Mr Feedback

Last night I drove to my local Maccas to get some frozen coke. It was a Thursday evening. The price on my way to McDonalds was $1.05 per litre at the local 7 eleven, and Mobil stations. I bought my frozen coke, and on my return (about 8 minutes later), the price had jumped to $1.15 at both of the petrol stations.

Interestingly, I am reading this article on CNN’s Money.com website which states that the price of crude oil has fallen to an all time low this year: $44.80USD a barrel. Compare this to $147 in mid July when petrol prices were nudging $1.70 a litre.

So the price of crude oil per barrel has fallen more than $100USD over 5 months, yet the per litre price has only fallen 0.55-0.65. What’s with all the greed? How can the price of petrol just be jacked up over a course of a quick visit to Maccas (once again, it took 8 minutes). This is just crazy!

Sure enough they just want to milk motorists pre-weekend. When will this blatant rip off end?

Store
Curry Club Cafe Richmond
394-396 Bridge Road, Richmond VICTORIA 3121
Tel: 03 9428 6455
Fax: 03 9428 0522
Email: info@curryclubcafe.com.au

I have been a long time fan of Curry Club and their brunch service on Sunday. They combine the cuisines or North and South Indian taste onto one easy price. For around $20 bucks, you and your family can enjoy a great brunch. It’s interesting however that they cop a lot of flak at Eatability.com.au

The service
There isn’t much service required during the Sunday brunch, but there are plenty of staff around to help you. It’s all self serve on Sundays. The restaurant is split into two sectors, so sometimes it’s not to get the attention of the waiter/s.

The ambience
The restaurant has had several make overs over the last 8 years that I have been a patron there. A number of management changes have occurred, and over the years the tables, chairs, and settings have changed for the better. The Sunday brunch attracts plenty of people, and the opportunity arises to have your own private function right at the back of the restaurant. The food is neatly displayed, and kept warm. The decor is appropriate, and the tables, chair outside is popular during summer. The setting of Richmond’s busy business district caps it all off.

The food
Like much of what people at Eatability have said, the food can vary a lot. I know over the years, I think I have seen largely a decline in food quality. North Indian food in Melbourne is abundant, so if you want reasonably good dosas and idlis, then the Sunday brunch is for you. They make it fresh for you, right in front of you. The service is prompt. There are two main varieties of dosas made - Plain, and Masala, but I have managed to scam a few more varities over the years. The north Indian food tastes good, as far as I am concerned, but some may disagree. Personally I love the hot rasam, and sambar dishes.

The carrot halwa is not my liking, but the gulub jamun is delicious.

Inside tips
* Bookings are essential on a Sunday.
* Brunch closes around 2.30pm, and starts as early as 11.30am. Check with them for exact times.
* Always have a competition on who can eat more on the day. LOL.

Suggestions
* I note the prices for vegetarians, and non-vegetarians is the same. This does not make sense at all. I would make it cheaper for vegetarians.

Summary - (7.5/10 - Many people have their beefs I guess)
I have been going here for many years on a reasonably regular basis, so I don’t think that’s going to change. I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

The Store
AusCarts
50 Salmon Street
Port Melbourne
VIC 3207
Tel: (03) 9646 6015
Email them!

The value
I was recommended AusCarts by my brother who had been there previously during his work outings. I found their $40 for 40 laps deal of extremely good value. This deal is hard to beat anywhere in Victoria. Believe me, I did my research. On average, the prices in other centres is much higher, and many of them are based on time frames. AusCarts is one of the few centres who focus on lap based prices.

The experience
Okay, so I came 2nd to last but that’s not the point. Sure, I was lapped by my brother several times but he works in the car industry and test drives European cars for a living so I expected nothing less. Sure enough, after I finished my 40 laps, I got out of the car and felt nauseous and dizzy for about 2 hours, but eventually I recovered. I found the experience to be exhilarating. Auscarts caters for the beginning, as well as experts. After all, I was about 1.5 seconds off the lap record.

The service
Things are relatively easy. You rock up, sign up electronically at the entrance and pay the fees at the bar. The ambience is nice, but a little loud. They have a separate breifing room, and a moderate sized function room. The elevated bar is a great idea for the family to relax and want their loved ones compete.

The facilities
The go karts are great, fast, and the track is challenging. Like I said before, it makes you dizzy. The corners are quite tough to make on full speed, so you will need to use your braking and cornering skills. Overtaking is a hassle. I did find the electronic sign up process a bit cumbersome. It would be much better if they just used computer keyboards to sign up, rather than having a touch screen based system. It just takes ages, and is the last thing you want before your experience.

Inside tips
* During december they are running $1 per lap special, so take advantage of it.
* There have several racing packages here.
* This is a great place for office get togethers, or a bunch of friends who just want to race to their dreams

Suggestions
* I would seriously consider using keyboards and computers for the sign up process. Even the bar staff got fed up trying to set things up
* I think having a membership fee is a bit silly, as most people will only come once in a while. So guys, take this silly fee off. Its a waste of $5 bucks for someone like me, who go karts once in a while.

Summary - 9/10 (The sign up process is annoying though!)
Great place, challenging track, good equipment, and a serious race ambience. Great fun!

Continue the conversation at Mr Feedback Forums - $1 a lap sale @ Auscarts Port Melbourne during December!

Apollo Bay (and Great Ocean Road) is a must see destination for all Victorians, and tourists from elsewhere. The pristine coastline, vibrancy, friendly people, excellent seafood and beautiful beach houses are a great start.

We went for dinner at a local restaurant called Buff’s Bistro. Its located on the main street (only street really) of Apollo Bay.

The service
It’s a popular local restaurant (modern Australian cuisine) so booking is essential. We couldn’t get any seats on the Friday night, so had to book for Saturday evening. The restaurant was busy, but there was no shortage of attention. It was a balmy evening, and quite stuffy inside. The waiter quickly noticed our discomfort, and seated us outside. It’s a brilliant gesture, and capacity to read non-verbal cues (not that I was aiming to give any).

The food arrive in good time, and our drinks were refilled regularly. When your drinks are refilled regularly, you know service is excellent. The left overs were offered to be “doggy bagged”. Explanation of the menu was appropriate. Overall, I was happy with the service. You would expect this given the touristy nature of Apollo Bay, and its significance in upholding the local economy.

The ambience
You can dine indoors or outdoors. We went on quite a hot evening, so we dined outdoors on the side walk. The big downside is that the restaurant does not have cooling facilities inside, so it can get very stuffy and hot. The ceiling fans make a valiant attempt to cool things down, but hot air does rise - so it can make you uncomfortable. Investing in coolers would be a smart move for the upcoming summer.

The good thing about the restaurant is that the kitchen, bar, and dessert bar are all within easy view of the tables. Even sitting outside, we didn’t find it hard to get the waiter’s attention (not that we had to, he popped over quite regularly to make sure everything was going smoothly).

The food
I went for the conservative vegetarian ravioli. It was slightly undercooked I though, and the sauce wasn’t mixed completely. The cheese hadn’t melted enough, but perhaps I cook my ravioli a bit aggressively. The portion was appropriate, and the price seem fair.

Suggestions
* Cooling solutions for customers is a must for the upcoming summer. Competitors next door (down the door) have cooling inside, and it would be a major disadvantage if air conditioners are not installed.
* Perhaps cook the ravioli a bit more aggressively, but I know this is very subjective.

Summary - Rating (8/10 - excellent service, but very warm inside)
Neat place to have dinner, but very warm inside. Do something about the heat guys, otherwise you may lose valuable customers.

The other day I ordered three large pizzas at Dominos Store in Flemington. This was on a Friday night at about 8.30pm. I got a call at about 9.10pm from the manager, who was very apologetic saying: “Sorry, we do not have any mushrooms, capsicum, onion, olives or tomato left in the store. The next vegetable delivery is tomorrow morning.”. So what did he have, I asked? Pineapple, chives and garlic.

So I received three large pizzas with just that. Unfortunately I had paid using my credit card over the phone, and wasn’t in the mood to argue for my money back. I just found this situation hilarious. The guy didn’t offer to give a discount, or perhaps send in some vouchers with the pizzas. I endd up paying the full price.

The plus side of this is that he did forewarn me, and was very “sorry” about “the situation”. I just found it a bit amazing that a pizza store at prime time on Friday runs out of vegetables. This has never happened to me before. Next time, I won’t be paying up front.

The pizza didn’t taste the best, as one can imagine. I tasted garlic for a couple days after that night (there were chunks of diced garlic on the pizza). LOL.

Store
Budget Rentals
Franklin Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9203 4844

I recently went on a weekend getaway to Apollo Bay, and Great Ocean Road (which was fantastic, thanks for asking! ;-)) and hired a Budget car. I have hired numerous times with Budget, and always have done it through their website. I took advantage of the 30c off per litre fuel voucher they are currently promoting, through the use of Servo Saver petrol stations. The deal is that you get 1 voucher which entitles you to 30c per litre off fuel (1st 30 litres only) at a participating Servo Saver fuel station. So you save approximately $9.00 per tank of fuel.

The service
I have hired cars from smaller rentals before namely Rent a Bomb etc, but the best thing about hiring from Budget (or any of the major rental companies for that matter) is the ease at which they upgrade you to better cars. Words of wisdom: If you want a bigger car, then hire the size just below it so you will most likely get upgraded, particularly during weekends or holiday seasons. Why? The cars you want will almost certainly be booked out (or being cleaned, or not available). That’s exactly what I have done before, and did this time with Budget. I paid for a Hyundai Getz (automatic), got a Corolla (automatic, 4 door sedan with cruise control etc).

Anyway, it would have been good to have been told that I was going to be upgraded. The lady never told me at Franklin Street until I walked out to inspect the car.

The 30c per litre off voucher
Budget has partnered with Servo Savers, and give you a voucher which entitles you to 30c per litre of fuel (1st 30 litres only) when you next fill up. That’s a good saving, approximately $9 bucks. This is a new offer, and sounded good. The total rental cost me about $130 bucks + the voucher saving (so approximately: $121). The disappointing thing is, when I tried to use the voucher two of the stations refused. Obviously the partnership between Budget and Servo Savers had not filtered down to the service station attendant level. So I reluctantly filled up at premium price ($1.49 per litre), and then complained to Budget.

The lady at Budget was kind enough to give me a $30 credit on the price, so I only ended up paying about $100. How awesome is that! I hired a Corolla for $100 bucks for 3 full days.

Inside tip: 1) Hire the size of car just below the one you want for a likely upgrade (note: this may not always work, buy its well worth the risk if you don’t need the extra space), 2) You can return cars to the airport free of charge (i.e.: hire at one place, and return at airport - advantage being the airport centre is open until midnight, while other centres are not).

Summary
So thank you to Budget who provided me with that discount after my hassles with the discount voucher. Certainly worth the money, and the car was nice too.

The other day I accidentally transferred funds (a substantial amount) into the credit card rather than into the net bank saver account. If you don’t have a net bank saver, then you should seriously consider it. Term deposits have become obsolete for the avid saver. Just go to any bank’s website, and find out about net bank saver.

Anyway, back to my story. I did not owe anything on my credit card, so the balance was in credit by X amount after the transfer. I rang up customer service at CommBank, and the guy said he will put in a request for the funds to be transferred back into my savings, although it will take a few days (after the weekend had passed). If I was willing to wait, then no cash advance fee or interest will be charged. I.e: If I had transferred the funds back into my savings, then they are obliged to charge me fees for it. Even though it’s my own money! Yes, stupid I know!

I put down the phone, but forgot to ask if I was allowed to continue using my CC as I had about several hundred dollars worth of expenses coming up over the next week or so. So I rang again, almost immediately, to be answered by another lady. She advised me that not many people (even at Commbank customer service) know, but I can transfer the funds back as long as I keep the amount in credit, rather than debit. For example: If I wrongly deposited $1000, then I should transfer $995 bucks or something less than $1000, so that no fees are charged. That’s exactly what I did.

Tonight as I logged onto to pay off my weekend splurge, I noticed I had been charged a cash advance fee. Perhaps I should have taken the safer option by waiting like the “other guy” said. I don’t intend to fight this, just can’t be bothered. It’s too difficult, and not worth my time.

Next time I will be extra careful before transferring money on the net. I trust you will too!

You can read about my experience with Optus: here, here, here, and here. In short, I have had some annoying problems and some major ones. I rang them to ask them if I can suspend my internet and mobile phone account (which is bundled) for the 3 months, as I will not be needing it. That’s a saving of $89 X 3 = $267.

When I signed up to the bundle plan, all I had to do was connect to a post paid plan ($49 cap plan) which was not on a contract, to receive the $39 broadband unplugged plan. So today I told them may I suspend these accounts. It seems contracts (i.e.: broadband) cannot be suspended, which is fair enough. So I asked for my mobile plan to be suspended, as it was NOT on a contract.

The call centre lady looked up my details and surprise surprise: I was on a 2 year $49 cap plan! What: that was my reaction. I told her I have been through this before over and over again. She read the note about the delivery fee error, and asked if I had my own handset: yes I do.

You see, now that they have put me on a contract, they cannot suspend the plan. Suspension fee is $5.50 per month. Instead the lady offered to give me $40 credit per month, and I only had to pay $9. But that did not include any calls made.

She did this all by looking up my details and saying: “I can see the note about the delivery fee error, which they have credited but still have you on a contract. I’m not saying you’re lying but….”. I cannot believe after 9 months of grappling with Optus, they still haven’t corrected the basic aspects of my problem, despite numerous calls/letters. After all this, she told me Optus generally doesn’t post letters to confirm phone conversations.

This brings me to an important point: Where is my guarantee that she has done what she has told me? Next time I ring up, what proof that I had of this conversation? Sure, technically she has to enter a note into database stating my reasons for the phone call, but what if she doesn’t enter the crucial information of my enquiry/complaint! This means, next time I ring it will be my word against Optus! This totally sucks.

I guess one way of avoiding this is by asking the name of the consultant you speak to, but they probably all use fake names anyways!

I have documented the deal that Optus has offered me, and this will come into effect from Nov 10th. I will keep you informed if this goes haywire as well, like everything else with Optus has.

The Store
EQ Cafe Bar
Riverside Terrace
Southbank
P: (03) 9645 0644
F: (03) 9645 0733
Emails: functions@eqcafebar.com.au OR michaelc@eqcafebar.com.au

Ok, I will make this one quick. Iron Chef is on in about 10 minutes. You know you can’t miss Iron Chef, even though it is 10 years out of date. I love this show and its concept.

The ambience
Located in the heart of SouthBank overlooking the Yarra River, this cafe/restaurant/bar provides for fine dining and cuisine. Loved by Melbourne’s theatre crowd, especially after shows for a fine Mediterranean cuisine. I went on quite a windy day, so sat inside. The decor was excellent, and the bar is located centrally. There is plenty of glass to allow for natural light.

The service
We were quickly greeted as we approached the restaurant, and given suitable seating. They did forget to bring out the drinks though. Considering it is also a bar, this is inexcusable. There were not many patrons that day either, perhaps about 30 people in the entire cafe. They did split the bill which is something rare these days.

Insight
Catch a lovely day by sitting outside overlooking the Yarra River, and the many stalls just under the St Kilda Rd bridge.

Suggestions
* Err…try not to forget to bring out the drinks. What else can I say!

Rating - 7/10 (food was good, forgetting the drinks was bad)
Great location, setting, and interior decor. Undecided as to whether I will go there again. Mediterranean is not really my style of food.

My laptop has been playing up, and unlike last time (i.e.: losing all my data and pictures) I decided to purchase an external hard drive. I needed about 500GIG of space, and wanted it to also be my future entertainment hard drive. I hope to buy an entertainment system in the future, and required it to have HDMI inputs, and the ability to play DVD, MPEG, AVI and Divx files.

I found a good Seagate hard drive on eBay from ITBox.com.au. It mentioned that I could get $80 cash back. ITBox contacted me and advised me to buy direct from their website. If you have eBayed before, this is not advisable because the feedback system does not apply. eBay recommends all transactions through its website. The motive is good, but also economically sound for eBay, as it charges sellers fees for each sale.

The product
I bought a 1TB (1000Gig) Seagate Hard drive with entertainment system for about $269 + $20 P/H (including insurance). If you purchase it through eBay, insurance costs an extra $3.00. The hard drive comes in a cool ceramic finish, and in black and silver (although Silver is more popular and difficult to find). It has HDMI, USB 1.1 and 2.0 inputs, and has its own power supply (although you can use the USB for power supply as well). My laptop is not powerful enough to give enough power through the USB, so I have to use the electrical power supply. However, I suspect newer computer models will be able to provide enough power through the USB.

The best thing about this external hard drive is that I can connect it to my future LCD/Plasma TV, and use it for storage of all photos and movies. I have about 10GIG worth of photos (and growing by the day), and even more worth of personal movies etc. So it hopefully will turn out to be a good investment.

The product is assembled in China (like everything else these days), as the instruction manual quite obviously exhibits (i.e.: poor English grammar).

The front digital display illuminates in a neon blue colour, making it even cooler. The hard drive is extremely quiet too, thus far I am happy. It comes with a 1 year case, and 3 year hard drive warranty. Read the rest of this entry »