My wife and I visited the DFO Spencer Street store on Sunday June 10th for breakfast after checking out of our nearby hotel before flying home to Tasmania. We selected the Coffee Club based, in no small part, on the amazing service we have always received from the Northgate store. Perhaps the level of exceptional service regularly provided in this store had set my expectations too high for the Spencer Street crew, or perhaps the service, was actually as poor as I feel it was. I'll let you decide.

After selecting our table, and deciding what we would have, I placed my order at the counter - I was served promptly, but without personality, all in all a rather generic first experience, but in a location so close to the busy Southern Cross Station, I guess that is to be expected. Our coffee was delivered to our table in a timely fashion, and did meet my expectation of maintaining the standard I am used to from the Northgate store.

My wife also received her French Pancake Stack in good time (delicious by the way), and that's where things went downhill. I waited a good 7-8 minutes (possibly longer) for my Bacon & Eggs to come out of the kitchen, watching no less than 6 plates of food be delivered to other tables in the interim. When I go somewhere for breakfast with my wife, I really do prefer to have breakfast WITH my wife, not after her. I was probably about 12 seconds away from cancelling my order and asking for a refund when the food arrived.

Once my meal finally did arrive, it seemed as though an error may have occurred in the kitchen with the eggs originally, and the bacon sat on a hotplate or under a heatlamp whilst it was being rectified. The end result was the bacon was lukewarm and a bit rubbery, whilst the eggs were scrambled perfectly.

Now whilst I appreciate I wasn't charged any extra for it, the bonus hair (or possibly eyelash) really wasn't necessary, nor was it a particularly pleasant addition to discover whilst dipping my toast in my Hollandaise sauce. Something small, that would possibly have been forgivable on its own had it not been for the preceeding disappointment, as well as the way it was actually handled. Upon taking my plate, to the counter (away from other customers) to highlight the offending foreign body, I was met with an expressionless, insincere and unentusiasticly muttered single word "sorry". The response was extremely underwhelming.

Based on this total experience, I would certainly not return to the DFO Spencer Street Store and if my experience is typical of the service provided at that location, I dread to think the damage they are doing to the Coffee Club brand. I understand that the service I receive at the Northgate store is exceptional but the Spencer Street experience was so far down the opposite end of the spectrum that it was hardly recognisable af the same organisation.

My insurance company engaged these guys to do some work after our laundry was flooded late last year. They were prompt with their initial response, quickly coming to review the task at hand and determined that the root cause was not covered by the insurance and would need to be fixed before the damage inside could be repaired.

Several months later after battling to find a roofer that actually wanted some work, it came time to get John back to finish the task at hand.

I had to do a bit of chasing up in order to lock in a time to come back, but it was eventually settled on.

Upon arrival, the two young lads that were sent to do the work wasted no time in coming in, having a look at the required task and getting stuck in. They also wasted no time in using some colourful language to describe their antics on the previous weekend - thankfully my wife wasn't home or I would have been quite annoyed by this. They did what needed to be done quickly and then advised they would get the boss to arrange for a painter and plasterer if required.

I was told I'd be contacted by these tradesmen as required to arrange a time to come back and finalise the repairs.

This is pretty much where things deteriorated. I waited almost two weeks to be contacted before chasing up with the builder again. He told me he'd chase it up and get back to me. Again I waited and again I had to chase the builder .

In the meantime, I discovered from our cleaner that a painter had turned up unannounced, pretty much barged in as though everything was pre-arranged and slapped up a very rough coat of paint.

When I eventually spoke to the builder I made it clear that I was not impressed by this tactic.

To his credit, John came out personally and inspected the work done by the painter, apologised for the way it had been handled and arranged for a different painter to attend and do the job properly.

The end result was that was finally have a repaired laundry that we are happy with. In a nutshell, the workmanship was mostly OK (aside from the first painter who was sub-contracted), but the communication and follow up left a bit to be desired. I think the fastest communication came when it was time for me to pay the bill (insurance excess). There was certainly no time wasted in getting that to me.

Would I pro-actively choose these guys for a job? Probably not. Should I be unfortunate enough to need another insureance claim, I wouldn't be too annoyed if these guys were sent out by our insurer again.

Fantastically convenient drive through coffee shop. We stopped in this morning to give them a try as they featured in the 2012 edition of the Entertainment Book.

When we approached the window we discovered we had missed the speaker box through which you order (something the other drive through coffee place in our fair city doesn't have), but rather than turn me away to drive through again and get it right, the young lass helpfully took my order and prepared it.

The coffee received was excellent quality, and just the right temperature to boot. I would not hesitate to return again.

As a side note, I also noticed they sell a variety of hot food (pies, sausage rolls, egg & bacon rolls), cold drinks and other snacks.

My Survey is a site that I've only fairly recently joined, however, have managed to redeem rewards twice (1 x $10 Wish Voucher & more recently a $5 Paypal redemption). On both occasions, the process has been quick and easy with a minimum of fuss.

The reward points themselves accumulate reasonably quickly with regular survey invitations.

If you're not already a member, it's worth a look.

The best thing about these guys is that they are reliable. If they tell they'll be there, then they turn up on time and don't leave you hanging around all day.

Since buying our home last year we've used HER for a warranty claim on our new fridge, a repair on a 20 year old oven and a repair on a 15 year old dishwasher. Every time they've been great to deal with,

The most recent event did lack a little in the communication department in that they had ordered a part when I first called them, but it wasn't until I chased them up several weeks later they realised it hadn't yet arrived. Once I did, they were all over it like a Kardashian on a photo op.

If an appluence breaks down or needs a service, these are the guys to call.

Stopped here recently to grab a quick lunch on the run after doing some grocery shopping. The service was cheerful and friendly, everything was nice & fresh and the serve of chips I received for $3 was quite generous.

Worth returning to.

The Eureka Skydeck is amazing. 88 floors above Melbourne with complete 360 degree views.

Look out over Port Phillip Bay, the MCG, Flinders Street Station and many other landmarks.

You can also try "The Edge Experience" which is a glass room that moves out and hangs over the edge of the building allowing you to look straight down. Unfortunately they won't let you take your camera into the Edge experience.

There is also a cafe and souvenir shop upstairs.

Worth a look if you're visiting Melbourne.

Whenever I fly into or out of Melbourne, this place is always on my list. Whether it be for a quick feed for breakfast after catching the red-eye in (the Eggs Benedict goes alright) or a relaxing beer while waiting for a later flight, P.J. O'Briens is well worth stopping.

The other benefit is you avoid the crowds lining up for the McCardboard next door.

Stop in next time you're passing through Melbourne Airport - just make sure you leave me a table.

I've stopped in here for a weekend brunch with my beautiful wife a couple of times now. On each occasion we were greeted by friendly, helpful staff and we able to enjoy a nice, relaxing meal.

The food is of a high standard with options to suit most tastes.

The only detraction from the venue is that parking in the area can be a bit of a pain in the backside.

My experience at Nashi was a little bit of a mixed bag. We went in late afternoon after wandering around the Southbank area and decided a coffee would be nice.

I ordered our coffees with the friendly, helpful staff member and we took a seat and waited. And waited. And waited. After realising people were coming in for takeaway coffee and receiving it whilst we were still waiting, I approached the counter to make an enquiry.

At that point the lovely young lady had the sudden realisation that she had forgotten us. She had not bothered to write down our order (it was pretty simple) and there was nobody else in the shop at the time, then the phone rang, a few customers came in and there was no order written down for us.

She was extremely apologetic and made the coffee immediately and also delivered a free piece of nougat each by way of apology.

Would we go back? Yes. Despite the mistake, it was dealt with efficiently and professionaly so I would be happy to return next time I'm in the area.