My experience with Penguin Docklands is totally different to the other reviewer from 2012 - our toddler has been going since late 2016 and we absolutely love it. It's no longer convenient for us to take him there as neither of us work in the area any more, but we have been so impressed with the level of care and our son loves it so, so much that we wouldn't dream of moving him.

The staff are wonderful, and we fully trust them. We have had offers of daycare much closer to home but none of the centres we did orientations at came close. My niece also goes to this daycare and is a few years above my son; we all just love it and are so thankful to have found it. I don't actually know anyone who is so satisfied with their daycare provider!

I'm not doubting the other reviewer's experience, but many things can change in 5 years and Penguin is just amazing now!

We arranged a one off clean of our house and are now having regular fortnightly cleans. This has saved my life - we have a toddler and 2 dogs, and trying to keep the place clean while working too was just killing us. We now have two lovely women come for 1.5 hours every fortnight and they leave the house looking beautiful.
I highly, highly recommend Maid to Clean. They're great at communication and really responsive, and do a wonderful job.

Approximate cost: $120

I found Doug this morning through womo and he has just left - we just needed our TV plug thing replaced and was originally going to come tomorrow, but called back and squeezed us in today. Amazing service! He was great, really friendly, efficient, let me know when he'd arrive. Would absolutely recommend!

Approximate cost: $80

I had my toy poodle groomed at Puppy Love last week and they did a fantastic job. They only book one dog at a time and there are no cages, so each dog only takes approx an hour or so (obviously depending on the size, etc).

Maggie was done in just over an hour and looked beautiful, was happy, and totally relaxed. The groomer seemed to genuinely like dogs and was very friendly. I'll definitely be going back there! (I feel like I have reviewed so many groomers but they often close or the groomer I like leaves, so hopefully this one stays open!)

Approximate cost: $75

I've had a plumber (Tab) from Butler Plumbing out twice now, after having had a number of other plumbers try and fix our ceiling leak but either not know what to do, or fail to actually fix it.

Tab came out and did an assessment of our roof and explained what he thought the problem was and how he thought it may be fixed. He was really efficient and friendly and said that we should wait until it rained again and call back if it still leaked. It did, so he came back and did the next fixes which did fix the problem. I was so, so thankful that finally someone was able to help us!

BabySeatz is a child car restraint company - I emailed them on a Saturday evening to see if they could install a baby car seat the next day. They actually emailed back really quickly and we booked the installation in.

Mark who came out to install my baby's new seat was fantastic, it was in the pouring rain and we have no undercover area, so he got all wet, but did it quickly and expertly. I am so, so glad we decided to get the seat professionally installed, Mark was able to expertly fit and tighten the seatbelt and it's so much more secure than I would have been able to do it.

I would absolutely recommend BabySeatz to anyone wanting a friendly person to come out and do it for you. $40 is a total bargain for peace of mind, and the service is brilliant.

Approximate cost: $40

I've never been to a bulk billing medical practice with reception and medical staff as friendly as this one. I went late one Monday night when I was unable to get an urgent appointment at the clinic I normally go to, and despite it looking like a full waiting room, was seen within 5 minutes.
The reception staff were lovely, attentive and didn't seem to hate their job OR patients - unlike any other bulk billing clinic I'v ever been to! The doctor I saw was also attentive and it didn't feel like a cattle train at all.

I will definitely be going back to this place when I need to visit a bulk billing centre (ie, when I'm running low on money or for quick/simple things) rather than the one I used to go to. Highly recommended.

I have only been to this surgery once, but they were really great when I called close to closing time to see if they could squeeze us in. My newborn son had become ill very quickly and we were in the area, so I called on the off chance that they had an appointment. They were booked out but said to come in anyway and they would squeeze us in.

The doctor that we saw was wonderful and made us feel very reassured about our baby, and also that we weren't stupid for overreacting or anything. I had no idea what to expect, but was so thankful that they made the space to see us with literally no notice, particularly since we hadn't been to the clinic before.

I am actually considering making this our son's regular GP, the doctor's manner with him was so lovely.

Approximate cost: $80

I hired a baby capsule from All Baby Hire and highly recommend them. It's an online business with franchises in Vic and Qld - I dealt with Toshio at the Melbourne West franchise.

Toshio was great, he came out to install the capsule and stressed that he is happy to be called or texted at any time if we have any questions. This is particularly useful as you presumably get the capsule installed before actually HAVING the baby, which gives you time to forget how to get it in and out of the car, etc. He made a point of making sure I knew what I was doing, but said that we should not be shy about calling him, eg if we were stuck in a shopping centre car park and couldn't get the capsule off the pram, etc.

The price is great - $110 for 6 months' hire, and if the baby grows out of it in that time, they just upgrade to the next size up that you require. The capsule wasn't new (but I didn't order the newest model anyway) but was clean, and is absolutely fine and in good condition.

Highly recommended!

Approximate cost: $110

I took my two old and cranky dogs to Scratch and Sniffs to be groomed - they are definitely not the easiest dogs to groom and I wasn't expecting world class hair cuts at all. Both came back looking and smelling amazing, and totally happy and relaxed. In fact, one was fast asleep in a bed when I arrived, and didn't even notice me turn up to pick them up!

I live on the other side of Melbourne, but am happy to drive to go to a groomer who will treat my old dogs with love and care. The fact that they came back looking wonderful was a bonus, but they really did. The grooming was beautiful!

Approximate cost: $75