Shopping Eagle

Littlewoods Direct was launched nationally in 1996, offering direct sales of a full range of merchandise at some of the lowest prices in home-shopping, Littlewoods Direct is a direct-to-the-customer catalogue offering optional flexible credit facilities, providing easy ordering, 7 days a week by telephone, online, fax, textphone and post. Littlewoods Direct was also previously known as Littlewoods Extra, and also LX Direct. The LX Direct name was dropped mid-March, 2007.

With a much bigger range of products than some similar catalogue stores, you will find close to 40,000 products available from the Littlewoods Direct website, with categories including clothes, electronics, appliances, home & garden, gifts & leisure and many others. You can also request your free mail-order catalogue from the website too - with more than 1,000 pages of offers. If you do already have a mail-order catalogue, then remember that you can save time at the website simply by entering the product codes found in the catalogue, which will take you directly to the correct pages.

Littlewoods Direct is owned and operated by Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Ltd, who are also responsible for several other catalogue brands too, but each brand is slightly different, so take your time to look around, and you may find special offers on one site which are not available on the others. The popular Janet Frazer brand you’ll also find available at Littlewoods Direct, which is also available at Marshall Ward.

Most products ordered from Littlewoods Direct can be delivered next day, and the delivery charge, which may vary, is usually very low. You can also return unused goods, should you decide you not to keep them, free of charge within 14 days.

LateRooms is the hotel industry’s late availability database providing over 500,000 genuine hotel deals and discount hotels across the UK and Worldwide. With up to 70% off thousands of discount hotel rooms in properties ranging from 4 star and 5 star luxury hotels through to unique guest houses, from city apartments to rural bed and breakfasts, LateRooms is the only place you need visit to find hotels for business or pleasure.

Our hotels simply enter their own rates and update daily to reflect their availability. Book hotels online or by telephone through our hotel reservations service and secure your booking by credit card. Pay the hotel on departure. LateRooms do not charge a booking fee.

Laskys is part of one of europes leading electronic chains, that includes Comets. With this buying power you can exspect Laskys to be able to bring you some of the most competetive prices. Further more they take unparalleled pride in their customer service, according to their website. Laskys  offer a price promise, so if you find it cheaper, dont forget to contact them and they better it.

The All Saints are back. After five years apart (it’s ok they now embrace their former hatred… in a good way) they have come back with the stunning ‘Rock Steady’ which has already hit number three in the charts and now the new album ‘Studio 1′ follows. The big question is has the reunion been worth it or should have they stayed solo/a duo?

New single ‘Rock Steady’ opens the album and it’s a funky little number at 2mins 49. ‘I’ve got my bags packed baby and I’m ready to go, look in my eyes rock steady and I promise you more’. It’s an instant All Saints anthem and I think sees them sounding slicker than ever. Also Nicole (my fav) gets to sing a whole verse something that never used to happen! 5/5

I am praying that the rumours are true and ‘Chick Fit’ is the second single as its blooming brilliant. It’s got the 80’s synths of some Justin Timberlake tracks (strange but true) and yes sounds more industrial in verses and harmonised in choruses. “My coolness is blown, I need a fixing, I’m in a daze, I’m not myself I’m all over the place, I get a chick fit when I hear your name, and I totally flip”. Its instant favourite there’s even breathy ‘ahhhhs’ and everything. 5/5

‘On & On’ starts with a scratchy bit which is a bit odd, then it soon becomes a dreamy song along the lines of the ‘Pure Shores’ William Orbit days. It’s also very like Shaznay’s second single ‘You’. All Saints show why they work as a group, with the tight harmonies here, and the song just drips and sways through your head. “Even though the journey seems so far, no matter where you are I wanna be close to you. Time with you may seem so far away, but patience has a say I wanna be close to you”. Natalie Appleton shines on this track, as does Melanie Blatt. 4/5

Its reggae and ska for ‘Scar’ actually named after a type error of the word ’ska’, interesting. This wouldn’t surprise me if it was a single as it has a very Lily Allen feel to it and we all know how well she is doing at the moment. It’s full of trumpets and a man making ‘whop’ noises in the background. Lyrically it’s not as catchy with no obvious chorus. This would be quite a good summery tune for chilling out to. 3.89/5

‘Not Easy’ again is very, very reggae filled. It has some whistling in it which could be very catchy, in fact it is very catchy - I’m whistling. “I don’t know why but boy your not easy, the more that I try you take the P so, now I know I have no choice but to leave so I tell you goodbye, oh, oh, oh”. Can’t quite see this being a single as it’s too close to ‘Rock Steady’ and ‘Scar’. Love the line “baby I’m too cute for time wasting”. 4/5

R&B fuels ‘Hell No’ and at first I thought it was going to be shit. Soon it sounds like quite a cool old-skool tune, with complimentary giggles in the background which is a Timbaland trade mark (he has nothing to do with this track). Only problem with the track is that the chorus is a little squeaky and screechy. ‘Tell me who’s that bitch I’ve seen climbing out your window, think I’ve seen her face almost everywhere that we go.” Hmmm 2.9/5

We feel taken back to the early naughties with the opening of ‘One Me & U’. This could be a single as it’s catchy and quite instant and cute. Yes, its cute pop, a new trend I predict ha-ha. “I don’t know what you do but I stagger and fall, trip up in my shoes when I’m walking with you, we can fight, make up, whatever the mood, cos there’s only one me and you”. We take it this is about being in a cute couple and all that. 4/5

A big old piano opens and runs through ‘Headlock’. In the first verse you are quite hooked. Shaznay also does a bit of an empowering shouty singy liberating ‘anthemic’ bit before the chorus. The Appleton’s sing most on this track which is great as they are sharing the vocals a lot more with this album. “See what goes around has to some back round, so step on up while I dish it up and if you’re now on your own wish you’d never come home, better take that fall and just give it up, give it up.” We’re glad to see there’s still a bit of attitude in another of the albums highlights. 4.4/5

‘Too Nasty’ is a bit like the way Christina Aguilera has tried to go with making the 1930/1940’s sound funky with a modern twist. You can imagine the All Saints singing this in a bluesy club. “Ain’t got times for your dirty little games no, don’t wanna be a part of your whole grumpy freak show, stay away, stay away, go, go, cos your too nasty, oh, oh.” Love this as it’s grown on me within about three listens, I want this to be a single, maybe. 5/5

‘In It To Win It’ starts all twinkly then has a slightly ethnic feel to it. There’s a mix of eastern and piano in this track, then it goes quite gospel and harmonised in the chorus. This is a really interesting mix, I think you would either love it or hate it, I love it. “It’s ok bad days will come in times, don’t sweat it wont last its only for a minute, all through hard times you’ll wonder why, ok be strong and you’ll win it.” It’s supposed to be very empowering and it is. 4/5

Now I love, love, love ‘Flashback’ it’s really, really pounding and upbeat filled with bags of attitude and a hint of rock. “Turn up the beats and join me on the dance floor, rip off the sheets and you’ll get what you asked for, if you recognise me in the morning, don’t tell me, that I can’t recall. Non stop, flash back are you ready for more?” The trumpets and piano are really funky and make this a must single. You can get dirty and funky to this. 5/5

The end of an album is always interesting as it mainly what you remember an album by, well it’s the last song you hear (unless you have it on random clever clogs) so it sticks. ‘Fundamental is the perfect ending, and MUST, MUST, MUST be a single. It’s like ‘Never Ever’ meets ‘Pure Shores’, no really, its that amazing. There’s just Melanie’s vocals and a piano to start, then a few atmospheric strings and it all opens up. “It’s too deep it’s gone full circle, I breath just by watching this, projection is clear, baby your love is fundamental.” Its autobiographical, sublime lyrics, amazing vocals, and it’s totally haunting. It would be number one. Your hairs stand up when the choir join in, awesome.

What is Additionsdirect.co.uk?
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Additionsdirect.co.uk is the online facility to the Additions Direct Catalogue. It began life as the inspiration of Argos who wanted at the time to branch into the clothing market as well; however, it did not go all that well for them. In January 2004, Argos eventually decided it was time to sell the company so the Littlewoods Home Shopping Company purchased it from Argos and own it to this day. Although another home shopping catalogue it does offer slight variations to the other Littlewoods Catalogues available.

What do they sell?
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As with all home shopping catalogues, Additions Direct offers a huge variety of products, which would be impossible for me to list so I am going to do brief category descriptions.
Women: - They sell all sorts of women’s clothing, footwear, nightwear, sportswear and lingerie. They also stock perfume, accessories, jewellery and watches.
Men’s:- All sorts of men’s clothing, footwear, nightwear, underwear, sportswear, aftershave, accessories and jewellery/watches.
Children’s:- They have a somewhat limited selection of clothing and accessories for children from newborn to 16 years of age, plus accessories for bedrooms and nursery’s.
Sportswear: - This is an addition link and section to all the various products and branded sportswear available.
Home and Garden: - This section covers everything from furniture for the lounge and dining room to the bedrooms plus the entire home furnishing ranges, a limited selection of garden furniture and accessories and DIY products are available.
Electronics:- This section sells everything from mobile phones, sat nav, telephones, sound systems, TV’s, DVD players, VCR’s to PC’s and gaming.
Appliances: - This section is where you can find all your large and small household appliances as well as home wares.

Ordering / Payments
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Ordering from Additions Direct is very straight forward as with most internet shopping facilities, first thing you must do is register an account. This can be done on a credit card basis or you can apply for the Direct Plus Account which is a credit facility offered by Additions Direct. Add the items you wish to purchase from Additions to you shopping basket and then when you have finished placing your order you can view your basket at anytime from the link found at the top of the screen of any page. When you are checking your order from your shopping basket, you are able to edit your order if you need to and delete any unwanted items, before you proceed to the checkout. When you are happy with your order, you then continue checkout by clicking the checkout link, which will take you through the payment process of your order. You will need to have either a Credit Card or Direct Plus account to complete your checkout order and are requested to complete all the details requested as you proceed through the checkout. Once you have finished the checkout procedure you are sent to a printer friendly webpage with an order number for you to print off for your own reference, however you will also be sent a copy of the invoice to the email address you supplied during the checkout procedure. The site offers payment by all major credit cards and for other options of how to pay there are full details in the help section of the website.

Delivery
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Delivery from Additions direct is fast on some items and can be delivered within 48 hours depending on the time of you ordering, but there is a £3.50 delivery charge on all orders no matter how big or small. Certain items can be delivered the next day if order before 1pm and providing the item is in stock, but this service carries a £6.45 delivery charge. You are also given an option to specify a delivery day, but again, be warned this also carries a £6.45 delivery charge.

Credit Facilities.
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As I said earlier there is a credit facility available from Additions Direct called the Direct Plus account. This allows you to have items on credit and pay for them over a selected period of time, however it is very important to know that this service charges a massive 29.8% APR. This can work out to be very expensive. They do offer a facility for you to pay over three equal instalments without any interest on the interest opt out plan but this is also subject to status.

Catalogue requests.
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You can now collect a catalogue from all larger Boots Stores if you prefer, but there is a facility on the website for you to order one to be delivered to your door. This is free of charge and there is no charge for catalogue delivery either.

Returns and Refunds.
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Should you have any problems with your order you are able to contact the customer services to arrange for them to collect the goods to be returned, but it is extremely important to read all there returns guides before even placing an order, as you have to be aware there are guidelines for unacceptable returns. Simply call the FREEPHONE automated customer service number 0800 096 6093 or speak to an advisor on 0870 413 6000 to make arrangements for collection. There are no charges for returning an item. Refunds will either be credited to your Direct Plus account or Credit Card depending on your payment option you used to pay for your goods. All items are on 14 day free home approval, but there are some exceptions.

Help and Advice.
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This site offers an excellent help section that will be able to provide you the answer to any questions you may have with regards to shopping with Additions Direct and this link can be found at the top of every webpage clearly showing the word HELP. It will allow you to find out everything you need to know about returns, privacy policies, accounts, credit and much more. It will also give you all the contact details should you wish to either telephone them, write to them or email them.

Security.
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Additionsdirect.co.uk boasts a 100% secure shopping feature on there online store, they state that this is possible because they use the following features. They use SSL (secure sockets layer) in there ordering and payment facilities and that all transactions are processed by there secure server in an encrypted format for added security. This process will also be securely closed immediately after the transaction payment has been processed for even more added security. Full details of this are available from http://www.additionsdirect.co.uk please see the privacy and security links available from the webpage’s help section. The site security is governed by IMRG Senate, which also governs all Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited companies as well as many other leading internet-shopping organisations.

Other Site Features.
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This site also features a sizing guide to help you work out the size of clothing you wish to order. There is a women’s size guide, a men’s size guide and a children’s size guide. In addition, the site gives you access to a curtain-sizing guide to help you know what size curtains you will need to fit you window requirements. There is a site guide for everyone to be able to use to help them navigate the site easily and this is available in a link from the help section.

No matter what I need to buy, my first port of call is always Kelkoo. This website has saved me so much time and money it’s untrue, it brings together all the prices from different websites onto one easy-to-navigate page. You can pretty much be certain that the prices on offer are the cheapest you will be able to find and it even lets you know if there is going to be a cost for delivery.

Kelkoo also carries reviews of the shops that sell the item you are looking for - I find this especially helpful because even though a shop may be offering the cheapest price, the fact that it only has a 3 out of 10 score would make me think again.

The only thing that I can think of that could be improved is the way there are multiple listings for each item - Dealtime, another ‘Kelkoo-esque’ website, groups items together and says something like ‘available for £9 to £14′ which in my opinion is a slightly better system (the website on the whole is let down by having fewer items than Kelkoo).

Ignoring this one little bad point, the service is pretty much perfect and there is nothing else left for me to say except give it a go and see how much money and time you could save.

A great place to buy books, DVD, electronics and much more! Austria only.

A great place to buy books, DVD, electronics and much more! Germany only.