Tesco Photos

We have ordered photos from the online Tesco website twice now.

Delivery Speed - Reasonable, the photos came within two weeks.

Cost - Very good, especially if you are bulk buying. Possibly the best thing about this service.

Quality - Good, apart from some problems with how photos had been cropped (chopping the tops of heads off, etc) which can be remedied by using the green box cropping tool on the website.

Website - There are a number of points to make about the website. It works "best" on Internet Explorer (inconvenient for those of us who use other browsers). You can use it with (for example) Firefox but it makes it harder and slower to upload photos. The website helpfully places a green box outline over your photograph to show you which bits will be cropped. This is a really good tool, easy to use and saves chopping off the tops of people's heads. However, the green box only shows up if you are using Internet Explorer. We found that Internet Explorer also reloaded the page constantly, which made selecting numbers of prints, areas to be cropped etc very frustrating and turned it into a race against the webpage.

Customer Service - The second time we used the website there was a slight problem "with the payment details". We were emailed and told to call their helpline, quoting our reference number. Unfortunately the helpline is only open Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm. When we called, we got a recorded message asking us to leave our name, phone number and order number and they would call us back. It took about five and a half hours for them to call. The man who called was helpful and polite and the problem was quickly sorted out. Top marks for their customer service.

Overall: Good and bad. The price is great, very cheap even with postage but the frustration of having to use the flawed Internet Explorer definitely tarnished the whole experience. If they fixed the website so you could use it with Firefox this service would be excellent.

Website - http://www.tescophoto.com/wpp/tesco/

Four Seasons Cuisine

Four Seasons catered our wedding in August and come highly recommended. They are based in Kent but were willing to come to Surrey for it. We had about 140 guests, in a large hall and they provided a three course meal.

Cost: We looked at a few catering companies and were horrified at how much they charge for sit down meals (buffets being only slightly more reasonable). We were given estimates between £4500 and £7500 for 140 guests having a three course sit down meal. We even found that some companies will charge you separately for food, linen, crockery, cutlery and the (compulsory) washing up of the crockery and cutlery (and not including drinks). However, Four Seasons charged just over £3500 all-inclusive. We bought our own drinks (wine, champagne, pimms and soft) and they were not only happy to serve and prepare them (for example buying and chopping the fruit for the pimms) but also they do not charge corkage. Overall - very reasonable.

Service: The service was wonderful. From the first contact they were helpful and courteous, assigning one person to take us the whole way through the process. They were professional and honest about what was possible with the venue facilities. On the day Andrew (who had looked after the whole thing) acted as master of ceremonies. As with many weddings we were running a bit late but he didn't make us feel at all rushed to "get on with it". The serving staff on the day were cheerful and friendly which always helps you to relax and enjoy a meal.

Quality: The food was delicious. We chose a smoked salmon starter, then lamb cutlets (which came with mash and vegetables) and then chocolate cheesecake for dessert. It was all hot, speedy to arrive and good quality (tender meat, well cooked but not overdone vegetables etc). We had told Four Seasons about a week or two in advance the special dietary needs of our guests and they catered to all of them with no problems at all. They also offered a childrens menu (chicken goujons and chips) which we offered to the parents before the wedding so they could choose what their children might like best.

Other information: Overall, a fantastic company, very helpful and excellent service. One other point to note is that they usually provide table linen but as they came so far for our wedding asked us to order our own in (that way they could leave as soon as they were finished, without having to strip the tables bare). They took the cost of us hiring this off our bill. This actually worked really well for us as it gave us more freedom in how the venue would look. (We went for coloured table cloths - supplied by Coloured Linen Hire, reviewed below).

Website - http://www.fourseasonscuisine.co.uk/

Edugames

We've been making games for several years now and this website sells lots of useful game making components. We have always found the counters and dice to be reasonably priced, of good quality, and delivery promptly. Moreover, the woman who runs Edugames is very good at answering questions by email.

Link: http://www.edugames.co.uk/