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Home > Ciao Café > Member Advice > Member Advice on High Street Shops > WHSmith

User Reviews

for WHSmith

Rating Summary based on 23 reviews

  • 5 Stars
    		2
  • 4 Stars
    		6
  • 3 Stars
    		8
  • 2 Stars
    		4
  • 1 Star
    		3

Detailed rating

  • customer service
  • range of goods in stock
  		• 3.3
  		• 3.2

Review attribute filters

Previous page Next page Page 1 of 3 | 1 to 10 out of 23 Review(s)
  • 34 of 34 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of daveops

    daveops

    3 Stars Slow Slow Quick Quick Slow 04/05/2003
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Big Name Store Online

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Slow delivery

    There are times when I just cannot be bothered to get in the car, drive to the town centre and pay £3.50 to park. The internet is a wonderful invention. Using a link from www.mypoints.co.uk, I have recently made a couple of purchases from WHSmith online. WHAT DO THEY SELL? Books, videos, CDs, DVDs, stationery, computer equipment, printer cartridges etc. This is not an endless list, and the range of stuff they seem to be able to get their hands on is excellent. WHAT WAS I BUYING? Guilt. I have failed in my duties as a step parent. Having nagged the eldest to revise for his GCSEs, which start in ... more
  • 25 of 25 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of justathought

    Level 4 justathought

    Member since 06/05/2008

    Reviews written: 41

    4 Stars Great stationery shop! 03/09/2008
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages great variety of stock and great prices on some items

    Disadvantages Disadvantages sometimes overprice certain items

    As I'm one of those people who likes to organise things into folders to avoid doing any real work, WHSmith is a store that I find really useful! In Glasgow alone, there are at least 10 stores (according to the store finder at whsmith.co.uk) - I usually end up going to the one in the city centre though. ------------------------------------- WHAT DO THEY SELL? ------------------------------------ Wow - well, the answer is, lots of things - they usually sell drinks and sweets near the front of the store, magazines, books, stationery (including pens, paper, ink cartridges etc etc), photo albums ... more
  • 31 of 31 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Emma1973

    Level 6 Emma1973

    Member since 16/09/2001

    Reviews written: 244

    5 Stars Where I used to buy my rubbers! 23/11/2010
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Great selection of items, they actually have cheery staff

    Disadvantages Disadvantages The cigarettes are so flipping expensive!

    I do quite adore WH Smiths (hereafter referred to as Smiths) and have done ever since I was a child, taking my pocket money and going there on a Saturday morning to spend it on such things as stationary and magazines. And although things have changed since then, and even through the economic bad times Smiths has weathered the storm even now expanding into train stations and motorway service stations. If I was to quickly describe Smiths to someone I would say ‘all things paper and pens’, of course now Smiths offer much more than that, and this might take me a while so I’ll cut it into sections ... more
  • 23 of 23 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of xxB3CC4xx

    Level 6 xxB3CC4xx

    Member since 20/09/2008

    Reviews written: 208

    2 Stars WH Smith: Save Yourself Cash By Going Elsewhere 14/08/2011
    User doesn't recommend the product

    Advantages Advantages Carries a variety of lines.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Over expensive, not much variety in the ranges they carry, not well laid out.

    I never understood the fascination with WHSmith myself. When I was at school I was one of those geeky kids who had tons of stationary, always had a zillion pens and was forever updating my pencil case with whatever I had purchased with my pocket money (I know completely sad but you know). Also being one of these people who is generally pretty careful with money (considering I never had a lot when I was spending) each purchase was thought out rationally. This review will only be focusing on my local store as although I have visited others I haven't been for a long time and also it has only been ... more
  • 20 of 20 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of ellieken

    ellieken

    3 Stars WHSmith - Good, Bad or Ugly? 31/12/2004
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Well known, reliable high-street shop, can be found in most towns, fantastic sales

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Non-sale prices are very steep, selling practically everything at full RRP unlike other competitors, badly laid out product displays

    Aah, W.H.Smith. The symbol of good old English reliability. Or is it? Being a shop that practically all of us has visited many times in our lives, it a retailer's that we often take for granted. As well as good points to this establishment, there are also bad. Given that the category that this review is in (Music Retailers), I feel rather inclined to talk more about the CD sales here, but I will also outilne Smith's other main areas of sale - Stationery, Books, DVDs and Magazines. CDs - Luckily enough, I have a large Smiths in my local town, but some smaller shops don't even sell any CDs, or ... more
  • 5 of 5 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of kell.b

    Level 3 kell.b

    Member since 02/08/2004

    Reviews written: 91

    4 Stars Here Comes The News 29/04/2011
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages They sell Stephen King and Charlaine Harris books

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Vouchers can't be used online

    WH Smith always has great offers on like 3 for 2 and buy 1 get 1 half price, which I am always taking advantage of as I just love reading. I get voucher for here as I am a member of the IPSOS survey panel, so I really do get good value for money! All of the stores are very easy to navigate with clear signs as to which books genres are where and where non-book products are. Although I find that some stores are too over crowded and even have books piled up on the floor as part of a display, which surely is against health and safety they also has a great range of DVD's, stationary products ... more
  • 24 of 25 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Fuschia

    Fuschia

    2 Stars Argh - A Waste Of Space 27/03/2001
    User doesn't recommend the product

    Advantages Advantages Eeer, they have cds and cassettes

    Disadvantages Disadvantages lol, see above!

    I can reach the point of venom when I think of how woeful the music shops are in my hometown. Lucky Welshmen and women that we are, those born and brought up in lovely old Merthyr Tydfil have only Woolworths and W.H. Smiths to satisfy our music needs. How do we cope? Short answer is we don't. Now, I don't expect a great deal from glorified 10p bin Woolworths, which has never aspired to rise higher then a place to store Dolly Parton Greatest Hits albums. However, I DO expect greater things from W.H. Smiths, and I don't get it. I have several complaints: 1) There is plentiful room for a good ... more
  • 6 of 6 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Jeekz

    Jeekz

    1 Star Working at WH Smith at 17 18/04/2010
    User doesn't recommend the product

    Advantages Advantages Getting unlimited ammounts of 2 4 1s to alton towers and camelott.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Crap uniform, Crap Pay, Crap Work Ethic, Crap Targets, Crap Breaks

    My experience of working at wh smith at the age of 17 on a saturday has generally been a bad one unfortunately. but i'll tell you as much as i can of my experience as possible. Pay? Well i started on a Christmas temporary job and was contracted to 6 hours on a saturday and then extra in college holiday times, i was being paid 4.23 an hour which although is above the minimum wage is relitively low considering the ammount of proffit you realise they are taking every hour! apparently after working in whsmith for three months your pay increases to 4.81 but i have been working there 6 months now ... more
  • 16 of 16 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of mozzie76

    Level 7 mozzie76

    Member since 21/08/2008

    Reviews written: 564

    4 Stars Stationary 23/02/2010
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Sell many different products

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Long queues

    When I recently went to my local high street on the look out for a birthday card, I went to a number of different card shops, but in the end I went to WHSmith. This shop offers a wide selection of products that will appeal to everyone. On entering WHSmith you will see rows and rows of magazines and newspapers, but don’t be fooled into thinking that is all they offer. On further investigation you will discover a surprising selection of goodies. If you venture further back this shop you will find books, greetings cards, DVDs, CDs and office equipment. You might think that having such a wide ... more
  • 17 of 18 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Jack_Doughnut

    Jack_Doughnut

    3 Stars I work at WHS 19/10/2004
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Compiled Charts

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Lack of Singles

    As an employee of WHSmith who works on the entertainmeent department I feel that I am able to comment on possibly answer questions anyone might have about why or how WHSmith sells its products. Concerning Music, we (details ae relevant WHS Derby) now just sell albums. This is not helpful for anyone who wishes to buy a sinlge, obviously, but you must remember that WHS is a business, trying to make money, not a free service. Singles are not sold, as they were (as far as I am aware) just not making enough to be worthwhile. And in the case of not selling cassettes, the demand for these is smaller ... more
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