Rafal Lukawiecki

I would like to thank the staff at Miele’s store in Liffey Valley who have been very helpful. They have patiently listened to our requirements and ordered everything without putting any pressure on us — quite the opposite, actually. :) Some things took a while to arrive, but they monitored the process, chased it for us, and kept us informed by email. Everything is now in place in our new house and works perfectly. However, we run into a difficulty with one appliance. The fascia on the kitchen extractor hood was a little misaligned due to a manufacturing defect, which I only noticed once it was in place. Having explained that to Miele Ireland, I asked if it was OK, since it worked, or if we should do anything about it. I was not keen on having to have people disassemble the just-finished kitchen… Caren, who has looked after us from the very start, patiently explained that even though it works, we will have to look at that misalignment for many years and that it would keep annoying us. She ordered a new extractor. I assumed I would have to get my installers back, but to my pleasant surprise, Miele sent their own service team to do the replacement. They turned up on time and did a great job. I cannot thank the whole Miele Ireland team, also including Karl and Ian, for going the extra mile and for exceeding my expectations. This is how it should be done. I hope that I get at least 20 years out of these new appliances — the Miele in my old house kept on going for longer than that! Thank you Miele.

EasyTrip charges all kinds of hidden “Account Management” fees that are not shown on their Pricing web page (screenshot available). When I contacted them, they went in circles claiming that those were not “hidden fees” because they are in some small print “T&Cs linked to at the bottom of a page”. Maybe — but the pricing page only lists one monthly fee and none other! When I asked to cancel my account, they refused, telling me that I have to be called back by someone else in a few days time. When I asked to be put through to the cancellation team, they refused. When I asked to talk to someone to make a complaint, I was told their procedure does not allow that, and that someone will call me back in a few days time. They have also ignored several of my emails and a submission using their web form. EasyTrip are no longer trustworthy — I have been their customer for almost 20 years, and I do not deserve their condescending attitude. I have complained to the Irish regulator, TII, but hopefully this post will help others realise there are many hidden fees that EasyTrip do not clearly advertise. I have asked for refund, but I doubt I will get anything back.

I had 4 orders from Lights.ie. Only 1 arrived undamaged. They put large and heavy items on top of small and light, do not using any protection, and merely wrap things in thin cardboard, even boxes that are 1-2m tall and weigh a lot. Not even a sealing tape to stop boxes from opening in transit! I have complained about it, showed photos of outer and inner boxes that arrive completely ripped apart with missing contents. They blame the courier (DPD), telling me, by email, that their poor packaging “is the correct packaging” and that “it was properly packed. However, it has been mishandled by the courier.” No, it is not a correct way to pack, not 3 times in a row. Further, to my polite request to resend the goods properly packaged, they had the cheek to write: “We are unable to add extra protection to your order, as it is shipped according to the agreed packaging standards with the courier, who is responsible for handling it correctly.” That is just plain stupid — I am sure there are no such “standards” other than a desire to be purposefully difficult to a customer. Stay away, or be ready to reject the goods as they land on your doorstep.

Super friendly and helpful team at Ballymount. There were some significant discrepancies between the advertised and actual unit sizes. Kevin not only resolved those, but went beyond what was expected, offering a slightly larger unit for the price of the advertised one. This is how customer service should be done—earning trust is priceless. 😊 Units are clean and easy to access, however, there is a little more humidity on some of the floors whilst the extension building work is under way. Thankfully this should not be an issue during the summer, and hopefully it will be all finished before the autumn. Overall, UStoreIt Ballymount was the best self-store of the five I recently visited nearby, especially thanks to the patient, helpful, and understanding team.

I bought a Sensative sensor strip that both Vesternet and Sensative describe as having a battery life of up to 10 years. It is a non-replacable battery. Product failed after only 4 years of infrequent use, informing me the battery suddenly lost capacity from 50% to 0% in a matter of just a few days. Vesternet refused to follow UK consumer law and repair, replace, or even offer a partial refund for the failed product. UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that products must be as described—this was clearly nothing close to the 10 year battery life that was sold to me. UK law also always requires the seller (not manufacturer) to offers 6 years of guarantee, which Vesternet refused to stand by. Do not buy from Vesternet because you will be on your own in case things go wrong.

BEWARE: they took the money and never transferred it. After many years of superb service, the new Dutch company behind WorldFirst is at best incompetent and at worst a thief. They took our money and never transferred it. They do not respond to email. Their chat does not work. Their phone line tells you, in Dutch (no English) that you are No 1 in the queue but they never answer the phone, even after a long wait. We will be complaining to the Dutch financial regulator to try and recover the money. However, for now, DO NOT USE or you will lose your money.

UPDATE 1 Dec 2022: Even though WorldFirst replied, below, they have NOT done anything to either transfer the money they took, nor to refund it. Their email just explained their fees. I have now complained to them three times, and still no reaction. This in unacceptable.

UPDATE 9 Dec 2022: After sending 3 more emails, still no reply and no money. I am concerned they have just stolen our funds. Researching how to report them to their regulator.

UPDATE 21 Dec 2022: The money has been found after one month of delays. WorldFirst failed to provide the correct payment reference and name on the transfer. They have taken one month to reply to 5 emails and 3 phone calls, completely not in line with their complaints procedure which assures clients of a reply within 3 days. Their portal is still work in progress. Some pages show text in Chinese amongst English. Information about complaints or about who regulates them is on pages that end in a "page not found" errors.

We have asked to CLOSE OUR ACCOUNTS. I will never do business with WorldFirst again, nor any other company related to their new Chinese owners, the Ant Group. Do not trust them with your money, unless you want trouble.

Horrid experience! 13 phone calls, over 3 hours of talking, 11 failures to return my calls, 3 days of waiting for a driver that never comes, and, worst of all, somehow believing the man in Latvia that "your package will be collected/delivered today". Rude, combative woman from their Dublin/Nightline call centre hanging up on me when I dared to ask to speak to a supervisor—after telling me she could not care less for UPS.

Delivery delayed 6 days. Collection delayed 5 days. UPS blames "teething problems" with Nightline "Nightmare" Logistics to whom they foolishly outsourced all their Irish operations. In another failure, UPS collection did not take place on the agreed date, nor the days after, despite being lied to by both their Irish depot staff, and their main call centre in Lithuania/Latvia. Everyone at UPS blaming each other and the "limitations of their systems". UPS trying to wash their hands off by saying it is not their fault but of a "subcontractor in my area"—ie. "company they fully own in Ireland". I have now been sitting on an Apple repair box delayed 16 days, and still not collected. By the time it is fixed it will be a month, at least.

Don't get anything shipped to you by UPS. Do not ship with UPS either. Use a reliable and a friendly company like DPD. The glory days of UPS are over...from a 1st class company to an incompetent, lying, dysfunctional wreck.

Off to complain to Apple hoping they stop using UPS.

I remember the good days when such shoddy service would at least earn you a bottle of wine as an apology. Now I do not think I could even get a shrug.

Many problems, many times! Last two: delayed delivery by 5 days, blaming a perfectly correct address. When I pointed out that even a full postcode was on the address label they told me "we do not use postcodes". Another one: Nightline were supposed to collect a UPS package yesterday. Failed and failed to return my calls. When I called and asked to be put to a supervisor, a *rude* cust service operator just hang up on me, after being on a long hold...

DO NOT USE Nightline, and do not use UPS either, who have now outsourced all their Ireland operations, that is delivery and collections, to Nightline. And while at it, avoid ParcelMotel, unless you like delays and don't mind useless call centre staff.

Just use DPD/Parcel Wizard, or another reliable company instead.