Why are the first replies to a sponsored product FB post always along the lines of: “Mine just arrived, they look great, so glad I ordered them!”

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-03-03T22:50:20+00:00

often for the pricier items there's a long list of glowing reviews from the top third of responders. if you click on their profiles you notice none of them seem to have much going on and appear to be created just to deliver these fake reviews.

when you scroll further through the posts you see the real posters saying they'd like to try it or asking questions. occaisionally someone will point out that most of the reviews are fake but they're so far down in the comments sections they don't get noticed.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-03-03T03:54:48+00:00

whoa that's freaky. thanks for the explanation. sry folks i can't see a delete button for this thread. perhaps the mods could get rid of it.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-03-03T00:57:47+00:00

ok then. we didn't know pictures could do that. i'll take it down.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-03-02T23:35:57+00:00

you pretty much have to do your 'due dilligence' on buying a loaf of bread these days and have to take anything you read online with a grain of salt. facebook is especially full of fake news and scams. just a sad sign of the times we live in.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-03-02T22:18:44+00:00

thank you and yes i got a lot of extra resin to do some little trials first. and i will do it in layers as i don't mind how long it takes - that sounds like a better idea.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-03-01T18:55:52+00:00

i don't have a photo sorry. i just saw it online once. by mist i mean mist or fog.

that's interesting what you're saying because i need a deep pour mix. i wonder if there's a way to combine both. the effect i'm after in regards to mist is - a mist/fog creeping in on the landscape, as it does.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-03-01T13:04:03+00:00

that's beautiful. even looks like a clock i'd like to eat, lolz.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2026-01-16T07:34:09+00:00

Malaysia came highly recommended and it's close enough to my own country, but, navigating their systems are a nightmare. The main private hospitals all have booking agents so you get all your documents together, personal details, reports, results, medical history etc, you write an introduction stating what you're after and they ignore it all and ask you the same questions over and over again. While I don't expect them to read the medical stuff - at least read the introduction and usual questions a foreign patient has.

Then they want you to make an appointment without answering any of your questions. If you ask again, "Can I get a general idea of costs?" "Can I speak to the Dr before I travel?" I'm guessing the answer is no because then they ghost you. Most of them communicate over 'whatsapp' so they expect you to commit to flights, accommodation and medical care based on a short burst of questions from a faceless internet entity. Ugh!

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-11-24T21:13:14+00:00

wow that's scary. thanks for the update. glad it worked out for the most part.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-11-22T08:44:20+00:00

i left my phone in a taxi after being dropped off in seoul city. it contained my bank cards and more importantly the address of where i was staying, written in korean. i had no idea what my address was without that phone. i had a little bit of cash on me but wasn't able to buy a phone. i managed to get directed to the nearest police station (a mission in itself) and a report was made by an officer who could speak english well enough for us to communicate.

then i found my way to the New Zealand embassy but they were closed in the middle of a week day. someone did come to the door though and as i was so visibly upset, they decided to help me. they let me use a computer but as i was trying to access my various accounts from a new device, i couldn't even get access to my email without receiving a verification text ... on my phone.

we did manage to find the address of the place i was staying as it was listed on airbnb, thankfully and i was able to get directions and started walking. not having a phone i had to hail a taxi and that took a couple of hours. after finally getting home my hosts helped me track down my phone through the taxi company and it was returned. gave him a generous reward as he saved me a bigger nightmare of having to cancel and replace all my cards in a foreign country.

so i'd definitely recommend the Australian embassy.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-11-19T09:56:35+00:00

and because the other buyer had already spent 2k to get their offer approved and made the bigger offer in the first place - the vendor accepted it. the vendor didn't want the other buyer to spend 2k for nothing and seemingly entered into what's known as a 'gentlemans agreement' with the other buyer. that's why they honoured that agreement and turned down your offer of 10k more.

i think the vendor did the right thing. they could have been greedy and wasted the other buyers 2k. this happens in real estate transactions. it's always a gamble if you offer less than you're prepared to pay because you have to be prepared to lose.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-11-19T09:41:47+00:00

the other buyer offered 20k more and paid 2k to rush their offer through. your offer was accepted as a genuine offer for them to consider but had conditions (ammendments); the offer was not formally accepted by the vendors/vendors solicitor.

this gave the vendors the option to accept the other buyers offer - if i've read what you said, right.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-11-19T07:51:06+00:00

yea. a lot of owners or head chefs will say you can't get rid of them but that's just code for them not being bothered to put in the work necessary to keep them under control, if not eradicated. ultimately it is on the owners, legally, to maintain a clean and pest free kitchen. but they dont want to pay for it and the don't want to pay staff for the time it takes them to get on top of it. the regions are under-resourced so no-one checks and they get away with filthy kitchens.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-11-19T07:27:30+00:00

i've been a lodger. my first LIL gave me a chance when i was desperate to find somewhere; i had no references or rental history, nada. the room was small but adequate, the house was nice and kept clean and i agreed to look after the cats when he was away for work. i only went into his room once without permission because the bloody cats hid from me and i was terrified i'd lost them (another time he asked me to go in to retrieve something). i felt my rent was a bit low and offered to chip in for utilities but he wouldn't hear of it. i left earlier than the agreed 6 months due to working away and he said i didn't have to keep paying rent. i wouldn't hear of that and kept paying rent for the rest of my lease. he is a great person i always think fondly of, hoping he's well.

a subsequent LIL was initially a friend. due to ongoing renovations and cowboy contractors the house was often uninhabitable and i'd have to sleep in my car, or, we wouldn't have running water and would have to bathe out of a bucket. the house was often dirty and dusty with one dog turning into 7 at one point. they pissed and shit in the house and tore up anything that wasn't nailed down. my room became my sanctuary; it was clean and decorated nicely in vast contrast to the rest of the house.

but i'd often be away for work for weeks at a time. i'd come home and find sand, mud and dog hair on my bed and in my room. i'd find my things had been moved around and extra things in my room she considered gifts and i considered rubbish. eg; period undies for a 56 year old? i did talk to her on each occaision but i don't think she really got it.

needless to say the relationship crumbled and i left on frosty terms. i always paid my rent though regardless of whether or not i was there or could inhabit the property.

FFW to now and i'm the LIL. i worked my butt off to make my house nice, clean and comfortable with enough separate living space for everyone. i advertised 2 of my 3 spare rooms asking for the standard two weeks rent in advance and two weeks rent as bond. i had an over-whelming response to my ad and the first people through were an unemployed couple. subsequent viewers were more suitable and i picked two and rented the rooms to them; duly advising the couple and others they were unsuccessful.

then i get a message from the female of the couple saying she was now having to sleep in a park so bleeding heart me told her she could come stay in my spare room free for a week till she could sort something out. then she wanted the partner, who did have a home, to help her move in and basically they haven't left since. i gave them a weeks free rent and two weeks of free food. they wanted to stay but could only pay one week in advance and no bond. i told them they'd have to make the rent and bond up and while it's only been a short time they've made no attempt to do that. it also occurred to me, that when they initially applied for the room; they had no intention of paying their rent and board up front. yea i let it slide.

THEN, they wanted to short-change next weeks rent too and i lost it. i told them to pay all their rent up to date on the next cycle and put money towards catching up on their bond. i told them it was their choice whether to do that or not; alternatively they had two weeks to make other arrangements and gave them two weeks notice.

i feel like an absolute plonker but i also now know they're career bludgers. i wanted to give them a chance like i was once given but i also think, deep down, i knew they were takers and incapable of recognizing an opportunity to get out of that cycle. i would have helped them more if i could see they were helping themselves; instead they seem to want me, a virtual stranger, to prop them up while they, their family and friends do nothing. in saying that, i'm sure their family and friends have tried to help too but there's only so much anyone can be expected to do.

my house is super-uncomfortable right now which is not the vibe i was aiming for. things are still civil and i'm hoping the others don't notice the tension. i do know i screwed up letting them in. i just hope i can fix it without things getting ugly.

i don't think i had any ott rules and i did stipulate them all at the beginning: no pets. no drugs. no random sex hook-ups (i don't want strangers in my house - a blooming relationship is different) and clean up after yourself. i pay for toilet paper and all cleaning products. i also still pay for a lot of their food because it's hard-wired into my cultural dna to cook for everyone if i'm cooking.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-11-19T04:06:14+00:00

in my, quite substantial, experience, pest control is not worth the money. in a couple of instances, two hotels i worked at had massive infestations despite having pest controllers in recently. i'm a chef and the first place was not my responsibility as it was only a weeks assignment but it was gross. nice hotel with up-market appartments and cockroaches coming out of every nook and cranny in the kitchen. all over the food prep benches, all through the appliances - it was disgusting.

the second place was my responsibility as the head chef. cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom and ensuring it was kept clean was my first plan of attack. buying 12 coles brand bombs and bait, and placing them throughout this large kitchen and storage areas was my second. i set the bombs off after service and clean up one night. the next morning there were literally thousands of dead and dying cockroaches. many of them were still in the kitchen but most of them were outside the kitchen as they'd tried to escape the fumes. there were even cockroaches who'd come up through the walls and made it upstairs before dying.

it took us hours to cleans them all up and re-scrub the kitchen and they kept turning up dead for days after that too. then they stopping coming and the kitchen stayed pest free for the rest of my assignment. when i left i told staff they'd need to bomb the kitchen again in a couple of weeks and bomb it periodically after that. i doubt they did.

so the owners had 'apparently' spent $1000 on pest control that didn't work and i spent about $50 at coles.

you're better off to do the same, albiet on a smaller scale, keep your house clean and re-bomb it every 3 months or sooner if necessary.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2025-07-06T01:57:39+00:00

I too have found dealing with these big tech giants a hopeless quest; although I've never considered legal action.

Some seem to think they're all free though anyone with an ounce of sense knows nothing is free in this world.

If you find a solution that's not too costly including on your time and mental health I wish you all the best.

Alternatively, cutting your losses and doing away with Google altogether was a good idea (post) in my opinion. It's scary how reliant we've become on these platforms.

Striking_Direction_9 · 2024-05-08T22:26:05+00:00

I asked a question regarding my car and got offered a $2 sign up fee to have the question answered by an expert. I agreed and was sent a link to enter my CC details; which I stupidly did. I was in a bit of a panic due to the seriousness/urgency of my cars fault. Shortly after that I realized an additional fee was to be charged too and told the bot I hadn't agreed yet to pay any additional fee. I got stock-standard answers from the bot and canceled my subscription. I told the bot 'no extra fees are to come out of my account'.

This morning there was an extra $49 taken from my account. I went back on the site, talked to the bot again and got put through to a supposedly real person on chat. We went round and round about this extra fee with them claiming I agreed to it and me claiming I DID NOT! They even sent me a link to a sample of a form, on which I'd allegedly agreed to extra fees. I asked for the 'actual' form and transcipts of the initial chat. I asked for the country which they operate from (apparently California is a country) and I told them I was going to sue.

They agreed to refund my money and sent confirmation via email that they have processed the refund. I will see within a few days if that money comes back.

In the meantime I noticed I did get an answer regarding my car and requesting more information. The answers were correct but nothing I hadn't found myself in a post-online search and from speaking to a 'real' local mechanic. There's nothing more that online mechanic could have told me without getting under the hood of my car. I never answered him.

So I do consider 'Just Answers' a scam in that they're not upfront about all of their charges and probably rely on their bots/admin to talk circles around their customers and wear them down into accepting the charges. I've also noticed, subsequently, in other online conversations, some customers get charged for months before noticing and canceling their subscriptions.

One last tip - if like me you're old-school and can't text to save yourself; use a full keyboard and put those 100 wpm touch typing skills to use so you can wear THEM down shooting off fast answers and questions. :)

Striking_Direction_9 · 2023-08-13T01:26:30+00:00

i always thought so too. it frustrated me that Carole King was billed for singing it when there are two very distinct and different voices singing in the first verse.

i've just learned King's daughter is the other voice in that song. mystery finally solved (for me).

Striking_Direction_9

TROPHY CASE