This shop in Lynnmall have some nice gift ideas, I have bought a cool kiwiana bag tag for a family…read moremember a wee while back, and have enquired about their range of watches, some dressy, some casual (all were a bit pricey). They also stock a large range of cards - why oh why are cards so expensive?! The majority I looked at today were over $6.00. This is why I often resort to making my own I guess! I like Elements none the less, they have some really nice household decorations (cool owl collections at the moment) and display them well at the front, draws in my attention when I walk past.

Had several watches repaired here over the years, and I recommend that you don't. Twice the new…read morebattery ran flat after only a few months, I could cope with this. But not when I bought in my son's $100 watch for a new battery and was charged $80! Normally a new battery is $20-30, and was told that the seal may be damaged. Within weeks the watch fogged up and stopped working. I know - I should not have paid and left him with the watch, my lesson. I recommend the watch repair off Queen St, this one is shonky.

Stumbled across this little secondhand shop whilst looking for something else. They have a LOT of…read morewhiteware, and a fair amount of average furniture. There are some secondhand clothes hanging up in the store kind of as an afterthought, but I couldn't see any prices on them. The whole time I was there I was being watched very closely by one of the people working there, which made me uncomfortable. Can't say I'm in a hurry to go back to this one.

We bought my engagement ring and our wedding rings from David and it was the most wonderful…read moreexperience. David and his team provide customer service with a capital C! We are pretty indecisive people at the best of times and it's always hard when you're buying something you would like to wear everyday for the rest of your life but David made the experience so easy and really made us feel like valued customers. When we finally chose our rings, David and his team boxed them up in front of us and sent them off to the airport so we could collect them duty free. He also gave us a bottle of bubbles to celebrate with. I don't think I would want to go anywhere else to buy jewelry now!

This shop really looks like the home of someone who has just moved in, but someone who has spent…read morehis entire life collecting stuff, and now he has just moved into a studio apartment in the city. It is seriously unorganised madness inside. Well actually that's unfair because most of the items do seem to be organised somewhat categorically. Anyway, it's a bizarre place that has quite a random selection of second hand goods for sale; from books, CD's and DVD's to artwork to other decorations, appliances to swords and basically anything else you can think of. The swords are so cool and there are heaps of them (actually they were the things that attracted me to the store in the first place). However, I can't help feeling that everything in here is a little bit expensive for second hand stuff; maybe this is because it's on Queen Street so the prices are bumped up a little.

First off, the owner here needs to rename the shop 'Uptown Secondhand Trade' - lower Queen =…read moredowntown, Aotea Square = midtown, K Road uptown - geddit?? Anyway, I digress... This is one of those shops where you just walk in sometimes and start making irrational purchases, totally off the cuff. There's all sorts of random, quirky, weird and wonderful stuff in here, and you just decide you need it! In previous visits I for example have developed a sudden need for various bags, satchels, watches and ceramics. There's lots of other stuff from there I'd like too but I can't quite justify it when there are so many things I actually need. At any rate, this is a great place for a peruse - sometimes you just can't quite believe the treasure you find here!

Geoff's is no longer the in-the-know Auckland hipster's secret. Go here on Halloween and you will…read moresee what I mean. Luckily, Halloween only happens once a year but year round Geoff's is the place that truly does have everything. I am most often here for random products like baby oil ($6 for a small bottle of branded petroleum by-product at a supermarket? $2 here), fabric dye, art supplies, sewing stuff and what must be Auckland's cheapest fabric. No offence to Spotlight, but go here first if you need anthing crafty. There's ribbon, cotton, buttons, sparkly bits, belt buckles, bra pads, googly eyes, appliques, patches.... on and on and on. The fabric selection is no small part of the shop and the pricing fairly freakin ridiculous. You'll also find toys, costume jewellery, probably Auckland's biggest range of wigs and "ready-costumes" for adults and kids, as well as such essential props as tiaras, plastic swords, feather boas, cowboys hats, gloves, face paint and garters. There are paints, brushes, canvases, dyes, sketch books...... You can even buy paperbacks, hardware, kitchen equipment, candles and it just goes on. What I love most about Geoff's is that it has been around as long as I can remember and as far as I know, Geoff himself is still around too. My kids love coming here with a handful of coins and leaving with treasures and so do I. The staff are awesome and Geoff's is such a wonderful reminder to me that some things don't ever change, they just get better with age.

This place is AWESOME. Recommended to me by a fellow sewing friend, I decided to check it out…read moretoday. Walked in the door and thought wow, this place is a bit...crappy. But then I walked in further, through the narrow door and into a huge space, filled with all manner of crafty supplies! I was there to buy interfacing, and buy it I did - 5m for $5! Incredible prices. I also got a zip for $1.05 and a belt buckle kit for $1. The prices are insane, even cheaper than what I paid living in the US. I saw some gorgeous fabrics in there, too, but I'm trying to watch my fabric budget right now so I sadly left it behind...for now. The woman who served me was really friendly, carefully rolled up my interfacing and asked about my projects. I can't wait to go back and browse their fabrics some more, and they will definitely be my go-to place for notions, too! I didn't explore the rest of the shop too closely, as I had a sick husband in tow, but they have a huge range of paint/art supplies, party supplies, incense and other trinkets, and heaps of other stuff too.

My husband took his iPhone here for a new screen after our son dropped it…read more $171 later he had a new screen. The screen after a while started glitching, he would try to open an app and the screen would not respond, then the home button stopped working, he took the phone back to them and was told that the reason it wasn't working was because he hadn't done an update, bear in mind my husband is a tech dinosaur and trusted that what they said was the honest truth, they put a home button on the screen, as you can do in settings and hubby left, not knowing any better. After some more time, suddenly nothing would work on the screen, making the phone completely unusable. So I took it in this time as I have pretty decent tech knowledge. First of all, the man in the shop would not come out from the counter to speak to me, there was a table across the doorway, Covid, which he could have stood behind to speak to me in full view, there was a plastic shield up so completely safe, but I could barely see him due to the high product stands on the shop counter. So I explained the whole story, how we had brought the phone back after the screen started malfunctioning, how my husband was told it was due to not updating the software, which we all know is ridiculous, he had one update to be done, this does not affect the use of the phone at all, he asked to see the phone, I handed it over, he was pressing all over it, nothing was happening, I said yes that's the problem, he then sort of hid it from my sight but I asked him to keep it in my sight please (seemed a bit shifty) he was doing circles with his finger around and around the edges of the screen, then he handed it over and said it's fine it's working, I don't see your problem. I looked at it and saw that it seemed to be working again but when I entered the pin it wouldn't open, I kept trying, I showed him and he accused me of putting in the wrong pin!! I explained that look, the screen is clearly defective, you've had it twice and failed to fix it, I would like a refund please as we paid you for a service we have not received. He refused. I quoted the CGA, which is that a product must be fit for purpose, he still refused, he then looked at my receipt and gleefully told me it was 2 weeks out of the 3 month warranty, I said that doesn't matter, it's still covered under the CGA and anyway we had brought it back inside the 3 months and you said it was fine, I said regardless the home button hasn't worked since you installed the screen. He kept saying about the 3 month warranty, I said so you're saying that a screen shouldn't last over 3 months and it should be replaced every 3 months, he was quiet about that one. Then he said I won't speak to you I want to speak to the man, I said do you mean my husband, I said feel free to call him from your landline as you can't call him from this phone as it's not working! I repeated that it's very clear that the screen is defective, you've "fixed" it twice which is your right under the CGA but now that has failed to solve the issue legally you have to refund. Completely refused. By this time I was shaking and trying not to cry, I felt I had explained until my face was blue and I had been spoken down to and refused assistance, and I turned around and left, by this time there was 2 people behind me, they both came up to me and said that he was in the wrong and he must abide by the CGA, they both left too and went elsewhere, somewhere honest, knowledgeable and professional hopefully. We now have an iPhone we cannot use and are up for the cost of a new one as it's essential for my husbands business. This was my experience at NZ Electronics Repair, Silverdale. oh forgot to say, when my husband went back the second time they told him they will only fix it if he gave them a positive review, they got him to write it down so no idea where it may appear but this is extremely dodgy. This was when they put the home button on the screen, the actual home button on the phone never worked again since they installed the new screen.

I really had one of the best experience in repairing my phone at NZ Electronics Repair Silverdale…read more I usually break my phone screens all the time and like to travel so been to many repair shops. But here at NZ Electronics Repair Silverdale, the staff is very Professional, polite and extremely confident. They fixed my broken Samsung screen repair in less than half hour. Really Impressed. Would definitely recommend you all to use these guys.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, BONG, BONG, BONG, BONG!…read more All those sounds you associate with a mansion-like house or perhaps the Nutcracker, the Labyrinth or Cinderella, as the clock strikes 12 and everything either comes together or falls apart. Much the same as reality, this is either a soothing or annoying sound, but Parnell Time is one of those grand places you have to browse around regardless of whether 'cuckoo' means something to you or not. This is simply because they have a great collection of clocks, watches and jewellery, and also do repairs for your much-loved piece of time. It's everything you want for a grand gesture in your house, or just something practical to keep track of the hours. Being Parnell, it is indeed pricey. Go to the $ store if you want something cheap that will fall apart easily. If you want an heirloom, this is the place to go.

Paid hundreds of dollars for an overhaul of an antique watch, but the watch came back with an…read moreintermittent fault. The new winder he installed gets stuck in, so you can't change the time. The guy was told about it, he told us to pull it really hard. The fault kept happening, so we took it back. He's now had the watch for months, and today when I called him up, he denied any knowledge of the fault that he's already seen, and when I said that wasn't good enough, I got a lovely tirade of aggressive abuse. It's a shame when you have to tell a grown man to stop yelling at you. I expect this will end up in small claims, but unless you enjoy wasting money and being treated like dirt, I'd keep well away from this cowboy.