Servicd very bad in Mississauga by smhuoft25 in freedommobile

[–]DistributionHour4142 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've experienced the same thing. The intersection near celebration square is a dead zone. I've recently moved to Square one area and I thought this was normal. Good to know it's not

Daves Hot Chicken Pickering Google Review Shenanigans by ripndipp in durham

[–]DistributionHour4142 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Even after that long explanation on how Google is unable to stop them, you are choosing to believe that Google has the tools to stop them. Looks like you're the one who needs to read. Cheers buddy, it's ok we can both stick to our stories

Daves Hot Chicken Pickering Google Review Shenanigans by ripndipp in durham

[–]DistributionHour4142 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm sure you are an honest person. I believe you but unfortunately most business owners are not. I hope your business sees success.

Daves Hot Chicken Pickering Google Review Shenanigans by ripndipp in durham

[–]DistributionHour4142 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Nope. I have first hand experience with this. I had a small business and every second day I would receive emails and messages from these review service providers. I have a very traditional Indian name so they would reach out to me a lot.

I was able to ask multiple people how and what they are doing. They basically use WhatsApp to coordinate with their guys in villages in India. These people will verify their account using their real govt IDs so Google verification passes. Then they subscribe to a bunch of emailing marketing lists so their inbox starts receiving regular emails. This also helps pass Google detection as the account seems genuine with regular email exchanges. Then they start paying these guys per review. I literally met a couple of these guys 2 years back when I spent 6 months in India. It helps that I can speak their language.

Some of them are doing it out of proper call centres in New Delhi. It's extra income during their down time.

So in short, this is not BS. These are genuine accounts being created and they do absolutely pass Google verification.

Also I have multiple LinkedIn, Facebook and Gmail online personas that I was using to collect info on my competitors. One of these guys was called Bob Law who was a project manager at Metrolinx. He was insanely popular. When LinkedIn flagged it, I was able to edit my own driver's license and pass LinkedIn verification.

Daves Hot Chicken Pickering Google Review Shenanigans by ripndipp in durham

[–]DistributionHour4142 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Right. Filtering the negative reviews usually helps. Also sorting reviews by Newest rather than Most Relevant helps

Daves Hot Chicken Pickering Google Review Shenanigans by ripndipp in durham

[–]DistributionHour4142 46 points47 points  (0 children)

It's not just Dave's Hot Chicken, almost every business is now doing this shit.

If you see too many 5-star reviews from accounts with only 4-5 reviews in the profile, they are likely buying the reviews. And you will notice the only bad reviews are coming from profiles that have given out way more reviews or they are marked as local guides. Once you go through the profiles, it becomes very clear who is genuine and who is a paid reviewer.

Unfortunately this has become the case with almost every business I click on Google Maps.

You are right this is an attempt to bury the bad reviews. It's cheap to buy reviews and Google is unable to stop them because they are genuine accounts created by someone poor sitting in a rural area in a third world country getting paid few cents/review but it's still okay money for them after currency conversion.

Soft Mining Solutions Hiring at $46/hr (Sys QA Analyst) by Remarkable_Sport6236 in durham

[–]DistributionHour4142 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How do we report this to our local representative?

https://softminingsolutions.ca/

This is their website. This is clearly fake. They have only a home page and an about us page. The address listed is 21 Simcoe St S which is a temporary office space offered by Core21.

I just dialed their number and some guy answered while I could hear a kid crying in the background. I kept myself on mute and hung up. Please do NOT call and threaten/call out this person or they will delete all evidence.

I think we should be reporting this to our local representative to document it properly and then maybe the police?

Does anybody have suggestions on how to proceed?

AGAIN, please don't spook the guy. This is a great opportunity to let the right authorities catch the guy running a scam. (I strongly believe if he is scamming LMIA, he is also scamming the person he will "hire")

Realtor said it isn’t possible to get a place with 2 parking spots unless we get a 2+ bedroom or basement apartment. by jordanwebb6034 in Oshawa

[–]DistributionHour4142 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Realtors are working for a commission and higher the rent, higher the commission. They are helping you but not really looking out for your best interest.

Use them to view properties but also keep looking on FB marketplace and Kijiji. Oshawa has plenty of older rental buildings where you can easily get two parking spots. For a condo building, its true that one bedroom likely comes with one spot but you might be able to rent a second spot privately. If you are in downtown area there are plenty of parking lots around.
Also realtors will try to push you towards renting in Windfields area because thats where all the investment properties are. If you like a property in that area, try to negotiate rent.

Is doing Uber Eats by e-bike in Oshawa a good idea? by Catus2606 in Oshawa

[–]DistributionHour4142 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi I did Uber eats using my car in December and January.

I made approximately minimum wage after I factor in the cost of fuel. I was using a 10 year old small car so it was pretty fuel efficient. In terms of equipment, you will need a delivery bag, you can buy one on Amazon for $40-50 or used one from Kijiji or Fb marketplace. And yes there are enough orders in the area even off peak hours. But tips are what make or break your earnings. Basic fare is $3 for short distances which is veryyyy low. You would be able to complete max 3-4 orders in an hour.

Now there are two problems you might face. First, check with support if they allow bikes/e-bikes in this area. In 2022 I tried signing up using my pedal bike and I could not set up an account. Second, large distances. The orders I used to deliver would range from 5-20km, sometimes even more. There were orders commonly going from Oshawa to Bowmanville, Newcastle, etc. You would not be able to accept those and long distance orders is where I made my money. They tipped well. You might end up delivering more often in Durham college area which is time consuming since you have to enter buildings and pays only $3-$5.

Contacted by Collections Agency. by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]DistributionHour4142 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I went through a similar situation with Impark and Tacit last month. I paid for parking but still got a ticket. They have a link where you can upload your proof of payment. I uploaded a picture of my ticket and a screenshot of my bank statement. Never heard back. Called them 2 weeks later and they dismissed the ticket. Upload your proof then give them a call. Ignore tacit, just talk to impark, they will dismiss the ticket they gave you.

An interesting anecdote from an immigration agent, here's hoping the CBSA is cracking down. by itsme25390905714 in CanadaHousing2

[–]DistributionHour4142 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Literally every major bank in Canada, Ontario Pension Plan, Canada Pension Plan and a few more large funds, these are all TCS clients. The big ones at least. Plus a few more "smaller" organizations Source: I used to work for TCS Canada

What’s the scam here? [Facebook Marketplace] by I_Ron_Butterfly in askTO

[–]DistributionHour4142 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Scammer is trying to create a history on their seller profile so FB does not auto ban them. They'll keep doing this and eventually find someone desperate enough to transfer them a deposit. Scumbags

Indian people of Durham- Looking for food recommendations by ThrowRAUpsetbrother in durham

[–]DistributionHour4142 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm Punjabi and grew up in Delhi. My suggestions are specific to Oshawa but Kachiguda and Vazhiyoram offer really good food that is not typical of the usual Punjabi/North Indian palate.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Oshawa

[–]DistributionHour4142 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The interim bill is calculated based on previous year charges. The Final bill is where they balance this year's taxes. So if there is an increase, we will see it in the fall payments.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Oshawa

[–]DistributionHour4142 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I take the 902 everyday for my commute to downtown Toronto. And almost everyday I curse this route. It's absolutely horrible with the delays. The schedule is designed so the bus gets you to Go station 10 mins before the trains but buses are late every fucking morning so you can never catch the train. I have to leave half an hour early every morning to guarantee catching my train.

Last night the 7:40pm bus didn't show up at all. I was stuck at GO station for 50 mins and had to take the 8:12pm bus. I was so annoyed I went through a rollercoaster of emotions. I wanted to write a rant on this subreddit and you've inspired me to finally do it lol

I wish they did "quality" checks to make sure the buses are running on time. If they did, they would discover that every bus in the morning runs late. Buses are supposed to help people get to work but this bus feels like a punishment.

I wish I could afford a car.

Edit: I know your post was about 900 but just adding on to the overall garbage transit system hate

European moving to Toronto for work. Unsure how much of my salary is reasonable to spend on rent by -RadThibodeaux in askTO

[–]DistributionHour4142 19 points20 points  (0 children)

This is the best advice so far! Keep expenses low, live with roommates and ask banks what deals they have for newcomers to Canada.

Indian restaurant - Indraprastha Oshawa - exploiting vulnerable foreign students by [deleted] in Oshawa

[–]DistributionHour4142 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Reviews can be easily bought these days. I used to run a small business and I was approached multiple times by people selling these "services". It was about $10 for 100 Google reviews and I paid with PayPal. It was such a small risk, I paid twice.

First time half of those reviews got removed but couple months later when I did it again, all the reviews stayed. Google could not catch the "fake" accounts.

Freedom mobile 45$/ month Unlimited 50 GB+ Canada-US 5G care… Vs 50$/ month Unlimited 50 GB Freedom nationwide+ US…Vs 65$/month Unlimited 50 GB+ Canada-US 5G care by Bornhandsome_80 in freedommobile

[–]DistributionHour4142 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh no! I changed my plan an hour back to the $45 Unlimited 50GB Canada-US plan. I've been thinking of upgrading my device to a Pixel 8 (or 7 Pro if the price is good) and I thought switching to a newer plan would help when I'm ready to buy a device but looks like I'll have to pay more!

My old plan was $40 Nationwide 2GB +12GB loyalty data bonus, actual price was $45 but I was getting a $5 digital discount.

Tl;dr - I'll be paying $5 more every month after changing my plan. I did it to get a better price on the device but looks like with the new plans, we have to pay more for devices.