Amazon.co.uk - check out this rainforest from the comfort of your own home (amazon.co.uk)

Member Name: Kirst09

Product:	amazon.co.uk
Date:	13/07/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fast delivery, large product range, great customer service, competitive prices

Disadvantages: none!

Amazon.co.uk is massively popular the world over with masses of people for different reasons; bookworms, film lovers, students and music lovers to name but a few frequently use this website. When Amazon is mentioned you generally think of books, CDs, DVDs and suchlike, but Amazon has so much more to offer! Amazon sells books, CDs, DVDs, games, electronics, computers, office equipment, home and garden items, DIY, sports and leisure, toys, children and baby, shoes, clothes and watches and finally health and beauty - therefore an extensive range of products on offer! Amazon is available through online stores in the UK, the US, Germany, France, Japan, China and Canada. It has the same geenral aim as other online stores, to offer prices that are competitive with those on the high street - and it most definitely does that!

I love the various resources that Amazon provides to ensure maximum customer satisfaction, such as the customer reviews and personal recommendations. I think this feature is brilliant because, like Dooyoo, you get an honest consumer review and opinion, including the really bad ones, which means Amazon really are looking out for their customers.

It is also worth mentioning that you get free standard delivery when you spend £5 or more, which is not diffcult! It can be annoying when something costs £4.98, which is often the case, but you can always buy something else too, never hard to find something else you want.

Their New and Used section is brilliant and I LOVE it. As a student it is vital for that time of year when you have to buy all of your textbooks; they can be extremely expensive and in my first year I managed to secure a good number of my textbooks for less than half the RRP and although used were mostly in mint condition, although being a student you cannot afford to be a snob really. Each seller has their own ratings so you can check them out and decide if you want to buy from them or not, exactly like eBay really. Obviously these sellers tend to incur postage costs as they are excluded from the super saver delivery (spend £5 or more and get it delivered free), but to be honest as the item can cost less and the postage is generally reasonable, it is still worth looking into.

One bad experience I had with Amazon....I pre-ordered The Hills Season 3 on DVD (yes I love American shows like this!!) because I'd been waiting forever. It turned out I still had a bit of a wait! 2 weeks after it had failed to turn up, I rang their customer helpline. I didn't really recognise the accent, but his tone was very robotic, he often repeated statements as if he couldn't understand me and generally seemed to be dragging out the phonecall for as long as possible. He promised me another DVD would be despatched the day after and to ring back in a week if nothing showed. I asked where their office was, in the Philippines no less! I was not happy as I had not been informed before or during the phonecall of this, or the cost per minute. This call cost me around £7, after which I sent an email complaining. Although it still remains a mystery to anyone who has not contacted them, they did refund the cost of my call plus a few pounds more, they apologised for my inconvenience and also the DVD arrived promptly within that week.

I can say that I have shopped with Amazon many times since then and although the situation was not ideal, they rectified it quickly, were very polite and helpful about it and I have had no problems since. Their customers clearly mean a lot to them and I still love shopping with them! I recommend them to everyone and for any students reading this who did not do it last year? Get on here as soon as your lecture is over and order your super cheap textbooks - more money for nights out!

Summary: the place to get just about everything!