Monday, June 23, 2008

Ripped off on Craigslist

I guess this is obvious, but I wanted to post this cause I see tons of these ads on Craigslist, and I know someone that got ripped off with this.

People are selling Westjet credits on Craigslist. Westjet credits are transferable. My friend found an ad for a Westjet credit of $700, and he was selling for $600. She contacted him, and she offered $500. With no hesitation, the guy agreed. So he asked her to meet him at Metrotown Mall in front of Yogen Fruz. She waited for the guy and he never showed. He called her from a "private" number and then told her his son had some trouble in school, but his friend would meet her at Lougheed skytrain station. So she drove over there, and some guy met up with her, he called Westjet from his cell and transferred the credit to her name, and then she called Westjet to confirm the credits were in fact in her name, and WJ confirmed the credits were now in her name. She paid him, and about an hour later, Westjet called her to tell her the ticket was purchased that same morning with a STOLEN credit card, and they just found about it, so the credits she had would not work. Although my friend did in fact make a mistake, I just want to point out, why the heck does WestJet sell a ticket that day, and when someone calls back the SAME day to cancel the ticket, and DOES NOT want a refund (if the purchase is within a 24 hour period, they are entitled to a refund) and insists on a credit, THIS SHOULD RAISE RED FLAGS!! Apparently a year ago, some con artist ripped off 50 people with this scam, and Westjet said they would put more controls into their system to stop this from happening.. Obviously they are doing nothing.

Anyhow, my friend called Westjet and complained, and she was told it is her fault, however, they were willing to help her out a bit.. anyways, lesson here is, be very cautious about buying credits and gift cards and that sort of thing from Craigslist.

Ramen in Vancouver. Motomachi Vancouver

Hello, it's been awhile.

Motomachi on Denman in Vancouver is quite simply awesome. The soup tastes so "clean" if that makes any sense. Not greasy at all. It's a bit pricey for Ramen, we're talking $7-$10. It's owned by the same person that started Kintaro which is also on Denman, but there is no lineups like there are at Kintaro. Motomachi's soup base is chicken based, whereas Kintaro is pork based. Motomachi uses good quality organic ingredients. Make sure whatever ramen dish you order, it includes egg. It's like the best egg you'll have in Vancouver. The service is good, and it's consistently good. I've been at least 10 times now.

Today I decided to be adventurous so we tried out Benkei on Robson street. Originally we wanted to try Kintaro, but the line up was too long. I was very disappointed. The soup is oily, and the server should not be allowed to serve. To top it off, when the server brought the bill, she charged for three bowls of ramen, when there were only two of us.. The only thing good about it was the spinach in the soup. The decor is bad. Something about it just looks cheap and busy. The vases at the front are so ugly that it's disturbing. (the vases are from Ikea.) I like the clean minimalist feeling of Motomachi. I felt bad I strayed from a good thing. It's like cheating on your boyfriend with some asshole that isn't worth talking about.