Tag Archives: Quality Sensors Quality Management

‘Tis The Season for Giving

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I hope everyone’s holiday season is off to a fun and festive start!

One of the things I like to do all year long, but especially around the holidays, is to support my community and those around me.  One particular group that I am involved with is Toronto-based Ve’ahavta. As some of you may know from my previous posts, one of the group’s main activities is to provide the homeless with meals and clothing.  During my involvement with this group, I’ve learned that they are always in need of fresh socks and underwear…articles of clothing that people often overlook. I myself never thought of this, and usually donated warm hats, mitts, gloves, and sleeping bags, however, when you think of it, clean, warm, dry socks and underwear is a necessity.

As we’ve done in the past, SQM is launching our annual, Holiday Sock / Underwear Drive.  I encourage all of my friends, colleagues, those on the SQM Team, and in fact…..anyone to send:  new socks, new underwear, or gift cards from either Walmart or Costco to the SQM office. We will deliver the items to Ve’ahavta, who will distribute them to those in need this holiday season and throughout the cold winter months.

We know that this is a busy time of the year and that everyone has their own charities and causes they like to support, but if you have the time or resources, please consider supporting SQM’s Holiday Sock and Underwear Drive.

Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone at SQM, including all of our office staff and field force, for all of your hard work and diligence. I would also like to thank all of our clients for their continued support and business.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season and all the best for 2019!

SQM

156 Duncan Mill Road, Unit 19

Toronto, ON  M3B 3N2

416-444-4491

www.sqm.ca

 

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Beck Taxi: A Driving Force in Customer Service Excellence

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Over the past few years, there’s been a lot written about the taxi industry, both here in Toronto and all around the world. Most of the news and conversations I hear are related to newer companies like Uber and Lyft which promote themselves as a “rideshare service” (I’m still trying to understand how they take cars off the road). While the taxi industry isn’t without its challenges, there are some great companies that are still involved in this business.

One of the best operators in the GTA, which is easily identified by its telltale green and orange vehicles, is Beck Taxi. Beck is a family-run business that has been in the industry of getting people from point A to point B for over 50 years.

Where some operators choose to do the minimum or near to the minimum standards required by laws and regulations, it seems to be part of Beck’s DNA to exceed the requirements, in an effort to provide an outstanding experience.

Whether it’s creating an app to keep up with technology (they actually had their app quite early on) and make their service more convenient to customers, putting their drivers through in-depth training (no longer required by law), or taking older vehicles off the road before they have to be replaced, Beck clearly strives to provide the best customer experience.

While there are always challenges associated with staff in the service industry, I find that Beck drivers and dispatchers are usually quite friendly, polite, and professional. I also find that for almost all cases, they’re safe operators of their vehicles and are respectful to others on the road.

Between increased competition, increased costs of gas, insurance, and other expenses, driving a taxi for a living is certainly not as easy as it seems. In this changing industry, Beck continues to do a wonderful job providing a very safe. comfortable, and enjoyable customer experience.

Beck Taxi
416-751-5555
http://www.becktaxi.com

* While I always highlight great businesses, for complete honesty and transparency, it should be noted that members of my family own taxi licenses that are leased / used by Beck.

 

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Who Doesn’t Like Brunch?

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We all have those lazy Sundays when we get up late, and look forward to having a hybrid meal that is not quite breakfast and not quite lunch. Here are some of my recommendations of some great places to go to in the GTA for a nice brunch. After all, you have to take a lazy, personal day, once in a while!

Aunties & Uncles – One of the best brunch places around! The restaurant is near College and Bathurst and serves up a perfect combination of breakfast and lunch items. Choose from your good o’ll’ pancakes to your basic sandwiches. It’s open from 9 am to 3 pm, and the restaurant only takes cash.

The Stockyards – Located on St Clair Avenue West, The Stockyards is a small, restaurant that specializes in smoked foods, but has a number of other awesome items on the menu. When it comes to brunch, they are known for their fried chicken and waffles as well as their smoked trout sandwich, biscuits and sausage. Of course, you shouldn’t rule out their amazing brisket as well.

Starving Artist – If you’re in the mood for something casual, one person at the office recommended Starving Artist. The whole menu is waffles (even the desserts), but you can get different kinds of waffles like benedict waffles or sandwich waffles. They have a great way of presenting the food, and it’s a fun place to go to!

Rose and Sons – Rose and Sons is a delicious deli place that has a tasty brunch menu, with things like the New York cheesecake pancakes, pastrami, and chopped steak and onion grilled cheese. This small restaurant is on Dupont Avenue and while a bit pricier than other delis, it’s well worth it.

Centre Street Deli – For those of you who can’t make it downtown, there’s a local deli in Thornhill that serves a variety of chicken and beef platters and sandwiches. Although they are known for their smoked meat sandwiches, their breakfast menu also includes eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, and omelettes. It’s an easygoing family-friendly location – perfect for something delicious and casual.

Rol San– If you like dim sum, this is the place to go! The restaurant is located on the east side of Spadina Avenue, two blocks north of Dundas, across from Kensington Market. If you swing by on a weekend, be prepared to wait for a little due to its popularity. The dim sum menu is expansive, but you also want to try some of their other dishes from the regular menu. Get a taste of some authentic Chinese food and consider visiting Rol San.

Steve’s Restaurant– Steve’s is a classic restaurant, and while the original location on Bathurst Street closed a couple of years ago, their second restaurant on Yonge Street, in Thornhill, is still very much up and running. Their famous all-day breakfast menu is to die for, with things like back bacon and eggs, New York steak and eggs, and a great club sandwich. They also serve up a mean omelette, with pancakes, crepes, and waffles to choose from.

Easy Restaurant– In Parkdale, on Queen Street West, you’ll find Easy Restaurant. They specialize in Mexican food and have an all-day breakfast menu with amazing omelettes. Choose from breakfast burritos, a breakfast quesadilla, or a guacamole BLT.

Maha’s– If you’re in the mood for something different, look no further than this popular restaurant which serves up Egyptian food. Try the Egyptian falafel, Maha’s award-winning lentil soup, or the Cairo classic. The service is friendly, the menu is unique, and I’d definitely recommend Maha’s if you’re looking for something other than bacon and eggs!

 

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The King of Ramen

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Several months ago, I was watching a TV show called You’ve Got to Eat Here, which was highlighting a restaurant in the Toronto area called Kinton Ramen. Since then, the company has expanded to open several locations in the GTA.

For those of you that don’t know what ramen is, it’s a unique Japanese dish that consists of soup, noodles, and protein, all served in a big bowl at a bar or a small table.

The location that I’ve now visited a number of times is located on Yonge Street in between Sheppard and Finch. Every time I’ve been there, whether it’s for lunch or dinner, it’s always busy but despite the fact that every table is always taken, the line moves fast because people get served quickly, eat quickly, and then leave.

For the ramen, you have different options including thick or thin noodles and pork, chicken, beef, fish balls, and more for your options of protein. Everything I’ve tried arrives steaming hot, nicely cooked, and is super tasty. It’s also not an expensive meal, so two can dine for under $40.00 including tax and tip.

The staff at this location are incredibly friendly, knowledgeable about menu items, always willing to make suggestions and work extremely efficiently. Within minutes of placing your order, your drink is delivered and if you’ve ordered an appetizer it comes hot and fresh, with your delicious ramen right around the corner.

Personally, I always chuckle when people are leaving, as all the staff shout “thank you” and “good-bye” in Japanese. The restaurant has a fun and lively atmosphere. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for something different and authentic, whether it’s a quick lunch, heading out on a date, or just grabbing a bite.

Kinton Ramen North York
(647) 350-7887
http://www.kintonramen.com/canada/

 

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Doorway to Great Customer Service

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Last week, I highlighted the company that installed my garage door and garage opener; however, I also recently had a very positive experience with the manufacturer of the garage door opener.  As mentioned in my last blog, I installed a garage door and opener about four years ago; however, over the last few weeks, I started having an issue with the garage door opening at random times, whether it be day or night.

I called up Chamberlain to see if they could advise me on what the problem may be, and was immediately impressed with their customer service.  Whenever I’ve called their troubleshooting number, they’ve consistently picked up very quickly, and their staff are very friendly, extremely knowledgeable about their products, willing to help, and patient as they walk you through potential fixes and solutions.  They also always send me a follow-up email after the call, so I’d always have a record of the information and know what to do next.

In my case, during my first call, the technician asked me for some information that I didn’t have available, so he waited as I climbed up a ladder to get the model number.  While there, he walked me through the process of clearing the memory and resetting the code in hopes of fixing my problem.  He also offered and sent, the instructions to me, via email, after our call was completed so that I had directions in the event that I had to do everything again. Unfortunately, resetting everything didn’t work and so I had to call them back for more assistance on the next steps.

The second time I called, I had an equally pleasant experience with the person on the phone, who also did their utmost to try and help me. I told them that I’d rather just replace the logic board (the brains of the operation) in my garage door because I was concerned about my garage opening in the middle of the night or while I’m not around.  While the technician I talked to was willing to replace the logic board, he told me he was 99 percent sure that an intermediary step would fix the problem, and advised me to do this first.

Because I was so confident in this individual and the company behind them, I took a leap of faith and it turns out he was 100 percent correct. It turned out the problem was not with the logic board, but another part.  Once I confirmed this, I called again, and without hesitation, Chamberlain sent me the part with no fee and no cost despite my garage door opener being well out of the warranty period. The part arrived quicker than expected…less than a week…and ever since I’ve installed it I’ve had absolutely no problem.

First, I want to highlight that in a day and age where customers are constantly being placed on hold for long periods of time, this company clearly understands the value of people’s time, and even though they are a large organization my calls were still answered quickly.  Second, the customer support employees / technicians are able to understand something as specialized as garage doors, and easily walk the customer through fixes in a quick and easy manner.   To have multiple associates that are both pleasant and knowledgeable about the product is a unique quality in a company, so  Chamberlain must have top-notch systems and training programs in place.  Last, this company stands behind its product, which isn’t always the case in today’s manufacturing world.  Very few companies would send you a replacement part without hesitation or cost, but that’s exactly what Chamberlain did for me.

There is a reason Chamberlain is as big and successful as they are. My applause goes out to Chamberlain and their entire team.  Well done and keep up the great service!

Chamberlain
800-528-5880
http://www.chamberlaingroup.com

 

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The Grass is Greener with Scotts Lawn Care Products

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve always taken great pride in my lawn. I vividly recall the day when we first bought our house, almost 10 years ago. The previous owners were an older couple and didn’t seem to take much care of the grass or do much landscaping. That first spring I spent countless hours pulling the weeds, fertilizing, seeding, and watering. I was satisfied when my neighbours commented how the house went from having the worst lawn on the street to the best.

While I do the work myself such as cutting the grass, landscaping, and taking general care of the lawn. I’ve had some challenges over the past two or three years. In particular, I’ve had chinch bugs. For those who don’t know, they’re very tiny bugs that eat the root systems of your grass. Then eventually your grass dies leaving nothing, but a brown patch.

Unfortunately, the only telltale sign that you have chinch bugs is when you start to see patches of grass that look dry and it quickly dies. Before you know it, it’s too late to do anything. While there are products on the marketplace that will supposedly kill the chinch bugs, most people will tell you it’s very difficult to get rid of the problem.

Last year, I managed to get rid of the chinch bugs loitering around my lawn, but a good third of my front yard was ruined.  As a result, I had to put down lawn seed and I typically use Scotts lawn care products. While hindsight is 20/20, I thought it was going to be much more work to put down sod, so I got a big supply of triple mix soil and a couple bags of lawn seed to see if I could rehabilitate my grass.

After a few fruitless tries, I sent up the white flag and called Scotts directly to see if they could help me out because despite all my efforts the lawn was looking absolutely wretched. I guess they got some entertainment in the way I approached them, and I ended up getting a call from Scott from Scotts. He is not in any way related to the owner of the company, but certainly knows the lawn care business!

Scott took some time to give me some helpful tips and suggestions. He told me they wanted me to be happy with the product and that it’s not usually the product, but how it is handled. Based on what I told him I was doing, it sounded as if I might not have watered it enough or used enough topsoil, and so he gave me some hints on how to effectively use the product.

Scott said I also might get a call from customer service, and that they might send me some more lawn seed. True to his word, the very next day I got a call from someone at their head office. They apologized for my disappointment with the product, even though I had made it clear that it had been my fault for using it incorrectly. The woman who called insisted on paying me back for the product and even sent me a cheque so I could buy more lawn seed.

Between them going out of their way to give me some helpful hints and reimbursing me for a product that was clearly not faulty, they’ve kept me extremely happy as a customer. Given that the hot summer continues to pose challenges to my lawn rehabilitation efforts, there is no doubt that I’ll be purchasing more lawn care products from them in the weeks and months ahead.

Between their excellent customer service philosophy and how amazing they are to deal with, I recommend Scotts for all of your lawn care needs.

Scotts
1-866-436-7645
www.scotts.com

 

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The Gift of Great Customer Service

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As you know, I’m always trying to highlight small businesses and neighbourhood businesses and that’s the case with this particular blog post.

On the northwest corner of Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue, there’s a small strip mall with approximately 25 stores. One store that has been there for ages is called All in The Cards. It’s a small gift shop that also sells greeting cards but also happens to have a post office.

I believe the owner’s name is David, and he and his staff are always very friendly and polite. Even the younger staff greet you as soon as you walk into the store. This seems to be a challenge these days for many retailers, but David’s crew is always friendly and smiling. In addition, they’re always helpful whether you’re looking for a gift, in need of greeting cards, or have something to mail.

One of the things that I like about their particular post office, is that if they can find a less expensive way, with good or better service speed, to send a package, they’ll suggest different tricks of the trade. As a result, the employees there have saved me quite a bit of money, and my packages always arrive safe and sound.

Recognizing that it is a neighbourhood business, if you live in that area or ever happen to be driving through, I suggest stopping in for any of your gifts, cards, or postage needs!

All In the Cards
416-398-0579
www.allinthecards.ca

 

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