Jimmy R.

I was recently sent a couple of Irwin Tape Measures, a 16ft and 25ft. I was pleasantly surprised at just how rugged these tapes are. After dropping one accidentally from a hight of around 20ft I found absolutely no damage to the tape due mainly to its rubberized body. Another really good thing about these tapes is the ability to extend more than 12 ft without buckling, very useful when you are working alone. Since receiving the tapes I have purchased a few other Irwin products and found them to be of excellent quality.

Because Amazon is so vast you can find pretty much anything you need on their website. To that end I was looking for a way to avoid slipping and sliding on the inevitable ice sheets we get each year in New England. While browsing the Amazon site I found what I was looking for "car tire studs" Normally used in vehicle tires to help cars keep a grip in icy road surfaces and just the thing I needed to help me keep my balance. I had a new pair of boots also from Amazon that have very thick soles which would easily take the 12mm stud length. The result you can see in the picture attached to this review. Now I just have to wait a few weeks to test them out!

Update Oct 17th 2022

I just wanted to congratulate USPS for their new TV advert featuring the song "I've Been Everywhere" by Johnny Cash which pretty much sums up what happens to your mail if you use them!

I wish Amazon and it's sellers would stop using USPS. Over the past few months out of 10 parcels not one arrived on time. Recently a parcel from Brazil took 14 weeks to arrive after arriving in the USA and passing through customs ( 4 weeks) the parcel was lost. It took two requests from me and one from the seller in Brazil before anyone bothered to check on its whereabouts(10 weeks). Jars of garlic/ginger paste well packed from Amazon arrived smashed and leaking from the packing. (Still trying to get the smell out of my mailbox.) Small items that fit inside padded envelopes take weeks to arrive having seen more of America than I have.
What prompted this review was USPS most recent advertisement which I just viewed on CNN, the song playing was "I've Been Everywhere" by Johnny Cash which pretty much sums up what happens to your mail if you use USPS!

I regularly use the Waterville Home Depot store for my building materials. The staff are amazing to deal with and the store is always clean and tidy. The selection of lumber is quite good but beware of the dreaded banana wood (pre-bent lumber LOL) They always have great deals running on pellets or mulch and the guys will load my truck saving my poor old back. The only negatives i have found are the in stock kitchen cabinets (around 40% are damaged) and the website which can be amazingly slow with a search engine that is very inaccurate. I have tried other local HD store in Augusta, Bangor and Topsham. But the Waterville store IMHO is the best...

I have been using Credit Karma for about 10 years and initially they proved to been a great resource for improving your credit rating. It's true as others have noted that the credit score is far from accurate but it does provide an indication of any negative or positive changes to your score. Sadly it seems that things have changed as I recently decided to apply for a line of credit using their LendingTree link. Within minutes of filling in my name address phone # I received a number of phone calls. I selected a broker and went through their list of questions, at the end of this they said they would pull my credit report and asked if that was ok? I asked them how are you able to do that as I had not given you my SS#. The reply was we have it, it was sent with the initial inquiry! How was that even possible, I had never ever had any dealings with LendingTree in the past and I never supply my SS# online to anyone for any reason, even in the initial application to Lending Tree they do not ask for a social#. So how could all these brokers get my SS#? Obviously CreditKarma has my SS# to enable them to do regular soft pulls on my credit etc but I have never given them permission to distribute that # to anyone.

I sent CK an email asking if they gave out my SS# to all of these brokers and they replied with a cut and paste paragraph stating they never give out my info to anyone they are not affiliated with. This implies that they gave it to LendingTree as they make commissions on every successful refi, mortgage, therefore affiliated? I sent two follow up email to CK asking if they gave out my SS# without my permission and received zero response. So my question and warning to you is has anyone else had this happen to them? It's very strange that a company that is supposed to help you improve your credit would give out sensitive information that could actually harm your credit.

Now before you say that mortgage company need your SS#, I fully understand that but isn't that my decision to make? After all I want to vet the companies that I give my personal details to instead of just giving out my SS# to half a dozen unknown entities. I would seriously be interested in hearing if anyone else has had this happen to them.

Initially they provided a fairly good service if you can wait the 4-6 week delivery times while they submitted the accumulated orders to their suppliers, (to obtain their bulk discounts). Over the years their attention to detail grew more and more lax. Many items lacked complete descriptions and their customer service got slower and slower. Lately when asking a question about an item it has taken 4 days to get a reply. Which brings me to a recent issue I had with them. If you visit TOM you will no doubt see jackets supplied under different names but mostly made in Turkey. Nice styles but take note of the sizes, there seems to be no standard in Turkey as a XL chest size can range from 42" to 54" So the addition of a size chart comparing the sizes to European or American sizes are a must. Sadly it seems that no one checks the products as they are received to confirm the sizes match the chart. I ordered a Jacket around 6 weeks ago but first had to request confirmation of the sizes shown to American sizes. That took four days to get a reply and a further day for the CS rep to send a chart showing size comparisons (see attached image). To be safe I ordered a 2XL = 48.8" chest (American). I waited the mandatory 4 weeks and was excited to get the jacket. That soon turned to utter disappointment when I tried to fit into this extremely small garment. The sleeves ended up being 4 inches too short and the chest measurement was in fact just 45" and not the 48.8" as shown on the chart. E-mailing the CS department resulted in a return authorization label and a 35 mile trip to the FedEx drop of point for the return. Seven days later I received a refund less the original postage, why? It was their fault the size was incorrect why should I pay postage for their mistake? After 3 more e-mails and some back and forth they relented and refunded the mailing charges.

Personally I will never order from TOM again. Six weeks of waiting, plus multiple e-mails just to be back where I started. It's no wonder Amazon is doing so well and why TOM has so many seriously bad reviews.
After all they don't have very many products for sale at any one time surely it would not be cost prohibitive to hire a few people to check sizes and website descriptions?

First i warn you check the descriptions of each item very carefully. You might think your are bidding on a camera, but it actually it's only an accessory, like a screen protector. I find this very deceptive marketing. Shipping on some items is extremely slow and the quality of the items is mostly poor. The reply from Tophatter is BS as nothing has changed on their site still full of deceptive adverts

I recently received a catalogue from this company and liked the style of many of the clothing items. Although a bit pricey the look and quality seemed to be worth a try. I ordered a few items and was very pleasantly surprised with the fit and finish. Most of the range seem to suit colder climates which is ideal for me here in Maine. Had many compliments and would 100% recommend this store to others.