Showing posts with label Online Reviewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Online Reviewing. Show all posts

10/30/2020

The Iconic (Online Shop)

Link

I have bought many times from The Iconic, and they are legends.Dispatch and delivery has always been super-fast pre-COVID, and decently timed during COVID.
 
>Their website is very clean and easy to browse and their search tool quite refined. I find the mix of casual and posh styles, local and international names, normal and curvy sizes, average to excellent quality, generic-ish brands to very well-known brands, clothing and accessories, and pricing terrific.  
 
> They have average-sized models and curvy models, all gorgeous, to showcase the clothing. They also have people from different races.

> Returns are super-easy and free and you can get your money back or rewarded credit for further purchases. 

> Their wish-list and boards are very useful. If desired, you can receive email notifications with updates re the products in the list just in case you are mad about anything.

> Great discounts all year around, and some of their outlet items are a total bargain. 

If you subscribe to your newsletter is 20 bucks off your next purchase and you can cancel any time. 

DOWNSIDES
> One of the main downsides to me is the fact that many of the accessories are not photographed on people but on white backgrounds, which is great to see the product itself but not so much to get an accurate idea of how the product looks on a real person re length, size and overall look. 
 > The items in outlet and sale cannot be exchanged or returned, which is a bummer because sizing is fanciful and you could order something in your size and fits larger or smaller than usual. If you cannot return it, you won't be able to wear it at all and would have been a waste of your money. 
> This being an iconic Australian brand, I truly miss the presence of more Indigenous Australian models in the photos.

12/28/2019

Kmart Australia (Online Store)


I've I've bought a lot of items from Kmart throughout the years, both from my nearest store and online, and I'm very pleased with the variety of products on offer, the pricing and the service provided. They are perfect for people with low means, like young couples, students, retirees and anyone wanting to buy some trendy stuff without blowing off their budget. 
 
The variety of product is enormous. They sell trendy design items and styles at much cheaper prices than other cheap retailers.

Some of the Kmart brand appliances are really cheap and good quality. Yes, they are basic, but if you don't want anything too fancy or too posh, or the latest model in the market, they are terrific.

They have a fantastic returns policy.

The staff in the shops tend to be very young but really lovely and expedient.

You can buy online and have it delivered at home. If necessary, they gather the items from different stores to fulfill your order. Delivery takes little time to reach metropolitan areas.

Their online reviews are legit. You cannot review a product if you haven't bought it online and receive a link from Kmart to review it.

DOWNSIDES
> Hit and miss quality. Sometimes you get really good quality products at bargain prices, but others you don't. Some products start to fall to pieces rapidly, or the assembly instructions are messed up, or the screws are all mixed up, or the quality isn't good despite how pretty the item looks in the photo. So, there is no consistency in the quality of their products, and you can't see that until you start using them.

> Poor sales. Their Black Friday and Boxing Day offers and sales are sub par when compared with all other cheap retailers.

> Online deliveries are charged. Shopping online is easy, but, unlike many other retailers (Target Australia included) they do charge for the delivery, regardless of how much you spend in one transaction.

> Online reviews. They are diminutive in length. They discard legit reviews that are detailed, which is what I personally would like to read. That was the case with mine, which never saw the light. Mind you, a reviewer saying," I love it", it is not a review, that's an enthusiastic statement. A very different thing is a reviewer saying, "It looks great, but this product has this and this issue" and commenting on it in one long paragraph."  It might be just the design of the reviews area, which is diminutive itself. I don't know, but most of them aren't helpful. 

1/14/2016

ProductReview Reviewing Site

UPDATED REVIEW NOV 2016
Well, sadly, this is another case of a site that appears to help customers to make informed decision and voice their frustration or joy with some services, and ends becoming a coveted platform to make money out of customers' reviews for marketing and business purposes. See for example the screen shot just taken recently. A person reviewing Ozsale, just with one review written, is featured on the front page of the site. Then you go to the Ozsale page within the site and understand why is that. They surely are paying for that, and, in a way, paying for the reviews with vouchers or prizes. See screenshot below and the notice at the top asking for reviews explains it all. Stinky...!
Product Review is really interested in having your reviews there, and in making your departure not easy or obvious. You have to go to the FAQ and look for a contact link to ask them to erase your account. Why not providing customers with a delete my account button? Oh, well, because some people don't bother to browse around to do that. Besides, when one deletes a review, this is not really deleted, it is just hidden, they say just in case you change your mind. Stinky! Stinky! ! 

If this wasn't enough, one of the abusers who popped up in my private email some time ago, had (and has) his account restored despite my reporting this subnormal twice. My reply to him was erased, no insult uttered was erased almost immediately. So  he must be linked in some way to the "staff". Stinky!

To this date, there is no precise information about the people behind the platform, who they are (names), how they fund themselves, or the coveted practices they practise in a supposedly customers orientated site.  That is BS! 

 I am getting sick of this customers helping sites.   


FORMER REVIEW 
ProductReview is one of my favourite reviewing sites online. 

THE THINGS I LIKE
> PR is a great forum to review products you use and see what simple reviewers, people like you and me, say about any product. I especially like and find helpful those related to electronics, household electrical machines, gas & power companies, phone & Internet providers, and removalist companies. I have used the site to discard products I needed to buy, to choose services I needed, to to comment on the good or bad of products I have used.
> They are not a social network just a consumers forum. No contributor rankings. No BS.  Reviewers are not used or manipulated by the site to promote any business or increment the number of reviews of any business. What a relief.
> Their posting guidelines are clear and extensive, and easy to see when posting.
> They have zero tolerance with spammers and trolls. Yai!
> They have representatives of mayor service providers in Australia replying to questions, or dealing with a problem you might have. This is most helpful. In fact, they have helped me in the past!
>  They check every single review before publication. If they think you are mixing potatoes with bananas, they will tell you, so you put things separately. This also weeds out crap, insulting, abrasive or toned-up reviewers and reviews.  
> They request proof of purchase for services when reviewing a service.
> The place is good  for both reviewers and businesses. The former can vent their frustration or excitement about a company or product, while the later can listen to what consumers say and improve themselves or the products they sell. I think it is a win-win situation.
THINGS I DON'T LIKE
>> Access to private emailing from members is given without giving the members the option to say yes or not to have it open. A little button letting reviewers to do that would be great. Once, I came across a delusional angry customer accusing me of being part of a company I reviewed positively. He could have commented on my review in public, but he came to insult me in private. I don't want this sort of scum emailing me at all. If I was given the option, I would not give access to private messaging at all. 
>> People can send questions to people who have posted reviews on a product. They are sent to all contributors. Tons of people join the site just to make a single question. Although some questions are understandable, most of them are unnecessary and bordering stupidity. The sort of "How do I?" that could have been answered by simply reading the back of the packaging. Other people ask about gadgets that seem no to work, but most of the time 1. they haven't read the manual of instructions to see if they are setting up the product correctly and the troubleshooting and 2. they haven't called the retailer from where they purchased their product to see if this might be a real defect and needs to be returned or just the customer not reading the manual of instructions. Besides, there are gazillion "deboxing" or "how to" of whatever product on YouTube to help you sort out small hiccups when first starting to use a new electronic.    
>> They have been working on the site to make difficult for you to completely erase your reviews and to cancel account. The delete erase your account is no longer existent, and erasing reviews is not permanent, and it is painful to do if you want to erase everything or most of it, as there is not batch handling of those reviews and the page display just a bunch each time, something that you cannot customise. One wonders why so much interest in keeping you there against your wish.  I think the next point has something to do. 
>> The site is a forum with no association to any of the services or products reviewed. That is fantastic. However, right on the site, there is a call for advertisers to target the viewers. They tell business things like these: "Advertise on ProductReview. Reach the most targeted audience for your brand!"  Or that they will be provided with, "An 'Official Website' button will link directly to your site, enabling you to track when a visitor turns into a customer."  I never see ads on my screen as I use an ads-free adds-on in my browser. It would benefit you to do the same. Forget those who say that you are destroying the Internet and those who pay for free sites. The Internet is using you anywhere everywhere, profiling you, using your data without your consent to target you as a target. Adds-free all the way. I understand that the site has to generate some income to keep it operative, that is great, but then, if businesses pay to advertise, the independence of the site is a bit between quotation marks.
>> Their zero tolerance to trolls seems a bit more relaxed now, a subnormal who abused me is back into the site, an abuser. I complained and nothing was done, so I take for granted that they tolerate and have not a problem with the way people behave in their site, or just that subnormal is related to one of the workers of the site.  
>> There is no feedback button to give feedback or direct way of contacting these guys. Unless you are a business and want to advertise!

THINGS THAT SHOULD BE IMPROVED
 >  Their "About us" is too generic. We know already that this is a forum, that they have millions of visitors per week  and have appeared in the media. However,  I would like to know more, just for the sake of clarity.  Why? When? Who? created the site?  Do they have any connection with any Consumer Office? Choice Australia? How do they fund themselves? Who is the CEO?
 > Editing any review is a bit of a pain. I am a compulsive editor, so I can convey what I say in the best possible way. Every time you edit a text has to go through as if it was a new review. This is a burden for both parts involved. There must be some software out there to figure out if you have re-edited a bit or changed the review altogether, and to discriminate accordingly.
> If you write a new comment on the same product or service, the first one is erased. That is unnecessary and misleading for viewers. There is an easy way to keep both. You have an "update this review" option, and the new review of yours seats on top of the older one. That favours balance because in the past I complained about the phone service of a company that, for the rest, I think it is great and my previous review said that clearly. The only thing visible now is how bad their phone service is.
> Most people reviewing online in sites like these do so when something fails, when they are desperate, when they are frustrated, when something bad happened to them. However, the same people don't say a word  when things go well, when a product is great, or a service is awesome. In that regard, it is difficult to balance any reviewing site.
> Star systems are misleading unless they take into account several variables. Like/Dislike, quality, durability and so on. Personally, I think the five star is the worst possible rating option, 1-10 is more flexible and accurate.
> The Help Centre is too basic. 

 IN SHORT
This is the reviewing site I respect the most. Yet, it can improved and it is becoming more authoritarian by the month. . If they want to be independent, they should do something, be it!  But is all a big lie to get your reviews.

12/21/2015

Dick Smith (Online Retailer)

 


Dick Smith have plenty of just-online offers, like pro-rate expense discounts, or day specials, beyond what is in the catalogue, so I decided to try the online shop to buy two items I needed and take advantage of one of their special online weekend discounts. The prices were already fantastic, but I saved 30 extra bucks on the spot.  Their delivery fees were really cheap.  

The purchase online was very easy and I promptly received confirmation of the processing and shipping of my order. They provided me with a tracking link, which mentioned that I better  until after 7pm next day to get any info about my order. I did so on at the requested time to no avail, and the same next day in the morning without results. I called Dick Smith's Customer Service and they redirected me to the freight company. The lady on the phone was lovely but she could not track my parcel with the info I had been provided with and none of the numbers worked; she guessed that the parcel has not been dispatched yet and that was the reason.  Not even two hours later, the delivery guy showed up at my place! That was a day and a half after my purchase online, which is fantastic. 

They need to solve their tracking reference system because it could have happened that my parcel was late, or I was not at home, and it would have been an annoyance for all the parts involved. Nobody wants to be glued to their place to wait for a delivery that has no day or time on it. They just show up. So a working tracking link is necessary. 

Beyond that my experience online was very good.

Recommended. 

12/08/2015

Lifespace Home Innovations (Online Retailer)


Lifespace is a home and garage storage and organisation store. I've bought a couple of times in the past from this online retailer and I love the items I got, the variety of products online, the speedy dispatch and delivery.

I really like the range, quality and functionality of the design of the storage products these guys have, and pricing is the same you find for similar items in similar storage and organisation stores, (Howards, for example). A poor consolation, as most items are expensive unless you buy them during sale periods. 

Their online shop is easy to browse and you can check-out as a guest without the need of registering, which is always a point-maker with me. They clearly state which products are in stock, which ones are limited, and those that are out of stock, and you will receive an email when your order is processed and another when a tracking link once it is dispatched. They dispatched my items next day using TollEPC, and these guys SMSed me when my parcel was out for delivery. 

A few days after delivery Lifespace sent me an email requesting a review for each item.

Shipping costs were low, something that I always love, but I  would like their shipping costs waved for purchases of 100+ or 150+ bucks.
 
Lifespace is a reliable online retailer, and my experience with them is very positive. If they sold at cheaper prices. I would visit them more often.

Chemist Warehouse (Online Retailer)

 


I have always been a devotee of the Chemist Warehouse stores. Not pretty places but they have anything I need from prescription medication, OTC medication, vitamins and supplements, beauty and cosmetic products, perfumes and cleaning products, sex toys, travel products, and all at very good prices. My sort of heaven.  

Although I have been buying from Chemist Warehouse for years, lately I am ordering online, and I am very happy with their online shop.

CW's online shop is large and well structured, with a huge variety of products available. Everything is sold at the same price you get it from a real store. The search tool is great not just to looup up products you already know, but to search for types of medication or active ingredients. For example, you can look up Vitamin C, or Clotrimazole or anti-histamines or Murine. You also have the latest catalogue online, so you can order those super-discounted products online as well. The description of some products in their individual page could be more detailed, but this varies from product to product, and overall it is a very good online shop.

They deliver to Australia and overseas, and you get free domestic delivery if you expend over +100, which is easy if you buy bulk. Otherwise, their shipping fees are reasonable. You can include prescriptions in your order; of course, you have to provide exact details of the prescription before they put the medication in your parcel. Yet, it is worth ordering, as their prices for prescription are way cheaper than elsewhere. 
  
You have to register to order. Once you pay, a confirmation email is sent to you. Once your parcel is dispatched, you receive another email with the tracking link. You can pay with credit card, Bpay or Paypal.

Dispatch has always been reasonably fast, like a couple of days and they use Australia Post. The delivery has also been as per estimated periods and the parcels brought to my door properly packed, so bottles with liquid are all sealed in individual plastic bags, and items with glass containers are properly wrapped. 

This is e-pharmacy at its best.