Ovation Credit Services: Does it deserve a standing ovation?
July 30, 2008 | Posted by InvestorBlogger | Comments Off
After yesterday’s post on the credit card habits of bloggers, and the results of the survey, a staggering 23% of the bloggers did not know their FICO score. While I’m sure that this was at least partly because some of us lived outside the US, I wondered why the others did not check.
In this paid post I look at checking your credit rating through one particular website, and answer one simple question: how easy or difficult is it to do this the first time? Welcome to Ovation Credit Services, a website that specialises in finding and repairing credit reports so that clients get a better deal when they want to purchase that LCD TV or new 4×4!
Finding information
To start this process, let’s see how you would go about finding out about information about credit scoring: Ovation provides extensive learning pages through the menu on the top right including, downloadable books, videos, a glossary, and general information pages. While there’s no mention of the individual credit reporting services, there is a general description of how the websites calculate your actual credit score and the weightings used, the various laws, and general customer queries.
The Website: Speedy, Responsive and Lots of Trust Building
Clicking through the website extensively to provide this review, I noted that the website is responsive, and fast. In fact, the homepage is quite large, but when saved to my disk only showed 257Kb. That size means that the website should load quickly even on slower or dialup connections. Each page loaded smoothly, and I didn’t find any out of date links at all. Moreover, I was surprised at how smooth the website seemed in Firefox. It’s important that websites adequately cover the major browsers, and it’s amazing how many sites don’t even bother with making their site compatible with the #2 browser.
In addition, it was easy to access the Privacy Policy, Disclaimers, Terms and so on, each of these was clearly linked in the footer of the page (which is where I found one non-active link under “Credit News”). The website has gone to a lot of trouble to enhance its reputation and trust with a number of features: including a no-risk refund policy, special deals, BBB credits and links to its record on BBB which is where you find out that the business started in 1976.
Loose Ends: Crowded HomePage and out of date blog
There are also a number of ways to contact the company, including a snail mail address, a telephone number and online chat, all of which add to the impression that this is a solid company with a reputation. However, there are some loose ends, including a blog that seems to be linked to some pages of the website: at Credit Repair Blog. It looks like the blog hasn’t been updated in about a year. Having worked with a blog on a credit card website before, they can be very useful to draw additional traffic and rankings to your main site, and such results can be very effective if the blog is written well. I’d strongly suggest reviving the blog and integrating that to the main site.
I also feel that the frontpage is really trying to do TOO much as there are 15 clickable boxes below the graphic above. I like the way the boxes light up when users mouse over them, but that there is too much there and this suggests perhaps a lack of focus at the moment on exactly WHO is going to use the website. I’d suggest trimming this area to just seven: the five boxes in the first row, the last page wide box, and all the others can be moved to a slideshow area where users click arrows to see the next offer situated where “No Risk Refund” is currently.
And so,…
In conclusion, though this service is not cheap and may not be suitable for all those who need good credit reporting, the website goes to some lengths to create both an impression of trustworthiness and value for money. I’d like to take a look around inside the site and the report areas to see what they have to offer. I’ll be contacting them to find out more. So stay tuned. Sponsored by Ovation Credit Services.
Quotation: Woody Allen
July 30, 2008 | Posted by InvestorBlogger | Comments Off
There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?
Woody Allen, Film-maker, (1935 - ?)
Asus Eee 1000 PC - Available and Affordable!
July 30, 2008 | Posted by InvestorBlogger | Comments Off
Oh, and what’s this I see? It’s the new Asus Eee PC 1000 running Windows XP SP2 (or 3?) in Chinese. It has an installed 80GB hard disk (not SSD) and seemed plenty quick even for my tastes. In fact, I tried the keyboard, too and found that it was quite pleasant to use. Priced at around NT$18,500, too.
It sported the new Intel Atom Chip at 1.6Ghz with a 10″ TFT screen at 1024X600 WVGA card. On board memory included 1GB DDRII, and 80GB (SATA). I also managed to find several other UMPCs at the new Kuang Hua Market in Taipei.
How Do Bloggers Use Their Credit Cards? Read on…
July 30, 2008 | Posted by InvestorBlogger | Comments Off
This article has been moved.
Computer Shopping in Taipei: Kwang Hua Market
July 30, 2008 | Posted by InvestorBlogger | Read this comment
Last week, we were driving along Civic Boulevard when, of all people, my wife noticed that the Kwang Hua Market had re-opened finally after years of rebuilding.
Picture uploaded by gaspar to Flickr. Usage permitted. Gaspar’s photograph clearly shows the old Market place which was located next to and under the highway. The Taipei City government website describes in more detail the old market.
Unfortunately, even in Taiwan, progress takes place and old things get torn down without much of a second thought! There were legitimate safety concerns about that cramped but popular marketplace!
In its place, the second (and temporary) market is described in this post by Taipei Gamer.
Then recently re-opened… the renovated (and relocated) Kuang Hua Market…
Floor after floor of all the latest, cheapest, best… computer, video, and mobile phone gear that you could possibly want, desire, or dream about! Really! It’s amazing.
So now Taipei has three major computer malls and two major computer exhibitions (at least!): Nova at Taipei Station with four full floors of computers, printers, etc; K-Mall just next to the big department store Mitzukoshi opposite the Taipei Train Station; and now, Kuang Hua Market!
Of course, if you come in the winter for the IT Month in December at the World Trade Center, or in June for the Computex exhibitions, then you’ll likely find more PC stuff than you can shake a cable at.
Sorry about the slightly shaky images… the exposures weren’t so good on my camera…! Opinions vary on the pricing, range and product quality of PC gear available in Taiwan. I’ve bought a number of computer products over the years, and generally found that (apart from rock-bottom pricing which is a little iffy unless you KNOW what you’re buying) quality is decent if you stick to the better known names in the PC industry, especially those names that have significant OEM business. There is a well-known Chinese idiom that translates: "One Penny Buys Only One Penny’s Worth of Goods"… And local buyers usually know that very well!
Products and Services
