Giuseppe D.

I don't like the voucher concept much. I prefer to deal with vendors directly but occasionally my wife will find a deal that even I think is pretty good. It probably helps the supplier of the goods get marketing awareness but then they stuff it up by not giving voucher holders the same benefits as their direct customers.

The Apple Store has the widest range of music and apps and you can get Apple stuff at full retail but at least you know its genuine stuff. That counts for something. A reputable reseller will give you genuine product for a discount but that's something that requires you to find a reputable reseller. Apple is Apple. My son loves Apple products so I go to their online store and their physical stores a lot. Great marketing Apple!

I used to like booking on hilton.com because it was supposed to have the best prices guaranteed. Then I found out that the individual Hiltons sometimes do special bundling deals with wholesalers that you can't get a price guarantee on. So now, I shop around to check what's out there. That costs Hilton money because I occasionally find a deal at a different property brand that is too good to refuse.

I write reviews for Trip Advisor and I know people who do the same. I find it provides the most useful reviews from people who are like me.

Why do sites promise "best price guarantee" when they make it so hard to claim the difference between the price you booked for and the price you found later. The T&C's are so complex that I have found twice that I didn't qualify. For $30 or $40, it just isn't worth the hassle. But that's a lot of bad will - so I get vouchers for car hire instead and save $$$$$ over the avis price. They lose because they have to pay a commission and I win. Their problem. If they actually kept their word and made it easy to claim a price differential, I'd only ever go direct.

Once upon a time, I needed to use a travel agent and I used American Express Corporate Travel because they'd find me good deals. Then I found that I could get much better deals online or via voucher companies. The extra Membership Rewards points were worth a lot less than the extra dollars I was paying so I ditched them.

I bid on a $1049. 99 item. I did not get the value of the bids I placed towards the item purchase price and tax was doubled up - giving them an extra profit. Then they shipped an inferior product that was $200.00 cheaper than the product I bought. Their customer service is in the USA even though they quote an Australian address and Australian phone number. All in all, a site that could do with some decent management intervention to get back on track.