I have a pretty bad dental phobia which I'd more less gotten on top of with a great dentist I found in Sydney... but then I moved to Melbourne. Finding a new dentist was a daunting prospect for me and I am embarrassed to say I put it off for five years.

Then I found Mitcham Dental Clinic online and read some reviews on WOMO - it seemed like it might be a place to try. I am happy to report that I could not be happier that I did. Ron and his staff went out of their way to make me feel comfortable, and were patient and understanding. I really could not recommend these people highly enough. The clinic is friendly and comfortable, all the staff extremely helpful and the care is of the highest standard.

Many businesses that use WOMO actively solicit reviews, but Mitcham Dental Clinic doesn't - I think it's simply because they don't need to. This is a great business doing things properly and I am happy to support them.

In the course of my work I find myself needing small electrical components from time to time and now that Dick Smith has largely gotten out of this field, Jaycar is really the only kid on the block for this kind of stuff. But seriously folks - it's not worth the pain.

Walking into this Jaycar store is like being in an episode of Fawlty Towers or Black Books, only not nearly so funny. These people seem to actively not want customers.

Mostly, the only time I will go here now is for something I know I can easily find myself and pay for with minimal interaction with the shop staff, because these people have plainly never had any kind of customer service training. Ever.

A tip, Jaycar - when the internet is your main competition, you really only have one thing over it: customer relations. If your customer relations suck, you're just paying for expensive retail space.

(I really want to give this business a service rating and overall rating of 0 stars, but that's not possible. Seriously, I don't think any business I've ever encountered has worse service than this store).

We had Greg and his team at Eastside Roofing replace our old tile roof with Colourbond and make some alterations to the interior space. We could not have been happier with the whole experience. Greg's original quote was very reasonable and he stuck to it right through. The work was carried out quickly and efficiently and the staff were very good-natured and polite. The cleanup at the end was the best I've ever seen from any builder. I am happy to highly recommend this company.

This was a great find for an impromptu lunch stop while passing through. Simple and modern wooden decor with both interior and exterior tables, the outside tables under a grapevine-covered pergola.

The service was friendly and attentive without being fussy, and the staff knowledgeable and accomodating. The menu is small but varied and has a separate breakfast section pre midday. The wine list is good, with local beers and wines as well as some good choices from elsewhere.

We ordered one meal from the specials and one a la carte and both were fresh, well presented and very tasty. Prices are very reasonable also.

I'd go out of my way to have lunch here. Will probably come for dinner some time. Great.

Approximate cost: $14 - $22

Can't really comment on what the food was like here - we didn't get that far. When we placed our order and asked for some water, we were told that 'management policy' didn't allow tap water to be provided and we would have to buy bottled water. That's either extremely penny-pinching or extremely stupid, and certainly pretty much a management fail. We left and went to a much better place as it turns out. There are a dozen cafes to choose from in this strip and there's no reason to choose this one.

Approximate cost: $?

From its woefully tiny one-stove kitchen, through its shabby blanket-draped couches to its unmatchably ditzy service, 1000 Pound Bend fairly screams 'student hangout'. And, unless you are student with low expectations, you probably want to avoid this place. My partner and I dropped in for lunch on the weekend and it's not exaggerating to say that this was possibly the worst Melbourne cafe experience we've ever had.

It was fairly busy, there's no denying, and we were warned there was a half-hour wait for food. OK, fair enough - at least they acknowledged that the pokey kitchen and the single cook didn't have a hope in hell of keeping up with the orders. Well, we figured by the time we'd had a coffee, the half hour would have elapsed so we ordered a light meal.

I'd like to be able to rate the food - for all I know it was fine. But we never got ours. After fifty minutes and no sign of anything we went to find out what was happening. Incredibly, it appears that our meal had been taken to the wrong table, where two people who hadn't even ordered food accepted it as theirs. Since the table service apparently has absolutely no rhyme or reason about it, the woman who delivered the food was completely oblivious to the stuff up. She shuffled over to our table with a refund of our meal money because - yes that's right - there was likely to be another long wait if we wanted to eat.

This place has the effect of being vibey and busy, but if you look around the truth of the matter becomes pretty apparent. The tables are, for the most part, clogged up with 2-cool-4-school wannabees sucking up the free wifi and ordering a coffee every hour to stake their claim. Evidently, if you're bolshy enough you can also snaffle someone else's meal, with no fear of retribution.

We left in complete disgust, and went down to Brunetti's, where we waited five minutes, were treated politely and got a fresh, tasty meal. There's a good reason some places get to be institutions. 1000 Pound Bend doesn't even remotely run the risk of that.

The Stables at Stones is a beautiful little place in a converted stables in the Yarra Valley on the estate of the Punt Road winery.

The restaurant boasts a kind of chic 'worn country' style which is very appealing. It's small, but not pokey by any means, and the night we were there for a family celebration there were several large tables, including one of about twenty people. It wasn't overly noisy though, and the ambience of the evening was nice.

The service on arrival was good, but it didn't stay that way as the evening wore on (but more about that in a bit). The wine list is small, and limited to local varieties. That's not entirely a bad thing - most of what's on offer is reasonable. Pre dinner drinks were organized quickly, bread and local olives (very good!) brought to the table and orders were taken promptly. Entrees arrived pretty smartly too, and were also very good. At this stage, if I'd been giving ratings, the Stables would have earned a full hand of four & five stars.

Unfortunately, things started to bog down. I guess it was something to do with the orders from the large table - staff became scarce and our main courses didn't arrive. We waited. And waited. For over fifty minutes, we waited, with no sign of staff, no explanations, no apologies. A tip, service people: a small gesture of explanation can go a LONG way towards getting customers to cut you a little slack. We were in a good mood - we just needed to know what was going on. There was not even an offer of further drinks (not that we wanted them, but at least it would have made us felt that we hadn't been completely forgotten). I was just about to go and investigate for myself where the meals were, when they arrived. I was very happy with my sirloin - very nicely prepared and a good cut of meat. Salads and sides were good also. Others at the table were not as impressed with their gnocchi ('rather uninspiring' was the consensus) and no-one at all was impressed by the two long hairs that were on one of the plates. We pointed this out, and though the food was removed to the kitchen there was no apology(!) - only an offer to substitute another meal or a dessert. Good staff should have a very clear idea of how to deal with a situation like this, and this was not the case with the Stables.

Desserts are not the Stables strong suit. The stone fruit plate was an unhappy-looking thing, some of the lovely flavours on it notwithstanding. The 'chocolate bar' was just that - a dense slab of sweet chocolate that was far too big and heavy for a dessert. A soft berry meringue was the pick of the three on offer.

I need to add one more small peeve here too - one of the staff waiting our table was a smoker. I didn't see her smoking, but every time she walked past me, I could strongly smell cigarette smoke on her clothes. Not good form, peeps.

I was ultimately disappointed by the Stables, which is a shame because our evening got off to a very fine start. I'll possibly give them another go, but there is some serious tweaking to be done here to get this place into the kind area where I think it can be.

It's nice to find a butcher who is not only knowledgable about all his products, but who makes an effort to stock the very best quality as well. Dean's provides the best fresh chickens I've found in the Ringwood area (Glenloth free range corn-fed) and also great turkeys to order. Staff are very friendly and accommodating. Prices very competitive (usually much better value than the supermarket for equivalent quality). Highly recommended.

Yesterday, my family and I spent some time in the Yarra Valley visiting various places and stopped by Coldstream Brewery with the express aim of trying their cider, which had been recommended to us. The Brewery sets itself up to have a 'Cellar Door', which it apparently doesn't, since when I asked if we could do a tasting the very grumpy bar attendant told us to sit at the bar. There is, evidently, a tasting combination that you must buy, which is extraordinary since, in my experience, not one other winery or brewery in the Yarra Valley charges for tastings. In the event, we only wanted to taste the cider anyway, and I expected they would give us just that - a taste. Instead, the bar girl poured out 3 glasses of cider for which she charged me. Her manner was unpleasant and offhand. We were not inclined to stay, nor to buy anything else.

This is a pretty crummy way to represent your product, Coldstream Brewery. Go up the road to the White Rabbit brewery and take a look at how polite and professional they are there, and you might learn something. We purchased a couple of dozen bottles from them, and nothing from you. Maybe your business is so good you don't need any more customers?

Very disappointed.

I've used Takeittothemacs on several occasions now and find them very professional, polite and accommodating. Not sure about the previous reviewer's problems. Have never had any of those troubles myself...

My last repair involved some serious replacement and maintenance on my laptop (owing to a very unfortunate incident with a ladder) and the work was done promptly and within the quote. Paperwork and explanations very thorough, and followup to see all was OK. Highly recommended for your Mac repairs.

++++

I've just had cause to use Takeittothemacs again, and I completely stick by my first review. Very good service, prompt, polite and work well done.