Basically, this is just a blatant big-up.
I have bought whistles in real-life shops and on the web. At first I bought from Hobgoblin, who are nice people. Very helpful, a little expensive and very sloooooow…
To be fair, when I bought a marginally less than perfectly tensioned Belgarth bodhran from Hobgoblin they very willingly exchanged it as soon as they had a replacement in (just a few weeks…). They really are nice people.
They are not the main subject of this thread. Now - unless I see what I want for next to nothing in a shop very close to home - I always order from Bigwhistle.co.uk. Prices are as good as I’ve seen, delivery is lightning fast (last time within 2 days of order), and Phil always emails to say when the order will be posted.
A nice touch is the fact that they record the fact that I am an existing customer and always say thanks for buying from us again.
If I had to give an example of a company that has delivered consistently fine service on all the numerous times I’ve bought from them, Bigwhistle would be that example. Their record to date is flawless, and I recommend them to anyone who buys from UK sources.
I have a policy of criticising where I find crap and praising where I find solid gold - thus this thread.