My experiences with

General
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Hi! As far as I know, not much is currently wrong, besides the apparent grumbling about investment services on the forums (likely for good reason). Please note that the mainstreaming of digital banking happened quite a while ago, so the issues from that time are now just an unpleasant memory. There was a time when a significant portion of banking services couldn’t be handled through digital channels, but also not at the branch, as customer service had been cut preemptively to meet some target state that was only supposed to be reached years later.

The story is colored by the fact that I was low-income when the digital transition took place. Someone who brought more than just sand to the bank might remember those times differently.

In that post, I emphasized the view that in Nordea’s history (or in the AI hype in general), staff reductions have not been a sign that processes or operations have reached a state where layoffs could actually be implemented without serious damage to the company’s ability to function, and one shouldn’t draw such conclusions from them.

EDIT: It is also important to note that the cuts reported today will affect Nordea’s services in the future; I wasn’t suggesting that the current state is bad because of them.

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1335

I had a bad taste in my mouth when I ordered a game controller from Verkkokauppa.com. Two weeks went by, and then apparently a robot sent a message saying the product couldn’t be shipped (even though it was in the catalog). A moment later, another message, as if the matter was still pending. I sent a message saying I was canceling the purchase, which I did, and I also got my money back. I ordered the same product from Gigantti, and lo and behold, the product was in the mail four days later. :slightly_smiling_face:

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1336

I went to Telia twice and I’m pissed off. On my first visit, I negotiated the continuation of my mobile subscription, as they had informed me about the 4G I needed abroad running out. They got me to agree to an unnecessary and more expensive 5G subscription. On my second visit, I complained that my phone wouldn’t use 5G. They examined the phone and SIM and claimed I was out of 5G range! That information was bunk. I went to Elisa. They immediately said that my phone is a 4G model, which, of course, doesn’t accept 5G. And that I’m in a dense 5G area!

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Motonet had windshield washer fluid on offer. I think it was 3 cans or 3 three-liter jugs for ten euros, and I indeed took them with me.

Two were left in the trunk to await later use.

A couple of days later, when leaving work, there was such a fresh citrus scent in the car that I had to go check the trunk. The cap on an unopened jug had been poorly sealed at the factory, and half of the contents had leaked out. I guess the work jackets and other upholstery will dry out on their own. Luckily, it wasn’t methanol-derived stuff. These things happen, and I will continue to buy things from that store in the future. But it did cause a minor annoyance and a headache. In the future, I will check the caps before putting items in the cart.

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The same thing has often happened to me with different containers. Nowadays, I always try to check that the cap is closed and store them upright (in a small tray). Spray cleaner bottles, on the other hand, tend to break in my trunk.

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1339

My three-liter hand soap bottle leaked soap all over the cabinet. The cap looked completely normal. Guess you just shouldn’t store any large bottles on their side, then no accidents will happen. Luckily, at least the oil in the car hasn’t leaked, that would be nastier to clean from the seats and such.

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1340

Today, I took the Cityvarasto PakuOvelle.com large van for a test drive. My expectations weren’t high, but the experience was ultimately quite reasonable.

What caused irritation was doing the pre-inspection when there could be 7-8 “damage to be checked” on the same side, and at the same time, I had to check if any new damage had occurred. After that, I uploaded the pictures to the system and opened the car doors.

The car itself was a basic Ford van, and the technology worked, but the clutch squeaked badly both when pressed and when lifting my foot.

The van had a hand truck, which was attached to the wall with a really dubious contraption. When I took off the “info board” (part of the contraption), there were about 10 screws behind it that had been drilled through the board. Perhaps the board had fallen off, well… one screw, of course, went into my finger, and it caused a wound.

The car had no cleaning equipment, so it wasn’t super clean. However, it did its job.

The final refueling and inspections with photos took some time, but it was a reasonably simple process.

PakuOvelle doesn’t really fulfill its brand promise, as the car was three kilometers away in a city parking lot.

It was a pretty good basic service, which was tested because of its easy discoverability and reasonable location. For a short rental, it would have been pointless to spend time driving to the pickup location.

8/10, and due to the significant visibility of the service and cross-selling opportunities (I received a 10€ City voucher for my feedback), Cityvarasto Oyj is worth monitoring as an investment target.

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1341

Motonet might appreciate it if you give them feedback.

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1342

If I may add a personal experience, I bought an electric car about 1½ months ago, and Kamux’s selection was quite poor. My budget was 25-30k, and AWD was a requirement. For example, there were very few Volvo XC40s and Polestar 2s compared to competitors.

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Unsold cars is one metric, but above all, sold cars. Kamux had probably already sold the Volvos and Polestars :wink:.

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I tried not to comment, but Kamux has about 30 Polestar 2 all-wheel drive models.
You should check… 40 in total, of which 30 are dual motor, choose from them!
Used cars | Kamux

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What could cause Posti’s package tracking to lag so much nowadays? Is there some handheld scanner that only gets synced to the ERP whenever they get around to it? The tracking info updates only once you’re already writing reviews for the seller.

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1346

I tried out the Dellia Group dried mangoes. The basic version is quite sugary, though good partly for that reason. I saw a colleague having these as a snack one day. I approve of the product quality, and based on the test, it piques my interest from an investment perspective as well. Last time I tested BAT nicotine pouches; that didn’t go poorly either—I made several grand in profit and a 24-month nicotine addiction.

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1347

I redid this comparison now on May 5, 2026, mainly to see if inflation has had an impact—and it hardly had. Most products had stayed at the same price, some had gone up, and some had even gone down.

Three products had to be left out because they were no longer in the assortments (some were missing from everyone, some from just a few). So the total sum is not comparable as such to the previous one.

Now the top spot had changed: Puuilo was the cheapest, Tokmanni second, and Kärkkäinen third.

  • tokmanni puuilo kärkäinen
    3.89 3.99 3.99 Deo roll-on Dove 50 ml Powder
    2.15 2.79 2.15 Savett 10pcs Disinfecting wipes
    6.29 5.99 6.29 LV Face Cream 75 ml moisturizing 48h
    2.69 2.99 2.6 Lacto Line washing liquid 500ml
    6.79 7.49 6.9 Cameleo eyebrow dye - black 1.0 15ml
    5.89 5.99 6.99 O’Keeffe’s fragrance-free 4.2 g lip balm
    3.85 3.89 3.89 Karl Fazer 180g milk chocolate bar
    2.99 2.09 2.39 Serla hand towel 100 pcs white
    2.19 1.99 2.05 Colgate toothpaste 75 ml Max Fresh Cooling Crystals
    2.99 2.99 2.89 XZ Blueberry 250 ml moisturizing shampoo
    3.69 3.29 3.25 LV conditioner for normal hair 200 ml
    1.39 1.39 1.39 Pepsodent Professional Soft toothbrush
    24.99 22.99 25.5 Fiskars Classic 18 cm kitchen scissors
    2.79 2.49 2.49 Strawberry kisses 6 pcs 150 g
    2.00 2.59 2.49 Orthex bucket white 10L
    5.49 4.59 5.49 Sauna honey 150 ml relaxing lavender
    6.89 6.99 6.79 Sini dust sword 59cm
    86.96 84.53 87.54 Total
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I redid this comparison now on May 5th, 2026, mainly to see if inflation had an impact—and it hardly had any. Most products had stayed the same price, some had risen, and some had even decreased.

To break it down more specifically:

Tokmanni had raised prices on three (3) items, kept twelve (12) the same, and lowered two (2)

Puuilo had also raised prices on three (3) items, kept thirteen (13) the same, and lowered one (1)

Regarding Kärkkäinen, the most significant changes:

Raised prices on ten (10) products, kept three (3) the same, and lowered four (4).

One observation: the price increases and decreases of individual products might be due to promotions. For example, if a product happened to be on sale in 2025 but isn’t now.

However, the price increase of ten products in the Kärkkäinen sample can’t necessarily be explained by that anymore.

This is, however, a playful spot check sample and not an official one :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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The saga continues. I finally managed to make the investment even though the deadline passed. Luckily, I have good relations with the issuer.
I thought things were in order, but how wrong I was. Next, Danske blocked my account so that I couldn’t perform any transactions. They demanded proof of the origin of funds. I then submitted a bank statement and a bill of sale from a business exit where I netted several million (granted, in Finnish Marks). For some reason, this wasn’t good enough for the Danish bank. So, I submitted a receipt from 2024 proving a €100k sale of securities. Surprise, surprise, this wasn’t good enough for the bank either.
Now they are demanding a full bank statement showing the funds that came into the account before the transfer to Danske. An unbroken chain. After huffing and puffing for a while, I sent the statements they demanded, showing over €300k arriving in my account shortly before the transfer to Danske. Well, was that enough?
No f***ing way was even this enough; they just keep demanding more and more! Now I’m supposed to provide additional evidence of where those 300 grand came from.
I can’t take it anymore. Haven’t heard anything from FINE (Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau). It seems the tabloids are the last hope.
DANSKE is a SHIT bank! Not reliable! Don’t make the same mistake I did!

Edit: Typo

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1350

I invested in Kamux around the time of its IPO but sold my shares several years ago. I have no intention of jumping back in the near future, but I still follow the company with interest. In this type of consumer business, the customer service experience matters more to me than the numbers. Below are some of my own observations.

When I visited Kamux last autumn, the experience was not good. I had to take the initiative myself just to get in contact with a salesperson. The salesperson couldn’t tell me much about the car other than that the second set of tires seemed to be in the back seat and that I could go for a test drive if I wanted. Even after the test drive, the salesperson was passive, and when the topic of money came up, they tried to force an extended warranty (lisäturva) on the car. Their disappointment was clearly visible when I stated that I didn’t need financing.

The cars in the showroom were dirty, and the overall appearance was a bit shabby. I didn’t leave with a very good impression. Later, I gave another Kamux location a chance, but the experience was largely the same. The salesperson was perhaps a bit more social, but otherwise, the impression remained unchanged.

In contrast, when I visited Saka, many of the things I criticized about Kamux were absent. The showroom was cleaner, additional services weren’t forced upon me, and the salesperson seemed professional.

When I consider whether to invest in Kamux, the answer is currently no. This isn’t due to the numbers, valuation levels, or other key metrics, but purely because of the service experience I received. Previously, however, I considered Kamux to be a perfectly decent dealership.

A similar post could be made about Tokmanni and Puuilo. Tokmanni used to be a very good discount store and small hardware shop, but nowadays, in my opinion, it has lost that position to Puuilo.

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At least until now, a cheaper way has been to buy the F-Secure application from a retailer, e.g., Verkkokauppa.com, rather than subscribing to it through F-Secure’s own website.

Automatic renewal is likely enabled if you buy it directly from F-Secure. When purchased from a retailer, there is no automatic renewal.

So, if you have bought directly from F-Secure, it is worth canceling the subscription and buying it from a retailer instead.

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I’ve had equally bad experiences with several Kamux showrooms dating back at least 5 years. Based on my own experience, nothing has changed.

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Kamux is doing almost everything wrong at the moment. First, they should really board up the windows, at least on the German side. And after that, they would need to change their operations to win back the trust of car buyers. Kamux has a reasonably miserable reputation, and once you lose that reputation, the end result is that people buy their cars from other dealerships.

But it would still be possible to turn the ship around if they took an honest approach to car sales instead of acting the following way: When a car buyer arrives at the lot, they are all smiles and friendly, lying through their teeth about the car even though they actually know nothing about it, and once the deal is closed, that friendliness ends right there. And a couple of weeks later, when the car breaks down and you call them, the likely answer is that it’s not our problem, it’s a wear-and-tear part. Or then you can’t even get hold of anyone there at all.

This is exactly the kind of red flag for me that makes me steer clear of such dealerships and go elsewhere; once you get a bad reputation, it’s hard to get rid of. They could still change things and be more accommodating with problems, which would certainly mean more customers in the future. It is absolutely certain that a person who receives genuinely good service will also use the services of the same car dealership next time.

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