As you probably already know, I run a discount code website but sometimes even I have difficulty finding what I want. Take Comet discount codes – there are plenty of them being offered by any one of the multitude of discount voucher directories out there. The one thin that lets them down is relevancy.

Let’s just say I’m looking at buying a very specific electrical item – a rather funky new HD 3D TV (I’m not, just an example). The simplest way to get the offer I need is to do a search (Google, Bing, Yahoo… ). I know where I want to buy it – in this case, it’s at Comet but I just want to get as much money off as possible. So I search for “HD 3D TV comet discount code”. Should work, right? Grab my coupon, pay and save. Not necessarily.

Many of big name retailers on the high street (Comet, Currys, Laskys, 24-7 Electical do supply some cracking discount vouchers but, in many cases, they’re aimed at helping the seller clear older stock. So what’s a bargain hunter to do?

Price comparison sites! Five years ago these were all the rage but more recently many shoppers have complained. It seems that some sites show prices that aren’t entirely accurate in order to get a sale.

Personally, I’ve experienced this. My mortgage was up for renewal so off I went to browse a price comparison site for the best deals. On the site was a rather juicey offer from my personal bank but when I clicked the link the mythical 2.99% mortgage offer was nowhere to be found.

I called the bank, they checked the system and, lo and behold, they didn’t have any deals that matched what was shown on the price comparison site. Simple mistake or a dastardly ploy to rope shoppers in and get them to part with their money? I’ll let you decide.

Ok, so back to Comet. Price comparison sites and discount code directories might be all the rage right now but the simplest way to find a discount code that you need might be to browse the Comet website and looks at their offers section. I might be shooting my own website in the foot but all’s fair in the land of discount vouchers!

The Perils of Free Webhosting

Ok, I’ve got my webhosting fixed. Lessons learned? Well, to be fair, I tried to go down the cheapskate route and grab myself some free web hosting with on of the many companies out there. But there were a number of problems you all need to be aware of…

First, make sure you read the agreement. I found that the company I was using DID give free webhosting but with sponsored ads. Normally, not a problem but, as you may have noticed, every time you clicked one of the post titles it took you to a 404 ‘page not found’ splash page filled with ads.

Second, make their support does answer you emails. The company I used claimed to have 24/7 support even for users of their free service. Needless to say, but, after 6 emails and two weekds elapsed I decided it was a lost cause and moved my domain. The simple way to test response time is to set up your free hosting only (don’t repoint your DNS,etc just yet) then send the support desk and email (or two, or three, or…) and see how long it takes them to get back to you. If it’s more than 3 days – goodbye!

There you go – some words of caution for readers. Generally, I have no  problem with free webhosting as it’s served me well in the past but on this occassion… you get the idea.

Now I can get back to some regular posting.