Smiley Hippo photobook cheap but not cheerful

Ian2710

i can't really say. All I did was follow instructions and never had any issues.
Whatever is said is certain to be regarded as inflammatory.

There many things that can go wrong. Perhaps something already installed on someone's PC is interfering with the SmileyHippo software.
Perhaps the instructions weren't followed as closely as they thought.
Perhaps there was an internet glitch at the time of placing the order.

All I know is that it worked for me.
Without knowing exactly what other people did and without seeing their pc, its not possible to say what went wrong.

As for service, i don't understand why missile had so many problems contacting them. I just emailed their support ([EMAIL="support@2mphotobooks.com"]support@2mphotobooks.com[/EMAIL]) and explained the problem, offering to send the book back.
And got a very nice response the next day. All they asked for was a photo of the problem.
Then they sent a replacement and I kept the flawed book.

Azari

Ian2710 wrote: »

i can't really say. All I did was follow instructions and never had any issues.
Whatever is said is certain to be regarded as inflammatory.

There many things that can go wrong. Perhaps something already installed on someone's PC is interfering with the SmileyHippo software.
Perhaps the instructions weren't followed as closely as they thought.
Perhaps there was an internet glitch at the time of placing the order.

All I know is that it worked for me.
Without knowing exactly what other people did and without seeing their pc, its not possible to say what went wrong.

As for service, i don't understand why missile had so many problems contacting them. I just emailed their support ([EMAIL="support@2mphotobooks.com"]support@2mphotobooks.com[/EMAIL]) and explained the problem, offering to send the book back.
And got a very nice response the next day. All they asked for was a photo of the problem.
Then they sent a replacement and I kept the flawed book.

So you:

a) Didn't have any issues.
b) Nevertheless had excellent service getting a flawed book replaced.

Dave_C_2

pulliptears wrote: »

Something wonderfully satisfying when a company bumps a poor review to leave their own incredibly obvious good review. Certainly makes you question their scruples.

Indeed. Is the word "astroturf" suitable here?

Dave

missile

pulliptears wrote: »

Something wonderfully satisfying when a company bumps a poor review to leave their own incredibly obvious good review. Certainly makes you question their scruples.

What a great post :A

Ian2710

Nice post, Azari. A good constructive contribution to the forum made by quoting out of context in an attempt to make an idiot out of someone trying to help.
Is that what you all day? Find forums on topics or products about which you have no knowledge at all, just to look for ways to make you look smart? 1700 posts! Get a life.

Hmm71 made a very good point about nobody actually offering Missile any help or suggestions on how to get his photobook or money. After all, what is the point of a forum if you can't get assistance?
Other posters (skubasteve) commented on difficulty installing the software.

As I said, there are many reasons that software won't install/run properly and practical help with PC problems are difficult remotely.
I'm also sorry I can't offer Missile more help with getting his money back or his photobook. But neither can you. Nor have you had any experience of the product in question. So all you can do is pick fault and make pointless comment.

I really hope that Missile and the others manage to reach a satisfactory solution.
The point of my origninal post was to illustrate that the bad experiences reported on this forum are not necessarily the "norm" and my point still stands.

Azari

Ian2710 wrote: »

Nice post, Azari. A good constructive contribution to the forum made by quoting out of context in an attempt to make an idiot out of someone trying to help.

How could I quote 'out of context' when I quoted your entire post?

I will admit, however, that I did misread it. I see now that the 'never had any issues' related to getting the software to work rather than the overall experience, so sorry for getting that wrong.

You have to appreciate, though, that people who join the site and straight away post in support of a site with which established forum members are having problems are likely to make matters worse as it will be assumed they are shills for the site in question.

Looking at your post more closely I can see that that is probably not the case here but given past experiences it wasn't, prima facie, a particularly unlikely scenario.

missile

FYI: Many more negative comments from users on their Facebook page.

1nmyopinion

Just wanted to add that I bought two of their groupon offers - A4 portrait book, 80 pages, glossy pages and photo on cover... I've ordered one and it is great. Cost me £25 for the groupon voucher and £8 postage. It arrived in good time well within when they said it would and quality wise I'm very happy, I've had photo books from Jessop's, all say cheese and photobox and smiley hippo are better quality (with the glossy pages anyway, I can't comment on the other types of page)
The negative I found was that their options of page layout isn't the most comprehensive and I had to make my own most of the time.
Also I just ordered my second book and they charged me an extra £14 for the glossy pages. I rang up today and they are looking into in and will call me back. Even if I end up paying the extra £14 it is still a bargain for 80 pages. My first book cost me £25+£8 = £33 for an A4 glossy 80 page photobook. I'm very happy and it is my wedding album. The second one is the honeymoon album
I also had no problem uploading the photos although it did take a couple of hours for the first book and one hr for the second. I did have A LOT of photos in the first album!!!
Overall, I would use them again if on offer. I personally think that full price all photo books are a bit of a rip off

baragainista

I'm new to the site but have been moved to post regarding the Smiley Hippo photo book deal that frequently comes up on Wowcher, and similar group discount sites, as I feel they are potentially misleading. The advertising and voucher coupons both state there is a delivery charge, also that multiple books can be ordered as gifts, however does NOT clearly state that the delivery charge is applied to each book and that every book (even multiple copies of the same) has to be ordered via a separate transaction, using a separate voucher code.

This makes for an arduous checkout process, as well as hiking up the cost. Also be very careful during the online order/checkout process: if you select the wrong delivery option (easily done as they are the same starting price and lead time), the 'offer' delivery rate is not applied. Arguably the site should automatically apply the offer rate by virtue of having purchased a 'Wowcher offer photobook', but they have probably sussed that enough customers are caught out by this exception to make it worth their while retaining the current site design.

Though I received a prompt response from Smile Hippo's 'Customer Services Director', the tone was unhelpful at best; arrogant and contemptuous at worse. Regardless of the price, or quality of the final product I would not choose to give my business to a company which treats its customers badly.

I've used Blurb in the past without any issue: they produce a great quality product at a clear, transparent price, so I will stick with them in future (and avoid the voucher deals completely).

pulliptears

The above = :spam: