Stinky pants

If only I could give less than 1 star.
I'm blind but with the right book and tools, I can enjoy some literature - not if it's up to world of books though.
Not a single listing allowed me to view a page inside.. must be because they're terrible.. what else could be the reason for that? So they're fine with selling me books that are completely useless to me.
I tried seeking help but all they offer is a bot that doesn't understand anything and I can't see.
If they have accessibility policies (which I highly doubt), I don't see them.
In the end I just gave up and deleted my account.
This is far and away the worst ableism I've seen in years and that's a tough competition.

I was led to believe that the co-op cared about the community and our environment. How wrong can you be?
I wanted to buy a drink that is in a glass bottle. Knowing that I have several at home and because I'm active in the zero waste community, before leaving I gathered up all the empy bottles and headed for the back of the store where there was a bottle bank in the corner of a large car park.
After 2 circuits of the empty car park and finding no bottle bank, I headed into the store to ask if I was perhaps just not looking hard enough.
The first member of staff that I asked had no clue what a bottle bank was. His older colleague informed me that it was not something they offered any longer. What's more they were adamant that there isn't a waste bin at all on the premises!!
No store should be selling bottles without providing facilities for the recycling of waste materials. That's definitely something I will be discussing with the council.
I was about to buy a funeral from the company, but if they can't dispose of a few bottles, I definitely don't trust them with human remains.

I used to buy so many things at The Works, but lately they've stopped all the great deals, great products and deem to be competing with stores like WHSmith instead. Well, If I want that, I'll go to WHSmith.
When they do have sale items, they apply lots of stickers to them. These stickers have the strongest gliue known to man. Trying to get them off will almost certainly wreck the product.
Such a shame. I really miss how The Works used to be.

I've been with EE since they were T-Mobile. Dealing with them on the phone and online is fine, but never enter one of those stores if you know what's good for you!!

The staff are all on commission based income so they'll sell you whatever gets them a decent payday, however useless it might be for you.
I'd had problems with a device and the store manager attempted to fix it by brutalising it with a screwdriver he pulled out of his pocket (which on its own makes me uncomfortable). He then blamed me, saying I had broken it.. obviously this is all on camera but I don't think these guys are the brightest of buttons.
They've done this kind of thing to me several times but it all came to a head 2 years ago when I was seated in the shop waiting to be assisted feeling like I was about to keel over.
After exerting the least amount of effort possible, the guy serving me spent 20 minutes pushing security cameras to me. I live in a block of 4 units for elderly and disabled persons
In an attempt to stop him doing this, I mentioned that I needed a laptop for uni that September. He then pulled out a Chromebook, insistent that it's what I wanted.
This thing was so heavy that before reaching the end of the street, it had fallen through the bottom of the bag. Returning to the store, ha just added another bag which lasted until I reached the bus stop.
I could barely pick it up, so it wasn't coming to uni with me. The words "Not fit for purpose" come to mind.
I had paid 3 times what it was worth and it's ruined 2 years of my life (which is precious time for the chronically ill).
That's pretty shameful behaviour.

Biovéne products are excellent. The only problem is that they're so hard to get here (in the U.K.). I know skincare and will choose Biovéne over Clinique.

Tampermonkey is unbelievable. If you've not discovered it yet, you're missing out. It can take a little getting used to but user scripts are for you, you, me and YOU!!

As a long time eBay seller, I use these kind of services a lot. I have only ever had one problem with in-post when they were first starting up. It's by far my preferred choice for sending and receiving orders now. It's so convenient, great value, no queuing.. i love it!!!

I've been keeping an eye on this website for the past 5-6 months and not on ONE single occasion has it EVER been even close to being correct

I love home bargains. You may be able to get similar products at a slightly lower price, but the quality of Home Bargains products is consistently high.
They lose a star because they only have those awful metal baskets from the 1960s that tear my clothes and cause such pain that it's impossible to buy more than a couple of things. I know that sounds petty, but I have arthritis and a pair of expensive designer gloves with a hole tor in them

Life with Home Bargains isn't worth thinking 4. Every othet shops can lock the doors, pull down the shutters and Go home because we have everything that we could ever need and want in Home Bargains.
Staff are friendly and helpful, the stores and stock are clean and no bots ever!.. Just a metre s*it ton of brilliant bargains.

I💟U HOMEBARGAINS

I've sent a number of packages with EvRi recently, using their "next day delivery" service.
Each time, I have been careful to ensure it's at my local parcel shop before the daily collection occurs.
Not a single one of these packages - whether going to a parcel stop or to a residential address, has arrived the next day, despite my paying a premium for this unattainable service.

For most of my adult life, my income tax deductions alone were more than the rest of our workforce took home.
But that's fine with me because I wholeheartedly believe in the principles and philosophies at the heart of our NHS, provision of education, Social services and welfare state. So why do I mention that? Because I don't deserve to be shamed and subjected to threats when the time comes that I do need some assistance.

These services, provisions and entitlements were established in the wake of WWII. When everybody could see how vital they were if the country (and the population) was ever going to be OK again. That sense of solidarity is essential for such systems to function.
Nearly half of all benefits consists of pensions - people who have worked hard all their lives.
The next largest portion wouldn't be necessary if all employers paid a fair living wage and zero hours contracts were eliminated. Pay peanuts and you get monkeys, which must be what's happening at the DWP.
I should mention that I'm blind. After receiving a letter saying.. I had absolutely no idea what it said. Eventually, I had someone read it.
They gave me a whole week to complete forms that I was never going to be capable of reading, gather documents that were equally impossible to see. If I failed to meet their deadline, I faced losing my home and with that, any chance of living independently. I would this become a huge drain on a supposedly insufficient fund, requiring many times more financial and personal assistance, no longer being able to contribute to society.
After submitting the required information, I was made to wait for around 12 months to find out whether or not they were going to make me completely dependent.
I have to believe they're in the business of making disabled people.
I could say more but it all happens in a space where only people who can see are welcome. Must be nice.

I lost the majority of my sight when I was 6 years old after a severe case of chicken pox (vaccinate your kids because this definitely happens).
However, I adamantly stumbled and blundered through life, not wanting to appear incapable (to myself and to others). Sometimes, I feel that this world is probably not a place that is going to be any nicer by my seeing it anyway.
During the fifth decade of life, my remaining vision has rather rapidly deteriorated. A good deal of this is (I believe) because of being forced to peer at impossibly poorly defined content on a screen. I grew up without TV and don't have a set now. Years ago, I brought a huge monitor, but I can still feel my eyes hurting from the strain looking at a screen - something that doesn't happen with a printed page. It wouldn't be as bad if there was an alternative, but increasingly vital services and even mandatory activities are only accessible online. It should concern everyone that we will soon have a generation of people who can't see.
Another thing that adversely affects my (and everyone's) sight is the excessive and inappropriate use of LED lights.
So, I avoided acquiring any tools to assist with daily life until it became prohibitively dangerous not to do so.
Items in the shop seemed expensive until I realised how great they were.
When something is out of stock, I can ask to be notified when it becomes available.
Unlike too many websites, they actually have genuine customer service staff. Human beings who are knowledgeable about the stock and always have helpful advice and suggestions. M
No bots with the vocabulary of a 5 year old. No "we'll text you a link that you will never be able to read" before cutting you off.
My orders came with appropriate details and instructions. What's more, it's given me the confidence to request the same from other places.
They're the one place that doesn't make me feel disabled.

Occasionally, I receive vouchers to spend online. However, I very rarely shop online. This is due in part to my being blind (it's easier to check items are what I need than to deal with the excuse for customer service generally available online), partly to support local businesses and also because I buy things that I actually need and not what marketing tells me that I want.

Browsing through the selection of options for redeeming my most recent voucher, I came across an option that turned out to be the "youchooseagift" website boldly telling me how I could spend my voucher "almost anywhere" - well, it's time to contact Trading Standards about this violation of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (2008), - a nifty bit of E.U. consumer legislation that's replaced the old Trade Descriptions Act[1968]. These laws are intended to protect us from wildly misleading claims. It also offers us some defence against the dishonesty of deceptive claims like this one when they are overtly just cashing in on a shamefully low effort scam.

"youchooseagift" and I have appear to have a DRASTICALLY different understanding of the word "almost" (a word they have clearly included believing it would stand up in a court of law).
"Almost anywhere" is all the detail they provide, meaning the deception is as much about the omission of consumer guidance as it is their inaccurate description of not a single store or outlet that I ever use.

No doubt, they're depending on people abandoning the relatively small value of a voucher rather than go up against yet another shameful excuse for customer service - allowing them to comfortably pocket it themselves.

First, you're required to create an account (but of course you are), so they can maximise your value in terms of data acquisition (and the subsequent sale of said data). Once you've handed over what's needed for them to track your online activity and plunder existing data registers.. only then do you qualify to view a selection of outlets that are a small subset of those you gave up having been blinded by the dazzling ambiguity of a statement like "almost anywhere".
Recognising that I had at least 4 times as many options prior to falling prey to a grade A scam.

I have no sense of embarrassment as many victims of scammers do. Working in customer service (including the high end retail sector) and as a qualified and certified mystery shopper (Yes! That's a thing) I know the process and so immediately begin with tackling their obligatory (and highly insulting) bot, with a vocabulary akin to that of a 7 year old dyslexic.
They're fully aware of how useless and frustrating these "tools" (that cost them almost nothing - do you see what I did there?) are, but prompt & accommodating, personal responses don't leave despondent consumers walking away empty handed.

This, your honour, is a SCAM.

It's important to give the company a chance to remedy their "mistake"(imagine the consequences of making mistakes like these in your job). Remaining polite and open to being proven wrong, the email back and forth ensues; naturally, a refund is out of the question (I'm not even going to mention the evidence I have illustrating the abundance of trackers they are firing at my device). No. It's not that I can't see the pitiful selection of "almost everywhere" outlets that have also been scammed into colluding with youchooseagift; I could even see the majority were opportunities for me to (by way of a charity donation) again, leave empty handed. Without stating otherwise, the likelihood is that no more than 5% of that donation will ever reach a charitable body. I give to the charities I want when I want to, thankyouverymuch. I prefer not to be blackmailed, bullied or shamed into doing so - it leaves a nasty taste. Of course, it's no surprise that this ends with (you all know the words by now) them being right (blameless) and consumers being wrong (their meal ticket).
Yet again they remind me how "This card can be spent almost anywhere".
That's patently untrue, but I now have all I need now to illustrate my providing reasonable opportunity to provide what was promised,
remedy and/or reparation.

Of course, there is a far simpler way to deal with scams like this.. just don't deal with them at all.

A "local" supermarket that tries hard.
I'm not a big fan of supermarkets, but they're not going anywhere so...I live in a village where there's a large number of retirement properties. I'm blind and suffer with a chronic autoimmune condition, so when I went to my local Morrisons (it's not a huge store) and discovered the lightweight, manouverable plastic trolleys, what a joy!! It's obviously good business sense on the part of the company because I'm unable to hold a basket and the regular trolleys are difficult to manage. If I can find a plastic trolley, I am able to take my time and browse the aisles without needing to ask for assistance.
In recent months, these trolleys were all stuffed into the very back of trolley bays or people were using them for their kids to stand in. I took a photograph of the unreachable trolleys.. when I was at the checkout, the manager had posted his personal email address there and so he received an email from me with the evidential images attached. Since then, I've only had to go hunting for them once.
I love their recycling points and although I don't personally use it, I understand that the café is very popular.
Great selection of well maintained plants too.
My local store is Aldridge.

The best shop in the U.K.
If you need to buy toiletries, stationary, garden and camping goods, toys, confectionery, kitchenwares or lights, there are few places where you will find a better deal. The staff are friendly and helpful. I don't know what I'd do if they were to close their doors.

If I could give minus stars, I would. Do people realise that when you buy things from Amazon, your money goes straight to Luxembourg?? That's exactly what it looks like..TAX EVASION.
Just because you get next day delivery, doesn't mean it's not shoddy rubbish from China.
Every time you buy from Amazon, you're silently saying "I'm O.K. with slave labour, child labour, overworking staff in distribution centres to the point of collapse, zero hours contracts, no worker's rights, undermining local businesses that DO pay tax and invest in local people and YOUR community, forcing delivery drivers to drive dangerously to meet targets, normalising the aforementioned practices and generally tossing the next generation of workers to the vultures like the carrion they are.
People deserve better.
Also, they posted my credit card details publicly online. Amazon knowingly targets people with impulsive spending problems and generally sells you overpriced rubbish that you don't even want or need.

Best charity shop in my area.
How can people give a negative review to a charity shop?
You pays your money, you take your chances.
Do people really grumble or even try to return items???
This country really does need to have a word with itself.

When using in-post to receive a purchase, try to find lockers with consistent availability - or the courier may be forced to forego that thing you need yesterday, take it away and try again in a few weeks/months time. From what I gather, this can happen 3 times before it's returned to the seller. That can be a lengthy and frustrating wait. Lockers inside a store that closes at night are a far better bet. Because it's a rarity to ever receive an item that's delivered and taken back to the black hole otherwise known as "courier storage".
Keep in mind that even the largest lockers really are not at all large, so use this service only for items with the maximum dimensions: 41cm x 38cm x 64cm.

I wanted to send some money to my brother-in-law for my niece and nephews who live on the continent, to buy presents for Easter. Lloyds blocked my card for nearly 3 days. By the time they unblocked it, that ship had already sailed and it was too late to send them anything.
A few days later, whilst attempting to make a purchase for my own children, exactly the same thing occured.
After three long, maddening days of being interrogated by Lloyds staff about how I intended to spend MY OWN (I've never had any loans, mortgages, overdrafts credit cards from them.) money, why I was doing X, why I didn't do Y etc, I was told that the branch had blocked my card and the only way to unblock it would be to go into the branch.
I am currently awaiting spinal surgery and struggle to get to the bathroom. As they have ALL MY MONEY, I was left with no choice but to grit my teeth and drag my crippled body to the bank. Using my walking frame, for 3 hours, I shook, sweated and cried as I made my way to the branch. Upon arriving, I handed my ID to the cashier, who looked at my driver's licence and scoffed "Is THAT you??", as if I would present someone else's card.i then had to wait there for another 2 hours, incapable of sitting and struggling to remain upright. Just breathing is agonisingly painful. Eventually, I finished repeating everything that I had already told the Lloyds agents on the phone, several more times.
When I finally made it home (further injured and incapacitated as a result of that fiasco), my card was STILL blocked. It took another two more days before I was able to buy anything. They had unnecessarily withheld MY MONEY from me for almost 2 full weeks during which time I couldn't eat because I couldn't access my own money to buy anything.
I was raised with the ideological principle that asking about somebody's finances or discussing mine with others is impolite. I feel as though I have been assaulted.
There's NO WAY IN THE WORLD i would stay with Lloyds ot advise anyone to do so. They spend customer's money on weapons supporting the genocidal massacre of the Palestinian people. Makes me sick