Now we’re always slagging off the big, national companies for their shite service but the one company I’ve always had good service from is…

Specsavers

I dropped my ‘DIY’* glasses in for the umpteenth time the other day as I’d broken them again – picked them up 2 hours later. Arm put back on, lens put back and all fixed with no charge. They’re bog-standard 2for1 glasses to so they’ve not made much money out of me in the first place.

I have my NHS hearing aid through them and it’s the same story with that – any problems fixed without fuss. And nice friendly staff.

So well done Specsavers.

(as in the glasses I do DIY, gardening and messy jobs in and generally abuse – not glasses I’ve knocked up myself! 🙂 )

I will second that broke the arm on my glasses on holiday in Cornwall, popped into Newquay spesavers glasses repaired that morning.

Timpsons.

Timpsons

They are Key Workers.

Timpson’s are a great company that employ rehabilitated ex-prisoners and run a sizable children’s charity. Definitely one to support with business.

I’ve always been very happy with the clinical care I’ve had from Specsavers. The sales side of the business are a complete pain in the arse though.

Amazon. Competitive prices. Fast delivery. No nonsense refunds if there is a problem.

Another Specsavers fan, years of reliable contact lens and glasses service.

Two months ago my dad (84 this year) went for an eye test at Specsavers, who flagged his cataract had got noticeably worse, and who wrote to his consultant. We’re now 6 weeks on, he had his cataract done last week.

Tesco Mobile for me.

Been with them for donkeys years now, changed my contract more times than i care to remember, whenever ive had an issue they have always been quick to answer the phone and listen and sorted i there and then.

Also very helpful the times ive been in store.

Amazon. Competitive prices. Fast delivery. No nonsense refunds if there is a problem.

This, I know they are the devil incarnate, but they are good at what they do.

Nike. Numerous pairs of trainers bought, and many returned after having been run in. No quibble refunds and always good service.

Aldi. Always had good service with refunds and issues.

Third vote for Specsavers. Been with them for 20+ years and always had excellent service and after-care, they’ve fixed damaged glasses free of charge on a couple of occasions.

Bike-related: Rapha.
Yes they’re expensive but they’ve fixed a couple of items of clothing free of charge, they did a no-quibble replacement on a pair of shorts that I crashed in (not bad considering it was entirely my fault!) and on one occasion I bought a jacket only to find a week later that it was in the sale at 30% off so they gave me a credit note for the cost difference.

Kwikfit
Always had great service, friendly staff. Sorted me out the other day when my power steering belt snapped in my van. Surprisingly cheap as well.

Kwikfit
Always had great service, friendly staff.

There’s a number of brands that people like to stick the boot into, but likewise I’ve never had a poor interaction with Kwik-Fit other than them rattle-gunning wheel bolts on stupidly tightly.

Ditto Halfords. Half-decent kit competitively priced and good service.

A good thread this – many are too keen to slag off companies! My ‘go to’ stores are:

Decathlon
Waitrose
Amazon
On Running

I took my car to Kwikfit for its MOT only because I’d forgotten it was running out and was the only place I could get it in between Christmas and New Year. I was expecting them to find issues, front tyres were right on the limit and I’d already booked somewhere to change them 2 days later. They didn’t try and fail it on that and I got an advisory that the glass in the nearside mirror was slightly loose. I was pretty impressed they’d picked that up and it did give me confidence in how thorough they were.

There’s a number of brands that people like to stick the boot into, but likewise I’ve never had a poor interaction with Kwik-Fit

I think something they suffer from is as a national chain the quality of service you get from them is very variable. Our local one the manager fundamentally resents having to do any work and seems to discourage his staff from doing so too. He’d rather tell you that the thing you’ve taken the car in for either doesn’t need doing or can’t be done – he refused to replace the tail section on exhaust my car which was filling the car with fumes saying it must be a problem with the heating vents (the top of the muffler was completely rotted away). He wouldn’t let one of his mechanics undo the bolt on the spare wheel hanger on my GFs car because it seemed to be a bit stiff. Always seem too have appointments available at short notice if you’re in a tight spot… but then you waste the afternoon not getting the problem sorted.

When I’ve been travelling and been in need of quick attention branches of Kwikfit have often been pretty good.

So if you’re getting good service from them that’s very much the branch local to you and not the corporate culture.

LV insurance, boring but the one thing you really do need good service from when it matters. They were great when we first moved to Portugal in the pandemic, and then couldn’t return the car within time limit. No dramas, just sorted everything. Easy to contact and minimal time spent on hold (if at all).

Axminster tools. Been dealing with them since college, thats nearly 30 years.

They’re really punctual on sending stuff out, their tech helpline is always clued up and whenever i’ve need a bit due to something wrong- stripped thread etc, the part is usually with me in a couple of days.

Privilege insurance.

Good phone communication and claims dealt with very well.

Sod switching around at that level.

Screwfix.
Get a lot of stuff from there. Never had any issues over the years and they’ve been very good when I’ve needed to return anything.

Screwfix. Toolstation. Tesco Mobile. Kwik Fit (as above if you get the right branch e.g. one of the closest ones is awful, but go to the one 3 miles further away they’re great). Erm…(sorry) Lloyd’s Bank. And, ahem, Chain Reaction Cycles.

Fourth vote for Specsavers.

Changed contact lenses recently due to discomfort. The optician was excellent, and had similar problems.

The lenses he put me in for a trial are amazing, and Specsavers prices are actually slightly better than available online, which suprised me.

I did have issues with getting them, delays. But looking online (I was going to just buy from Feel Good or whoever could supply) all stores were showing 3-5 days wait minimum. Specsavers gave me a whole bunch of freebies to apologise for the delays!

Kwik Fit
Halfords
Timpsons
Greggs

I’ll give B&Q a mention too as I tweeted that whoever sourced their own brand loo seats should be fed to a leopard after one fell apart. The contacted me and sent a voucher for a new one because I had made them laugh.

Following the eyecare theme, Vision Express.

Halfords another as someone has said, people like to slate but they’ve never let me down.

Kwik Fit on the other hand (specifically the one near the station in Halifax) are/were awful. Failed an MOT on my old Skoda because they couldn’t adjust the headlight. A well known “thing” on Skodas of that era and required a 30 second fix but no, they just failed it. Took it up the road to another garage who did the 30 second fix and passed it.

B&Q as well. Bought a few things before which have turned out to be faulty or just plain garbage and returned them, boxes opened, contents built up and then deconstructed and took them back no questions asked.

Richer Sounds. Always enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff. Unless you want more esoteric stuff, they are doing something right. Sound business too.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/14/richer-sounds-staff-julian-richer

For cars, both our local Kwik Fit and Mr Clutch have been awesome and I often recommend them.

As above with Kwik-Fit, the one closest to us is very good indeed. The one 3 miles away is terrible.

Always a good sign of a company’s worth in fixing problems quickly and with minimal fuss.
Had good experience with Amazon, John Lewis and Carphone warehouse.

Some good ones so far, clearly some themes.

Specsavers, I darent add up how much theyve had from me on DD over decades for my contact lenses – but I havent left because they always help me out with issues, the prices are good, get useful freebies etc…

Screwfix too. I have had stacks on stuff from screwfix, returned a fair bit too – they never question it, the staff let you open products on the desk if theres something you want to look at, they have shops all over and open at useful times.

Another vote for Specsavers, Halfords and Kwikfit.

controversial – Wetherspoons

I know the owner is a dick, and in some places the clientele can be challenging, but on the occasions I’ve been in the beer’s been a decent selection, keenly priced, and if I’ve eaten (especially breakfasts) it’s been decent quality and very good VFM. And the staff have been helpful, attentive, etc.

Yes; I still try to use the smaller indie places where I can, but this thread isn’t about the business owner’s politics, and it’s a national chain where I’ve always had good service.

Ervi

Premier Inn.
500 ish nights away with them, and precisely one grumpy staff member. A couple of inefficient ones too, but they’re always the night shift blokes who are more security guards. All of the rest have been ace.

Spec savers have always been good with me. My contacts were cheaper there than online.

Kwik fit have had good and bad but I think that’s down to the fitter.

Spoons and Premier Inn are a good shout… Spoons does a job, never had an issue. Premier Inn are actually really, really good IMHO. Decent, clean, comfy rooms, good price and cracking brekkie.

Travellodge on the other hand… last time I stayed with them I went to complain there was no mugs, towels or toilet paper in the room and there was a guy complaining his room was missing a bed!

Timpsons

Counterpoint – They told me to change the battery in my watch they’d have to send it away for 2 weeks and charge me £80 (the price of the whole watch!) because it’s a dive rated one.

Found a local dive shop instead and they did it for £10 and it took less than 30 mins.

Screwfix +1

Can I propose COOP?

…and Plusnet. You talk to a named human when things go wrong, they fix the problem and phone you back to check everything’s still OK.

Kwikfit – Mixed bag for me. Good in a private car, but on fleet cars the work is deemed to have been sold as a key account and doesn’t count for the branch – I’ve had them sell tyres they’d promised to me to a walk-in at a branch that I shall not name in ABERGAVENNY.

Can I put a fly in the ointment of the Specsavers love? I was a customer for years until I went in and met a locum who didn’t look like he could operate the equipment. It turned out I was right when I went to pick up my glasses and they were quite clearly wrong. The FOH lady was telling me I’d need to change the distance to my computer screen and refused to consider the glasses might be wrong. I complained and they refused to consider my complaint and refused to issue a copy of the prescription that the incompetent had concocted when I said I was going to get it re-done elsewhere. Full cover-up mode from everyone I came into contact with.

PlusNet, only consumer ISP where the people on the telephone seem to be able to action changes into the system rather than raising a ticket with their support dept. I only left them due to a lack of FTTP products and when I phoned to cancel it turned out they could offer it but weren’t advertising it until all support staff were trained up.

Plusnet are good, you can raise a web ticket with them directly too if you have any specific nerdy issues like high ping etc. and don’t fancy calling. and the reply will be from someone who actually understands network infrastructure, telephony etc.

Dare I say DFS, (the sofa company)? previoulsly heard some horror stories, as in anyone I mentioned who I’d bought my sofas from. But it was painless, took about 2 months from ordering online to getting them in the house, but they set that expectation from the outset and have an order tracking service online. Delivery date issued in good time for me to be available (with the option to re-arrange), and a call from the van driver on the day to make sure delivery was still OK. They brought the sofas in, assembled it (screwing the feet on) and took all the packaging away.

The FOH lady was telling me I’d need to change the distance to my computer screen and refused to consider the glasses might be wrong. I complained and they refused to consider my complaint and refused to issue a copy of the prescription that the incompetent had concocted when I said I was going to get it re-done elsewhere.

In my experience they always give you a paper/card with your prescription printed on it, but if not, it’s personal data under DPA/GDPA, they cannot withold it legally?

Kwik Fit on the other hand (specifically the one near the station in Halifax)

That very same branch tried to rip me off too, failed MOT on some suspension parts, took it to my trusted indie who scratched thier heads a bit but replaced the parts and they failed it again.
Went back to my indie spitting feathers and they just put it through the MOT themselves at no charge, and it passed.

Kwikfit can be a bunch of villains sometimes, reading between the lines they wanted me to cough up several hundred quid for unessesary work. I did end up paying several hundred quid for unessesary work, but at least it didn’t end up in Kwikfits pockets.