Will Dooyoo act on this?!? (Feedback and General Suggestions for dooyoo)

Member Name: yackers1

Product:	Feedback and General Suggestions for dooyoo
Date:	07/10/09 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's interesting, you can share opinions, great for making purchase decisions

Disadvantages: Suggestions take AGES, cheque payments are a bit dated, churners

Firstly I would like to point out that I think Dooyoo is a fantastic site and one I enjoy using over and above virtually every other site. I am a true addict, and unless I am on holiday or can't get to a computer, then I log in every day (usually numerous times a day), without fail. I consider myself to have little staying power but Dooyoo has managed to keep me well and truly hooked for nearly a year now, which is not an easy feat. Whilst it is a great site, it does have some flaws, which is to be expected, after all nothing is perfect, and I think there are some ways this site could be improved.

In my opinion, the suggestions process is the most annoying thing about this site at present. Firstly, why are the suggestions taking so long to come through, or am I the only one with experiencing this? I have had suggestions that have been in the queue for over 4 weeks now and I am starting to wonder if they are ever going to make it to the catalogue. I have emailed Dooyoo to see if there is a problem with the categories my suggestions are in but all I get is a message stating they are currently working through the back log. Dooyoo are far behind Ciao when it comes to adding items in the catalogue since Ciao seem to be able to process most suggestions in three days and sometimes less than this, which I consider very fast.

Suggestions are vital to keep this site fresh and up to date and if these are not processed then we have no alternative but to review 'older' items, many of which have been reviewed a hundreds times over, and will be of little interest to either Dooyoo members or the public at large. After all, How is another review about a Mars Bar, for example, going to help Dooyoo increase hits, which increases sponsors, which increases revenue?

My other gripe about suggestions is that there needs to be a valid website. This is not a problem most of the time, however, there are times when a website is not available therefore, the suggestion can't be added. An example is a restaurant I recently visited. Being located in a remote area and in a country far less developed in the UK this restaurant does not have a website, yet it exists but won't be added.

There are other features of Ciao that I think Dooyoo ought to consider incorporating to improve the site, with the most notable one being the ability to add photos. In my opinion, this is a great feature and it enables the reader to actually see what you are attempting to describe. There are times when it is very difficult to describe something and even though I, like many other people, will try and liken it to something that is easily recognizable it is not always possible. The old cliché "a picture tells a thousand words" springs to mind. This feature would be great in many categories, especially the travel category, as it is impossible to describe how gorgeous a sunset is, or how stunning the hazy blue mountains are at dusk without actually experiencing, or seeing it.

Another great feature about Ciao is the cash out system. Having the ability to be paid by BACS directly in to a nominated bank account is just great. I appreciate the excitement of arriving home to see a hand written envelope, containing that all important Dooyoo cheque, will be gone forever, but then so will the hassle of actually banking it. I, for one, don't work anywhere near a bank and the only time I can get to my branch to deposit any funds is on a Saturday morning. As well as being easier for Dooyoo members would this system not be easier for the Dooyoo team? I find writing cheques laborious, and I don't write that many, and a monthly BACS run would, in my opinion, seem to make much more sense. In addition, it must get quite annoying when the postal service holds up the cheque payments and disgruntled members start hassling (I have been there and done that) the Dooyoo team. The postal problems are eradicated when using a direct transfer payment system.

Other than the suggestions and rewards systems, I am struggling to find any other major faults with Dooyoo. The site is attractive and easy to navigate around, it is fast and there are no 'downtime' periods waiting for pages to load (although I feel this may have encouraged the dreaded 'speed rating') and there seem to be very few technical problems (well compared to Ciao). I know there was the recent issue with "missing miles" and the inability to send messages (I too was affected by this) but the Dooyoo team did a great job in sorting it out and very quickly at that, but overall this site runs very smoothly. One of the best things about Dooyoo are the regular writers. Most are very helpful, friendly and always willing to put their opinion across in a diplomatic way. There is a definite strong community spirit, which can be a bit too strong at times (I am not going to go in to any politics here), but on the whole it is usually OK.

Summary: A great site with a fundamental flaw that needs sorting out to make this site better than its rival