MarcForrest.com

Category: Personal

  • Excellent Park & Fly Service at King Shaka Airport

    Excellent Park & Fly Service at King Shaka Airport

    Over the last couple of months (read: last 14 months) I have done my fare share of travelling every 2nd week to Joburg. Last year I did a record 68 flights throughout the year ! So I am almost an airport pro :)

    During this time I have seen it all. There are some rather interesting characters who fly, from the aunty who bought a full bucket of KFC onto the plane and shared it with her family, to the suited CEO of a JSE listed company who still can’t figure out how to put his carry on luggage into the overhead storage.

    But one of the cool tricks I recently found was the awesome Park & Fly service at King Shaka Airport. The service is pretty simple, email the day before you depart with your car details. Their Driver then meets you at the departures drop off and then when you arrive back, they meet you at the same point (departures drop off on the upper level) with your car washed & cleaned and waiting for you as you walk out the door. The car is stored off-site at a secure lot which is about 9km away. I have taken a look at the lot before, and it is secure

    The cost of the service is pretty comparable to the long term parking prices at King Shaka, but the added advantage of being met right at the drop off, as well as the clean car afterwards, makes a HUGE difference in time. I have cut my commuting time down by about 15 minutes with this.

    Below is a comparison of the charges

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    You can contact the Park & Fly guys on [email protected] or call them on (032) 944 4008. You can view all the info about their service on their website http://parkandflykzn.co.za/

    Disclaimer: This post is not a sponsored post

  • Uber – Not your average “taxi” service (Free Promo Code)

    Uber – Not your average “taxi” service (Free Promo Code)

    I’m sure by now you would have heard about the new service Uber, which recently launched in South Africa. Uber is your own private driver. As simple as that! And it’s awesome!

    (Promo Code – UberiGuyZA– R150 off your first ride in an Uber vehicle. Details below) 

    You “order” your Uber driver using the iPhone, Android or Uber Mobile website (Blackberry or any phone with a browser), and get picked up in a luxury vehicle (think C-Class Mercedes, BMW 3 Series etc), and within a couple of minutes you have your own personal driver at your door. One very important thing to note is that Uber isn’t a taxi service. Uber is your own personal driver. So if you want to head to Cape Town from Durbs, he can do that  (sure it may cost you a few R’s, but it is possible)

    I have used the Uber service a couple of times over the last few weeks, in both Joburg & Durban, and I can honestly say this is one of the best services I have ever used. From the guy offering you a chilled bottle of water as you get into the car, right through to the invoice being emailed to you as you leave the car, this is truly a world class service.

    So, Uber has officially launched in Cape Town, Durban & Joburg in South Africa. I did a quick comparison to see what the prices are in the various cities, and to be honest they are VERY reasonable for the service offered.

    Below is a quick comparison of all the prices in SA, and compared to some of the other cities around the world that Uber Black is available in

    uber

    (Updated 10/1/2014 – Joburg Rates & Exchange Rates)

    * JHB rate is based on either R3.90 per min OR R10.90 per km depending on speed
    * DBN & CT rates are per min PLUS per KM
    * Flat rate is a charge from the city Airport <-> City CBD
    * 10km trip is an estimate using the Uber Fare calcultor
    * $/R = R10.15 & €/R = R13.63
    * Mozzie cab is a taxi service based in Durban

    As you can see the rates are very reasonable and compare quite well to other services & the rest of the world.

    As I mentioned above I have an awesome promo code available to any new Uber users. When signing up simply use the code – UberiGuyZA –  and you will get R90 off your first uber ride, anywhere in the world ! You can also click here to sign up using the code. 

    Have you used Uber yet ? What are your thoughts around the service? Comment below :)

    [app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/uber/id368677368″]

     

     

     

  • 2013 iPhoneographySA exhibitions a huge suceess

    2013 iPhoneographySA exhibitions a huge suceess

    It’s been pretty quite around here over the last couple of months, because I have been putting the 2013 iPhoneography Exhibition together, which finally culminated over the last 2 weeks with exhibitions taking place in Joburg & Cape Town.

    This year was a phenomenal success with just over 2,500 images entered from around 650 entries. We had 250 images on display at our Johannesburg Exhibition and 180 at the Cape Town Exhibition.

    Joburg Winners
    Joburg Winners

    There were some amazing images on display in both regions, and selecting a winner was a seriously tough task. This year we had an amazing judging panel who sat for many hours before the exhibitions debating who the winners should be.

    Cape Town Winners
    Cape Town Winners

    All in all, this year has been an amazing success, and I would personally like to thank the whole team at iStore once again for this amazing opportunity to showcase South Africa’s best iPhoneography talent.

    Did you manage to catch the exhibtions ? What were your thoughts ? For more info on iPhoneography in South Africa visit iPhoneographySA.com

     

  • Great customer service from Incredible Connection

    Great customer service from Incredible Connection

    Last week Wednesday  I came across an awesome deal from the guys at Incredible Connection, where they had a 3TB external hard drive on special for just over R1000. As I had been looking for something along these lines, for a while I decided to grab the opportunity and purchase one through their online store.

    I have admit though, I am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to e-commerce in South Africa. I honestly don’t think there is anything wrong with the actual system, but our biggest problem is the logistics and the delivery of goods. (That said, I have to exclude Takealot from this generalization, who have delivery nailed)  In this case, Incredible Connection were offering 3-5 day shipping for free on the day (normal price R55) and overnight shipping for R45. Being the gadget junkie that I am, I needed it now, so I selected the overnight option.

    Bad Mistake.

    Assuming because I placed the Order after 12pm, I thought I would it give it a day when it didn’t arrive on Thursday. By Friday lunch time I still hadn’t heard anything and sent the Incredible Connection twitter account a message, asking if they could find out what was happening. I gave them the required details, and waited in anticipation. Nothing :(

    It seems that nothing happens over the weekends, So on Monday I made a bit more noise on Twitter, and *eventually* I got a phone call & email from the Online Manager, Jean, humbly apologizing for their mistake. Granted, it wasn’t his fault, but I just wasn’t happy, so I just asked that they reverse the order. Once again,  Jean tried his best to rectify it, and ensured I would have it in my hands by Tuesday morning.

    A few minutes later, I got a call from Shane, who is the KZN Ops Manager, apologizing for what could only, what seems to be, an honest mistake. He offered to have someone drive out to my house, and deliver the drive to me personally and offered to give me the drive for Free ! I was amazed. An hour later (at about 5pm) , Mike, who is the Branch Manager at Incredible Connection in Springfield Park, personally delivered the external drive in my hands. I was seriously impressed with the action taken, and how everything just happened.

    Yes, E-Commerce in South Africa has a long way to go, and at the best of times, and I absolutely hate using twitter as a soapbox to moan. But I saw yesterday that some brands in SA are taking their customer service very seriously, and are willing to ensure their customers are happy all the time. So a big thanks to everyone at Incredible Connection for making what could have been a horrible situation, into a happy experience, ensuring I will be a return customer.

    Now to fill up that hard drive…

     

  • Santam Backtracks iPhone app – WHY ?

    Santam Backtracks iPhone app – WHY ?

    If you follow this blog regularly  you will notice I am a huge fan of South African developed iPhone apps for South African brands, and often feature them after finding out about them.

    But this one baffles me, and I honestly can’t figure out, why ? Why would, Santam, who are an insurance company (who indecently looks after my personal insurance) create an app that has absolutely nothing to do with insurance ?

    I only found out about the app after listening to a rather cheezy radio ad on my way to a meeting, and decided to look at the app and what it offers. I thought that maybe the ad was a front for their corporate app, but nope, it seems my insurance company has developed an app that allows you to add backtracks to your videos and just allows you to play a noise, which will “help you out of an awkward situation”

    Awkward…

    There are 2 buttons in the app, 1 which tells you that Santam is in fact a insurance provider, and the other to let you request a quote from them, just in case you didn’t really believe they were an insurance company…

    All I can think is that what happened with this app, is the top brass said (a common occurrence these days) “We NEED an APP !!” and the marketing team thought it would be a great idea to make a really great and fun-filled app !

    Seriously Santam, you might want to re-think this one ? Rather give me an app where I can view my policy, lodge a claim, view claim progresses, and get in touch with your team. That’s 4 buttons you can replace with the 4 you already have at the bottom of your app ?

    Unless I am seriously missing something ???