I am a webdesigner and copy-writer, and write for a number of magazines. "The Guardian" de...
I am a webdesigner and copy-writer, and write for a number of magazines. "The Guardian" described my web site for www.rishworth-school.co.uk as "a classy piece of work", and my W@P sites have won acclaim in obscure publications worldwide. Read on...
Member since:09.12.2000
Reviews:50
Members who trust:30
If you think that The News of the World and the Sun are quality newspapers you will love firedup.com – the “auction site” that is also brought to you by News International.
However, anyone who is not a fully paid-up member of DENSA will soon realise that FiredUp, like its printed stable-mates is big on headlines, but low on content.
My quest was to find a few good affiliate sites for a client. We never recommend an affiliate scheme unless we have tried and tested it ourselves, so, armed with a credit card I logged on to firedup.com.
The layout was plain and simple – I hate having to wait for tedious Flash animations before I can get down to business – and as I read the heading in the columns on the left I realised that this was not really an auction site after all!
Most of the items offered for sale seem to be at a fixed price; take it or leave it.
There were a few items in an auction, so I tried my luck.
The mixed wine case, “bids start at £1”, sounded good, so, having registered I placed my bid.
The emails arrived as I was out-bid, and as I placed new bids.
The auction closed at 11:00am, so I logged in at 10:55 to check progress, and maybe place a last bid. Guess what? The database was down and wouldn’t let me in!
Later that day I received confirmation that my bid was successful. Two cases of wine at £19 a case. Postage and packing was clearly stated at £5.95.
I waited nearly three weeks for the wine to arrive, but there was only one case.
In the wine trade a case is, and always has been, twelve bottles. At firedup.com, apparently it is only six bottles.
19 X 2 + 5.95 = 43.95 in my book, but my credit card was debited £52.94.
Maybe postage was charged for two cases, even though it was in one box? Let’s try again.
19 X 2 + 5.95 + 5.95 = 49.90. So what was the other £3.04 for? At the time of writing I have no idea.
What I can tell you is that firedup.com has been a great disappointment
· the wine took nearly three weeks to arrive · it cost far more than I expected · the “case” was only half a case · the web site was unreliable · most items were straight sales – not auctions at all
If you want to take my advice, do not even bother to log on to firedup.com.
The only consolation I have is that I can now drown my sorrows in some rather nice, rather over-priced wine!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Can buy some valuable stuff at the right price if you spend the time to search Disadvantages: Download time quite slow, and some goods very expensive
endicojr 02.12.2000 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
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