• It’s not about you

Gwendlyn D

~ Writing, random musings & general lifestuff

Gwendlyn D

Category Archives: Review

January Good Reads – Jericho Sims begins

26 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by GwendlynD in Blog Interaction, Review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

#NewToMe2017, Author, books, Goodreads, Jericho Sims, Reading, T. Mike McCurley, Writer

 

Since this year I had to have a jumpstart for reading which began with the discovery of the New to Me challenge , I’m glad to inform you all that I did indeed find my booster pack in the form of Jericho Sims: so a big thank you to T. Mike McCurley for providing the catnip for reading.

After crossing paths during CampNaNoWriMo, T. Mike McCurley’s books  were always sitting on my radar to read yet I never got around to it and now I’m on the second book and eagerly wondering what happens next yet trying to pace myself to enjoy things more (slightly masochistic I know) but I don’t want another Game of Thrones type thing to deal with.

I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone and the first introduction to this mighty likeable character is a very reasonable buy from Amazon (or free to read if you have the prime unlimited thing which I hope gives something to the authors). I even managed to kick myself into leaving a review on Goodread which I should do for books but am often too lazy – sorry authors but I’m trying now.

Anyhow this was just a quick update and I’ll leave the links for you to peruse below:

GoodReads

Amazon

Amazon UK

 

25580424

Source

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Amazon reviews: How much do we trust them?

06 Friday May 2016

Posted by GwendlynD in Review, soapbox

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Amazon, annoyed, cheated, complaint, Customer, Laundry, Purchases, Review, Reviews, Shopping

 

How much faith do we put into reviews when buying products? Are you one of those people that ignores reviews and shops on instinct, or are you like me and often base your purchases on other people’s reviews?

If you buy from Amazon and do make purchases on the trust of reviews , you may want to rethink after reading this: or at least read the reviews with a keener eye.

Personally I am a big fan of Amazon: I’m a prime customer and regularly buy from Amazon as my first port of call. It’s easy, the choice is wide and I trust it on the basis that other people like me are adding honest voices to the reviews, however my recent review was rejected which makes me wonder how many bad reviews are kept away. Not only that but the discovery that there might be a loophole for suppliers to link good reviews from different products is worrying and means I will definitely be keeping a closer eye out in future.

My honest if somewhat aggrieved review (which was rejected) for

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01930RLEU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

When deciding upon a laundry basket I had hoped that this one would reflect the reviews given however I am currently learning my lesson about reading them more closely!

The product I received was alike to the image above with four canvas bags that sit on a frame but the product received showed the poor design where aesthetics have been valued over practicality. I do admit that I was swayed by all the good reviews that I skimmed over and the star ratings, yet PLEASE DON’T BE FOOLED – ACTUALLY READ THEM!

Now that I am attempting to return this product and wondering why there were so many good reviews I notice that somehow most of these reviews are about a different product!!!

If you actually read the good reviews, many mention the ‘natural’ effect rather than metal or plastic and some say ‘sea grass’ in the review so I can only assume that these were given about a different product: perhaps a woven laundry basket or even a waste paper bin: either way most of these reviews were not written about this product! – HOPEFULLY AMAZON WILL CHECK THESE LINKS FOR INTEGRITY!

The product itself seemed to be good at first, the frame went together well and in good time: it seemed sturdy enough for the price. The problem began when we added the hooks which hold the laundry bags. Due to the sloping nature of this design the hooks were not able to sit well between the poles: they have not been made with differing ends so they would only ever be able to sit right on a level frame.

After reporting this to the supplier, I was informed that I could bend the hooks to help them sit on the poles. So taking a pair of pliers I set about trying to bend a hook so it would stay on the pole which caused the end safety caps to pop straight off. I wasn’t really happy having to force the design however it seemed easier than having to return and find another basket. After forcing a hook to stay on the poles however it was realised that the bags would also not stay on this slanted hook, obviously they slide down the hooks too and gather up (this was without even adding any laundry).

When reporting this to Tinkertonk customer support, I was offered a £4 refund and the offer to keep the basket, however I really don’t want to have to bend bars and sew bags just to get something functional, and I also don’t want to be left with extra rubbish that will have to be taken to the tip.

I had thought that a courier would just pick up the return however I didn’t realise it wasn’t prime  ( the postage was free) which meant I would have to post it at the post office. I would have asked someone with a car to do this for me however after speaking to Tinkertonk, I was also informed that they would not refund the postage anyway: leaving me very much out of pocket due to poor design!

So now I am left with a box sitting in my hallway and a loss of £21.19 from my bank so I am not a very happy customer: especially after realising that the main reason for my purchase (the good reviews) were not even connected to this product!

Hopefully this review might stop anyone else falling foul to this hoax!

…

Ok so perhaps on reflection this was a bit of a shouty post with far too many exclamations however I don’t appreciate being out of pocket for something that just isn’t fit for purpose. If I had ordered something and just not liked it or changed my mind then I wouldn’t expect a refund, and yes I am still annoyed, maybe because I am annoyed with myself for not actually reading the reviews properly and leaving myself open to blind faith in Amazon reviews.

The annoying thing is perhaps that if I had bought this via credit card or Paypal then they would have honoured this refund however Amazon leaves this disagreement between seller and customer. Overall though I really hope that Amazon might look into their reviews and supply better quality checks: who knows how many other products are being marketed in this way.

Failing that I hope this post might at least encourage one more person not to be deceived by a shiny star review

 

 

qq

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

All the free stuff – I love it!

23 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by GwendlynD in Review, Shopping

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Amazon, Blogging, BzzAgent, freestuff, lottery, Review, Reward, Shopping, Topcashback

Every time I log onto my email these days I seem to have an overflow of emails trying to sell me something or offer me some extra wonderful discount or bargain. I can’t blame the companies for trying as they are only using the tools at their disposal and most are places that I have or do shop with, so sometimes I do admit to taking the bait. Now whilst I could go and complain about the companies that overload me with nonsense, instead I thought I could share some of the more positive experiences and maybe share some sites that actually do save me money.

For starters one of the best things I did do was to follow Martin Lewis’s advice and sign up for Topcashback . It has by far been the best source of extra cash back for me since I shop mostly shop online, and all it means is I log into Topcashback before making my purchase. Basically if you shop online then you really do want to set up an account here, you can opt for the money straight back into your bank or swap for another voucher of which there are many choices ( personally I use the Amazon credit as it adds and extra %)

Great to use if you are buying online anyway and you want to treat yourself for free
Topcashback – sign up

freerac

Next up the free lottery 

But it can’t be free you say, nothing is given away for free!

Well technically you do have to give up some of your time to click on a link to the website over at  The Free Postcode Lottery

Again you need to make sure you don’t use adblock for this domain however I haven’t encountered any issues with it as yet and I have been clicking it a month now. If you join the site you will notice that there are a fair amount of advert on there yet these are the reason that there can be anything given away free: for the website earns money from this advertising, which in turn covers the payout for an
y winnings given. So you might see it more of a business ideal than a scam. For my part, I think it’s a great idea: it only takes a minute to give an extra 4 clicks to see the winning postcodes. Let’s be honest most of us do this to random links anyhow so it’s not really wasting time, it’s using it for something more useful than clicking Bored Panda (not that this stops me either).

If you want to sign up and take a chance to win some free cash in exchange for clicks

The Free Postcode Lottery

giphy (1)

Then we have the review companies which supply you free stuff in return for a review, and please note that they don’t ask for a good review just an honest one.

So these are the two I joined up with and so far have had a couple of free / discounted items without too much extra work for them.

Bzz Agent – This is a nice site to sign up with if you want to fill out a few surveys and then share your findings if they post you something out to try out. You don’t need to be a blogger or anything just write it up on their website.
I will say that if you do try this though make sure you read the notes before you add as review as some product campaigns want to be advertised and connected to Bzz agent and some campaigns don’t

AMZ reviewer – This site is great if you use Amazon prime as many things can then be bought at a hefty discount or free since you would already have free postage. Basically you just sift through the items as request anything you might want to use and review. It’s a good place to search for items you were going to buy anyway.

 

images (1)

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Review for L’Oreal

17 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by GwendlynD in Review, Shopping

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Beauty, Blogging, Hair, Hair dye, L'Oreal, Review

After my earlier post rallying people to add their voices behind good reviews as well as bad, I decided to follow my own advice. So I went about and signed up to a couple of review sites to get free .. er to promote honest reviews (and I like free stuff).

So here goes for my first one:

I recieved a free sample from L’Oreal: A hair dye (which I had a choice of colour).

First impressions of the L’Oreal Casting Creme Gloss were this – Finally somebody thought about long hair!

IMAG1533

The conditioner was bigger than the usual ones in dye boxes and having long dry hair I often feel like my hair could do with more of the nourishing treatments. So kudos to L’Oreal for that.

First up the usual question: What will it smell like?
I was pleasantly surprised with this one, and there wasn’t a strong smell like some dyes can produce (cue complaints from partners or flatmates). In fact it was actually a nice light perfumed scent, so bonus points there too.

IMAG1531

The applicator was a good size, easy to handle and not overtly large in my small hands. Oh I almost forgot to mention the gloves..

What about the gloves?
These ones were a new type for me to use, as they were a thin textured type that were easy to open up (some have static cling) and just felt of a higher quality than my normal box dyes. These ones were strong and didn’t leak, the wrists were shaped so no extra water got into the gloves whilst rinsing. Also as stated above, I have ridiculously small hands apparently and most gloves are like comedy ones which fall off but these were a really good fit for me. In fact these were the only pair of gloves that have lasted the whole dying session for me so I’m happy not to have the usual stained fingertips.

Ok, back to the actual dye: did it drip? What was the consistency like?

It is a gel like thickness. If anyone crafts then you might understand what I mean by the comparison: it is similar to liquid pearls. I would be lying if I said it didn’t have a few drips, however I will mention that I am also apparently more messy than any other female when dying hair, so you might not want to take too much notice.
However the drips did clean up better than expected and my ears are imag1554not a different colour so this is a good thing.

I was a little worried in the waiting stage as I feared for my grey roots becoming ginger ones (no offence to anyone ginger, I just thought roots only would look odd). Also in the waiting stage there were no drips and no itchy scalp or irritated eyes like some dyes can produce.

 

 

 

Yes but did look good after?

Well yes … I think, It does seem to depend which light and angle it gets looked at and I think next time I would opt for a darker colour. However it does look much better, and bear in miIMAG1567nd that my colour was already a mismatched bodge job so it did well.

Does it feel better?

Yes definitely, my hair feels soft and smooth and also smells good too. There is a much better shine on it now and the extra conditioner made a big difference for me to be able to cover all of my hair generously and still have some left for the next wash.

Would you recommend this product?

Yes I would! Personally I would try out another shade for myself, however I would try L’Oreal again and was pleased with the process and result.

Before & After Pics:

IMAG1498_1
IMAG1562

P.S I’m keeping the gloves 😉

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Shopping splurges & Twitter #FF

13 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by GwendlynD in Craft, Review, Shopping

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Art, Craft, Handbag, Handmade, Jewellery, Purchases, Shopping, Support

Every now and then I find myself in a little dip of moods so these days I try to keep a bit of money to the side so that when it hits I can have a little shopping splurge to cheer myself up again. Nothing like being woken with presents through the post, it’s like Christmas, only the postman doesn’t have a white beard and I tend not to leave him any milk and cookies out.

Anyhow I thought that since my twitter account might have been feeling a little Warcraft heavy of late and I didn’t get around to helping anyone out with an #FF yesterday then it might be time to show a bit of crafter love.

So here are my latest goodies from a splurge (in no particular order), and links to the wonderful artistic people so you can check them out for yourselves.

First up: Melissa Nettleship 

Twitter @MillyJan
Etsy shop

WP_20150613_033 WP_20150613_039

I really liked her style of art and had been enjoying seeing the Alice in Wonderland theme pictures flashing up on Twitter, however there was something extra special about the Bear & Maiden one that I loved but I couldn’t justify a print with nowhere to put it. So when it got turned into a notepad that was me sold, and I was glad to find the funky kitty Avenger badges too. Oh and the bargain print that was on sale…well I couldn’t pass that up could I?

The Spotted Zebra Company

Website
Twitter @spottedzebra22

WP_20150612_005  WP_20150612_001

Another twitter spotted purchase .. yep I’m a sucker for em. But this bag was the perfect accompaniment to a dress that I have and after noticing my trusty canvas messenger bag was on it’s way out then I thought this could be a perfect replacement. (see how well I talked myself into that there). I have no excuse for the purse though other than the fact it amused me.

Rogue Fairy Boutique

Rogue Fairy Boutique – Etsy

WP_20150612_008  WP_20150612_016  WP_20150612_022

Just a random Etsy find for me as I wanted something with the hand stamped lettering and was wavering over to the geeky side of things. I found the Nightmare before Christmas spiral first but then noticed The Shaun of the Dead bangle was on sale too so again <bargain hunter senses alerted>
They also sell some lovely looking spiral rings but I have no idea of my size so maybe that’s something for a future purchase 😀

All of these purchases came with speedy delivery & packaged with care, so actually it worked out better than Christmas because nobody used Yodel to deliver *cheers*

So that’s three places to check out, I have plenty more but I wouldn’t want to over load your credit cards all in one day 😉

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Archives

  • August 2022 (1)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (6)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (3)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (1)
  • April 2016 (3)
  • March 2016 (9)
  • November 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (8)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (16)
Follow Gwendlyn D on WordPress.com

Blogs I Follow

  • Thundercatt99 Weblog
  • The Pittsburgh Writer
  • The Musings & Artful Blunders of Scott D. Southard
  • Girl On The Go
  • The Pinay Ajumma
  • The Depth of Now
  • lastflyingcow.com
  • Beludru Plays
  • Tired Old Hack
  • Dried Ink Ribbon
  • Artistcoveries
  • mycreativeresolution.wordpress.com/
  • amtanimator
  • FingerTwitchings
  • Jeska Carey
  • Acoustic Painters
  • Journey by Paper
  • Sharmla Karri's #Paintings
  • Double0seddon
  • rude bird - sketchbook
  • illustrated by Yaney
  • sonnefaunart.wordpress.com/
  • The Artisan Duck
  • Jim Keefe's blog
  • Axwyas Blog
  • Painted Jaguar
  • CheshiiPi
  • Day to Day
  • Black Permanent Marker
  • Sunnyfae
Follow Gwendlyn D on WordPress.com

Social

  • View Gwendlyn Drayton’s profile on Facebook
  • View Gwendlynd’s profile on Twitter
  • View GwendlynDrayton’s profile on Google+

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Category Cloud

#Aughost A-Z Challenge Blog Interaction Bzz Agent Challenge Craft Creative Writing Exerpt Greeting Inktober JaNEWary Musings Nanowrimo Photo Poetry Procrastination Quotes Review Shopping Sillyness soapbox Stats Uncategorized Warcraft Writing

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Thundercatt99 Weblog

"To live in the past and future is easy. To live in the present is like threading a needle" ~Walker Percy

The Pittsburgh Writer

reader, blogger, writer

The Musings & Artful Blunders of Scott D. Southard

Books, Reviews, Editorials, and Other Nonsense

Girl On The Go

Sharing My Life And Inspiring Yours

The Pinay Ajumma

just sharing

The Depth of Now

lastflyingcow.com

The courage to draw a line!

Beludru Plays

Just a girl who loves gaming

Tired Old Hack

Dried Ink Ribbon

"The only redeeming quality about this story is that the good die and the stupid suffer." ~ Anonymous

Artistcoveries

Discovering the joy of art

mycreativeresolution.wordpress.com/

Watercolor Lessons that unlock the artist within you!

amtanimator

Animation

FingerTwitchings

The ballpoint sketchings of Joel Vollmer

Jeska Carey

drawings, pictures and paintings

Acoustic Painters

Painting, Writing, Drawing, and more!

Journey by Paper

paint, pastel, paper

Sharmla Karri's #Paintings

Myriad Moods

Double0seddon

rude bird - sketchbook

illustrated by Yaney

sonnefaunart.wordpress.com/

The Artisan Duck

Handmade Jewellery, Tutorials and Illustration

Jim Keefe's blog

Axwyas Blog

A blog about everything and nothing at all

Painted Jaguar

CheshiiPi

Day to Day

Black Permanent Marker

Where creativity is the new black

Sunnyfae

Drowning out the grey

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Gwendlyn D
    • Join 158 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Gwendlyn D
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: