. What is 'priority support' if you can't get passed the AI?!

Also, messaging customer support through the app never gets a response. Ever.

I've written a review in the past slamming Revolut but it is only fair to say what is good too.

When everything works, it is fantastic. My other review addresses the weaknesses.

Here I just want to praise something that I have found excellent and better than other banks. I have been allowed to get a second physical card as a back up even though my current card is working perfectly. I have not activated the second card as I do not need it but it is great to know that if I ever lose the card or an ATM overseas swallows it again, I can easily activate the back up.

I also love the disposable cards which I use for most online purchases.

So, despite my complaints in the past and the future, there are things I very much like.

Onwards and upwards hopefully...!

I wanted a new account that I would trust more than others. I kept reading about how amazing the customer service was at First Direct etc.

The problems started as soon as I opened the account. Firstly, it seemed to take a week to open an app account. Why? Other app accounts take minutes!I needed an account that would work through app messaging as I travel a lot. I was shocked to find their app chat did not work for me. Despite having the correct Android version, I decided it must be the phone as the chat started working when I got a new phone. A couple of months later and it stopped working on the new phone. How can I have an account with a bank if I cannot communicate? Yes, I can call in the UK but I needed to be able to communicate from overseas if necessary.

It is also the only bank I've come across that is dumb enough to send postal letters with the bank logo on the envelope just in case postal thieves and scammers needed extra help identifying bank letters!

Dealing with their agents was not great either. Definitely no better than my other bank experiences.
I have experienced digital app banks and First Direct's is child's play in comparison. (That's an insult to children.) In fact, it is even worse than the apps produced by the traditional in-person branch banks I've used.

I was so put off by the experience, I did not transfer much cash there as they failed the test.

In addition to this, this supposed digital bank cannot stop sending postal letters even though I've requested all correspondence by email or in the app. It is a digital app after all. They'll say things like 'we have to by law'. No you don't, the other digital apps or online accounts have sent zero post as THEY ARE DIGITAL IN 2025.

When I closed my account, they said it would take about a week to close. Honestly, it's pathetic compared to other banks. I checked my emails today to find an email from them reading:

'In line with our guidelines, we now need to send your transaction history when you close an account.

Attached you’ll find a PDF file which shows this for account ending: ****. To help keep your information safe, the file’s protected with a password which we’ll send you in the post.

Please do not share personal information with anyone you don’t know or trust.'

I'm away. So now they've sent this data to who knows who as anyone can collect the post in a shared building which is why I said multiple times not to send it and they confirmed it would mostly be via the app or emails apart from letters legally required to be sent. (I don't believe a legal requirement exists as my app banks have never sent physical post.)

Why do I need the transaction history? I'd ask for it if I wanted it! I bet you've sent it in an envelope with the First Direct logo on too!

Absolute moronic train crash of a bank.

I'm not sure my data is safe with these morons.

I'd say bank elsewhere. Everywhere else appears to be better in my experience.

02/09/2025
**A sentence was edited in the review.**

In response to First Direct's response today:
Any customer (ex or current) knows full well there is no point in contacting your customer service as it has proven useless which is why I closed my account. The damage has been done. Can you unsend all the unwanted post with your logo all over it? Can you create a functioning app? Bye and good riddance First Direct! And, no, I absolutely do not trust you with my data!

I have flown with Air Arabia twice before but will think carefully next time. While the flight staff and the actual flight were great and easily worth 4 stars (not 5 stars if paying for meals etc), the other experiences have been terrible. Firstly, when I booked the ticket for a next day flight, I didn't realise they charged me for travel insurance. I didn't see any info about insurance until I saw it on the receipt break down. Realising this 2 or 3 hours after booking, I contacted the live chat customer support and asked for a refund as I had never wanted or agreed to insurance. The agent seemed very helpful, apologised and put in a request to rectify this. This was on the 16th June 2025. Almost a month later I've heard nothing despite repeated follow ups. Not only have I received no acknowledgment or refund, they went on to share my data with the insurance company tuneprotect.com without my permission! I am now receiving emails from them too. This is a breach of personal data which angers me greatly. What data have you given them?
Secondly, again on the topic of personal data protection, after hours of transit in Sharjah Airport, I went to the gate to board. Usually our passports and boarding passes are checked at boarding etc. This is normal. However, this time they were scanning some passports with a mobile phone. Not every passport. (Why some only?) I was really shocked to see them using a mobile phone. Mobile phones are NOT safe for personal data. I raised this as an issue and the supervisor told me they use a closed app called ReadID. When did any of us give our permission to share our data with a third party app or place our passports on mobile phones?
These 2 things have put me off ever flying with Air Arabia again.
I'm still annoyed about it almost a month later and am tired of receiving emails that say something along the lines of 'I have sent your issue to the relevant department' etc. This is a chocolate teapot response. Useless. Where is my money?!!!

Scammers. Don't go near them.

Top quality flight and service from Sofia to Rome. The flight itself deserves 5 stars. However, the check in agent loses 1 star. I was later told the check in agent was from Swissport. She truly let Bulgaria Air down. I arrived at my transit destination really annoyed because of her.
I asked for an aisle seat if possible so she deliberately gave me a window seat when the plane was not full. I asked if she could request a vegetarian option on the first flight as I was only able to book it online for the second flight. She told me there was no food on the first flight. Worried I'd be hungry, I paid airport prices for breakfast before flying only to then be served breakfast on the flight!
My flight involved a 10 hour stop over so I asked her if I needed to wait in the transit area or go out and return. She said 'I don't know, I just give you a ticket.' Every simple question I asked was met with her turning to make sneery comments in Bulgarian to her colleague. I don't need to speak her language to understand this - body language and tone is enough.
I was given no information about transit and only found out that I actually needed to clear immigration in transit by going to a desk to ask how to complain about her. I could have missed my connecting flight.
As a customer, you pay for a ticket so you expect the service to match. If Swissport carries on like this, it is no wonder Bulgaria Air gets low scores in reviews. I'd recommend getting rid of them!

I thought the staff were truly fantastic. I did a long haul flight and think the customer service was unbeatable. However, the vegetarian option meal was very poor - pasta and tomato puree (not even sauce) with a bread roll? Also, I'd booked a long haul flight from an eastern European country to Asia via Rome. While I paid ITA Airways for the ticket, the first flight was with a different airline. This was fine as they were also very good. However, the way I was treated by their check in agent, Swissport, I believe was the worst I've ever experienced and I travel a lot.
I asked for an aisle seat if possible so she deliberately gave me a window seat when the plane was not full. I asked if she could request a vegetarian option on the first flight as I was only able to book it online for the second flight. She told me there was no food on the first flight. Worried I'd be hungry, I paid airport prices for breakfast before flying only to then be served breakfast on the flight!
My flight involved a 10 hour stop over so I asked her if I needed to wait in the transit area or go out and return. She said 'I don't know, I just give you a ticket.' Every simple question I asked was met with her turning to make sneery comments in her language to her colleague. I don't need to speak her language to understand this - body language and tone is enough.
I would have given the airline 5 stars but 4 is enough with these considerations. As a customer, you pay for a ticket so you expect the service to match. If Swissport carry on like this, it is no wonder you are getting low scores in reviews. I'd recommend getting rid of them!
Would I fly with you again? 100% but I'd check there was no Swissport involvement first!

Terrible. I asked the agent at check in for an aisle seat so she deliberately gave me a window seat. The plane was not full. I asked her for a vegetarian option on the first flight out of 2 as I couldn't see it online and she said there was no food. I then went and paid to eat at the airport (airport prices!) believing there would be no meal only to receive breakfast as soon as the flight took off. I asked if I needed to stay in transit between the 2 flights or go out and return as the time between was very long. She said 'I don't know, I just give you a ticket.') I went to try to complain about her on arrival after the first flight and by doing so found out that I had to go and clear immigration in transit. I would have had no idea if I hadn't attempted to complain about her as there was zero information. And, I was unable to submit a complaint as there was no Swissport desk.
Each question I asked was met with her turning to her co-worker and sneering/making comments in her language. You don't have to speak another language to understand this! Awful experience.

I wish I could give zero stars. As others have said here, they seem like scammers. If only I'd read these reviews before purchasing.
I bought two identical phones online a few weeks ago as I needed two. While setting up the first, it froze on a formatting screen. I couldn't turn it off, reset, nothing. It remained like that the entire day. HMD Support were trying to get me to speak to the repair centre. I said no thank you and initiated a return. I said I was returning both as I wasn't going to bother opening the second if the first was faulty and caused me hours of stress.
I returned the phones together in the box they came in etc. A few days after they were received by HMD, I was refunded 1 phone only with no explanation. Since they received both within the 14 and 30 day grace periods, there should be a full refund for both phones.
I have now been chasing this up day after day, multiple times a day, via live chat/email and telephone to no avail. HMD's support stops once they get your money. Don't be fooled by the pretty website and pre-purchase support. Like scammers, if it seems too good to be true, it most certainly is.
I wanted European and I got Indian call centres of the worst kind (they cannot hear anything so you have to repeat everything ten times). I have been talked around in circles with script words like 'relevant department' and promises (lies) of a manager call back etc for days. Apparently there is a case number but despite asking via chat, email and phone for an expected update timeline, they keep saying 'soon'. I am still clueless. Does soon mean 1 day or 365 days? Trying to contact their office location in London (on Companies House) also got me nowhere but it appears to be a coworking space. Very strange. Is it just an address for operation appearances? Something very very suspicious about it all.
Called Nokia and of course they say nothing to do with them anymore. Shame, they sounded nice. I think HMD will destroy Nokia's reputation.
My advice to you - DO NOT GO NEAR THEM. EVER.
Perhaps we should all get together and go to the press?

Update: After about 1 week of multiple calls a day to the call centre, I eventually got a refund by threatening to go to the press. Not nice being pushed to behave like that but I totally intended to raise concerns about HMD in the press. Getting that refund was pretty much a full-time job for 1 week. I almost let the money go for my sanity but the principle of the situation kept me on it. Steer clear!

Been using Moonpig for years. It's fab, efficient and easy. One of the only functioning services in the UK these days! :-)

One thing that could be looked at, however, is the change to text alignment. Yesterday I was unable to align left. Alignment options used to be available. No biggie but centred text doesn't always look good.