I had been apprehensive about finding a new dentist after having such a good dentist before we moved. We decided on this one because it is local. I must say I was very pleasantly surprised.

They present as very professional, friendly and hygenic. I felt welcome and comfortable from the moment I stepped in the door.

Both the dentist and hygenist were very thorough - in fact the most thorough I have ever experienced.

They go out of their way to make sure it isn't any more painful or uncomfortable than it needs to be. I had some work that involved a local anasthetic. This was administered so well it didn't hurt at all.

Our health fund (MBF) covered about half the cost, which is not the best around but I'm happy to pay that given the high quality of the service.

Approximate cost: $100

I've been here so many times and it is always consistently good. We never bother with anything but the dumplings because they are so yummy. The steamed pork in chilli oil ones are the pick but there are great fried ones, chicken ones and vegetarian.

The service is very efficient and what you would expect from a restaurant like this.

Approximate cost: $7

I went in to enquire about replacement foam muffs for my headphones. Thinking I'd be likely paying a fortune, I wasn't expecting to buy any.

The staff were very attentive and friendly. As well as the expensive ones, they gave me the choice of some lower cost ones. To top it off, they even offered to install them for me to make sure they fitted properly.

I was so impressed, I bought a second pair.

If they were this friendly and professional for a small purchase, I will be definately going back for bigger purchases in the future.

Approximate cost: $10

We moved from a flat in the city to a house. Bob's Your Uncle were great on the phone, recommending either 2 or 3 guys but suggesting that 3 guys were better value - we did this and it paid off!

They did things very quickly and carefully - dealing with an inner city apartment with limited space, lifts etc and moved everything in 5.5 hours. It ended up costing less than expected which was a pleasant surprise.

They were very professional and we'd be confident using them again.

Approximate cost: $95

We had O'Shea's do a "Vacate clean" of our flat - carpets and tile clean and general clean. They arrived on time, had good quality equipment and did a great job for a fair price and on top of that were really friendly. We were so happy, we have asked them to quote on several things in our new house, so will definately be using them again.

I approached Allphones when I was looking to buy a mobile on a contract plan.

I indicated that I was in the process of getting some information on my credit file corrected and that there could be a problem when they run my credit report. The staff member said "we'll try it anyway" and proceeded to run a report. Predictably, it came back declined. Since the reason was most likey because of the incorrect information in my credit file, I asked if it could be done again in a few days when I had sorted that out.

To my horror, she indicated that I wouldn't be able to apply for ANY phone with ANY company for 3 months now that a credit enquiry had been run.

I then sorted out the incorrect information on my credit file issue and contacted Virgin mobile directly because I was disappointed with the poor service from Allphones. Virgin mobile indicated the phone I originally ordered was sold out but the original supplier (Allphones) may be able to help.

I reluctantly returned to AllPhones, asking if there was any way things could still go ahead - Virgin had in the meantime agreed to proceed with the deal. I brought my employment contract (and proof my company would pay for mobile phone calls!), a bank statement indicating that I was actually being paid(!) and told them that the credit report should this time be fine and that Virign were prepared to take on the deal.

Instead of helping me, I was treated with distrust and told that they couldn't do anything despite the huge amount of proof to the contrary. Eventually, after being completely humiliated, they reluctantly agreed but then told me the handset was out of stock but would come in soon and that they would call me in a day or two. I called them 3 days later and they told me that it hadn't come in and they would call soon.

Allphones never called back.

I ended up buying my phone directly through Virgin Mobile on a contract with no problems and am very happy with it.

Note: While I'm not a paying customer of this business, I certainly tried to be several times(!) and have an order with them - which they never filled.

We were recently in the market for a car - second hand but near new. The salesman approached us and we told him the sort of thing we were looking for. He suggested a car in our price range that matched what we were looking for.

It looked perfect but it was the first car we'd seen and I told him we'd come back to him the next day with a decision. He didn't pressure us unduly to make a decision on the spot and respected our need for some time.

I was told by the salesman that CMI only resell cars that are of a certain stardard (eg. full service history - never been in a major accident etc) - they don't want to get into the hassles of unreliable cars. This was obvious but I also had this verified by someone later.

The car was ready earlier than promised, was detailed perfectly and all minor faults we pointed out were fixed.

We have since had the car for 8 weeks and have had zero problems (not even minor ones).

We were passing through Ballarat with a craving for a steak sandwich. Both of us consider ourselves connoisseurs of steak sandwiches and we came across Marty's Fish Shop - who indicated they also do steak sandwiches.

We were greeted by very friendly staff, followed by a promptly and freshly produced AMAZING steak sandwich. Everything was really fresh, properly cooked and of high quality - eg. nice thin steak with no fat.

We'll definately be back next time we're passing through Ballarat.

Approximate cost: $7.00

We were looking for a band that could get people up dancing and keep people having fun all night. These guys delivered.

I dealt with Dan who was extremely professional and efficient on getting things arranged and set up.

The band really made a positive difference to the atmosphere at our reception and we had comments on how good they were.

Approximate cost: $2000

We talked to Catherine after recommendations from 2 separate friends. This along with her passion and enthusiasm on first meeting her made up our mind to use her as our celebrant.
Through speaking to us, she went out of her way to make our ceremony personalised to us, which meant a lot. She was also happy to travel to Daylesford on the day.