They quoted on my options, quickly and efficiently. Within days, they arrived to cut down a large tree in my front yard. They were on time! The large tree came down relatively quickly, yet, not a leaf was moved, nor any soil disturbed in the surrounding garden. There were approx 5 guys working on the job. They were polite, friendly, very safety conscious, very clean and tidy. (The smaller branches were chipped/mulched and taken away in their truck and these guys even used a blow-vac at the end so that no trace of sawdust nor a single leaf remained!!) Hard to believe that a massive tree had towered over that space a few hours earlier! When a neighbour asked for the wood, they checked with me, then cut it up for him so he could get it in his car ... and even cheerfully helped him load it! Oh ... and when I asked them to leave the final slice of the trunk as a table (a memento) - it was trimmed flat for me and carried by 2 of the guys to the back of my house. By every measure, these guys are the best! I would certainly recommend them to anyone.

Approximate cost: $500.00

The two women in this shop gave service beyond anything I would have expected. In bright, cheerful good humour, they changed the buckles and watch-bands on two watches for me (so I could have black leather and silver buckle on silver faced watch instead of blue leather .. and a new tan leather band which originally had a gold buckle. And I wanted silver). For a new watch which looks and functions like a high quality one, plus new watchband PLUS all the extra work - I paid $45. And they kept me entertained whilst they happily worked.

Approximate cost: $45.00

Exchanged two pendant lights in my kitchen. Peter provided a friendly, efficient and professional service. He was flexible enough to travel from Seacombe Heights to Athelstone on a Saturday morning and cheerfully sorted out the problem. Also is a "no-mess Charlie" ... which doesn't often happen with tradesmen!

Fred Cetta's carpets supplied and laid the carpet to 6 rooms (2 houses) for me approximately a year ago. The service was friendly, staff didn't mind spending a lot of time with indecisive customers, prices were very competitive, the carpet was chosen up to six months before it was required - and was stored until I provided the date I needed the job done by. The carpet was laid professionally, with attention to detail regarding where any joins may be placed, where offcuts could be used (eg inside walk in robes etc) being present from the planning phase through to the laying stage. Twelve months later, I'm still happy with the carpet. (I did know one of the salesmen, but didn't consistently see him when agonising over choice .. and then looking for rugs for tiled areas.) Other staff didn't know me, yet I received the same bright, cheerful, helpful service regardless.

I bought a Bosch front loader washing machine and 2 dishwashers from Spartan in the last 12 months. Their service (apart from one female member of staff) was friendly, quick, knowledgeable and efficient. Their prices were the best in town .. and they even stored the 2 dishwashers for me for free for around six months (on a deposit only) until I was able to collect them and install them in the houses.

Surveyed a block, developed subdivision plans, made application for lodgement of plans and facilitated the process for me from start to finish. Easy going, old fashioned operators with good customer service and can-do attitude. Prepared to sit a person down and explain in detail what all the stages are in the process, what the costs are and assist in the planning/budgetting for this.

Fencing was the most traumatic part of building 2 houses. This man was unable to understand basic requests, unable to write separate invoices for each property, unable to explain how he arrived at invoiced totals, unwilling to do what he was asked and extremely rude and belligerent into the bargain. His workmanship was okay (fencing) to dismal (gates).

I had a phone line with Telstra but in 2009, I had problems with the quality of the line, it crackled, frequently dropped out (and of course, so did my internet service as a consequence). Technicians were eventually sent, after I had spent hours on the mobile phone with Telstra call centre staff (?!!!?) over many contact occasions. Line testing was done, from a distance and at the residence eventually (when a technician, subcontracted by Telstra) finally came at the appointed time. (I had previously arranged to leave work early to get home in time for the long-awaited Telstra tech only to find that he had come hours before the appointed time and left a note in my letterbox to say "Sorry I missed you" and "nothing was wrong" with the line!!) Don't know how he could tell, given he neither spoke to me, nor came inside the house. And it took some 6+ months after the initial report, before I received this level of "service"! FInally, a subcontractor came (at the agreed time), went to the junction box outside - discovered and repaired frayed wires. Then he climbed into the ceiling and found wiring chewed through by ?rats? Surprise! After more than 1/2 a year of emails, phone calls (costing $s+ and time+ and being frustrated by inane, rude and/or incompetent people), running to and from buses to get home on time for Telstra appts .. a person who didn't usually work for Telstra solved the problem in under an hour! Then there are the billing issues!! But I won't talk about that because I'd still get too upset. They still owe my son $135.88 (for a line at a different house) - a debt that is still outstanding - almost 12 months later! (Another long story - as are ALL Telstra stories it seems!)

This company did all the electrical wiring and installation of fittings for two houses I built last year. Their customer service was almost non-existent (calls/emails not returned, or returned after a number of attempts; design of electrical systems for houses was a lengthy process and uphill work; timeliness was poor; staff were downright rude at times .... and the electrical work was ... who knows? Had to get them back to put covers over switches, put switches in a logical order, check powerpoint that sparked. But how would I know the quality of the wiring work.

This shop has a great selection of competitively priced lighting, staff who are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful (like, they'll bend over backwards to help!) When I selected lightfittings for two houses (but had no-where to store it), they stored my selected light fittings for several months, for free. I only paid 10% of the final costs (at sale price it was a bargain). When the manufacturer put the wrong colour light fitting in a box, the Light Factory sent their own electrician along with the right light fitting and replaced it for me. Free. A year later, I mentioned having difficulties with one of the light fittings in one house and they immediately arranged for their own electrician to come along and look at it (and replace with a new one if needs be). I'd recommend them to anyone who wants good quality lighting at a really good price, whilst still getting top service!