Showing posts with label Price comparison service. Show all posts

Bidvine Photography Review

We can't all be skilled in everything, and now you don't have to be as Bidvine can come to the rescue.

Bidvine puts you, the consumer, in touch with professionals that can help you, freeing you up to spend time on things that really matter. Maybe you need someone to fix your washing machine, a maths tutor for your kids, or a photographer to take a family photo shoot, well Bidvine can help you find competitively priced skilled people and by comparing quotes you are in charge and can choose the best person for the job. 


It's such an excellent idea don't you think?

To get a quote is simple. You search for the skill you need, put in your postcode and voila! At the moment it is only open to England but I can see this service expanding in the future. 

So I tried this out looking for a photographer in Bristol. When you go through the process online it asks you relevant questions to help you get the exact service you need. For my request of a portrait photographer it asked me the following questions, with multiple choice options:-

What type of portrait do you need?
Where will these photos be taken?
What style of images are you looking for?
In what format would you like the final image?
What is your estimated budget for the photographer's services and images?
Where can the service be delivered?
When do you need Portrait Photography?
Anything else the Portrait Photographer needs to know?
Where do you need Portrait Photography? 


Multiple choice questions help narrow down what is required

Once you fill all the details in, you can create an account to save the details with your email address or with Google Plus or Facebook. Then once you submit your request they will get in touch will professionals for you and you sit back and wait for the quotes to come into your inbox.


I was expecting this process to take a few days, possibly a week but I was pleased to find the first email in my inbox within 30 minutes, and all quotes received within a day. These also go into your Quote List on the Bidvine site. This is where you can view each company's portfolio, qualification and references, reviews and more. 

The photographers matched sounded a good fit, and you can see them all in the My Requests section. Profiles can include credentials, licences, references and more for you to review and Bidvine review every service provider's profile before it goes live.  Once you hire someone for a job and the work is done, you can then review your experience on their site. This is an incredible useful tool as these reviews can only be placed by authentic customers.

In summary, I thought the Bidvine concept was great. The website is straightforward to navigate and all the hard work of shopping around is done for you.  The best part is, that it's free for the consumer to use. The professionals pay Bidvine for the opportunity to quote for you and you pay the professional for the service performed direct.  

 Let me know, what do you think of Bidvine? Would you use this service?

 *PR collaboration 
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Save On Energy Bills This Winter

It's that time of the year again, the weather is getting colder, nights are getting darker, and Christmas is just around the corner. Many households will be putting their heating on, and those on a low income will be worrying about the heating costs.
Image courtesy of AlexMaster Shutterstock 

In 2013 Saga reported that energy bills for older people have more than doubled in the last eight years. The average annual spend on gas and electricity for the over-65s soared to *£1,355.90 in the year previous and this will no doubt will be bigger this Winter.

Did you know that next weekend is the "Great British Switch", this is a campaign where comparethemarket.com is encouraging the UK population to see how much money they could save on their energy bills this Winter by switching to a new supplier? They say that recent research has shown that 95% of over 65's have never tried to switch energy supplier even though, savings of up to £350 a year can be made. * in a Daily Mirror Survey

With the #GreatBritishSwitch campaign from 14th – 16th November for every switch made comparethemarket.com will donate £5 to Friends of the Elderly. This is a worthy charity dedicated to supporting older people.

So this had me thinking. My father-in-law Keith has recently retired, being self employed for the last forty years, running a local shop. Both him and my mother-in-law Anne are now on a limited income. He doesn't use technology at all but Anne does. I wondered if they had stayed with the same suppliers for their energy needs over the last few years or had ever changed, so I decided to pop in and have a chat with them, showing them the comparethemarket.com website.



Comparethemarket.com is a comparison website that helps you compare companies at a click of a button. It's not just energy companies either, as you can find the best deals for car, home and life insurance, travel insurance, credit cards and energy. On discussion with them they hadn't changed energy suppliers for a long time so I decided to take Anne through the Compare the Market website to see if they could save on their utility bills.

 Once you click on energy it takes you to this page below.


As you can see you also get a free Safari Oleg toy whilst stocks last if you switch energy suppliers. 

If you don't have your bill this is the next screen below (in two parts)





After putting in your details the next page asks for your email address.


Then you see the comparison companies and the prices and details. It really is that simple.



As you can see there are a range of savings to be made and you do need to read the terms and conditions of each offer, but it is worth doing this, as within less than 5 minutes you can save a fortune. 

It was easy to show Anne how to use the site, the process is, in the words of a meerkat 'Simples", and as you can see from the information above my mother and father-in-law could save £243 on their energy bills.




There is also an app available called Snapt, which allows the user to photograph their bills and send the information to Compare The Market by phone. At the moment this is available on the iPhone, but I guess it won't be long until it is brought out on Android.

So if you can think of anyone that would benefit from a saving on their utility bills this Winter, especially the elderly, why don't you pop in for a chat and show them what to do. Don't forget with the #GreatBritishSwitch campaign from 14th – 16th November for every switch made Compare the Market will donate £5 to Friends of the Elderly. So they save and the charity gains. Simples!

* As a thanks for taking part in the campaign, comparethemarket.com will donate £50 on my behalf to Friends of the Elderly. This is a sponsored post in conjunction with CTM and Tots100
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