BO

Bob

United Kingdom

Reviews

Review of Clean Shaven


Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Decent shave. Tough beard. Same price Mach3

I thought I'd give these a try since they are the same price as Gillette Mach3 Turbo once you add postage. Which are the only ones that work on thick beard. Absolutely comparable. Seems to give about the same number of shaves.

Also on plus side, I'm not normally a shaving cream user. But this stuff feels good.

The reason it's not 5 stars is that there is a nifty blade protector case provided. And it's a bugger to get open. I ended up forcing it with a screwdriver. Not for wet hands! Broke the little tabs in the process. Great Idea. Poor execution

18 January 2026
Unprompted review

Review of Icedrive


Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Was good at first but became less reliable

I found that Icedrive worked quite well at first. But about six months ago I started to get messages that a file I might be accessing was corrupted and couldn't be opened in Office programs. This happened frequently enough that I started backing up on a USB stick as well.

Anyway I looked at what I was doing today. Backing up on USB and Mega with a further backup on another drive. I just couldn't trust icedrive. So I checked I had everything downloaded and deleted all Icedrive files and uninstalled it.

16 December 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Smartwool

Review of Newcastle International Airport


Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Decent Regional Airport

I'm sorry to see the poor reviews. Although I note a lot of them are (rightly) about the Border Force passport checks which really is not the responsibility of the airport. I find the staff at security fairly happy. Fast track worth paying for. The concessions will fill your water bottle if asked. WiFi free. If you know your layout then getting a seat is not a problem.

19 November 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Starling


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Easy to get hold of

Once again I found using Starling really easy. This time in Turkey. I had reason to go online to chat about a dubious Uber charge. And found the service really easy to deal with.

18 November 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Starling

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your review. It's lovely to hear you’re finding the app easy to use. Banking apps should always be a breeze, right?

We're glad the Uber transaction was sorted. We're here 24/7 if you need us!

Thanks again,
Team Starling

Review of Antalya Airport


Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Three sets of security!

Three sets of security. One to enter the departures section of the airport. Then another to get to the gates/duty free area. Finally, and I didn't believe this, at the gate before boarding suitcases and personal search. I wish I had washed my underwear. On both earlier occasions there are no tables or benches to put your belts, watches and bits on. There is a poster of a cheerful child saying " I'm a hero. I passed security."

No water refill, or even single water bottles for sale outside of restaurants where they charge £2.25 for a small bottle.

On plus side there are electric outlets on some seats. WiFi can be free for an hour on scanning passport . Although you have to get the speed of swiping right.

Toilets clean and smart.

As a hint. Unfamiliar travellers will think the Reflex shop after first security is the Duty Free. That is actually a different hall after second security.


19 November 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Antalya Airport

We value your feedback and would appreciate hearing more about your experience. Your input will help us enhance the quality of our services. If you have any complaints or suggestions, please feel free to contact us via email at [email protected]

Review of DPD UK


Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Meat left outside

I was expecting a parcel with meat products. I was waiting at home but in the event of not being in, we have some stone outbuildings as a safe place. I found the parcel on the garden path having been delivered yesterday. The delivery is shown as "porch" which we don't have.

20 August 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from DPD UK

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are sorry you have not received an acceptable service. Please see that I have requested further information for us to look into this for you

DPD UK

Review of Holidaysafe Travel Insurance


Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Clunky website. Quite expensive

Although Which? Magazine gave this company a good rating I found their website slow to respond and clunky. Several times I was typing to find letters so slow to appear that I thought it was frozen. Finding the right categories for destination was a pain. Turkey seems to be missing from any group. The drop down menus were awful.

I'm not sure if the quote was for what I wanted.

17 July 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Holidaysafe Travel Insurance

Hi Bob,

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review and I am sorry to learn you found our website slow and clunky.

Please be assured we do cover Turkey, this is under our world wide excluding the USA, Caribbean, Canada and Mexico destination.

If you would like to email us on [email protected], providing your full name, DOB and post code, we would be happy to look into this further for you.

Kind regards,

Claire
Holidaysafe Team

Review of Blue Light Card


Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Impossible to make site or app work. No help contact

I found that the app wwont work on my bog standard Android phone. Despite every other app in the world being fine. The website shows grey boxes instead of offers. The help email is "no longer monitored".

I finally found a form to contact them (very well hidden) but no response. Definitely getting a refund

14 May 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Blue Light Card

Hello

A response has been sent to the ticket you sent 12.05.25
 

Julie - Blue Light Card UK

Review of Buyagift


Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Spam Spam Spam. Can't stop it.

If I click unsubscribe I get taken to a complicated website where all I get is error messages. This is totally predictable given Buyagifts terrible IT

2 May 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Buyagift

Hi Bob

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused due to this. 

Please contact [email protected] and a member of our Customer Engagement Team will get back to you to help with regards to this.

Review of Buyagift


Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Horrendously complicated process

2nd Update. I finally got the system to work. Then a new unexpected step appeared involving a phone booking. This was never answered, nor was there any response to the call-back option. On the sixth attempt I got it to work by pressing star about twenty times. I did ask that someone at Buyagift call me. The response was that they were "unable to". Maybe the phone was broken! Also their email system regularly mashed up the messages. I thought at first it was me. But no.
Update. The result I got to complaining on a public forum was "an assistant has resolved this". Really? Well guys. I'm still here complaining about being unable to use a gift experience. Haven't heard a sausage from you. You've dropped a star as well.

I maintain that the staff are probably working with a really poor IT system and it's not their fault.

Original Review. So you get a gift certificate. But when you want to use it it turns out that's not the real certificate. But the website doesn't tell you that. You are meant to enter that 16 digit number and six digit PIN to get another certificate with a different 16 digit number and six digit PIN. And you can use that to try to book a location online. But sometimes you can't.

Online chat help only. Nice people but such a complicated site that you don't know what question to ask. After three hours I am still not booked.

22 April 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Buyagift

Hi Bob,

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback.

Delivering Happiness is paramount to us here at Buyagift, I want to reassure you that all feedback is taken on board and reviewed to implement appropriate changes in the future.

The system should make using a gift as enjoyable as receiving it, and it’s clear we’ve missed the mark. You're right the process of converting your original voucher into a booking reference shouldn’t feel like a puzzle, and we understand how frustrating it can be when you think you’re nearly there, only to discover more steps or unexpected complications.

We’re working on simplifying the redemption process and making it clearer at each stage, especially when a second code is generated. Your feedback highlights exactly where we need to improve, and we'll ensure it’s shared with our tech and customer support teams.

If you’re still having trouble booking, please email us at [email protected] with your voucher reference and a short summary, and a member of our team will personally step in to help.

We really do appreciate your patience and hope we can turn this experience around for you.

Review of Newcastle International Airport


Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Overall - pretty good.

NCL is a regional airport and as such is much smaller than many others. Sometimes the security is busy but they do a decent job to clear the queues. The refurbished gate areas now include the Aspire Lounge. Whilst the main concourse is the usual selection of chain outlets and food bars. Staff have been helpful. Drop off is expensive but there are workarounds. Returning Border Control seem to have sorted out the bugs.

12 April 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Bank of Scotland


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great bank. Fifty years on.

Great bank. Been fifty years since I opened an account and I have had pretty good service from them. Re the BOS app. It works fine for payments and transfers. Very occasionally they will try to "improve" it. And it takes a few weeks to readjust.

Customer service is pretty good. Phone is answered promptly. Over the years they have helped with lost cards and minor fraud attempts.

I cannot understand the negative reviews. They are an old fashioned bank in many ways but I like them

16 April 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Dublin Airport


Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Good and bad

Good and bad. This was my first experience of departing from Dublin Airport. There was a big jam at the security queues although a marshal tried to direct customers to the best line. Shoe removal was inconsistent.

I got to the scanner and was sent back to put my normal shoes (not thick soles or anything) in a tray. I waited whilst they caught up only to find them going to the examination channel. From there they were sent back again whilst I stood for longer without shoes. Eventually I spotted them come through again to the safe channel. But no one kept me informed. Why not just search them?

The staff were polite but pushed that service needs an overhaul. The rest of the airport was much cleaner than Heathrow. The walks were hugely long though.

Overall I would use fast track and a lounge next time

12 April 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Ryanair


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

First time using and it was good

First time using and it was good. I flew Ryanair from Newcastle to Dublin on return. It was the first time and I was very wary of the reputation for upselling and poor service.

It was pretty good actually. Punctuality was good. The random seat allocation suited me fine. Staff were pleasant. Although I didn't understand a word they said over the tannoy either direction.

Overall I was impressed.

9 April 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Starling


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Another good trip abroad

Another good trip abroad. This time in Dublin. It was so smooth that I could scarcely feel I was using Euros. I did learn to be careful of non-bank ATM. There were some really sneaky charges. Not as obvious as in UK. But Starting service was great

9 April 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Starling

Thanks for your great review, Bob.

We're so glad to hear using your Starling card made your holiday smooth sailing! Our no fees overseas makes travelling that little bit easier.

We can't wait to see where you take us next,
Team Starling

Review of SMARTY


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Another review

Another review. This time about experience in Dublin. Once again, straight off the plane it connected to some Irish service so seamlessly that I never got a chance to see it happening. All through the stay service was impeccable.

9 April 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from SMARTY

We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. We're glad to hear that you were able to connect to our services effortlessly and that you received impeccable service throughout your trip. - Natalie

Review of Rebtel


Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Quite good with some niggles

I've been using Rebtel for a few years now. Mostly it has worked fine and been good value for money. Top-up is cheap and lasts a long time for calls to Europe and USA from Britain. Call quality is fine on speaker.

A couple of niggles. Not major but minor inconvenient. Very occasionally calls don't connect. No obvious reason. But wait a while and everything is fine. Also it doesn't like connecting to the app when using data abroad. I'd recommend

20 March 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Qpark


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Newcastle Qpark great

This Qpark is near St James Stadium and it will get crowded on match day. But when I have business nearby I book in advance and have paid extra for the VIP bay next to the staff station. The bays are bigger than most. Working lifts. Clean. And not too dear.

17 March 2025
Unprompted review

Review of Starling


Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Another positive experience

Although I left a positive review before about my use of Starling Bank. I thought I would further comment on my recent experience in Spsin. The card was really useful for shopping. No finding glasses and fiddling with unfamiliar coins. Great on buses and trains.

After I returned the flat rental company was slow in releasing the damage deposit. So I called Starling. Phone answered in three rings! Pretty much sorted there and then.

16 March 2025
Unprompted review

Reply from Starling

Hi Bob,
Thanks so much for leaving another fantastic review! We really appreciate your feedback.
It's great you're finding our services easy to use abroad.
We're also glad our team were super helpful and quick to answer!
Safe travels,
Team Starling