We’re proud to have some of the best reviews for customer service anywhere on the internet. A lot of our customers write to us directly telling us how pleased they are, many others write product reviews, others still respond to Trustpilot’s invitation to write a review to be published on the TP website.

No-one forces anyone to do this, it’s all voluntary. Which is why this in our inbox is so baffling:

“I’d love to give you a review and think you are excellent but find Trustpilot’s “write a catchy review title to get noticed” and “write as if you’re speaking to a friend” guidance so profoundly irritating I can’t.”

Quick reponse: don’t write one then! And don’t email us expressing your profound irritation!

Royal Mail have put up their stamp prices, just 11 months after the last increase. They now charge £3.00 for a small first class parcel (e.g ten pairs of DreamGirl earplugs), or £2.60 Second Class. It’s a lot, we’re sure you’ll agree.

Once again, Snorestore has been forced to get creative and try to minimise the impact to you.

However, the miserable facts are these: we can’t absorb all the increase and have passed on some of it to you.

Better news: while Royal Mail have whacked their charges up by as much as 17.5% for small parcels and 7.5% for large letters, we’ve kept our price rises to around 5%. Next Working Day delivery costs the same as Royal Mail.

Even better news: we’ve reduced some postal charges by 20%, better to reflect the actual cost. So for example, the cost of posting a ten pair pack of LaserLite earplugs first class used to be £1.25. We’ve brought it down to £1. And of course, if you opt for second class, most items with a value of up to £14.95 have no delivery charges added at all.

Better news still: we’ve extended the cut-off time for dispatching orders the same day from 2pm to 3pm. Order by 3pm and you could still have your earplugs the next morning (if Royal Mail pull their fingers out that is).

One other point: until 2nd April any items posted with a value of up to £46 were automatically covered by Royal Mail’s insurance if they were lost or damaged in transit. Royal Mail have arbitrarily reduced this cover to just £20. Pathetic. As a result, if you order earplugs etc worth more than twenty quid, we could decide to send them to you in two or more packets.

Confused? Email us or see the Shipping page on the Snorestore website.

“I would just like to give you some feedback about your service. My order arrived this morning, thank you.
However…I feel that you have made a mistake – surely you should have charged more for such prompt despatch, great packaging and fast postage!!
Keep up the good work and let me know if you are considering branching out into any other online retailing as I would be sure to shop with you.
Best regards -  a very satisfied customer.”

Well not according to the latest earplugs manufacturer to join the Snorestore stable.

Auritech, from the Netherlands, has been making custom fit hearing protectors for over 20 years, for the army, police, the emergency services, for musicians and pyrotechnicians*.

Their expertise has led them to develop a new range of one-size-fits-all earplugs, eliminating the need for a trip to the audiologist’s. The earplugs are made using the same professional ceramic filters, meaning you get comfort, fit and you don’t feel all bunged up in the ear department.

You can find Auritech earplugs for sleeping, music, biking and shooting/loud bangs* on the Snorestore website right now, along with a kit for keeping your earplugs in tip-top condition.

Here’s a direct link: Auritech earplugs at Snorestore

Name: [withheld]
Email Address: [withheld]@hotmail.com
Message: Hello; I ordered the women’s earplug selection for a total of £16.40 on 30th May 2012 and never received them. Please let me know when you plan to resend as I ordered them over 8 months ago and have now moved!

And:

Name: [withheld]
Email Address: [withheld]@hotmail.com
Message: Hi I have had £4.82 (30:01:2013) taken out of my account for earplugs that I have not received. I had an email from you saying that the order had been cancelled as I had to pay by pay pal not by debit card, I was told in email that the £4.82 would be refunded but has not.
I have now noticed that another £16.00 has been taken from my account. Which seems to be for charges and commission this money was taken 11:02:2013.
I would like this money returned back into my account ASAP Total amount to be refunded £20.82.

Naturally we would be terribly apologetic if these two women had ordered and hadn’t received their goods, or had had money taken from their accounts. It’s not the kind of mistake any business likes to make.

However, our finely-tuned noses and spring-loaded brain cells are wise to such emails and something doesn’t ring true.

Notice how both women are very careful to spell out exactly how much money they think they’re owed. Notice, too, how they give precise dates on which the transactions occurred. Lots of similarities between the two emails.

But where are the order numbers? The transaction references from PayPal? What about the email we’re supposed to have sent cancelling the order and offering a refund? How on earth could we take money from someone’s account when we have no access to anyone’s PayPal or credit cards? Why did the first person leave it 8 months to inform us her order hadn’t arrived? Why does she refer to moving house – as if that’s at all relevant?

They both use untraceable hotmail accounts. Careful searching on Google suggests that one of them appears to have an unused Twitter account and that the other may (or may not) reside in Albania and be active on Skype. We don’t like to speculate what she does on it.

It was important that we checked our files, as we’d hate to have overlooked something. Fortunately our record-keeping is second to none. In fact our accountant is in awe of our ability to keep our books straight. So it was a matter of seconds before we were able to determine for certain (as we already guessed) that neither of them has ever ordered from Snorestore. Not with those names, not with those email addresses. Not on those dates. Not with those amounts. In fact, they’re invisible as far as Snorestore is concerned.

There are three possibilities:

1) they ordered from a different online earplugs store entirely and have got confused;
2) we’ve made a massive mistake and the arrival of those emails back to back is coincidence;
3) well why don’t you make up your own minds? We’re pretty sure we know what’s going on.

We have of course emailed both women and asked for further details – order numbers, transactions references, copies of emails, their addresses. Unsurprisingly, neither of them has replied. If they do, we’ll amend this post accordingly. If they don’t, we’ll amend the post anyway and include their names and email addresses. Just in case they try the same thing on you.

EarPeace earplugs

1) EarPeace ear plugs

They’re taking the USA by storm. Now they’re here and rapidly becoming Snorestore’s most popular music ear plug. Delivering crisp, clear sound, EarPeace earplugs protect the ear against dangerously high levels of noise, but do not muffle voices so the user can still enjoy conversations. Bonus: they’re virtually invisible AND you get a spare earplug.

Lin-Ear earplugs

2) Lin-Ear ear plugs

ProGuard Lin-Ear PR20 ear plugs use a sophisticated 19dB membrane attenuation system to protect your hearing from loud sounds, while retaining the natural sound, dynamic range and feel of the music. In English please? That means Lin-Ear earplugs let you hear it all, with the volume turned down. Which reduces the tinnitus risk. Bonus: two pairs of earplugs in every pack.

These two new products add to our existing line-up of world-class earplugs for music. You can find the rest of them here.

© Liz West (Muffet)

Just time for a reminder that if it’s snowing where you are, the chances of a postman getting to you are greatly diminshed.

Likewise, if it’s snowing where *we* are*, the chances of Royal Mail being able to process our orders as quickly as they normally do are also greatly diminished. What does this mean in practice?

To state the bleeping obvious, it means that while we will be sending your order to you in the normal way, it might take longer to reach you.

Watchword: PATIENCE.

*It is indeed snowing where we are.

EarPeace earplugs from the USA have quickly built a reputation as the best earplugs for protecting your hearing anywhere.

Whether you’re an orchestral musican, a rock musican, a rock concert afficionado or simply someone who enjoys going to night clubs or noisy bars, then EarPeace can help prevent that terrible, debilitating ringing in the ears the morning after the night before.

You can buy EarPeace earplugs right now from the Snorestore website. Here’s the link: http://www.snorestore.co.uk/acatalog/earpeace-music-earplugs.html

Name:
Alastair Galpin
Message:
Hi there SnoreStore,
I am really interested in your Mighty Plugs ear plugs.
However, a frustrating problem is preventing me from buying.
No ear plugs I have found fit into my ear canals, and they all fall out within seconds.
I have spent considerable money buying and trying, which is becoming expensive.
Here in New Zealand, I can buy Mighty Plugs ear plugs for four (4!) times the USA cost.
But I wonder if you are the sort of business which will send out a free sample pair for
me to try?
My only suggestion would be that if the free sample pair fits, I come back to you and
admit that I owe you USD10 or whatever it is.
Can you help me with this?
Regards,
– Alastair Galpin (independent record breaker) 2nd biggest Guinness World Records™ breaker of the decade: 2000-09 “Record-breaking exposure” – http://www.WorldRecordChase.com * Want your brand in stock footage? Ask! * Got unwanted air miles? Pass them on to us. * Are you a true eco-warrior? We’d love to advertise you. * Need a record breaker for an eco-awareness or community event? Ask! * Refer website advertising requests you don’t want: We pay for done deals.