Posts by Tim Watts

China turns the screws on netizens with real-name registration plans

I bought a Three MiFi unit from their shop with cash and no ID, so it is possible to get unidentified internet access. Just be sure to wear a disguise for all the CCTV cameras while you do it..

EDF: We'll raise bills 11% - but only 2% is due to energy costs!

Re: Yes, lets focus on short term cost increases...

I'd be happier if the governments had built adequate nuclear capacity 20 years ago and maintained research into safer and safer forms of nuclear power.

Ebuyer knocked out by own £1 deals site

Previously, whilst I've used most of those, none came close to DAB's range, or Ebuyer's.

Guess it's time for a bit of in depth evaluation.

Re Amazon - good for books, but the rest is just ebay in disguise - I prefer getting fiddly orders from one real supplier if possible.

So buy from who, then

DABS went for a sack of crap when BT took over and were so utterly useless earlier this year, I ditched them forever.

Ebuyer was the next natural choice.

So who is left?

Four illegal ways to sort out the Euro finance crisis

What did they expect...

It would be a good idea for a few like minded countries - but once you let the lazy and the feckless join (the ones with corruption as a way of life), then it's pretty much game over before it's even started.

dabs.com says sorry for delivery debacle

Stopped using them

DABS used to be *the* place to get most parts at a reasonable price (talking mid-2000 here) quickly.

For the last year I have noticed their stock levels (as indicated on the website) had been falling, with a significant proportion of graphics cards being marked as 0 stock, ordered on demand, or 1-2 days. In practise the "1-2" days has, in my experience, been a wholly unreliable indication for a few years.

Last time I used them, I carefully ordered all "In stock" items with the normal delivery option (not fast). After a week and a bit of no goods arriving, I phoned them.

Took over 30 minutes for the phone to be answered with no indication of queue length (honestly, in THIS day and age???). The lady I spoke to was helpful enough and said: sorry, actually out of stock.

I asked why they hadn't emailed me to let me know? "Email's up the spout" she said.

I asked her to cancel the order. She couldn't as the system would not let her. She did make a note on the system to give me an RMA to return without question when they eventually came though.

I tried to cancel the order on the web too: that said it had succeeded - but reloading the page brought the order back as "Pending".

Eventually the goods came and I phoned up for an RMA - another 30+minutes waiting for the phone to be answered... They did at least send a courier round to collect.

That demonstrates an IT system in a complete mess - not just a little glitch.

Me? I'll never use them again - Ebuyer all the way now - the goods I ordered from them came on time and as expected...