I’ve had a selection of rather random happenings in my life lately. It’s been both stressful and disruptive. As a result I’ve ended up discovering some businesses that just deserve to be mentioned, that helped me out and smiled while doing it! While we’ll complain up down and all around when people do a horrible job, we rarely shout from the rooftops when we get awesome service. Here’s my list….
Optical Trust – 4520 Kingston Road
So I was playing with my son, and he ran full tilt into my face and broke my glasses right in half. I brought them back the store where I bought them and they were out of warrantee. The frames were no longer sold either. They kindly offered to mail off my frames and see what they could do in a couple weeks. I was not impressed considering I am blind as a bat and my husband was driving me around.
A few weeks ago my husband finally found the nose piece to his glasses at Optical Trust, after going to many places. He thought we should go there for my glasses. Boy, he was right! We went there, he couldn’t fix my glasses, but while I waited he ground down my lenses, put my glasses in a new and better frame, and did an excellent job. No waiting, no BS, no two for specials that are a scam and waste your time. As an added bonus, my new frames make me look more gorgeous than ever. Here’s their contact information, they fix glasses with a smile. While I was there, there was a steady stream of traffic of people wanting their glasses fixed, adjusted and more.
Rouge Valley Veterinary Hospital – 111 Island Road
The dog also got sick, very sick. First he got what looked like hives all over his body, then I switched his food, then he got even sicker with pancreatitis. This vet gets the award for helping us out, we didn’t have a lot of money to deal with the problem. He called us on Thanksgiving to tell us the results of the tests. He’s still calling us to check on the dog, the dog has been jaundiced. So if your dog gets sick or has a chronic problem that needs to be managed and you need an exceptional vet, call on Rouge Valley Veterinary Hospital. I’ve never had this kind of service from a vet and I had a Shar Pei, the only breed of dog you can’t even buy pet insurance for.
Fido Store – Cedarbrae Mall – Lawrence & Markham
So I also lost my phone on Friday, at IKEA, I can’t really think of a worse place to lose anything. After an extremely horrible day looking for the phone, I finally found their store. I was eligible for an upgrade to an iPhone 4, everyone else had the 3Gs versions. They actually answered the phone when I called, a miracle, and had my new phone.
I was not cheerful, pleasant or nice by the time I got to the Fido store, it would have been nice to have smooth sailing, but I was fated to spend another half an hour waiting for Fido customer service to straighten things out. During the whole ordeal Sam was everything I was not…cheerful, pleasant, nice, calm and competent. The entire staff there was great, Sam talked me through the entire deal, and finally I got my hot little hands on the iPhone 4.
Thanks Sam!
Dr Luigi A Castagna – Pediatric Neurologist
This Doctor is excellent, he has a sign in his office that announces that he will take the time necessary to provide excellent advice and care to his patients. He was patient, he explained everything well, he offered awesome supports and was generally all around great. I’ve been waiting over 6 months for this appointment and he was worth the wait. The diagnosis for my son was very gifted but with social deficit, he gave us very clear instructions about what to do. We left the office with a sense of direction and a list of phone numbers and social worker numbers for everything. Very thorough and caring.
Food
Renting apartments is hard work, and driving around the city at odd hours means that I get to try lots of different little restaurants that have some really awesome offerings.
Jodie’s Deli – Kingston & Queen
It’s the best smoked meat sandwich I’ve had since Montreal. If you have a craving for a thick, meaty Montreal Smoked meat sandwich, go check it out. Yum for about 10 bucks.
Pasta Co – Allen & Sheppard
I’m a fan of hot tables, and this is a good one. Freshly made different meals everyday, I’m all there. They also have fresh gourmet pasta for sale, including gluten free. Their alfredo sauce was to die for and lunch will set you back about 7 bucks. The owner even gave my son a free chocolate bar just for being cute. PastaCo is great food for a great price with good sized servings.