Gavin

Today with David McCullough, RTE RADIO 1, weekdays 9am-11am.
It’s been a refreshing change for the last few weeks with the stand-in presenters Claire Brock and Sharon Tobin; both of these presenters are professional and capable unlike the incumbent, David, who sounds perpetually bored, half asleep, and uninterested in the job. Add to this audible breathing, sighing and shuffling of papers. How…HOW did David get the gig-it seems RTE have a “he/she’ll do” approach to appointing presenters rather than assessing their actual competence and ability. Someone on social media recently commented that he sounds like he’s “sleepwalking through the show”, which couldn’t be more apt.
David is too long in the tooth for media training, he just has to go but I suspect will remain in the RTE bubble on the exorbitantly overpaid contract for the foreseeable.

Buying from eBay can be extremely risky, especially when you rely on descriptions that later turn out to be inaccurate. eBay’s Buyer Protection sounds reassuring until you actually need it.

I provided evidence from a network provider that an item sold as “UNLOCKED ANY NETWORK” had a blacklisted IMEI. Because the issue became apparent just outside 30 days, eBay refused to help.

As a result, I was left out of pocket with an item that was not as described. The seller’s claim was false, the evidence was clear, and eBay’s buyer protection offered no remedy when it mattered.

The key lesson is simple: never assume buyer protection will cover every problem—verify items thoroughly as soon as possible, because once the protection window closes, even clear evidence may not be enough to help you recover your money.

Their pillows seem to be a great choice-until you actually purchase them. Initially they seemed uncomfortable despite regularly plumping up the filling, but these pillows are hard and uncomfortable causing head pain the next day.
I emailed the company expressing my concerns several times but there has been no response whatsoever from them.
Not unlike other expensive brands of wool pillows, there seems to be much hype over these pillows when there are lower priced alternatives available.

Update: Woolroom have replied to my review but the issue of being stuck with unusable pillows remains with no resolution forthcoming

Having persevered with Woolroom's adjustable pillows for a few months-removing, pulling apart and plumping up the filling, these pillows are lumpy and uncomfortable causing head pain the next day. It seems there is a lot of hype over these pillows, with an associated price tag, when generic wool pillows are available online for a fraction of the price.
I was unsure of their suitability towards the end of the trial period and requested a short extension but this was refused. I am now stuck with expensive unusable pillows from Woolroom.

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I booked car rental through Zest as a Which? Recommended Provider.

On the face of it, the price and insurance covet level was reasonable value but shortly before the rental period began I received an email “invitation” to take out “top-up” insurance at the cost of £17 for the multiple parts of the car not covered by their standard policy such as the base of the car, roof, windows, wing mirrors-it would be easier to list what is covered but I don’t know what is, if anything at all. With this in mind, I felt there was no option but to pay again for this “additional” cover, which obviously should be included as standard as these exclusions are the most likely to be damaged and therefore, rather cynically, not covered.

Most recently, upon collecting the rental car from Drivalia car hire, the staff member informed me that the car was only insured on a third party basis, that I would be liable for £1500 of damage repairs and that the insurance provided by Zest, the broker I booked the car hire through, is not Comprehensive. It was suggested to purchase Comprehensive insurance from Drivalia at the cost of over £100.

Comments made by the staff member included "This is what Zest do not tell you" and "Have you ever tried to make a claim from Zest" (in a woeful, disparaging tone). I am deeply concerned that despite thinking I have paid to hire a fully insured vehicle through Zest, then paying an additional £17 “top-up" insurance upon being informed by Zest that most parts of the car are not covered by the standard insurance, that I am effectively only insured to the minimum legal standard, third party. I contacted Zest with this query and they were ambiguous in their response so I’m still none the wiser.

I do not trust Zest Car Rental and will be extremely hesitant to use them again.

This company has a distinct lack of professionalism with a nonchalant, apathetic attitude towards their customers, giving no impression their custom is valued in any way.

Most recently, upon collecting the rental car from Drivalia car hire, the staff member informed me that the car was only insured on a third party basis, that I would be liable for £1500 of damage repairs and that the insurance provided by Zest, the broker I booked the car hire through, is not Comprehensive. It was suggested to purchase Comprehensive insurance from Drivalia at the cost of over £100! Comments made by the staff member included "This is what Zest do not tell you" and "Have you ever tried to make a claim from Zest" (in a woeful, disparaging tone). I am deeply concerned that despite thinking I have paid to hire a fully insured vehicle through Zest, then paying an additional £17 "top-up" insurance upon being informed by Zest that most parts of the car are not covered by the standard insurance, I am effectively only insured to the minimum legal standard, third party. I contacted Zest with this query and they were ambiguous in their response.

Ensure you scrutinise the car meticulously before signing the rental agreement and take video evidence of any damage, or lack thereof, also repeating this upon return. They hold a £1500 deposit on your credit card for up to 28 days meaning they have access to your money, which they will take if they deem any part of the car defective, no matter how minor.

There is no peace of mind in hiring a car nowadays, it’s an extremely stressful experience, and you’re only at ease after the 28 days have expired and they no longer have access to your money.

The whole point of hiring a car is to have worry-free motoring during your holiday and that the hire charges will cover any issues but the sad reality is the diametric opposite.

I am in Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) and flight FR193 is already 1.5 hours late; in way of an apology-and as part of their charm offensive-this airline has decided to size-check passenger bags on their way to be corralled in to an area modelled on Hotel Gauntanamo.

Everyone already knows they don’t care about their passengers or anything other than extracting more money out of hapless passengers; we don’t need constant reminders such as this.

There needs to be a minus star option for this odiously disgraceful airline, and even that wouldn’t do them justice.

Lycamobile has to be the worst service provider I have ever dealt with. I was with them for one month and it was hassle from the outset, with emails not answered, no reply to the customer service line, incorrect information provided by online chat and repeated disconnections when they don't know or won't answer the query. The offer was €20 half price reduced to €10 a month for 12 months GO Unlimited, which on the face of it was good value however do not be deceived-I have spent countless hours trying to deal with one problem after another (with AI bots) and lots of down time. The final straw was the bundle failing to renew despite having auto renew enabled meaning no service and to reactivate it the full €20 charge would apply thereafter. No offer or discount would persuade me to go back to this appalling service provider.
*Don't believe all the 5 star views as they're all fake and created by Asian "click-farms"*

The staff in the Apple Store Belfast used to be helpful and solution focused however that approach has changed radically in recent times. They now seem solely interested in absolving themselves from any responsibility for their own faulty products and attempting to charge for repairs to their devices, even when within their own stated 2 year warranty period. An Apple Watch, less than 2 years old, with a battery life of 9 hours, was sent off for repair by them and 11 days later the same watch was returned with no repair and the same extant problem. I have spent the last month on the phone to online support and today the store itself and their "solution" is to return to the store and go through the same process again and then return again to collect a (hopefully) new watch.
Also, a 2020 iPhone 11, normal usage and no accident damage, has a battery life of 3 hours and a failing screen, which they tested as faulty but tried to charge over £300 for a replacement and refused to repair or replace the phone under consumer law.
Apple make products, which are legally obliged to be durable and fit for purpose, are sold at a premium price point, however they are inferior to other devices at a fraction of the price.
The staff in this store are rude, argumentative, sarcastic and passive aggressive in their approach-including a "Michael", who purports to be head of the Genius Bar, unless they are selling you a new product that is, where the attitude is in stark contrast. There needs to be a zero star option for the Apple Store Belfast and the company writ large.

Apple have become the worst company I've dealt with for customer service. They used to be customer service focused whereas now they're only interested in using every means possible to avoid fixing their faulty products under consumer law without further charge. However, they're quite happy to repair or replace an item if they're getting paid for the second time. Trying to get a phone or watch repaired by them under warranty involves having a legal argument with them, which they now know exactly how to use in their favour. The concept of goodwill is alien to them now.
Most recently I took my Apple Watch to the Apple Store as there's a fault with the battery. Apple online support had confirmed there was a fault and this was also confirmed in store as the battery was showing 82% and was randomly shutting down.
The Watch was shipped off for repair on 21st July and was gone for 11 days until 1st August. The same Watch was returned and the battery is still showing 82%!
I travelled 200km to the Apple store, had no Watch for 11 days, had to set the Watch back up again and then discover the same Watch has been sent back and no repair carried out.
I'll be swapping to Android or any other platform than continue to deal with Apple.

If there was a no star rating that would be too high for eBay. Despite following the eBay recommended delivery method for items I have sold and purchasing the postage for the recommend delivery through eBay, their delivery dispute timelines do not match that of their recommended delivery provider. eBay arbitrarily tried to take money from my bank account today due to a reported delay in delivery. I in turn contacted Royal Mail and it is too soon to raise a claim against them. It is an abomination that eBay's delayed delivery/lost policy is not in line with their recommended delivery service. Customer service refused to resolve this issue, which was then escalated to management, who also refused to resolve the issue and were only interested in stating their terms and conditions then hanging up the phone on their customer. After 20 years of eBay membership and over 900 positive feedback responses I will not be using their service again.

The customer service at CRC is probably the best I've experienced. I had a paintwork issue, which was promptly dealt with by Jonathan and subsequently Stephen; an efficient, friendly and professional service.

I visited the Belfast for the first time to take a look at mountain bikes. The salesperson was Geoff who couldn't have been more knowledgable, informative and helpful.
Placed the order after haggling for some discount and collected the bike a few days later, which was handled by Daniel, and again was a similarly good experience.
Would not hesitate to recommend CRC, especially the Belfast store as there's no online substitute for the in-store shopping experience in this case.
PS Still haven't taken the bike out yet!

Caffe Nero WIFI does not work and their customer service does not want to know.
The coffee and food is good and the app is the best I have used.
Every store I have been in to is dirty - the tables, the floor, the seats, everywhere.

If there was a no star rating PayPal would be getting it. They charge 3.9% plus 20p on eBay payments in. If you want to withdraw the GBP balance to a GBP bank account they convert it to EUR using their own exorbitant exchange rate. If you want to transfer the GBP balance to another PayPal account based in the UK they charge a "Sending a Cross Border Personal Transaction payment" fee of €1.99.

This means they take fees from your money on the way in and again on the way out.

This charge is buried in the fee schedule, which took their customer service agent 45 minutes to find.
Their customer service is terrible and involves repeating your question multiple times and the agent not knowing the answer to the most basic questions.

In summary, their fees are exorbitant and hidden and their customer service is nonexistent.

My vehicle is being repaired under warranty and the hire vehicle is a Hyundai Sante Fe CRDI. It's well-built, comfortable and engaging to drive.

Amazon offer great customer service when there's a problem with an item which was either sold and despatched or fulfilled by Amazon.
They also offer a convenient returns service, including labelless, which refunds your Amazon gift card account once the item has been scanned by the returning post office

I'm in Caffe Nero writing this review on mobile data as their WIFI doesn't work, it's not shop specific as it's the same in each one. Caffe Nero customer service are not interested in resolving the issue and referred me on to Sky, who are also not interested. This has been an ongoing issue for several years.
Good coffee and food but stating 'free WIFI' is false advertising.

I find it difficult to tell whether running shoes are right for me in-store only to discover they're not during a run, and most retailers will not/are reluctant to exchange refund once the shoes have been worn outside.
Conversely, Brooks Running have an unconditional 90 day return policy, which means they can be extensively tested and returned for a full refund within 90 days.
Customer service can be a bit hit and miss in responding to emails but otherwise Brooks offer a great no-risk service

I order lens screws for RB3183 but the incorrect screws were sent and it was implied I had placed an incorrect order.
The correct parts were eventually received ( screws and a series of washers) about two weeks after the order was placed. There were no fitting instructions enclosed and there are no online tutorials available.
I requested fitting assistance via direct message and the instructions provided - to fit the plastic washer and the sleeve - were incorrect as only the washer would fit.
I spent a lot of unnecessary time on this, which could have been avoided if the correct part with simple instructions had been despatched at the outset.
The parts do appear to be genuine.