123-reg - avoid like the plague

I have a domain name for my company website. I decided I wanted to transfer it from my existing provider to a UK provider. I chose 123-reg.co.uk. But I had problems, and I don't feel very happy any more. In fact I would recommend avoiding them.

When you sign on with them, they demand you create an account before anything else. When you try to log in, so you can do the transfer, they demand your credit card details before you can see anything -- despite the fact the fact that you haven't bought anything yet. And they make clear that this is so they can store it -- remember you have done no business with them yet -- and automatically debit stuff without your permission, unless you unsubscribe from auto-renew.

This is scary stuff. None of this rubbish about "opting out"; I don't want to pay for anything unless I explicitly say so. There's no way I want to have my credit card details stored anyway.

But it gets worse. You request a transfer, and are taken to a screen where you have to put in a lot of personal data. You're asked somewhere to check a box to say you have read their terms and conditions -- but if you click on the link, you're taken to a page full of links to other articles, some obviously irrelevant. It's hard to know what you are supposed to read. If you click on the first one, it spews legal definitionese at you -- I couldn't follow what I was agreeing to.

And worse again. I entered my domain, and the website said "add to basket", so I presumed that was what I did. When I did, they added half-a-dozen other domains automatically to my "order". It turns out that further down the screen was a long list of other possible domains, and they had "helpfully" checked some for me in advance, where I wouldn't see them.

All this makes you nervous. These are loan-shark tactics; force you to hand over your details, force you to consciously opt-out of paying, make it unclear what is happening.

Fortunately for me their website then crashed when I requested the transfer. In fact it did so twice. At that point I decided I wanted out. In particular, I wanted my credit card details removed.

But ... they don't want emails from you. The website is set up to make it impossible for you to contact them. There's an 0871 number (10p a minute, and you can be sure it will be many, many minutes of obfustication) or a postal address. There is an electronic form... but when you fill it in, you're told that they thank you for your "suggestion" but won't necessarily reply.

It is crap like this which has always caused me to avoid using UK domain name providers. Some are sharks. One extorted money from me, years ago, to transfer out -- probably illegally. US ones seem better regulated, and that is what I will now seek.

123-reg? Avoid them. Instead consider Network Solutions, or PairNIC, both of whom seem reputable.

Oh Brother! No printer cable at PC World?

I've just been to PC World over at Copdock. I bought a Brother HL 2035 laser printer, and lugged it home through the ice and snow.

Getting home, I opened the box with excitement. Out came the power lead. Out came the manual. Out came the drum cartridge. But... where's the printer lead?

I open the manual. It says "not supplied". It says "make sure you get a USB2 printer cable". Eventually I find a picture of the item, so I know what I need to get.

Only... it's Boxing Day. I can't get a printer cable. I can't go back to PC World now! So I'm buggered. I've spent £80 on this lump of electronics, and I can't use it. I can't use it until I can get a cable, which won't be until Monday now.

Nor will it be cheap. It would probably cost Brother, doing bulk buy, about 50p to supply a cable. It will cost me at least 10 times that, plus the cost of petrol to and fro. You bastards!

It's pretty bad that the first emotion you get on buying something is to find that it isn't all there. It sort of ruins the moment. Excitement is replaced by frustration and rage. Why would anyone do this?

Of course all businesses face cost cutting. But to cut a small cost that will really annoy your customer? Only an accountant could have proposed that. Indeed some suit probably got a bonus for proposing it. In the mean time... I'm stuck.

Oh, and PC World? Why the HELL don't you indicate on the box, on the display, somewhere, that it isn't supplied?

Taking Sainsburys down-market in Warren Heath

I frequently shop at Sainsburys in Warren Heath, and have done for years. But today I needed some stuff, and I deliberately went to Tesco at Copdock instead. Why?

Sainsburys at Warren Heath used to be rather like a Waitrose; good quality surroundings and goods, and quite upmarket. Over the last 10 years it has slipped, and slipped. Today you go into a large, cold, smelly warehouse-like building, with dirty flooring, and look at rows of own-brand goods. It's getting to be like a caricature of Aldi or Lidl. Often there are shortages of basic goods; or items just vanish. The shelves are frequently allowed to become unstocked over the weekend, at least for things I look at.

The other day I wanted some sliced pineapple. I always buy Del Monte; but Sainsburys had removed these! Not sold any more. Instead all I could buy was own-brand, or some unknown brand with a bright blue tin named "DOLE!" Reluctantly I bought the latter, ate it; and got a stomach upset. No more dole for me, thanks. Today I wanted some sliced pineapple again -- so I went to Tescos, and got the Del Monte. It's only 50p a tin. So why on earth would Sainsburys remove it?

I wanted some peas. I want Birdseye, as I can taste the difference between this and own-brand. Sainsbury feel that I shouldn't have the choice. So... off to Tescos for these.

Sainsburys bread has long been rubbish. I have no idea why Tesco can do bread, and Sainsburys cannot, but this is not a new phenomenon. When I want a loaf, again I go to Tesco.

I'm not glad at any of this. Sainsburys Warren Heath is my local grocer. I don't want to drive to Tesco. But increasingly it seems that I must.

Marks and Spencers - trimming the fat or shorting the change?

To Marks and Spencers in Ipswich today, to purchase my customary granny smith apples. But zounds! What is this?

M&S apples come packed in fours in a foam base, thereby reducing bruising. Except that this week M&S has removed the base. There's now just four apples in a shrink-wrap bit of clear plastic. Funnily enough, most of the apples are damaged, and I have some difficulty getting what I want. I notice that less popular apples are still available in the proper packaging.

I'm sure some fool will whimper that damaged apples saves the planet. But this is about cost cutting, surely? The price is the same; but the goods are inferior.

But onwards. On my way to the checkout I saw a box of sweeties in bags of string. Well, I'm quite partial to their chocolate money, so I pick up one of the little yellow bags full of "coins". But egad!?! The bag is about a third empty! Instead of the usual stack of thick coins, there's a miserable three big ones and a few small ones.

I look at the price; it's £2. It's the same as a big bar of Cadburys milk chocolate, and contains about a third of the amount. It's a rip-off, frankly.

Clearly Mr. Marks (or Mr. Spencer) has been at the accounts again. Instead of raising the already absurd price, he's decided to give short weight. At least, what else can I think that this is? So I throw the bag back. I can get a good big bar of chocolate at Tesco for 27p, after all.

I am depressed. I don't go to M&S to get cheap. I go there to get quality.

Years ago, people used to buy M&S clothes. An M&S suit was the standard interview suit. You paid a bit more, but you got rather better quality. Then the market started to be flooded with cheap chinese imports - rubbish quality, but bottom-dollar price. And M&S gradually reduced... their quality. The prices did come down a little, but suddenly you were getting much poorer quality clothes.

I still buy M&S shirts; just try buying a Tesco shirt and you can feel the difference! But I don't buy M&S as I did, and neither does anyone else, as their sales figures show. And it seems that the food department is now treading the same disastrous route.

BT doing a scam?

In my opinion BT is abusing the direct debit system to try to force its customers to buy its most expensive "all calls included" package.

Sounds weird? Let me explain.

I've been with BT forever, and my usage hasn't varied in years. In some years they put the DD up to a large sum, and I end up with a credit balance of a couple of hundred pounds on them -- which you have to ring and ask for, naturally.

This summer I got a note from BT that they wanted to jack up my standing order to around £45 a month. Now that's a fantastic sum, way in excess of what I actually use. How had they managed that?

Well, they'd reduced the DD to a piddling sum, so a debit quickly came into existence. I rang in and got them to change it to something like what I really use.

All BT paper bills are horrible. They charge in advance for this, and in arrears for that, and they bill over a period of 5 months, but only include 3 months payments, etc etc. All the messing about that goes to make their bills unreadable and inscrutable, which I imagine is intentional.

Today I had another one. This time they say I am £70 in debit. How this is achieved, given that my usage really doesn't vary? The bill is carefully constructed to ensure that the details of the calls are not shown, and I can't tell, really. And they want to put the DD back up to £45 a month.

At this point I get suspicious. The reason I pay by DD is so that I do NOT have wild fluctuations in the cost of my services. How come that it's all over the place this year, all of a sudden? Is there any chance, could it be that there is a marketing reason behind this?

I got to the BT website. And ... ta-dah! I find that their "pay us line rental and all your calls are free" package costs about £41 a month.

What a coincidence. Whack the DD up to something ridiculous, based on manipulating the regular flow of costs, and then suddenly that massively over-priced deal looks cheaper, and hey, someone in BT gets a bonus.

Too cynical? Somehow I don't think so.

I wonder how many other people are being scammed this way. If only I didn't need a landline for my broadband, I probably wouldn't bother with one at all.

Hughes Direct and Miele - not a great experience

My old washing machine died on Monday. So I need a new one. I decided to buy a Miele WT2670 washer-dryer. OK, it's a thousand quid, but if it lasts 20 years it's worth it.

A look on Tuesday at comparison websites revealed Marks and Spencers were offering it cheapest; but when I went a second time to their site the item had vanished! Inside 24 hours, no less! I suppose imported items will all go up, since Gordon Brown has been printing money. Also they only had a 2 week delivery.

Next in line was Hughes Direct. Their price was the next best. Their customer service is a bit strange. I rang them, and asked to buy this very expensive item and was told to use the website. Well, I did. Then I rang customer service, and they arranged to deliver it Thursday. They couldn't say when, but a call before 9:45 would tell me what time.

Thursday came, and the call came: "before 12 noon". In fact this meant "about 12 noon". It arrived, and since I'd paid for installation, they did that too. Boy was it heavy! They also removed the old machine for £10 - good value compared to the council £26 charge. I was fairly impressed with the delivery chaps, who did an excellent job. But... the machine was dirty on top, really dirty. How can that be, if it is new?

Time to catch up on the washing. But a load or two later... what's this? Water coming out from under the machine? How come?

Water continued to seep slowly but definitely out, even if it wasn't running, even with the input line turned off. Not much; but indicative of a problem. There was a sour smell, as of stagnant water as well. How can that be, if this is a new machine? I inspected the back of the machine; all dry. I inspected the filter at the front in a little panel; all dry.

I try the dryer. It doesn't seem to do much. I wash some socks, and then dry them for an hour. They are not dry at the end of it. That's ridiculous! They'd dry faster over a radiator.

This machine is not working correctly. I don't want to have to repair a brand new machine, but I don't quite know what to do. Maybe I can get an exchange? I email Hughes Direct (although the website makes this hard). No reply.

I clean up all the water, make sure everything is tight, put down towels on the kitchen floor and go to bed. In the morning... more water. Not much, but there is this smell...

Friday I had to go away, but when I get back, the smell greets me as I enter. It's late afternoon but I ring Hughes Direct. I get a rather determined young man who tells me that I have to have someone inspect it to see if it is damaged. I demur, and he says it again. And again. I politely refer him to the Distance Selling Regulations, and ask if it has to get all legal. He goes off to talk to his managers. He comes back and tells me that I can just have it returned, but in that case I have to pay for the carriage to and fro. I give in and agree to have a little man come round to see if there is water.

Presumably this is all really about their company insurance; they can claim on their insurance if it is damaged. But they don't tell me so; and a customer who just spent £1,000 is made to feel very upset and concerned that they are attempting to force him to accept a repair.

I think Hughes Direct must be a fairly small outfit. It is a mistake to order an expensive item from a small supplier. They will only have the one; and maybe this one has already been around the block?

UPDATE: The machine has an LCD display which you use to monitor progress and change settings. This has just gone dark too! Clearly I have a complete lemon here. Even Miele must produce the odd bad machine. It's going to go back, and I will have my money back, whatever it takes. It will be interesting to see just how difficult Hughes Direct try to make this, or whether they are reasonable and I just got someone on a bad day.

But next time, I will pay the extra and order from John Lewis. Apparently they make no difficulties about returns. If you have a duff washing machine, the last thing you need is someone else being difficult. I am sick of the quibbling.

UPDATE: Over the weekend the display LCD started to recover. It had set itself somehow to German. By Monday it was back to 'normal' brightness. This suggests a battery or something.

I did another dryer run on Saturday. I dried some socks for 2 hours; and it still didn't get them dry. But I noticed that water came out while I did so. I suspect that the condenser "dryer" is responsible for the leak.

On Monday I sat around for half the morning, and a man arrived "to look at my washing machine." I told him that I was rejecting the machine under the Sale of Goods Act and under the Distance Selling Regulations and wanted it removed. I told him about the problems. He asked if it leaked overnight; I said it did. He then made a long call to his boss, saying (without asking me) that I wanted an exchange and that it must be the installation plumbing. Then he told me someone would call me and left. He didn't even pull the machine out to see if the plumbing was leaking!

I didn't feel like waiting for a call (which has not come). I rang Hughes, and told them that I had bought it last week and wanted a return and my money back. After three calls I was told that they would collect on Wednesday and I would get a refund to the card after that. Let's hope, hope, that this is the end of the matter.

Because, after all, I still need a washing machine!

UPDATE: 28th October. I waited around this morning, and got a call at 9:45 telling me they would pick up between 1pm and 4pm. So of course I had to be in by 1pm, and wait. And wait. And wait. At 3:45pm I ring in -- and am told they're running a bit late. At 4:15pm I get a call from the driver, who says he'll be with me "by 5pm" in tones that make it plain this is a moveable time. I've sat here all afternoon, yet they must have known they wouldn't get to me for hours and hours. It's now getting dark, and removing it will be difficult and awkward in the dark. I am so wishing I never, ever bought from Hughes Direct!
UPDATE: They finally appeared at 5:05pm. I must have been the last job of the day. So... why did they make me wait from 1pm? But I was nice to the boys who came to collect it. Not their fault (probably).
Only one more step; to extract from their hands the £1,024 which I paid them a week ago for the experience.

UPDATE: They did refund my money. All of it, and no hassle and argument. Evidently I got a dodgy staff member when I enquired. So ... better than it might have been.

Then I went off and bought a washing machine from John Lewis -- another Miele, but NOT a washer-dryer. And this one was fine. It didn't leak, it didn't smell.

I have no doubt whatever that the Hughes item had been sitting in a warehouse for months, getting dirty. Thank heavens I returned it.

Short-changed at Sainsburys Warren Heath - and the result

I went down to Sainsburys Warren Heath in Ipswich this evening, and bought £5.33 of goods. I paid for it with a £10 note. Unfortunately I didn't check the heap of change and just stuck it in my wallet. But when I got home, I had a look; and something was wrong. I only had two £1 coins, and little more. Instead of £4.67, it looks as if I got £2.67.

I can understand a busy shop assistant making a mistake. If I was £1 short, I'd think it was that. But TWO one-pound coins? I hardly think so.

This is the second time it has happened to me in the last couple of months. The recession is clearly making some people steal. And, of course, the great advantage of this crime to the thief is that once the victim leaves the till, it's impossible for them to prove the crime.

I've written to Sainsburys by email, enclosing receipt details.

Watch your change, chaps.

UPDATE: A week passed, and I thought hard thoughts of Sainsburys. But then I got an email from the customer services, telling me they had spoken to the store and I should take the receipt down there and they would refund me the £2. How very generous of them! I was pleased.