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And the winner is….

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

It has been a crazy week for voting on our “What would you do with 99% off?” competition!  You people are much more popular than I ever anticipated.

And with no more further ado, the winner of the competition is…

Julie Kapral!

Congratulations, Julie; you are one popular young lady!  I will be in contact shortly to get you your prize.  I’m sure we’re all looking forward to seeing photos of your new office!

It was a tight race for second place, with Meg Smitley finally beating Chris Dunn by only 2 votes for the silver medal.

Honorary mention goes to 4th place entry, Rebecca Page, who also got lots of voting love.  The rest of you did very well too, but were no match for a popular young lady with an obsession with pink!

Thanks again for all your entries– I really enjoyed reading them and if I could, I’d make all of you winners (maybe if I win the lottery!).

Tags: 99% off, bview competition, winner announced
Posted in Announcements, Competitions | Comments Off

Steigenberger Nile Palace or Costa Del Back Garden, holidays in 2009.

Friday, May 1st, 2009

As the elusive British summertime begins its months long game of hide and seek, many of us begin to think of holidays and jetting off to sundrenched beaches and a brief escape from the rat race. In times of financial instability a holiday could be more than some can manage. For some, perhaps the annual break will be closer to home this year.

I was vaguely considering that I could begin to plan a holiday and musing over destinations when I began to think of the practicalities. My passport is out of date and my children don’t have one at all yet. There, in under 10 seconds is a cost of £164. £72 for my own passport and £46 for each of my children. I just don’t need that headache right now. I don’t need to leave the country.

So, my thoughts returned to good old Blighty.
Now, I’ve travelled the U.K fairly extensively, in caravans, tents, guest houses, hotels and friends homes. I’ve even stayed at a substantial number of English Heritage sites. I have children who think Dora The Explorer has the most exciting life and I love the idea of something new, so, wandering around the internet I found wigwams at Humble Bee Farm.
A lovely homey looking wooden building with real beds starting from £15.00 per person per night and just £8.00 for children. So, £31 per night and no great risk from weather conditions. There’s even a secure lock on the door, which might give me some peace of mind about midnight excursions by the gruesome twosome.

Or what about a Cocoon at Nostell Priory Park at £24.50 per night? A small building which looks like a rigid tent and again guaranteeing you won’t be blown away in the middle of the night. No escapees and the dubious pleasure of cooking outside every night, just like real camping.  It also means I don’t have to get up close and personal with nature, I can scurry back to the more-tangible-than-canvas-relative-safety of a plastic house. I’m warming to the idea.

I think my kids will love camping and it’s an adventure I want them to enjoy, though I worry about them getting out of the tent in the middle of the night in the same manner as they wander around the house eating chocolate in the wee small hours.
Still, I checked out the prices and venues. I remember staying in a lovely place in St Austell, Cornwall a few years ago and their prices for a tent are a very reasonable £4 – £9 per night depending on the season. However, prices vary around the country and during peak season. One site I found mentioned a £20 minimum fee per night during the peak season. You’ll often find money off vouchers in the back of The Camping and Caravanning Guide, available from CCC, Blacks and other similar shops.

Most of my childhood holidays were spent in touring caravans in Great Yarmouth and Skegness, or in static caravans in Cornwall, again, I’d quite like my daughters to enjoy that experience so I checked back to the sites we used when I was small. Vauxhall in Great Yarmouth would be around £418 for a week at the end of June in a dinky little 3 berth static caravan. The same week in Widemouth Caravan Park would be £322.00 as an online booking price.

I had romantic dreams of a cottage in the Lake District one year, all open fires and long country walks ending at cosy country pubs. The prices quoted were in the region of £350.00 minimum per week, for two people, in November! Unimpressed I quickly found a late winter sun deal in Majorca with Thomson for less and we skipped off to laze by the quiet beaches instead of the open hearth.
However a B&B begins at £60.00 per night and a weekend break might be just the thing.

I’ve never been entranced with hotels. They’ve always been associated with work related stays for me, though I confess, as a mental mum of two rampant children, I rather like the idea of no cooking and no cleaning up. Still, a brief search shows I could get a short dated booking for £42.50 in a 4 star hotel in Devon and share. I certainly couldn’t leave my little darlings in a room of their own…despite being far too young, remember the chocolate escapades I mentioned? Imagine a whole hotel full of adventure in the middle of the night. It would be Macauley Culkin Home Alone Part 4, The End!

So many people say that by the time you’ve finished, it’s just as cheap to fly elsewhere for a holiday. Perhaps the answer lies with Lastminute.com . The cheapest holiday I can find there is for £450.00 flying from Luton to Costa Brava and I’d still have to get the passports, bringing the total back up to over £600.00 without travel at either end, or insurance, or spending money. But the lure of no cooking and cleaning is strong.  I could even write a blog to enter the 99% off competition and win the chance to have my holiday for just £4.50!  No, I’d aim for the luxury of the Steigenberger Nile Palace in Luxor, Egypt. A snip at £489.00 per person. Still, that would be one paid for, a mere £4.89 from my pocket.

Maybe there is more to be said for Costa Del Back Garden. I think I’ll leave it a little while longer and bag a last minute deal, crossing my fingers for extra savings with vouchers on BView.

Tags: BView, camping, caravans, competition, holidays, hotels, vouchers
Posted in Business, Competitions, Features, Findings, General | 1 Comment »

Finalists for the "what would you do with 99%" contest

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Thanks again for everyone who entered!  I had a lot of trouble getting it down to 10 entries, so find here the top 12 entries (in no particular order!)  We’ll finish voting next Monday, May 4th at midnight and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 5th!  Good luck contestants!

Rebecca Page wants to pay for the insurance to set up her own childminding business and with the remaining go to Cornwall to visit her husband’s mother, who has ailing health.

Nicola Poor wants to invest the money so she has a solid base to achieve her dream of becoming self sustaining by starting up her own business.

Chris Dunn as a new arrival in the UK, wants to deck out his deck, so he can stop being ashamed of having his friends over for barbecues.

Sue Smith has a “Mini dream” to buy a classic Mini Cooper and spend her spare time doing any required work to bring it up to its former glory.  I’m guessing the £500 would buy the roof, or the seats or something?

Julie Kapral is a lovely young lady with an obsession with pink, whowants to become a full fledged designer, and needs to buy desks and cabinets.  She promised to send lots of photos of her new office!

Basheera Khan would use the cash to buy a plane ticket to visit her family in South Africa and hang out with her mother.  She even offers her mother as a surrogate.

Joy McCarthy would have a small man (or a big one, she says she’s not too picky) come dig a hole to install a “Green Cone” so she can reduce her household waste to practically nothing (and also produce fantastic soil for her garden).

Stacey O’Neill would, during her last year next to the ocean, would practice her knot tying, and finally learn how to sail!

Meg Smitley would get twelve square meters of rubber-love… also known as gym-matting for her basement.  An avid wrestler, she wants to finally get a chance to show her husband how a take-down should happen!

Helen Cruse decided she would use it to have a proper roughing it vacation on the Tiny Isle of Shuna off Oban. No Electricity. No TV. Mental!

Melinda Seckington would get the ultimate geeky boardgame collection, getting as many of the top 25 games out there as she could!

Jim Lamb wants us to send him a fresh English pie to him in Australia.

Vote for your favourite now!

[polldaddy poll="1572862"]

Posted in Competitions | 63 Comments »

The "get £495 for free" contest update!

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Hi guys!  Just an update on the contest, and to let you know about an important change to it.

It’s the last week, with the deadline this Saturday night at midnight. Have you entered in?

You still have time to tell me what you’d do with 99% off of £500!

We’ve already got some fantastic entries, including:

• Joy who wants a small man to dig a hole in her garden,
• Julie who wants to deck out her office, and
• Jim who wants us to send a proper English pie to him in Australia.

Vero, the organizer of Social Media Camp, asked if I could write a post about the contest for the SMC blog.  I think in her frazzled state, she didn’t understand that it was about what she’d personally do with the money.  So, I tried to get into her mind, and knowing that she’s a French Canadian, came up with getting her to swim in the world’s largest poutine.  You can read about that here!  Ha ha ha!

Slight change of plans.

We were meant to allow the members of Social Media Camp to vote on the sunday with stickers to decide the winner.  But Social Media Camp is now a one day event only (the Saturday), so there’s no way people can vote on the Sunday, even though I already got the stickers!

But this is good in a way, because that means we can open up the voting to the web, the ultimate democracy! Those shortlisted will now be put into a poll, where anyone can vote. We’ll be putting up the top 10 entries on Monday, 27th of April for one week. Then we’ll announce the winner.

Still want to enter?

Here’s the rules:

1. You write a blog post telling the world what you’d do with 99% off anything you like (up to a value of £500). Make sure you have a link back to www.bview.co.uk.
2. Send an email to competition@bview.com and give us a link to said posting.
3. All entries have to be received by midnight GMT on Saturday, April 25, 2009.
4. I’m going to shortlist my top 10 favourites, and then they will be up for voting on this blog from April 27th until May 4th at Midnight.
5. You can enter as many times as you like (if you have multiple blogs, then go for it!).
6. People from anywhere in the world can enter, but the prize will be awarded in pounds sterling.

I’ll probably give you some stickers too, since I now have 180 of em! So get your creative hats on and let me see your best work!

If you want to read the original post, and read what I’d do with the money, you can do that here.

Tags: bview contest, free money, what would you do?, win £500
Posted in Competitions | 1 Comment »

Are you the most worthy of 99% off?

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Savings, savings, savings. Everyone’s tightening their belt; buying no-name; downloading coupons, and hunting for bargains.  BView wants to be a part of that: we’ve got savings from the big boys and the little guys (or girls). We might even have savings for your neighbourhood… check out your local area here. But enough of that, you’re probably here because you want the daddy of vouchers. I’m offering you 99% off ANYTHING in the world (up to £500). That’s right, anything. But you don’t get this big lovin’ for free, you gots to do a bit o’ work for it!

*The work:

1. You write a blog post telling the world what you’d do with your 99% off.  Make sure you have a link back to www.bview.co.uk.
2. Send an email to competition@bview.com and give us a link to said posting.
3. All entries have to be received by midnight GMT on Saturday, April 25, 2009.
4. I’m going to shortlist my top 10 favourites, and then the lovely attendees of Social Media Camp London will vote on the winner, which will be announced by 8pm Sunday, April 26, 2009 GMT.
5. You can enter as many times as you like (if you have multiple blogs, then go for it!).
6. People from anywhere in the world can enter, but the prize will be awarded in pounds sterling.

So that’s it.  Now it’s time for you to get your creative hats on (I know I’ve been singing, “If I had a million dollars” in my head while writing this)! To get you started, us folk at the BView office have come up with what we’d do with the savings. You’re lucky our boss won’t let us enter, but hopefully they will inspire you to think of some great ideas.  Good luck, and I look forward to reading your entries!

Dan (the developer)

If I had 99% off anything, I imagine I would take a trip down to the picturesque village of Bray. With no wallet to burden me and a crisp £5 note in my freshly ironed shirt pocket, I would walk purposefully into The Fat Duck with my girlfriend and ask for the finest table (Norovirus be damned). After enjoying one of the finest meals in the world, I would personally hand Mr Blumenthal the £5 note and ask him to bill the rest to BView.

Huw (the developer)

I would like to invest £375 in the UK stock market; strategically selecting shares in struggling companies within the financial sector (such banking and insurance based companies).  Following this, I would spend £100 on premium bonds, and squander the remaining £25 on a new jumper (NOTE: I may purchase 2 jumpers, depending on the price per-jumper).

Colin (the product guy)

I’d take my wife away for a week in cornwall. Just a bit of a break from the norm, just a little something to break the monotony of all that child care that has gotten to be a little bit out of control. It would be cool to to be in France but what about a beach that soothes, that reignites romance? A bargain for a fiver.

Simon (the community guy)

With 99% off I’d have to go for a Canon EOS 40D to replace my beaten up and practically ancient 350D. It would be a shame having to replace it if i won (I’ve had it for so long) but something tells me I’d get over it….

Kat (the web designer)

I have a problem: I love goats, especially baby ones, and so I’ve made up a character named safetygoat, who, sporting a fetching red lifejacket, has become my little mascot.  I had this idea that I could make plastic replicas of them, but minimum quantities means it’s expensive (and I’d end up with hundreds, maybe even thousands of the little guys).  So, I’ve been making them on my own by making a silicon mould and pouring polyeurathane and then painting the result.  You can see the adventures of safetygoat here.

They’re pretty cute, but they’re not exactly the most refined looking toy. So, with my £495 (with a fiver of my own cash) I’d like to make proper vinyl safetygoats.   I’d get them properly made in some third world country, and I would get loads of them, so anyone who wanted their very own safetygoat could have one! It would be a dream come true!

We can’t win (unfortunately), so now it’s your turn!

So get out there and write your entries

Tags: 99% off, competition, discounts, free money, Savings, voucher, win bview, win £500
Posted in Announcements, Competitions, Events, offers, Savings | 9 Comments »

Up to £100 just for sharing your opinions!

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Earn up to £100 writing reviews on businesses local to you!

In the run up to Christmas we’re all used to smashing our piggy banks but this November you can earn up to £100 by helping the BView community! You will be rewarded up to 30p for every review you write. It’s our way of saying thank you!

How it works

Each BView member starts by earning 15p per review. When you complete your first 10 reviews, you can request to become a Local Expert by sending a message to Samina. Once you receive a reply from us, you will begin to earn 30p for each review thereafter. This makes it even easier to hit the £100 mark!

It’s super easy to participate. To find out more about how to write a great review and the conditions, visit our rewards page and don’t forget to pass on the offer!

Tags: BView, Competitions, reviews, rewards
Posted in Competitions | Comments Off

BView's iPhone winner

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

We’ve had a phenomenal response for the iPhone prize draw that ran between September and October. Every BView member who wrote a review during that time was allocated a ticket and creating over 3000 tickets was not a light task! Instead of letting the system randomise the winner, we decided to draw the winning ticket the traditional way and made our own rather festive looking basket!

After fighting over who should pick the winner, Olu O took charge.

Guess who had lady luck on their side yesterday?

Congratulations to Debbie Smith from Dunfermline for writing her way to a sleek new iPhone! Debbie has written some great reviews of businesses local to her and you can view Debbie’s profile on BView. She enjoys music, making friends and writing- so why not post her a little hello on her postboard?

November’s rewards

Don’t worry if you didn’t win or if you missed October’s competitions! This month we’re looking out for Local Experts and Community Champions. You can earn up to £100 by contributing towards the BView community and sharing your knowledge of businesses local to you. For more information on how it works, read our rewards page.

Tags: BView, Debbie Smith, Dunfermline, iphone, reviews, rewards
Posted in Announcements, Competitions | Comments Off

There's still time to win!

Friday, October 31st, 2008

Today is not only Halloween but also the last day to enter the October iPhone prize draw and the monthly cheesecake competition. The good news is that it’s not too late to test how lucky you are!

The sleek sophisticated iPhone…

Any review that you write today will count as a ticket towards the iPhone prize draw. To participate all you have to do is search for your favourite place and share your experience with the BView community.

Tips: Make sure the review is public and of at least 50 words in length. More information on this can be found on our rewards page. The more reviews you write, the higher the chances are of you winning!

The ‘divinely delicious’ cheesecake…

The topic for October is technology. So far the girls have been winning the cake competition so it’ll be interesting to see who wins next week. We have had amazing reviews of the cakes sent out to our past winners. The cake lasted three days for one winner! You can read about the company and see pictures of the cheesecake here.

If you write an impressive review on any of the following brands, you could soon be indulging in a quite a few slices of perfection too!

Napster | iTunes | McAfee | Microsoft | Corel | Adobe

Tips: Reviews for the cake contest win kudos for having a catchy title, showing honesty and being descriptive with photos. Don’t forget to make your review public, otherwise I can’t link it to you! I also need a copy of your review too so enter my e-mail address when it prompts you share your review: samina.haffajee@bview.com

Your reviews help the community to make smarter decisions when dealing with companies. We appreciate all members who have contributed and invited their friends to join us. We couldn’t do it without you! Rewarding you is our way of saying thank you. Keep an eye out for our November rewards!

Tags: BView, cake, Competitions, iphone, reviews, rewards
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Your views on computer companies + Cake= Cake 3.0

Monday, October 6th, 2008

In Kat’s absence we have been ordered to write on her behalf and tell the BViewers that this month’s cake competition is dedicated to computers and PC Software.

You can write about how much you love your computer and how wonderful the people who helped you to set it up are! Alternatively you can write about the pains of your technological journey. You can even write about the software you are using and show us some pictures of your creations! It’s really up to you!

Pssst…..here are a few tips for what Kat looks for:

o    Photos (you’ll win extra super points if we get photos of you with your technology!)
o    Witty Titles
o    Dialogue in your text
o    A description of your experience with the business
o    If you are a secret geek, you’ll gain extra kudos for submitting an entry for the industry expert section of Computers and PC Software along with your review!

No need to be shy if you are new to BView, you can still sign-up and join in the fun!

Contest closes on October 31st and remember you will also be entered for the iPhone Prize Draw.
You can enter as often as you like, but make sure you share your review with kathryn.neville@bview.com (or send her a link to your review)

Tags: BView, cake, cake competition, computer, contest, reviews, software, win
Posted in Competitions | Comments Off

The Winners for Cake 2.0: One for the Animal Lovers

Monday, October 6th, 2008

Well it’s been a hard month for me.  People have really started to step up and write some great reviews for my contest!  So, I’ve decided to award two prizes, one for the overall best review, and one for the most unique experience!

Top 3 (Overall)

And the winner is…

Bonnie! Bonnie Torp wrote a fantastic review of Pennard Practice Ltd called “Our Cat came home Toothless!”

It’s a touching ‘tail’ of her cat’s visit to the vet. She adds great photos of her adorable kitty, and adds a lot of good info about the practice. Great tone to her review!

In close second is Alix C from Glasgow! Her review of Pets at Home describes her adventure to purchase a new hamster. Her tone is playful, she adds some great photos (including the little guy playing in a cardboard tube), and you can sense just how much she loves her new hamster. She also gives the price of the products she purchased, but didn’t go into detail on other products unfortunately… If she did, it would have been a perfect review!

In third place- Joy, Joy, Joy! Your reviews are always so thorough. Joy W’s review of Graves Park Animal Rare Breeds Centre is a great read… and the pictures of chickens are so cute. Well done Joy!

Most Unique

Most reviews are for the same sorts of things, so when I actually read about a really interesting store or concept, I’m hooked!

Prize for the most unique animal experience goes to Elizabeth C. Her review of The Pigeon Fancier has a great title, and a hilarious, quirky tone. It makes me want to check out this store! (Elizabeth wrote a few other animal reviews… all of them gave me a chuckle! I recommend reading her short but sweet review of Pets Parlour as well.)

Congratulations Bonnie and Elizabeth!  Prepare for cake!
(… and thanks to all the other entries… It was very hard to choose!)

Details of the next competition coming soon!

Kat

Tags: animals, BView, cake, graves park animal rare breeds centre, pennard practice, pets parlour, reviews, vets
Posted in Competitions | Comments Off

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