Wizard Opinions

Archive for the ‘Websites & Services’ Category

It is easy to rent DVD movies online, but it helps if you know what type of service you want and how much you are prepared to pay. There many sites enabling you to rent online movies, but the best should offer you not just some, but all of the following:

1. A free trial period to enable you to properly assess the service offered by the company and whether their claims are exaggerated. You should have time to properly check out the services before having to make any payment: you will have to provide your credit or debit card details, but nothing will be debited until your trial period is up. It is normal to be asked for your debit or credit card details in advance when you rent DVD movies online, and that is how most free offers are organized, but it should be easy for you to cancel your payment at any time during the trial period.
2. A good selection of DVDs to choose from and an easy to use index and search system. You should be able to make your choice using a number of criteria, such as by actor, genre or movie title, and you should also be permitted to reserve movies that are fully booked when you want them.
3. selection of formats: when you rent online movies, you won’t expect to be provided with VHS formats any more, but you shoud be offered a choice of DVD or Blu-ray. Because Blu-ray is still relatively new it will be some time before all movies are available in the format, but where it is available, then your online movie rental company should be able to offer it to you.
4. very online video rental company should include the most modern videos in their library, and you should be able to order them even if they have yet to be released on video to the public. You should select an online movie rental company that allows you to place advance bookings for unreleased new movies so that you are amongst the first to receive them when they are available in video format.

If you find an online movie rental company that can offer you all of this then sign up for their free trial: if they don’t offer one then avoid them. While using the trial you ensure that you:

1. Find out how long it takes for you to receive your new videos after popping your returns into the post box. Mine takes two days: return on the Monday, your next delivery could be as early as the Wednesday – 1st Class postage should always be used, though you don’t pay for the stamp. Postal difficulties can present problems, but that is how the video rental company I use generally operates.
2. Every service that is offered should be provided exactly as stated. For instance, that you receive DVD series in the correct order, and not the second before the first series for example. In such cases you should be given a partial refund of your monthly payment without any quibbling. Not easy to achieve during a trial period, but you understand the idea.
3. Make sure that your children are unable to get access to the adult pages.
4. You should be secure in the knowledge that when you rent DVD movies online any damage done when you return them in the wallets provided is not charged to you. It is your rental business’s responsibility to provide packaging that will protect the videos in transit.
5. If your DVD is not received after you have posted it back, you should not be held responsible – at least not the first time. You might be charged for the DVD, but a good rental company will not do so: at least not for the first occurrence. Should it happen again shortly after, then don’t expect the same response, but you should never be asked to pay for the video the first time it happens, or even if there is a long time between occurrences – the post isn’t always perfect.

It is important not only that you fully understand your own responsibilities when you rent movies online, but also those of your rental company. Read and understand the fine print and what it means so that you are completely aware of the responsibilities of both the rental company and yourself should anything untowards happen.

Many families and individuals and families rent DVD movies online and doing so should be as simple as possible. When searching for a good company for you to rent movies online make sure that they offer everything you need, that you have a good choice of movies in all genres, that they offer you the format you need and that the price is right in the payment options you can use.

There are many DVD rental companies online, but you have to do some research and testing to find the best, so your first choices should come from those that offer free trial periods – at least initially.

In business since 1915, JC Whitney is the largest and oldest catalog and internet direct-to-consumer auto parts and accessories retailer.They have been fulfilling the needs of customers like you by providing the right part at the best price.

JC Whitney offers the best gurantee in the auto parts business! If for any reason you’re not 100% satisfied with your purchase, just return it for an exchange or refund. More than 6 million parts and accessories are covered under their One-Year Guarantee,. This is unheard of in the auto parts industry…plus there are no restocking fees at JC Whitney! See the Complete Guarantee on their website for all the details.

We find they have the lowest prices and best values anywhere! When searching for parts we have found they are over 50% lower than the list and suggested retail prices charged at other stores. Plus we see frequent sale specials reduce prices even more! And they offer a Lowest-price Guarantee: if you find a better price anywhere, they’ll match it!

We read at their website that their warehouse is an amazing 348,000 square feet —  and they offer 20 times more parts than typical chain stores! It’s the biggest assortment anywhere of brand-name, guaranteed-to-fit items for virtually every car, truck and motorcycle from the latest model year back to the 1920s!

How fast do you need your part?
If you need your parts fast, JC Whitney is the best place to shop. Most of the time we get our parts within a day or two. And FedEx® Shipping options will get needed parts and accessories to you even quicker.

All in all we really like this store for parts and recommend them highly!

Your “Check Engine” Light is Your Friend
By: Zack Bowman, DriverSide Contributor
Courtesy of our Friends at Advance Auto!

While it might seem like the end of the world at first glance, your Check Engine light is an integral part of keeping your car in top shape. Within its pocket-sized hues, lies the key to unlocking so many mysteries lurking inside your engine and beyond.

One day, this might happen to you, you glance down at your vehicle’s dashboard only to see the check engine light turned on. You burst into a cold sweat wondering just how badly your car’s engine needs to be checked.

If your car doesn’t sound like there is a monkey swinging a hammer under your hood and your vehicle is not billowing smoke, you’re probably not in immediate danger. The check engine light, or malfunction indication light, as it’s known to the auto elite, is designed to keep the driver informed of any number of sensor failures or engine irregularities.

As automotive environmental standards became stricter throughout the 1980s, onboard engine monitoring became more and more complex. Today, a variety of sensors feed your vehicle’s computer information on everything from ambient air temperature to the amount of oxygen in the car’s exhaust gasses.

The vehicle’s onboard computer, or engine control unit (ECU), then makes adjustments to ensure that the engine is running as efficiently, and cleanly, as possible in the given conditions. When one of those sensors fail, or gets a strange reading, you get the dreaded amber light of doom. So what do you do?

First, save the cold sweats for your yearly review with the boss. Second, go ahead and get it checked out. You can do this in a number of ways. If your car is still under warranty, take it to the dealer. If it’s not, most local mechanics offer free diagnostic checkup. You’ll be able to find a local mechanic on our website. They’re rated too, making your choice less of a shot in the dark.

Some auto parts shops offer a free diagnosis and use generic readers that will display a numerical code that can be cross-referenced to diagnose your car’s problem. This may require you to know where the data port is on your vehicle, which is a little plug that is usually tucked up under the dash that the mechanic or store employee will plug into the reader. The issue here is that most times the cross-referenced descriptions are less than helpful. You may get “fuel supply system” as the cause of your troubles. Unfortunately, the fuel supply system on most vehicles is made up of a slew of parts, and choosing to replace each and every one until you hit the trouble spot would be costly. While getting a parts store to check your code is a good place to start, getting a mechanic to translate your car’s woes might be a better idea.

Occasionally, there may be a simple solution to your check engine light dilemma. Failing to tighten your gas cap all the way, not fully seating your engine oil dipstick or a loose oil fill cap can all cause the check engine light to flash. If you check all of the above and you’re still stuck with a little extra amber on your dash, pay a visit to your mechanic.

If you haven’t noticed any huge drop in performance when the light comes on, you can probably get away with putting off your check up for awhile. Don’t take too long though, as the light may indicate the beginnings of a much more serious problem.

Even if that’s not the case, not addressing the issue will inevitably lead to a failed emissions inspection and you bumming a ride from coworkers. Pull that piece of electrical tape off of the light, and get it taken care of.

Five Signs There Is No Serious Problem

1. Your car seems to be behaving normall
2. No strange noises
3. No smoke
4. No strange smell
5. You’re getting the same gas mileage

Five Signs There Could Be A Serious Problem

1. A consistent rattle, knock or other unusual noise
2. Smoke
3. A severe loss of power
4. A serious decline in gas mileage
5. The vehicle does not start

10 Questions To Consider When Selecting An Online Video Store

1. Find a company that offers a complete categorical breakdown of what you expect at their site. There are DVDs that are selected based on your previous choices, Expert Picks, Highest Rated (among members,) Most Popular, New Releases, New To DVD, Coming Soon, Recent Reviews and Oscar Winners. With categories like these, it is easy for you to just click on what your interested in and move on to the next website.
2. Pricing. Are you really getting the best deal? Most DVD by mail companies will offer a trial service, but how much does it cost once the trial is over and how much will you being paying biweekly, monthly, annually etc.? To date, most DVD companies charge .99 a month.
3. Are there any specials, sweepstakes, or discounts offered for long-term membership? Why join any company that isn’t rewarding you for spending money with them?
4. Does the company have valid contact information and can they be contacted any day of the week? What happens if your video is lost in the mail or never arrived?
5. What is the process to cancel your subscription? Will you have to notify them in writing? Some companies will continue to bill you even though you spoke to a customer representative. If you must notify someone in writing, find out how soon and to whose attention do you send the letter.
6. Does the company automatically send you a feature DVD that you will have to respond to whether you want it or not? The company may send you something each month you don’t like will you able to make your own selections?
7. Are there options to buy DVDs? How much do they typically cost? If you csn buy it at Walmart for cheaper, don’t bother buying one on the website.
8. What is the policy if you should lose a DVD or it comes to you damaged? How do you return the DVD? Does the company have its own special packaging.
9. How long does it take to get movies? If you are finding it takes a lot longer than promised, send an email or talk to someone in customer service. The company may be making false claims.
10. Are there any due dates or late fees? You don’t want to be surprised when you open up your monthly credit card statement, now do you?

When it comes to web hosting services , there can be no other company that tops the popularity charts than Go Daddy. There may be many web users out there wondering what the hype about Go Daddy is. Read our opinion on this web hosting service company and you’ll know exactly why they live up to the hype that has been created around them.

Go Daddy offers services like domain name purchasing, website hosting and website management. Noteworthy benefits are:

• Sensible hosting plans
• A number of site creation tools
• Secure domain facilities
• Good service support

Go Daddy offers the Economy and Unlimited Plans to its users. Services vary greatly in both plans. The option of choosing the most suitable plan lies with the individual user.

Go Daddy offers services that are easy to use. With a little patience, you can get around long turnaround times for your requests, which we find is due to the huge volume of requests they have to handle on a daily basis. We think that turnaround time can really be overlooked, since it dissolves into obscurity as compared to all the exceptional features and benefits that Go Daddy offers.

They also have a number of help and support options that are available to its members. The support team responds quickly to your concerns and they take all efforts to resolve problems to your satisfaction. For those looking for answers through FAQs, we found that the help page is well documented and provides a lot of useful information.

The site creation tools offered by Go Daddy helps new users to easily set up their site. They also have additional features for advanced developers.  Though Go Daddy has an upper cap on the number of FTP accounts you can maintain, it would not be a deterrent factor, since most websites don’t exceed 10 FTP accounts.

Baseline? Others may offer many sugar coated features, but we find that Go Daddy really delivers. They are the best in terms of cost effective domain names, hosting packages, server access, site creation tools and ease of use.

Moreover, if you go by the number of registrations – thirty million and counting – Go Daddy is the largest web hosting company on the internet today. We are of the opinion that you give this one a confident try and be amazed with their list of useful features.

Buy.com is a leading online store for electronics. We are of the opinion that this online store is a good bet for all those who prefer buying their products from the comfort of their home. When you shop at buy.com, you receive a host of benefits like:

• A large selection of products
• Good bargains
• Gift vouchers and rebates
• Zero/low shipping costs
• Prompt delivery

Buy.com has a large range of products that are available. Their new in-season inventory brings along the associated benefit of low cost pricing for its customers. This electronic online store has been known to deliver products with a very low delivery time. They take care that your items are delivered in good condition. Moreover, with the zero or low shipping charges to most places, you don’t have to bulk order to save on cost.

Buy.com stays on top of the game by maintaining the most competitive prices for electronic items.  What’s more, they have rebates and savings vouchers announced on many items that you can take advantage of.  This means real savings with added frills.

The website is user friendly and first timers can get around with no hassles at all. Setting up of an account is quick and easy.

General opinions on buy.com have always been positive and the company has ensured promptness in resolving issues. Buy.com gives you an order-tracking option and sends you confirmation mails. This comes in handy, especially if you have issues with the product that is supplied by the third party vendor. Any concerns are quickly addressed to the customer’s satisfaction.  This electronic online store has a liberal return policy – they give refunds and gift certificates to unhappy customers having to deal with delays or order cancellations – a definite sign that indicates that for buy.com, customer satisfaction has always being their concern and top priority.

We give buy.com a big thumb up for:

• Remarkable fast shipping
• Competitive, economical and cheap prices
• Some really top-of-the-internet gadget bargains that are updated on a weekly basis

With its largest online collection of movies and collection of DVDs that you can rent, Netflix is considered the leader in the DVD movie space.  Read on to find out more on Netflix – what’s hot and what’s not.

• The biggest advantage about Netflix is that the movie is shipped directly to you. The arrival time is short since they have about a 100 delivery centers in the US. This means that in 96% of the cases, your movie would reach you a day after you had ordered for it.
• It has the biggest online collection of over 10,000 movies and season episodes.
• It also has a trial service of two weeks that you can be a part of. You can continue if you are satisfied at the end of the period, else you can simply cancel your account in an easy and hassle-free manner.
• You can also avail of their online library facility. The system can be easily set up and you can choose from a large number of movies by searching on a variety of keywords.
• Movies are moderately priced starting from $8.99 per month for a single DVD rental via the mail.
• There is no late fee charged. You can keep the movies as long as you want, provided that your subscription is active.

The monthly ‘2/3 DVDs at a time’ plan is worth selecting if you are an avid movie buff. Else you would probably like to start with ‘1 DVD at a time’ and select titles beforehand so that you have a steady stream of movies coming to you.

There may be a possibility of non-availability of the required movie in the delivery center that services your area. There have been complaints of long waiting periods and users having being placed in a queue for months together to be able to rent a new movie. This means that you may have to wait a trifle longer to have the movie delivered to you.  This is quite alright by most users, when you take into consideration the average rate of subscription and the fact that some of these movies may not be available with DVD rental stores or Netflix competitors.

There have also been murmurs of failing customer service off late.  When we decided to review this aspect, it was found that it was a one-on-one case where the customer service representative was probably having a bad day or so. It is certainly not a fault to hold the company against forever.

All in all, Netflix outshines competition with an immense DVD selection, good customer service and the fastest arrival time around. So if you’re looking for a rental service that can meet your movie needs, try the Netflix free trial. You would soon get hooked on to their services for prices that are lower than what you would normally spend.

We have all heard of Amazon. They are renowned for their exceptional overall service. This professional retail site is proactively committed to improving the shopping experience for customers by providing just about any product that is available in the marketplace.  It has been the pioneer of online retailing and holds the number one slot up-to-date, showing no signs of backsliding or any irreversible goof-ups that online companies quite often make.

Amazon.com hosts a very user friendly site and is easy to use. They have a lot of product information, customer reviews and editorial remarks to make the buying process hassle free for you.  You can search for products using well defined filters that return relevant options for you to choose from.

Amazon.com provides you with very competitive prices. They offer good discounts on many products that would be quite irresistible. So you actually end up saving quite a lump sum. Now who doesn’t prefer a good bargain!

After choosing your product in a breeze, you would want it to be shipped and delivered in the same note. This is exactly what we find Amazon.com to be doing.  While listing items for you to choose from, they give you an estimated delivery time. They then deliver on or before the stated timeframe once you have made your decision, unless you are looking at an item that is hard to find, such as an old book or CD.  Amazon makes it clear initially that some delay is to be expected. So you are not left in a huff at the end of it. They take good care while shipping too – the heartening fact is that Amazon uses a slightly bigger box than the original box of the product. This ensures guaranteed protection and you can be sure that your product(s) is delivered intact and to your satisfaction.

A company is only as good as its customer service. In this note, we find Amazon.com to be an exceptionally designed and professionally managed. It ensures that it responds to queries within the stated service level in terms of quality and time.

So now, are you the type who prefers to locate good bargains on your products without hassles, and then order it instantly to have it delivered at your doorsteps in a short time span? Take our opinion and use the services of Amazon.com – you would not just be satisfied, but delighted as well.