oke

#1 in Gregory Hills NSW

Reviews by oke

This review is for Yeronga Uniforms, Camden NSW

verified email - 27 Feb 2019

Unfortunately, after my glowing 2016 review of a fantastic and knowledgeable staff members. I have this week had a horrible experience at Yeronga. Having purchased what turned out to be a faulty pair of school uniform shorts (I noticed the stitching on an elastic waist had entirely unravelled after being worn twice), I took it in for an exchange and the staff member on duty did not for one moment even consider I had a simple case with an obvious solution. The shorts were clearly new and nobody could reasonably argue that shorts are designed to fall apart after two wears. Or indeed after two years of wear!

As the purchase was made before the end of last year, I could only present my credit card statement as proof of purchase. Even with this, she immediately suggested that I could have bought the shorts from Lowes. My response was to show her the "Yeronga" label stitched into the shorts! I didn't bother saying that had I bought them from Lowes, all their staff members would be versed in statutory consumer rights and that while they may not choose to give me a refund, I doubt they would bat an eyelid at granting me the exchange that I was requesting.

Next, the staff member tried to palm off a "no returns" store policy then she thought it would be clever to quote "14 days" ... they might have taken the unfit-for-purpose item back within 14 day of purchase! Even as I wondered how many customers they had screwed over with this dodgy policy, I told the woman it was unlawful to refuse an exchange on such a faulty item and unlawful to suggest to customers that they have no rights where those rights are granted under consumer law. I'm sure she was not understanding the policy (surely it applies to a change of mind purchase and if not, it needs reviewing to reflect the law) but as an unsupervised store representative, she should have let common sense take over and considered the situation at hand.

"Well that's store policy." Again. No cogs were turning in there. Oh wait! A spark! No: "Where do you work that you know this stuff?" Really? It's common knowledge, sweetie. And, um, well if I owned a small business in a niche market in a VERY inconvenient location, with a huge competitor (with an online store) and my staff members were naming that competitor to customers... if my business relied on return customers and word of mouth... I might want my staff to be aware of such things. I might want them to have good customer service skills and that retail gem: listen to the customer and pretend you give a crap if you appreciate their custom and want them to return.

The last straw she clutched at (which I outright refused) was that I would have to leave the shorts with her for further examination and they may choose to sew them up! In the end, her superior (who she had been messaging on her phone) told her to exchange them anyway. I suggested her she ask her boss to verse his/her staff members in consumer rights so they don't put any more customers out. Now I think about it, I suggest they find somebody with the skills to handle what should have been a straightforward situation. I did not go into that store upset or disappointed; I thought I was going in to simply swap a pair of shorts.

This review is for Strandbags, Narellan NSW

verified email - 22 Nov 2018

Horrible service to match the garbage they sell. I purchased a Marikai clutch (a casual evening bag for the odd night out) and before I had used it once, I found the entire surface of the bag was peeling; the finish was balling up into a rubbery dust! The bag was no longer brand new, perhaps several months or a year old but the product was certainly faulty and NOT fit for purpose. I didn't expect a refund (though Australian statutory rights were on my side) but hoped for an exchange. I was told that Marikai bags were only designed to last for a season and that they were expected to decompose if stored in or with plastic! I store all my handbags together in an open walk-in (plastic free!) wardrobe and no others have crumbled to dust! Never mind this, Strandbags openly admitted this brand is rubbish and they have full knowledge of scenarios that will accelerate the decay if these bags. I suggested they print warnings on their receipts not to store Marikai products with plastic. I suppose their labels should bear the same warning, too.

Personally, I do not think they should sell such garbage in the Australian marketplace nor admit these bags have a life of only three months if they are not prepared to compensate their customers. I have shopped with Strandbags for as long as I can remember and this avid handbag collector (I own dozens upon dozens of them) will not return, based on the service received in the Narellan store on this occasion and their admission that the brand openly sells garbage to their regular customers.

I believe Marikai bags are one of Strandbags own labels.

Approximate cost: $40

This review is for Valentino's Woodfire Pizzeria Restaurant, Penrith NSW

verified email - 19 Feb 2016

The food was good. The service was bad, bordering on rude.

The choice of outlook and decor is confusing. The venue has floor to ceiling wraparound glass windows with a view of unsightly carparks, the table covers feature vinyl American-themed newspaper patterns with Abraham Lincoln, Gone With the Wind and the likes on them and the restaurant is more like a function room than a traditional ristorante, lacking ambience.

Four of us had to eat our first course with only one set of cutlery and one napkin between us and my youngest child's plate was taken away so she didn't even get that. We were stashed in the furthest reach of the room, feeling like a football field away from anyone who could bring us the cutlery we desired. When the mains were presented and we asked for cutlery and napkins, rather than apologise or just go and get them, the waitress seemed to not believe that we didn't have them to begin with. The dozens of empty seats around us were also lacking cutlery (otherwise I would have helped myself to it) so it didn't seem very unbelievable to me. She still didn't bring enough napkins nor was there an offer to clean my youngest's high chair tray (which she had to eat off since she wasn't allowed a plate) which now had water spilled on it along with goodness knows how many other kids germs.

Even though there must have been hundreds of empty seats in the massive restaurant (only two other tables were occupied), the staff were keen to clear our plates immediately whenever they could see some food had been finished. We felt like we were being shuffled out and to top it off, one of them took away my youngest's napkin while she was still eating. Just to remind you here that she didn't even get a napkin to begin with, we had to take it away from our other child because the two year old was always going to need it more.

After we finished our mains, a new group of people arrived and they were seated literally next to us (I mean their bodies were within centimetres of our own as their table joined ours. A mini barrier separated the tables but did not separate the people themselves!) despite the venue being large enough to host a basketball game. If the service and risk of eating without cutlery (since it had already been whisked away) was not enough to put us off dessert, this did it for us. We left and sought gelato elsewhere.

We tried a few pizza and pasta dishes between us. They were good but nothing extraordinary. Unfortunately the serves were not as generous as you will find at other Italian restaurants. I'd say the prices were slightly lower than what many others charge but the smaller servings explains this so I'd say the value is average.

As I said, the venue was near empty and I only noticed one person come it to collect a takeaway order and there seemed to be a problem with that, though it seemed more staff confusion rather than the order itself being actually mixed up.

Considering there must be dozens if not hundreds of similar restaurants between Camden and Penrith, the food alone is not worth me recommending Valentino's to anybody I know.

This review is for Lime Mexican, Coffs Harbour NSW

verified email - 09 Dec 2015

Talk about grossly overpriced! You won't find value for money at Lime Mexican. In fact, we were totally put off from ordering what we even came in to eat as the waiter warned us that the menu items were tapas style ie SMALL and not to expect everyone to be eating at the same time. This prompted us to order a $29 serve of nachos per adult (NOT what we wanted, we had intended on ordering the taco meals which were not listed under the "to share" heading of the menu). These were okay but every mouthful tasted the same as the topping was basically meat, cheese, a little diced tomato and some corn and/or beans. It would have cost $4 or more to add toppings that come as standard at many other Mexican places (particularly when paying such a hefty price to begin with) such as sour cream or guacamole.

ACTUALLY - as I look at the menu on their website, the nachos were SUPPOSED to come with sour cream but we were told it was an extra item to add. Also, they should have had jalapenos on them (they didn't or we certainly could not see or taste them). It's worth mentioning now that the children's meal was supposed to come with a drink and we were never asked which drink we wanted when we ordered and then had to call someone over to finally bring a drink AFTER the meal had been eaten.

The drinks were also over-priced and the decor was non-existent. This is the least-themed Mexican restaurant I have ever laid eyes on! There were two sombreros hanging on the wall, out of sight from most of the diners and a graffiti painting on the wall that appeared to be a topless female skeleton?? There are very few tables so our family was seated on the end of a low-lying table that seated approximately 12 people crouched down on mini stools. The music was ridiculously loud for 6.30pm and there were very few staff members on so they were always dashing backwards and forwards from the bar to the tables. The venus is very small and narrow so each time they walked past they were on the verge of being tripped over by our stools. The waitstaff all seemed to be backpackers/temporary (they all had foreign accents). They were all working hard but were perhaps not invested in whether the patrons were satisfied with the service or food. Or maybe this is not priority for Lime Mexican as the inflated pricing, loud music and overstocked bar suggest their key clientele are tourists looking for a trendy spot to work up a hangover.

I most certainly do not recommend Lime Mexican unless you are a cashed-up twenty-something looking to pick up a tipsy backpacker whilst parting with a lot of money for just a little food and drink.

This review is for Tuscany Cafe & Ristorante, Mount Annan NSW

verified email - 08 Dec 2015

Food is served hot, fresh and reasonably fast. Service is friendly and professional. The four staff members were run off their feet working, no time to chit chat with each other which happens in some other restaurants. We found the small restaurant quite busy for a Tuesday night (both eat-in and takeaway) so I guess Tuscany is popular with locals. The menu is extensive though, except for a few variations on the traditional, the menu consists of pretty much what you would expect. The full menu is available on their website which is a bonus.

We all enjoyed our Italian bread (cheesy garlic pizza - remarkably large for its cheap price tag) and the supreme pizza, though watch out - that pepperoni is spicy! I found the herb flavour in the bruschetta topping was far too concentrated - It seems they use dried herbs to season it. I love that they served the bruschetta topping separately so the bread didn't go soggy before I got to it. The Italian salad was a bit on the small side and light on tomatoes and cucumbers considering how generous they were with their olives. Us parents order the salad to get something fresh into the kids at dinnertime and this particular salad didn't hold a candle to some we order for similar prices at comparable Italian restaurants.

I found better value in the starters than in our main pizza and salad though the prices are in line with those in the area and this is a small, licenced establishment so I guess that drives the prices up a little. I'd like to see them bulk up that salad, though!

I recommend Tuscany based on this first visit and can't wait to return to try some of the mains and pasta dishes.

This review is for Rashays Licensed Cafe, Campbelltown NSW

verified email - 20 Nov 2015

I was put off by a bad experience at Rashays five years ago. After half a decade of boycotting them for slyly charging us for lemon wedges and downgrading aioli to tomato sauce, I decided to give them another go.

Their menu covers a lot of ground and there are some house special bargains mixed in with mostly standard prices. The chicken and mushroom crepe I ordered was certainly tasty and good value for money though the standout part of the meal was the incredibly fast service. Our meals were brought out within minutes of ordering. They were hot and fresh and decent serving sizes. The staff were polite and attentive. Our milkshake and frappe-style drink were very good value compared to other similar restaurants.

The only "complaint" I have is that my two year old's fish and chips came out with almost half a cup of tomato sauce! Of course with that to play around with, she barely touched her food. That quantity of sauce cannot be healthy even for an adult. I know it's not their responsibility to monitor what goes into our kids' mouths but really that amount of sauce is unnecessary ... and my previous experience with Rashays tells me just how much value they place on their tomato sauce!

This review is for Yeronga Uniforms, Camden NSW

verified email - 19 Nov 2015

The overwhelming introduction to kindergarten was made that much easier with the help of Sarah at Yeronga. After meeting her at the school's orientation day, we visited the tiny little Yeronga store in the Capitol Arcade. Besides all the helpful information she provided, Sarah understood our concerns about growth spurts and the great expense that is outfitting kids for school. She reminded me that Yeronga is happy to exchange unworn clothing should children not fit into their new uniform the following year. This made me feel better about buying clothing four months in advance! They also will match any advertised sale that Lowes has on uniforms that both stores stock. The price lists that the school provided us with show Yeronga to be more competitively priced than Lowes, too. In any case, you will not get this calibre of customer service from your average salesperson at Lowes.

This review is for Cafe del Mar, Sydney NSW

verified email - 17 Nov 2015

Oh wow! How have I not heard of Cafe del Mar before?! There was very little to fault our experience here (except the flies that buzzed around us for the entire meal. Come to think of it, that part was awful however the meal was so good that I hadn't even thought of those two flies since we left!)

The food was wonderful (especially the entrees which we shared), the room was lovely and unique among restaurants on Cockle Bay, the harbour view was lovely (not that we paid attention) and the service was attentive, though not particularly friendly. They did forget to bring my drink. And I didn't like the bit where they hinted I enter a tip into the eftpos terminal before entering my pin.

Our meals were served promptly, though it probably helped that we were seated before 6pm. We were in a rush to get somewhere afterwards so we planned a very early dinner.

Overall, I was very impressed and can't wait to go back!

This review is for Pontoon Bar, Sydney NSW

verified email - 17 Nov 2015

Conveniently located for a quick lunch between aquarium and zoo visits, Pontoon is nothing special but serves fresh cheap pub food with a lovely harbour view. The selection appeals to the whole family and it won't break the bank. We never make plans to eat there but often end up at Pontoon since it is easy to get to and we know we won't be waiting an hour to be served, as could be the case in other eateries on Cockle Bay.

This review is for Baia - The Italian, Sydney NSW

verified email - 17 Nov 2015

I have mixed feelings about this place. I love the value of the various lunch/dinner/happy hour specials they put on and so far, after three visits, I've found the food has been between nice and very good.

The place is certainly popular at peak times and this is where we have run into problems. I'm not sure if it was a staffing issue or an overworked kitchen that can't feed as many patrons as they can seat but we had one exceptionally long wait here when we last visited for an early Thursday night dinner special. We were among the earlier people to be seated and unlike most diners, we had two preschool aged children with us. You can imagine how we felt as we watched table after table of diners who were seated after us have their food served while we waited and waited for (of all things!) our entree of chilled soup! The mains took even longer to appear... there was much discussion about whether we should just walk out as bedtime and been and gone and we still had two more courses coming. We were seated within two feet of a constantly-manned waitstaff computer station and I made sure this discussion was audible to the staff members who often stood there chatting however nothing came of this. Eventually, I had to ask if there was some problem with our food as we had been waiting for such an unacceptable amount of time. Soon after this, the food did follow.

I remember what we ate but I really cannot remember if it was any good. I know I did not enjoy myself for that two-or-more hours of trying to entertain the kids at Baia after a very long day of city sightseeing.

In summation, I'd say service is not Baia's strong point, they do not seem to be sensitive to families with young children but they do have some very well priced specials and though the food is enjoyable enough, it is nothing to write home about. A nice restaurant (and location) for a long or lazy meal but don't bother with Baia if you are in a rush to get to a show or something else afterwards!