Mairi
Terrible Customer Service
First of all, I have ordered from Hobbycraft before, and everything went smoothly. However, after the experience I have had with the most recent order with them, I won't be using them again.
1) Item arrived damaged. Since it was well-packaged, it appears that it wasn't damaged in transit, but prior to being sent. Perhaps a quality control issue that wasn't picked up on - they wouldn't knowingly send a damaged product, right?
2) Customer service didn't respond to email, and then lied about it. I contacted them through their website, and after a couple of weeks not hearing from them, I emailed again. They claimed to have replied to the first email right away, but after double checking my email inbox and spam, I am sure they didn't. When I told them (thinking it might be a site technical error), they didn't acknowledge it or apologise.
3) They said they would contact me to let me know when the delivery company (Hermes) would collect the item for return. They didn't. The poor delivery driver turned up when no one was home, and had to come back a second time (and since I had no idea he was coming to collect it, I hadn't repackaged the item! Luckily he was lovely and helped with that)
4) There was no further contact from customer service. No acknowledgement of receiving the return, and no refund or replacement offered. After a month of silence, I have emailed them again. We'll see if they reply, or if even more issues will pop up.
Two months on from the initial purchase, and still no refund. At first, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and planned to get a replacement, but the more problems I encountered, the less believable it was that these were honest mistakes.
If the replacement had been straighforward, I would still have considered Hobbycraft a good company and continued to do business with them. Now they seem incompetent at best,deceitful and uncaring at worst.
Many thanks for your feedback, and we are sorry to hear that you are disappointed.
Please could we ask you to contact us via email at customerrelations@hobbycraft.co.uk with your order number, so that we can resolve this for you?
Thanks - The HobbyCraft Team
Scam, Beware!
Screen out of 99% of surveys, and unjustly block to stop you cashing out. Don't bother!
Excellent for manga!
I have now found my favourite site to purchase manga and doujinshi. The books are in great condition, well-packed, and arrive quickly. The whole purchase process is very straightforward and having made and received several orders with no issues whatsoever, I would highly recommend it.
Some tips:
1) Use the Sahra store if you want to know how much you'll pay altogether including shipping.
2) If you're buying more than 2 or 3 books, opt for DHL delivery - it works out cheaper in the end.
3) Maximise the number of products you receive in one delivery by paying attention to weight. The site has a page that shows the cost based on weight for different delivery services, and each product has the item weight on the product page. After I fill my basket, I go to the checkout page and check the DHL box weight. I take away 500g for the weight of the packaging, and the weight of all the items in my basket combined, and usually I can add at least one more manga or a few doujinshi WITHOUT increasing the postage cost.
My orders usually work out at under £2.50 per manga for DHL shipping to the UK, and arrive in 3 working days. Highly recommended!
Ten Years to Earn a Gift Card...!
This used to be a good site, but in the past year it has really deteriorated. I suspect they may be in financial difficulties and we'll possibly see them disappear soon.
I am a member of dozens of other survey sites, and unfortunately NQ now seems to be one of the worst. The vast majority of survey sites offer Amazon gift cards AND Paypal or bank transfer; NQ only offers Amazon gift cards (and a whole host of gift cards and products that no one would want). Most survey sites allow cashouts at around £5, NQ's only Amazon gift card is £100.
Like others that have commented, as soon as I neared the £25 Amazon reward, it was bumped up to £50, and as soon as I was almost ready to claim the £50 gift card, there were only £100 gift cards available. If the site hasn't disappeared, I'm sure it'll show only £200 gift cards in the future.
I have also found that surveys have slowed down, so if it continues in this way, even answering every available survey and collecting premium shells, it will take about a decade to even reach the £100 Amazon gift card.
I find it difficult to believe the 'out of stock' excuse when it comes to Amazon gift cards: Amazon doesn't 'run out' of gift cards; suppliers can easily be changed if they cannot fulfill orders; and no other site has this issue.
Since this problem has been going on for almost a year, the only answer seems to be that NQ doesn't want to pay its members, but still wants to profit from their labour.
So now members have to choose whether to abandon a sinking ship and lose the money they are owed, or continue spending time on surveys hoping that one day smaller gift card denominations appear or they finally reach the cashout threshold before they die.
We understand your concern and we are sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused you.
At Nicequest we invite people to participate in marketing research projects and we reward them with Shells that can be exchanged for gifts, prize draws or donations in our e-shop. That's why we have a whole catalog of items for everyday use and also whimsical design objects. In some cases, specific gifts can be taken out of the shop or their value in Shells can be altered. We reserve this right and have specified it in our General Conditions in paragraph 7.3 (click on the following link for more details: https://www.nicequest.com/?target=legal).
Remember that participation in Nicequest is voluntary and in no way similar to an employment agreement. We kindly ask you to keep this in mind and hope for your understanding.
Regards,
Nicequest Team
Not Worth It
Although this company does pay without any issues, actually reaching the cashout threshold takes an incredibly long time. I find I screen out of 99% of surveys and even when I qualify, the rewards are pitifully small, which makes it a real timewaster.
Great Overall
I've had positive experiences with both LifePoints and GlobalTestMarket, so I was a bit surprised at all the negative reviews. However, I did have trouble with MySurvey deleting my account for no reason (they later made up an excuse that I had 'committed fraud'!), so I understand how angry it can make you.
I have noticed that a lot of people whose accounts have been closed without warning have lost a lot of money - I always cash out at the lowest threshold on all sites to avoid losing too much if things do go wrong.
Anyway, in my experience the site has a decent amount of surveys, although I do tend to get screened out a bit much for my liking. There are a good range of reward options, and redeeming points is quick and straightforward.
Recommended
It would be nice if there were more surveys and fewer screenouts, but overall this is a pretty good site. Relatively low cashout threshold, and quick redemptions.
Room for Improvement
Often there are no surveys available, and even when there are I get lots of screenouts, However completions are awarded instantly and the cashout threshold is low.
Mixed feelings...
Pros: plenty of surveys,completions credited immediately, no payment threshold, quick and easy cashouts
Cons: very high screenout rate, low rewards
It's difficult to know if it's worth being a member of this site. Although it's easy to use, I feel like I spend a lot of time on surveys I don't get credited for (long screenout process, or the survey fills up in the middle of completing it, or after completing the whole survey I'm told it's no longer available). Considering the rewards aren't very good to begin with, factoring in all the time wasting makes the compensation for your time pretty abysmal.
However if you're in desperate need of some quick(ish) cash, it's an okay option. I usually complete surveys while watching TV so I don't feel like I'm completely wasting my time.
Thanks for your review and feedback - we will pass this over to the survey providers (please be aware the surveys are not ours, we work with a number of different survey providers).
There's a few different reasons that the survey providers may decline a survey - please take a look at our blog which explains in detail: https://blog.qmee.com/reasons-you-dont-qualify-all-surveys/
If you have any issues with any surveys, please don't hesitate to contact our Support team on support@qmee.com - they'll be more than happy to get in touch with the survey provider for you to investigate the issue.
Thanks,
The Qmee Team.
Almost Perfect
It's rare that I receive an invite to complete a survey, but it's worth being a member of the site as the reward for completing a survey is better than other sites. Perhaps the best thing is not having a payment threshold to (struggle to) reach - once the reward has been credited, I can immediately cash out. If only there were more survey opportunities, it would be perfect!
Frustrating
Although I've been a member for a year and a half, I still haven't reached the payout threshold. The surveys are quick and easy to complete if you don't get screened out, but there seem to be fewer surveys and fewer surveys as time goes on.
It seems like new users are lured in by how easy it is to earn, but once you reach a significant amount the surveys dry up so you can never cash out.
One of my faves!
Quality products for great prices makes this one of my preferred online stores. Items do take quite a while to arrive, but that's to be expected. Occasionally items get lost in the post, but it's quick and easy to get a refund, so no worries. Great all round!
Trustworthy Site
I'm surprised at the low rating this site has, because in my experience it is easy to use, you never get screened out of surveys, and rewards are payed without any problems.
The one thing that could be improved is the number of surveys you receive - it takes a long time to reach the payment threshold. Other than that, it's a great site!
Recommended
Very happy with my first purchase, I'll definitely shop here again!
Recommended
One of my favourite survey sites! Plenty of surveys, so you can cash out rewards pretty quickly. Haven't had any issues with them, so I'd definitely recommend them as one of the best survey sites.
Highly Recommended!
Surveys are well-paid and plentiful, and don't screen out often, so it's fairly quick and easy to earn rewards. The only time I had an issue I emailed customer support and they rectified it straight away. Great service, great rewards - one of my favourite survey sites!
I absolutely love Paperchase!
I absolutely love Paperchase stationery, so it's dangerous to even step into the shop because I usually leave with bags stuffed with goodies! It can be expensive, so I usually only visit when there are sales on. Loyalty card discounts + online coupons can help bring the price down too.
I've only ever had positive experiences shopping with Paperchase - good quality products, friendly and helpful staff, quick deliveries... Highly recommended!
Wonderful site for used books!
This is always the first site I go to for used books - good quality, low prices, and free shipping! I love that I can feed my book obsession while also helping literacy charities. It's just the excuse I need to buy even more books...
I've shopped with BWB several times, and I've only had an issue once, which was resolved quickly and easily. I had received a book I hadn't ordered in place of the one I paid for, but after emailing customer support they sent the correct book and suggested I donate the unwanted book to charity.
Very happy customer!
Great for bargains!
Great place to get cute stationery and inexpensive art materials. I regularly buy in-store and online, and I've always had good experiences with both. I also love that they have a rewards card now!
I Heart Thrift Books!
This is such a great site for difficult-to-find books at affordable prices. It's especially wonderful because the shipping cost to the UK is so inexpensive! The customer service is excellent as well - any time I've had a problem it is always sorted quickly and satisfactorily. I love the reading rewards coupons, too - I've used them many times. I'm a totally satisfied customer. A fan even!