Pep Boys * has sucked for a long time and I was sure would be sent packing when Auto Zone built their new store on Sunnymead Blvd. right across the street, but it appears that Pep Boys will be around for a while. On March 17 I stopped by the new Auto Zone and found their staff to be as efficient as any government program. I left, went across the street to Pep Boys and was totally blown away when for the first time ever an employee actually asked if I needed assistance. Will wonders never cease?  Back to S.O.P. when I believed their advertised time of tire installation of 59 minutes. Turned out to be 2 hours.

Halls Engine Rebuilding *****, Sunnymead Boulevard. The best in the business. I'd take my car there if service at the dealer was free. They isn't cheap, but it's done right. 5 stars for Hall's.  They're good at installing amateur radio equipment too.

Bank of America*. Ho hum, just another one. Maybe someday someone will open a bank that understands the concept of customer service, including those who don't have a seven figure balance. B of A bought a half page ad in the local paper listing scads of community groups that they support. Only one Moreno Valley group was listed. The YMCA (young men's Christian association). Whoopee! Thanks for your community involvement B of A!

California Bank and Trust*, These folks went from the best to the worst in about ten years. In the early 90s they had a drive up window, fantastic service and reasonable rates. They changed names and owners a bunch of times since then and they once charged me for depositing too many checks in a month and $5. for errors in addition on a deposit slip. Check the Sunday paper. They charge the highest interest rates and pay the lowest. My experience with banks has been that they are all bad, but this one is the worst I've seen. They now have a security door that drives away anyone with claustrophobia.

Sam's Club** - Good prices, lots of people running around in red vests with slogans like "I can Help" but give little indication that they have much inclination to do so. Plenty of free sample grub being handed out. Prices good. Service was often exceptional when Sam was alive, but nothing to write home about now.

Renaissance Books*****, About all we have for books stores in moval are the big chains so if you want something other than best sellers or run of the mill stuff you will have to take a short drive to Riverside. You'll find a wide variety of Libertarian, political and hard to find volumes and knowledgeable friendly five star service. Find them on the web at http://www.renbook.com or e-mail renbook@earlthlink.net

Mervyns! *** This gutsy store stood up to the city overlords when two of their pets were caught by store security.  Nearly a year postponements took place, yet Mervyn's wouldn't back down and the in-crowd duo were finally convicted.  It had to cost Mervyn's lots of money, but they defied the city in-crowd and refused to be intimidated. For that they deserve your patronage.

Circle K**, Dracea at Perris, typical ghetto stop and rob. Smelly dirty parking lot, but very friendly and helpful employees. I bought a cup of coffee there, that I'd rate as "jerk coffee". That's made by putting a string around a coffee bean and dipping it in boiling water and jerking it out real fast. They are no competition for Starbucks.

Frank's Liquor Store*, Perris and Atwaood. Reminds me of Compton and South L.A. - Bars on the windows, a good stock of High Times and Easy Rider magazines. Fast and friendly service. They've discontinued magazines, so there's no reason to go there.

CVS or whatever they are calling Sav-On** Is there one? The only one I know of is at Albertsons, and Albertsons depends on which clerk you get and that ranges from ho-hum to great. Oops, I missed the one on Perris Blvd. I'll have to check it out and give you a report. I did, and it's just another market with a drug store in the back. Just your average place to buy diapers and aspirin.

Longs** What happened to the trains? Moreno Valley Long's drugs was known throughout Southern California as the place to go for model trains, now they are gone, and from the looks of the store, so are lots of their customer.

Rite-Aid*** (Thrifty) Not consistent. Ranges from barely OK service to pretty good.

Walgreens** Always good service. The last time I was there the service was beyond exceptional. June 08 service has become inconsistent.

In Moreno Valley you have a choice of two electronic stores. Radio Shack and Radio Shack. By far the best has always been the one at Heacock and Sunnymead Boulevard. Now it's the one in the mall. I tried to get a very common battery there and the duck that was assigned to customer torture responded in a typical quacking manner that I would need the battery number. I never had that problem when Heidi was the store manager, but I suspect she's been promoted.

The Radio Shack in the mall *** were much more helpful. They went to the carousel where the batteries were kept, read the labels and gave me exactly what I wanted. WHAT A CONCEPT. For customer service, use the Radio Shack in the mall.

American

Millies

Out of Biz. No Surprises There

KFC** Colonel Sanders, Kentucky Fried Chicken or whatever they are calling themselves now. Heacock North of the freeway.  They need some customer service training. March 2008 they demonstrated the Joe Pesci philosophy of fast food joints. I ordered mashed potatoes only to arrive home and find that I had only gravy. April 1, I returned and advised the server what had happened, to which I received the response "sorry bout that".

Italian

Chicago Pasta House*****

Great Food and the only place in town to get Canolis

Portillos***** Dyno-Mite!!!  Great Chicago Food

Mexican

The Green Onion***** Good Food and Plenty of it!

Pizza

Boompas***** The Best!

Faster Food

Burger Town**** Huge portions........ got a breakfast burrito there, seemed like it weighed 2 pounds. Mostly potatoes, but still mitee good.

The Golden Ox**** on Allessandro between Graham and Heacock. Reasonably priced and very tasty.

Perris Burger**** Good as Farmber Boys when it comes to pastrami.

Breakfast

Our Place*** in the Vons Center Heacock and Sunnymead. The old Sunnymead standard. Good food, reasonable prices, decent service.

Ace Glass*** on Sunnymead Blvd. behind Ace Hardware. Outstanding work and service

I've often patronized the Ralph's on Sunnymead Ranch Parkway***, and they're good. They have a nice selection, the store is well kept and the employees are usually friendly and polite, but the one in Towngate***** is unbelievable. I was there for the first time because I had been shopping at Staples. I was only there a few minutes before an employee asked me if he could help me find anything, and when I checked out I was asked if I needed any help getting my groceries to the car. That's service!

Albertsons on Ironwood. Iffy. Get a good clerk and it's a delight, but they aren't all good.

Lim Sum Oriental*** Market Friendly Service, Well Stocked

Shanon's Health Food Store***** in the old Von's Shopping center, Heacock at Sunnymead. Well stocked, clean, friendly and efficent service. A pleasure to visit.

Ace Hardware***** on Sunnymead Blvd, deserves a ten for product knowledge and friendly service. Give them five stars.

Fire and Cop Shop***** on Postal Avenue. They are mainly mail order, so don't expect them to be there according to their store hours. Fast and friendly service. Five star Moval biz.

Harkins at the Moreno Valley Mall**. I went once. Seems there's no close place to park unless you have a disabled placard, a long walk through the mall to get to the theater, and another many yards before you get a place to sit down. The popcorn wasn't the best I've had, the movie didn't start until about 20 minutes after the scheduled time after ads and trailers. The employees were friendly and service was ok. I'll probably not go there again.

Mission Grove 18**** Fast and friendly service and you can park near the theater. Always clean, It's not in Moreno Valley, but not far away and worth the drive. It's at Allessandro and Mission Grove in Riverside.

CJ's **

How many music stores do we have in moval? I know of only one. CJ's. A cramped little store on Sunnymead Boulevard with lots of instruments and great service, including repair. I've taken a couple of guitars there and they did a great job at a reasonable price. Sometimes the level of customer service is lacking, depending on the mood of the proprietor. Today, 3-29-07, I went there to make a simple purchase of guitar strings and waited impatiently while he lectured one of the customers on the evil of democrats and immigration. Having had personal experience with both, I felt I didn't need further lecturing in this area and left. It was only then that my presence was acknowledged. Que Sera!

I used to like Office Depot*** in the shopping center at Heacock and Sunnymead Boulevard, but the last two times I went there were pretty disappointing. The first time the toner cartridge I wanted, for a printer I bought there was not in stock. The second time the clerk offered me the wrong cartridge. It's not like it was an unknown brand, it was an HP.

Now, in spite of the Town Gate traffic, I go to STAPLES. The service is fast, friendly and efficient.

2-26-07 I had to return a few things to Staples that didn't work right. The transaction could have been handled much better, but still Staples is the best in town for Office Supplies. 3-24-07 Staples was out of their generic 1 up labels so I had to buy the high dollar name brand. When I asked the rep about it, he said they were out and discounted the name brand to the same amount I pay for the Staples brand.  Thank you Staples!

I like to be fair, so today, 1-27-07, I went back to Office Depot. It's worse. I wandered around looking for a flash drive and after about 10 minutes of watching the clerks shuckin and jivin. I went to Staples and gave them my money. Looks like another vacancy will be appearing soon in the Von's center.

2-16-07. Was in the area and was sorry I gave Office Depot still another chance to be of service. I tried to get a very common computer battery and the one somnambulistic clerk I contacted acted like I was speaking a foreign language. I probably was! English.

8-4-07 Office Depot. Maybe they are getting the message. I was able to buy a ream of copy paper from them today, and although I wasn't overwhelmed by their customer service, there is some definite improvement.

The main Moreno Valley office on Allessandro* is about the slowest I've ever seen, and I've patronized a lot of post offices. If you plan on going there, pack a lunch and a shaving kit.

Bleckert Engineering***** They've been around forever and the drivers at Perris Speedway swear by them and not at them. Five Stars for Roy Bleckert and crew. (http://www.petebleckert.com)

There are several in moval. I walked two today, 3-31-07. Need something to wear to your next drive by shooting? Maybe a cheap gift for your ruka? These are the places to go. The one in the old Target store*** at Sunnymead and Perris seems to be the best kept and has the most variety, plus the security of Fort Knox, even armed rent-a-cops on duty. WoW! The one at Perris and Hemlock** isn't as nice, but has a good selection of ghetto wear, along with the mandatory bling merchants and body piercing salon. No competition for Rodeo Drive here, or even the Galleria at Tyler.

Another case of changing methods. The Kubota dealer in Redlands was great for a while, then developed a case of brokenpromisitis. I tried Pauley Equipment Company in Temecula and found them to be outstanding. I only dealt with them once, but it couldn't be better. One phone call, less than a minute on hold while I was transferred to their parts department, and within a couple of minutes my order was placed and it arrived within 3 business days, filled accurately and well packed.

4 30 07, Tried Pauley again and found that their folks are in need of a refresher course in customer service.

Same day.............  tried the outfit in Redlands. I hope you learn from my errors because I obviously don't.  If these folks are members of boy scouts of America, they won't be for long. They fail both HELPFUL and COURTEOUS.

You have no choice in moval.----- You have your trash collected by the city anointed company, even if you have no trash, you still must pay for trash collection. The service is exactly what you would expect from a company with no competition. Refer to Lily Tomlin's operator role on Saturday Night Live.

I've only used one service. Cazares*. I don't know much about trimming trees, so have no clue if they did it right. Only the boss lady seems to speak English and they left their empty coke cans and water bottles in my yard to clean up. I'm hoping to find a service I can recommend, and Cezares ain't it.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III (this one is valid in moval, so far)
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.