[stupot]

I've been thinking for a couple of ideas for the site so apologies if these have been suggested before.

1. A review section for photographic equipment suppliers as everbody knows photography isn't the cheapest of hobbies at times and if i'm spending hard earned money i want to know i'm going to get a good service. I recently had a bad experience with a UK supplier who i placed an order before christmas for some Cokin filters about £167 in total, they sent some items and the rest went on back order as they were out of stock. Well every couple of weeks i'd ring to check the status and kept getting told they had been despatching things as they came into stock. Nothing was arriving though so kept ringing and told the same thing they have definately been sent. So waited some more. Rang again and ask them to look into this which they said they would, and would call me with an answer. NO CALL. In they end i rang them a couple of weeks later and asked to speak to the manager and eventually was told that as the order had been on back order for so long that it had been cancelled.... hmmmm so i asked him why on numerous occaisions i had been told things had been dispatched, he couldn't or wouldn't answer me.

I wasn't really in a hurry for anything but i dont think its good business palm your customers off with excuses. Now on the flip side i have recieved some great service from other suppliers, some as far away as Hong Kong. So why not have an area where we can review suppliers good and bad.

2. After a recent post by Charlotte regarding a book about stunning places in the UK to visit and photograph. Why dont Pixalo start its own 'where to photograph' where members impart there local knowledge on areas near them or they have been to in the past. It could include directions on getting there, parking, best times of year to photgraph and any other info on the area. I recently followed a feature in a photo mag on a place in Wales, the directions were sketchy at best and had me walking around in circles until i asked a fellow hiker (a local) and was about a mile in the wrong direction. Theres nothing like local knowledge!!! and i'm sure we all know places well that we like to go and photograph. so why not share that info with others.

anyway enough from me

Regards
Stuart

[Dabhand16]

Good thinking, Stupot. We are halfway there already. If you look at the section title for the 'Suppliers, Shopping and Bargains' you will find that this is exactly where you can post stuff like this.

The recommended places to visit seems a good idea, but maybe the Crew can say if it is a go-er. I'm wondering how we carve up the UK to start with. Do we have a county by county breakdown, or regions? How about alphabetical order accessed by letter as in the members list?

I think there is maybe some milage in this, what do the crew think?

[fionaB]

as long as down south aint carved into counties and Scotland is put with northern ireland as if the two were unimportant........gawd that bugs me!
<<gets off soap box

[stupot]

I know theres a section on suppliers at the bottom but was thinking more on the lines of the Equipment Reviews section. If you had never used lets say Warehouse Express and wanted to find out if anyone had used it before the present way would be to search through the section looking for posts regarding that supplier. not the most easiest way maybe an area where suppliers can be listed alphabetically and rated, then some reviews on peoples experiences

As for the PLaces to photograph idea i really dont know how it would or could be done, Regions seem like an obvious choice, but i think its over to the owners and mods to say if its an idea they like or no go

[Charlotte]

Well stupot, having clarified your suppliers idea, I agree that both ideas sound excellent + would be extremely useful to a lot of pixalonians Let's hope the Crew agree too As to the question of how to divide regions, perhaps this could be thrown open for discussion + maybe a poll or two ... that should keep us all busy for the next decade

[Sonsey]

Hi folks, thank's for the suggestions... I'll post the thread up in the Crew area for discussion

Iain.