My Interesting Shopping Experience

What's this page all about?

This is the collection of the bad and good shopping experience I've had over the years. These experiences are all based on the bay area, close to San Francisco, also known as the Silicon Valley. The items that appear as links have more content than the others and you can click on the link to read it. This page is in beta.
The ratings are between -5 (You want to avoid these) and +5 (I actually recommend those to anyone blindly)

Travel

Council Travel

Phone: (650) 325-3888
102 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA

When: 2001-2004

RATING: +5

Council Travel. I don't know what's wrong with this place, but they have always been able to find deals for me that were at least 30% cheaper than other places. Other places include other travel agencies and also all the websites that offer plane tickets: Cheaptickets, orbitz, expedia, priceline, travel, travelocity, etc... They also have the good quality of being nice on the phone and in person, making the whole deal a pleasant journey. Only downside (dixit my wife): Stroller access is not well designed to say the least.
If you need to travel soon and are about to buy your tickets, just give them a phone call. You'll see what I'm talking about.

Car Shops

Woodside Auto

Phone: (650) 363-0460
333 Woodside Rd
Redwood City, CA 94061

When: 2000-2004

RATING: +4
Woodside Auto. I have had three cars serviced down there, for maintenance and repairs. Never had a problem. They are honest, which in itself should place them in the Top 5 list of all the USA repair shops. Only downside, but not really a surprise, they are almost consistently slower than what they tell you: You car is always going to be ready "tomorrow". That's a small price to pay for me to get such a good service.

Quick Smog

Phone: (650) 567-6200
2235 Old Middlefield
Mountain View, CA

When: Jan 9, 2004

RATING: -5
Quick Smog. First of all, the name is lying: they are not quick, fast, or anything like that. Second, the owner has a sense of humour that will make you uncomfortable from the first step you make in this "Garage", until you're gone. The guy tried as hard as he could to fail my car, but couldn't do it. However, he was so sure that he failed it that he told me that it had failed. That's when he printed out the report that he looked at his machine as if it had printed an insanity and told me "Your car passed!". Will never go and would recommend only to my worse ennemies.

Restaurants

The Plumed Horse

Phone: (408) 867-4711
14555 Big Basin Way
Saratoga, CA 95070

March 1st 2004

RATING: +3
The Plumed Horse. We went there for dinner on a Monday evening looking for another restaurant. It was closed on Mondays. As there is a lot of restaurants around, we just decided to take the best looking one. The service is impeccable. Entrees between $24 and $38. Delicious. I specially recommend the Escargots de Bourgogne, one of the best we've ever eaten! The salads were good, not any better than good. The entrees were declicious: The Osso Bucco was fondant.

La Mere Michelle

Phone: (408) 867-5272
14467 Big Basin Way
Saratoga, CA 95070

2002

RATING: +2
La Mere Michelle. French restaurant that is pretty good without pretentions and moderately expensive. The owners are very friendly and in the summer, it has a nice French feeling, difficult to identify.

La Fondue

Phone: (408) 867-3332
14510 Big Basin Way
Saratoga, CA 95070

2003

RATING: +2
La Fondue. Just for the decoration -- a mediavel festival -- it is worth it. The food is also very decent without resembling too much to the French/Swiss traditional fondue. A little expensive though. And don't take the $60 menu (The one with one fondue of everything) unless you really feel hungry, trust me! Just the Cobb Salad that they serve as and appetizer could have been enough for me.

My best and worst shopping experience