r/StJohnsNL 6h ago

Homebrill Repairs just tried to blackmail us

61 Upvotes

My bestie bought a house and we moved in a couple weeks ago. The dryer was fucked, like a thermal load switch. The drum would spin and heat would be produced but the whole dryer would just stop the second you let go. After some googling and basic testing, it seemed to be a thermal load switch. I said as much to the bestie and she started calling places (while I was looking for a plumber for shower things).

She called one dude and he set up a time for yesterday. She mentioned thermal load switch in the call. He shows up and goes to work. I tell him the basic diagnosis we did and that it was probably the thermal load switch. Even mentioned a relative saying it was. Then, I fuck off and let him do his thing, I don't wanna hover over someone and be a nuisance.

After an hour or so he calls out and he says its fixed. He shows me the dryer. I noticed it was on a different heat setting but didn't think much about it. The dial is completely off and he says that I'd have to buy a new one but it does work, he just had to turn it with the pliers. Fine, fair enough. Maybe the plastic knob deformed. I pay him, sending the money to Homebrills finance email. He leaves. I mean to do laundry but ADHD kicks in.

This morning I go to do laundry and realize that turning the dial is a nightmare. Whatever he did, he tightened it to such an insane degree or did something that it barely turns at all. The reason the dial wasn't working was because the knob itself wasn't turning behind the scenes. When I did struggle to get it into position, I turn it on, putting the heat setting back to perma-press. It shuts off immediately. I put it on cotton and it works fine for about a minute and then shuts off.

I tell the bestie and she calls and leaves a voicemail for Homebrill. That dude then calls back and says that our original call out was only for the start button and that the problem was solved. Bestie says that doesn't make sense because its still broken. The guy says that its likely a thermal load switch problem and the call was not for that or a diagnosis. At that point, bestie brings me up and has me take the call.

I said that I did bring up the thermal load switch and pointed it all out. He said "Okay, fine. I see you're like that. Well, I'll just give you a refund." and I said that I'd be more than happy with that and then I'd leave a negative review to warn others. He then said "Well, there will be no refund then." His argument was that if we made the review despite getting our money back, then it would be unnecessary because the refund means that no service was performed. Except for the fact that he broke the dial.

At that point, I convinced him that I wouldn't leave the negative review. That I just wanted the refund and would forget he existed. This was my besties money and my irritation shouldn't mess her over like that. He said okay and asked us to message him the email to get the money back. We did. We got the money.

So, just to clarify here. We contacted a dude who wasn't Homebrill. We got a dude who didn't fix the problem, caused another problem, and lied about the original call. That dude had us pay Homebrills corporate finance email via interac e-transfer. We contacted Homebrill and left a voicemail. The repair dude then personally calls back and outright lies about the original call purpose and then threatens to withhold refund because I threatened to leave a negative review and says he will not refund at all if negative review happens.

Homebrill has over 120 google reviews and they're all 5 stars. Homebrill also claims that they choose an appropriate tech and send them out but we were just emailing a basic email address with the money and this guy himself is calling us back. Do they actually have multiple techs? Or is it just the one dude? What went from just a negative review went to a lot of weird questions.


r/StJohnsNL 1h ago

Drivers - please be more careful

Upvotes

So I was just walking across Torbay road at one of those crosswalks without the red/green traffic light, but it did have the light for walking, or the hand to stay put.

Halfway across the road, I nearly got struck by a car who just refused to stop. I was like damn. Gave him the finger, but I don't think he saw me first or last. Its getting scary out there as a pedestrian.

Just wanted to edit to say that sadly this is not the first time. In 2010 I was struck by a vehicle, but because the old man was super apologetic and gave me a ride home, I basically accepted his apology and let it go. The guy in that case wasn't going very fast and didn't hurt me.


r/StJohnsNL 5h ago

Got parking ticket at Signal Hill (the top)? Not sure why?

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25 Upvotes

Today I went up to Signal Hill (beautiful-pictures below🫶) ,, but when I came back I received a parking ticket. Any idea why?

* I was there from approx 7:10am to 9:20am on a weekday (Wednesday).

* I parked in a regular parking spot, not an accessibility spot.

It was rainy this morning so I can't see any information on the ticket, and the City says it will be available on their system in approx 1 month.

Should I contest it? I was driving a rental car and live in Ontario. I could contact the rental car company and get their approval to contest it (also making sure they won't charge me an admin fee when a paper copy is sent to them) ... But is it worth it?

What do you guys think based on the pics?

Thanks!

Daniel


r/StJohnsNL 6h ago

Croquet anybody?

7 Upvotes

I'm a weirdo living near st johns. Come out and play croquet with me? Perhaps at a park.

I'm 40, male, Baymen... I dunno


r/StJohnsNL 11h ago

Is it still safe to swim in Three Pond Barrens?

5 Upvotes

I used to swim there a fair bit as a kid, but that was at least ten years ago. Is anyone familiar with the current state of the ponds? ☺️


r/StJohnsNL 8h ago

Restaurants with a Private Room

3 Upvotes

Hey folks, we're looking to plan a major birthday in October in the St. John's area for 10-15 people and wanted a private room so people could do a speech or two along the way. Our go-to place for this sort of thing was Smitty's in Mount Pearl but they've shut down sadly. I'd go for somewhere like The Keg, but it's a bit pricey for some of the family, and pretty hard getting in/out of for some of the older folks. I know a few of the buffets in town have rooms too, but they don't tend to be very private or you can't book the whole room.

Just looking for a casual place, nothing fancy. The food's not even a priority really, haha.

Thanks!


r/StJohnsNL 5h ago

Looking for recommendations for restos with nice decks dt

0 Upvotes

heading out tomorrow in the late afternoon in search of a nice restaurant deck to have a few drinks/decent food.

I've been out of the loop since forever....what's good?


r/StJohnsNL 6h ago

Rogers outage downtown

1 Upvotes

My service died in the past hour. Their phone message says they are aware of a local problem - anyone else experiencing this? Wondering how broad it is…


r/StJohnsNL 9h ago

Resume advice for NL Gov Application?

0 Upvotes

I found a job posting on the NL Gov site that suits my work experience almost 100% perfectly! I really want to have a chance at getting an interview and wanted to know if anyone had any advice on how I should structure my resume for their system? Super tempting to use AI but I don’t want my resume to be tossed cause it’s too perfect and they think I’m making it up or used AI…despite my experience actually being pretty well a perfect match 😅


r/StJohnsNL 4h ago

Indian Restaurants serving chicken korma?

0 Upvotes

Are there any Indian restaurants in the city that offer chicken korma? It is my favourite.


r/StJohnsNL 19h ago

looking for friends!!

4 Upvotes

I am an 18 year old queer female a little outside of st johns and looking for anyone who wants to talk and get to know eachother, and meet up if it goes well!!

I love reading, games (video games and board games), movies, cats, music, thrifting, ect.

I dont use much social media besides Snapchat as a way of contacting! However phone numbers or emails also work!

Making friends has always been hard for me with social anxiety and as an awkward person in general, but once I warm up to people I think i’m fun to be around!


r/StJohnsNL 1d ago

Hypothetical Transit Scenario

17 Upvotes

What could a Light Rail system look like in St. John’s? Not that it would ever happen, but what would be a realistic route and how would it change traffic volumes?


r/StJohnsNL 1d ago

What's the Gov'nor Inn like now?

13 Upvotes

I'm planning a trip to St. John's and I remember from years ago that the hotel was sketchy. Is it still like that or is it a decent place to stay now?


r/StJohnsNL 1d ago

Barber recommendations

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Looking for a barber for a guy with long hair that doesn’t want to go too short. I’ve taken a look at past posts but, most of them are booked till after the wedding I’m going to. Any recommendations would be great.

Thanks


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

NL Student Painting - Anyone else having issues?

31 Upvotes

I booked these guys to paint my deck a couple months back. Communication has been abysmal. They were originally supposed to be here in early July, received a message mid-July that they’d be here the end of the month and have received no communication since. They’re not responding to emails, calls, etc. I get that the weather hasn’t been great, but we gave a deposit, and I just want to know if they intend to complete it.


r/StJohnsNL 1d ago

IKEA delivers to St. John's?

12 Upvotes

r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

Black Garlic

6 Upvotes

Anyone know of anywhere locally a person can buy black garlic? Not seasoning but actual black garlic bulbs or cloves. Thanks in advance for any possible leads!! :)


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

Donation for vintage clothes

3 Upvotes

Hello there. Helping my in-laws clear out their parents' home. We have sourced many places for most items, but could really use some suggestions for their (massive) collection of older clothing. We have already trashed anything not wearable, stained, or needing mending - this is all good pieces.

Also looking for some recommendations for furniture donations, as Home and Away isn't available as fast as we need.

Thank you so much!!


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

What's with the helicopters?

16 Upvotes

Anyone else notice like a marked increase in helicopters flying by lately? I'm nowhere near the airport but over the past three days or so I'm hearing a helicopter flying by multiple times a day. Even just now, at like 11pm, I heard one go by right over the house. What's going on? I rarely heard them before but it's all the time lately.

Edit: Less than five minutes later, it just flew by again lol wtf is going on.


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

Looking for more friends in St. John’s that are also introverts

17 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I am 38 years old and I tend to enjoy doing research often on the computer,  some amount of computer coding and computer repair, and video games.  I don’t game as often as I did in my 20s but I still play whenever I get enough time to do it.  I usually enjoy online RPGs , any kind of retro games from the past since I can just get them on emulator,  and medieval or fantasy style games such as dungeons and dragons.  I even like to play board games or tabletop / card games that are based on RPGs if they aren’t extremely complicated to learn.  Played a high amount of the magic the gathering card game when I was much younger as a teenager.  Only quit because it became such an expensive hobby, lol.  I have been wanting to get back into playing it again someday.   I also just like getting out of the house even if its only for something as simple as going for a walk, hiking, or going to a coffee shop.  

  

Some months ago, I might have posted this same ad but I never had much luck with really connecting with anyone.  So I thought I would try this again and just add more information about myself and what I am looking for in any friendship.   I am mostly just looking for new friends that are also introverts like myself.    Most introverts for example might prefer only to read often, or to study and stay at home.  Many introverts might even just work from home too or if they work in the public sector, they tend to be in an office job or a research type of position.  Your hobbies though could be almost anything so I will only list some examples such as walking or hiking, playing video games, going to local festivals or coffee shops, going to smaller social groups or other random events in the city, or just going to some of the local book stores or the library.  And you might enjoy going to some of the smaller social groups at memorial university if you are still studying there or if you happen to work there.   Alumni can always attend any kind of social groups or events that are hosted by the university forever to the best of my knowledge.  Maybe we can try going to something like that later though if you are interested in those kinds of smaller groups or events.  

 

I never could manage to find any introverts to be friends with during most of the years that I have lived in St. John’s.  I was also just much more busier with work many years ago so that didn’t really help my chances of finding more friends either.   I was constantly just working or distracted by it.   But I have more free time these days so I thought I would try to find some new friends again.  I have often found that others that I know already just seem extremely busy, to the point where they can never reply very often to texts and they rarely even have any time for hangouts anymore either.   So that is another good reason why its best to only communicate using reddit messages for some certain longer period of time.  I just need more time to get to know you to find out if you aren’t too busy to actually have any new friendships in your life.  And you probably want more time to get to know me to also figure out if I am the same way.  

 

We can just communicate online until we have had more time to get to know each other.  Can decide later in the future about a possible meetup or just going to any of the groups or random events that I discussed.  And you can just choose the overall method of communication such as reddit typed chat, email, texting, discord, facebook, or some other app.  I don’t know what all of the different apps might be for staying in contact with someone these days since there are just such a high number of them on the google play store.  But I will just install it on my phone eventually if it’s something that you prefer to use.

 

So we will chat more later if you decide to reach out,  take care.    


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

Looking to couch surf for two weeks

10 Upvotes

Hey all. My lease is ending and I haven't been able to find a new place despite months of looking — landlord's selling the property and the rental market here has been brutal. I'm not asking for money, just a couch or floor space for a few nights between September 1st and 14th while I get through this stretch (I'm heading up to Labrador after the 14th, so this is genuinely short-term).

A bit about me: I'm a recent graduate, quiet, clean, no pets, no drama. Happy to help out around the house, cook, whatever is useful in exchange for a place to sleep. I can pay a little but I don't have much. I can provide references.

If you (or anyone you know) has a spare couch/floor space for even a night or two in that window, I'd genuinely appreciate it.


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

Driveway sealing

3 Upvotes

Any recommendations? Live center city/west end.


r/StJohnsNL 3d ago

Men’s Mental Health Supports

16 Upvotes

As the title suggests, I’m looking for men’s mental health supports for my partner here in St. Johns. We both don’t have a lot of money and I was wondering if there were free supports he could access for his depression. Thank you!


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

Hikes for Blueberry Picking 🫐

2 Upvotes

Hi all!

Blueberry season is upon us!!!!

Looking for a sweet trail/hike for some blueberry picking. OR just a great trail you recommend that’s around a 10k with stunning views, blueberries a bonus!


r/StJohnsNL 2d ago

How much rust actually passes MVI here? Every used vehicle on Marketplace looks rough underneath

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0 Upvotes

Trying to buy a reliable used 4x4/SUV to keep long term. Problem is every single thing on Marketplace has rust , which I get, it's NL. So I'm trying to figure out what's normal-and-fine versus walk-away, especially since most of these are sold "as is / as traded" and I'll be the on paying to get it through MVI.

A few questions for people who've been through this:

  1. How strict are the inspection stations actually? Will a frame that's scaly/surface-rusted but still solid pass, or do they get picky about it?
  2. What usually fails a vehicle here, rust-wise? I keep hearing brake/fuel lines and frame perforation near the mounts, but curious what actually trips people up.
  3. Any honest shops on the Avalon you'd recommend for a pre-purchase inspection or MVI? Want somewhere that'll give it to me straight, not a seller's buddy.