Teri S.

Fashion Q

I checked this place out, out of curiosity after shopping at Ross Dress for Less next door. This is a shop that sells a lot of clothing in line with the likes of Ross, but it's smaller and has less selection. The smaller selection can be a good thing since it makes it a little easier than finding clothes next door which sometimes takes a lot of hunting. The prices seem to be slightly higher than Ross's prices though, and many of the fashions seem aimed to the younger crowd, but that may just have been what they were selling on that visit. There were some work separates that I was seriously considering buying, but I had already spent too much that day. I'll give them another try again to see how their selection has changed with the seasons. I believe they are only women's clothes. If there's men's stuff here, I totally skipped over it.

PROS: Affordable fashions
CONS: Overshadowed by Ross next door.

Dr William Kaus DDS

Husband went here for his teeth until our insurance changed. There are several dental practices in this building. The location was convenient. The doctor allowed for payment plans over a few months for large bills, and explained well what procecdures were needed and why.

Jiffy Lube

This place is busy on Saturdays as expected. They really make a point about that they do a thorough inspection when you bring in for an oil change, the price was higher than I would've expected... even with the coupon I used, but I suppose they do a little bonus "detailing" for you by vacuuming out the car and washing the windows, so I suppose it's not to out of line. They also do other maintenance services here too, but I've just never felt confident leaving the car for service at an "oil change" place. I was told the last time I was here that they didn't do tire rotations, but another person has told me they do now. Maybe they just meant a rotation wasn't included in the basic cost for an oil change.

PROS: Open Sundays, seem to do a good job
CONS: Busy on weekends, oil change a little pricier

Sun Devil Auto

We tried this shop for an oil change and a minor repair. Oil change seemed fine, the quote for the repair seemed higher than we expected so we ended up taking our car to another garage. Husband didn't care for the guy's attitude. Seemed like a reputable place and all, but we didn't find anything noteworthy in our situation so we decided to try someplace else.

State Farm Insurance

Clark Sanchez was recommended to me for home insurance by our realtor when we bought our house. We were without a car at the time, so he went through the trouble of coming to our house to do the paperwork and brought us a free atlas and other goodies. That was totally unexpected for him to come by. The office isn't convenient to us, so I've never actually been there yet in person. We haven't had to make any claims yet, but I'm expecting those to be handled when if/when something happens. He also uses a 24 hour line for issues after office hours. Policy pricing is good. This office does send out a lot of mailings advertising other services, which is understandable, but getting a little annoying. Overall pretty good.

State Farm Insurance

We switched to State Farm for our auto insurance and found Duvel Pierre's office to be convenient and the insurance price to be lower than Geico, our previous insurer. The office team seemed helpful when we came in to fill out some final paperwork. There's a 24 hour line if you have any problems after normal office hours. They offer automatic bill payment. One thing to keep in mind is that there's a small transactin fee to sign up and you also pay a couple dollars service charge every time a payment is processed whether its monthly, quarterly, anually... so it's a little bit to your benefit to do the less frequent payment plans if you can. We've had one minor claim, and it was taken care of promptly and to our satisfaction without any issues, or increases to our rates.

McCay Photography

While I haven't had Maria McCay do any photography for me personally, I have met her and seen her work, and she really takes some lovely children's portraits. I was impressed with those especially, since I know children can be more challenging subjects. She also does family, professional and senior portraits as well. Her work is not inexpensive, but you pay for the quality you get. I feel it's worth the splurge for some wonderful keepsakes. She has a very nice personality, and I'm sure she would make the session feel very comfortable and relaxed to help bring out the personalities she's so good at capturing.

Portamedic

I needed a health exam for insurance purposes, and a nurse from Portamedic came to my home to do all testing at the insurance company's cost. Even scheduled appointment for a Saturday at my convenience, and nurse showed up promptly. At first it seemed kind of funny to not be in a medical office, but then there's also the comfort of being in your own home. Blood testing was quick and relatively painless. Test results were mailed to me as well about a week and a half later. I didn't have a choice of who to use for the testing, but this was not a hassle and went well.

North Mountain Park

This is a good desert wildlife park for hiking or picnicing in. There are some nice large picnic areas here. I like how they have the curved benches ccircling around the central firepit. There are several trails of varying dificulty and length depending on your skill and you can see desert landscape and city views. The elevation isn't quite as impressive as the summit trails of the mountains to the south, but it still tall enough to make you feel like you accomplished something. There are restrooms throughout the park. However, in one area, it was a porta-potty which was perched up on a curb so there was a huge step down to the parking lot. Someone in my group tripped while coming out, and ended up falling in some cholla! Hopefully they have relocated that one to a safer spot! There's a visitor center, but I've never been in the park during its operating hours.

Office Team

I made an appointment to see about finding a job. While the people I met with were professional, I just didn't feel like I fit in. The type of job I was looking for was a little out of their typical scope, but I was using them as my fallback plan. I ended up having to fill out a bunch of paperwork, and no leads were ever provided. Luckily, I found the type of position I was seeking through my own endeavor. It seems like most positions offered by the company focus on customer service and general office and administration. I was not excited about this, so I didn't do much following up, and beyond my first visit to the office for a skills assessment and paperwork, I never heard from them again.