Alex P.'s Profile

I find it useful for the reviews of restaurants, stores and so forth for cities/towns I'm not familiar with or for places around me that I've never been to. However, I too have an issue with their "filtering." I wrote a review for an establishment that had terrible customer service (very rude employees) and my review was filtered out, leaving only the positive ones. To view the filtered review, you have to enter a code for one of those robot-checking annoying things.

In addition, filtered reviews do not contribute to the overall star rating --- what kind of nonsense is that? If all the negative reviews were filtered out, then obviously every place would get a 4 or 5 star rating. It makes me wonder if the other reviews of Yelp are right on and that either they're bribed to weed out negative reviews by the vendor or if it's their general policy to be dishonest. Also, from reading their FAQ they seem to have an automated process that filters out reviews. I think that's even worse if the review isn't checked for being honest and truthful - rather than some kind of algorithm to determine the overall negativity of the review.

Therefore, this discourages me from writing actual honest "negative" reviews on Yelp as if it's bound to be filtered out, what's the point? Why bother if only positive reviews will be counted and featured?

I ordered a pair of Sennheiser headphones that were a lot cheaper from Juno Records than they were from other vendors - Amazon and others (new that is, as used and refurbished are cheaper of course) and although this vendor is based in England, there were mostly positive reviews so I took a chance. It took about 7 working days for it to arrive, it was packaged well and the item is new and works fine. They specialize in selling records and other pro-audio equipment. The shipping was very reasonable from England, though headphones aren't exactly that heavy and since my order was under $200 I didn't have to deal with customs fees. Overall, I would recommend them!

I ordered a pair of headphones that were an older model but didn't realize it until I had already placed the order. Then I saw the 15% restocking fee and cringed. Luckily, if you don't open the merchandise and either contact them in the request RMA or chat with them online, they will authorize the RMA with a full refund. That is very reasonable and rightly so but some retailers are mean. Newegg isn't!

Another sample site advertised OpenSky and led me there with the enticement of free credit (who can resist?). OpenSky is sort of like a conglomerate lifestyle woot with pseudo "celebs" (think chefs, stylists...Alicia Silverstone) finding YOU, yes you deals on things they think are cool - ranging from iPhone cases, luxury handbags, kitchenware and so on. Items are listed for a limited time, usually a few weeks unlike same sale sites. Colors and sizes do go out of stock though and when they run out, they run out. There are plenty of finds ranging from $20-$50 and then the $200 range and everything in between. That being said, there's nothing on there that I found vital and needed and the cool accessories were cool but didn't warrant the $7.00 shipping fee. Return shipping is also not free so basically, the $14ish potential loss in shipping scared me off. Good if you order a ton of stuff and keep 75% of them. Bad if you just want one or two things.

Granted, they do have $1 shipping days and they give out random credit and it's always interesting to browse. I ordered an iPhone backup battery from them, it arrived and doesn't fit my phone case, but instead of mailing it back and losing the return shipping I'm keeping it.

Another cute little Japanese stationery retailer based in California. They offer free shipping for $25 and above within the US. I ordered notebooks but they carry pens, highlighters and an assortment of Japanese stationery. Their packaging is immaculate and the owners wrote a very polite thank you note on a pretty note card. Customer service like that always gets brownie points from me =). Highly recommended.

Back when this website first went up, they carried several kinds of Japanese notebooks but unfortunately they've reduced their stock although they carry a few kinds, still. They sell tons of cute stationery items for office/personal use. Free shipping over $25, but for some odd reason I couldn't find a tracking # in their shipping confirmation email though the package itself had one. In any event, cute shop and some interesting and unique items.

I'm a stationery junkie, with my specialty being notebooks, highlighters and gel/liquid ink pens but a friend got me into fountain pens recently and looking for fountain pen friendly notebooks led me to JetPens. They carry a huge variety of Japanese notebooks (Kokuyo, Maruman) and the beloved Rhodia brand as well as many beginner/student friendly priced fountain pens (Lamy, Pelikan and cheaper Sailors). There are also a ton of other items: pencil cases, inks, mechanical pencils and so forth. They offer free shipping above $25, which is so easy and tempting. The packaging is always fine, no ink bottles broken or notebooks scuffed. Many customers review the items making their product review system extra helpful.

I think that this might actually be a legitimate company that just has terrible customer service and business practices (they have some good reviews elsewhere) but so far, my experience has been pretty unsavory. I placed an order on August 22nd and after waiting a week in which my order status was still "Awaiting Fulfillment", I emailed them asking when they planned to ship the item. I got a reply in less than 1 minute that was obviously a generated email telling me a shipment was delayed and that my order would be shipped shortly. It's been almost 2 weeks since that and still no update or tracking number so I emailed them again to just notify me when the item would be shipped (it's not as if I demand something to be shipped from them ASAP, I just wanted a date or a range of dates) and if the item was indefinitely available, that I just wanted to cancel my order. This time I get no reply which worries me so I filed a claim on PayPal, technically I have 45 days but at this point, I kind of just want my money. I have concerns that the item might actually be a knock-off from China since they ship from there. Magically the day after I file a claim on PayPal, I get an updated status on my order and a tracking # for OSM Worldwide (some kind of consolidation shipping service I've never heard of) which of course doesn't work. They state that it may take 1-2 days for the tracking to update which is reasonable but based on the pattern of responses on their end, I'm not too hopeful and would rather just be refunded the money than potentially receive a cheap knock-off and have to escalate that even more with PayPal.

I've recently become obsessed with Soia & Kyo (Montreal based outerwear designer, shout-out) coats - ranging from their trenches, wools, downs and everything in between. Their previous season's leftovers are on sale and this Quebec based store had a trench at a cheaper price with free shipping to the US so how could I say no? Very fast shipping (same day) WITH tracking number by Canada Post to the US. Packaging is very minimal - no plastic sheet or any other protection; it came in a bubble envelope but it arrived in less than a week! Highly recommended. They also accept PayPal in addition to credit cards. Also like many retailers, final sales ARE final but that's pretty common. They also carry other designers like Fred Perry, Matt & Nat, etc.

I bought some foot petals to try and accommodate a couple of shoes I have. They shipped very quickly and it arrived quickly but for some reason didn't email me a shipping confirmation. I'm used to that from 99.9% of online retailers as it's extremely helpful in tracking something that's being delivered to a work address, for example.

Like TN said, they have great shoe sales. Having bought a pair of shoes from endless that fit well, I found another of the same style but in different colours on dillards and ordered them. They charge about $8 shipping but if you're sure of the style and fit, it's a good deal. I had to change the address after the order was processed and usually I've never been able to have a retailer successfully do that, but dillards was able to. Very impressed! Their customer service was also extremely helpful and timely.

So, TN convinced me to take a chance and I impulse bought 3 pairs of shoes that were not the correct size (but based on product reviews, apparently manufacturing discrepancies were in my favour). One thing that I noticed was that one of the boxes was damaged on the side and taped over, but that caused one of the shoe boxes to get extremely warped. Not a big deal since nothing was damaged, but they might want to look into sturdier packaging...

Returning the two that didn't fit was easy with pre-paid shipping labels, and the free shipping both ways is definitely a plus. The best thing is that although they can't refund you, a gift card usable on amazon.com, endless.com or myhabit.com is definitely useful so it's not like you're stuck with $x and have to find things to buy on other sample sites (one of the reasons I took a chance). They issued the credit very quickly too after receiving the item.

Another art supply online retailer with some of the lowest prices I've seen. One of the items in my order was out of stock with 7/6 listed as the date of receiving new stock. An email was sent informing me of this and gave me the option to cancel the order for that item or the whole order. There was also a shipping choice to ship all items when available or ship separately depending on availability (more expensive). Eventually the whole order was shipped around mid-July, so there was some delay but it arrived in fine packaging with nothing damaged.

The item I bought was listed as "refurbished", which wasn't an electronic item so per Overstock's description, it refers to items that have been returned to retailers but are otherwise not damaged or defective. The item arrived in a reasonable amount of time (at $2.95 shipping) for half the price of the new item and after checking it, it was in great condition. However, it wasn't terribly well packaged which didn't matter in that case, but I hope they send more fragile items with better packaging.

This is a great site for art supplies! Paint, canvases, paper - whatever kind of art you do. They ship quickly and everything is packaged nicely. Even if you don't do any "art" per se, there are probably useful items for other sorts of projects too. Price wise, they're significantly cheaper than my mortar and brick art supplies store (sadly...) so although they charge tax for my state, they often run free shipping specials for a minimum so it evens out.

Otherwise, the shipping is dependent on weight/price which can get kind of expensive so it's really the most economic to order a bunch of stuff you definitely need and might need :).

I ordered a dress from here, one of the "GO International" pieces because it was on sale for ridiculously cheap and although I had an inkling it'd probably be terrible quality if not fit poorly, I ordered it anyway because of the cheap shipping ($4.95). It arrived and as expected, I had to return it at a store location (convenient) although the shipping isn't refundable. So yes, basically I paid $5 to try on a crappy dress.

I've noticed that checking their tracking # is also kind of annoying, maybe it was the browser on the computer I was using, but it would show me as logged in but would generate a temporary "account" for me to check the tracking info. Normally, most retailers/vendors send an email with a link to the tracking info so you can click through there without having to log in to any accounts. Maybe Target cracks down harder on security.

If you like retro swimsuits, especially sailor-themed then you will love the ones featured here. There are also vintage inspired dresses and clothing which are all very cute. It's a bit pricey depending (average $100 for a swimsuit) on how much you're willing to shell out for a swimsuit but I think the unique designs are definitely worth it.
I live right across the country from CA, but my order was shipped same day I paid and arrived in 3 days. It was nicely packaged and although the fit isn't perfect and was a final sale item (no return), the price was good. For regular items or sale items that are returnable, I think you have to pay return shipping so like everything that requires good fit and one orders online - pay close attention to the charts given. If you have to, email Barrie - she answers quickly and is very friendly. I might just pick up another swimsuit!

I've only ordered one pair of shoes from here because of their 15% discount at the time for first time purchases. I ended up returning the pair, but I had no problems receiving it and shipping it back as well as receiving the money back. I think Zappos and Endless might have more selection and trendy shoes, but they've got a fair selection too - although as others have mentioned, sometimes their prices are high comparatively.

If you've played video games to any capacity and remember the music, then you'll appreciate OCR. It's a community of mostly fan submitted remixes of video game music with a tight selection process so that the remixes are actually decent at the worst and very, very good at the best.

It's also always very interesting to hear a particular theme or sequence remixed in a different style. In fact, video game music remixes could be considered a whole sub-genre of its own thanks to OCR. It's free to download remixes and it's always interesting reading the judges' comments on a new addition.

Basically, it's a collection of free stock photos for personal and commercial use. You can also learn about photography and interact with other (aspiring) photographers. There's a small database and depending on your purposes, it's kind of limited but it's still a decent resource to reference and gain inspiration from (and best of all, it's free).