To prevent confusion, this article is with regards to Fiix.io (https://www.fiix.io/), the YCombinator-backed mechanic marketplace, not Fiix Software (a different Toronto-based mechanic software company).
Long story short, I had to conduct a tire change today and was browsing the Google search results when I had stumbled upon Fiix. I’m originally from New Jersey, so I’ve always done the most common practice, which is to ask friends or family for mechanic referrals. Being a new Torontonian, I figured I’d give this app a try. Immediately, their website shows some great potential:
Rated 5 Stars on Google and Yelp! What could go wrong? And on the plus-side, they’re also backed by YCombinator! There’s no doubt that this app would work out.
Except when it didn’t.
The mechanic showed up late and was incredibly moody during the entire experience. At the end of it, he slapped me with a bill that overcharged me — over $150 more than I was expecting! Before long, he stormed out the door, and I’m still unsure what to make of that experience.
And so I decided to look into Fiix.io’s review history. The first thing that struck my mind was how little reviews they had on Yelp. There were 9 reviews (10 now, including mine) and this business has been running for over a year now. That’s less than one review a month!
Then again, business at Fiix.io looks quite poor. SimilarWeb’s analysis shows an embarrassing picture — only 4,000 visitors in the month of November 2016, an awfully low number for B2C businesses in this industry.
As I continued scrolling down on their Yelp page, it hit me. A woman who had similar issues today posted her 1-star review:
Ok, big deal. What’s wrong with this scene?
First off, to advertise that you have 5-star reviews on Yelp while also paying off people to remove truthful critique is egregious. This implies that you might be paying people off and potentially getting fake reviews on Yelp just to promote your business (we’ll revisit this in a second).
Second off, asking people to remove their reviews and compensating them with their cancellation fees is a blatant violation of Yelp’s Terms of Service:
Now, let’s go back to the “fake review” point that was made earlier. After investigating the reviews more, a certain individual named “Jennifer M.” gave Fiix 5 stars in 3 separate reviews. Now, playing devil’s advocate, she may just be a happy, returning customer. Unfortunately, she’s put Montreal, Quebec as her location, so I can’t help but be more curious of the matter. Also, her voting patterns are off. All 5-star reviews for Fiix but for no other establishment?
I decided to do some “investigative journalism”. It didn’t take long to find this “Jennifer M”, and lo and behold, who is in her current Facebook profile picture but Zain Manji, the co-founder of Fiix.io:
Now, to be fair, what if they had met during Fiix’s creation? Surely, there’s no conflict of interest here if she met the co-founder after the business began. But unfortunately, that also was not true:
This issue would not be so contentious for me if these 3 “fake” posts didn’t make up one-third of the entire Yelp review pool, which the website publicly advertises as a selling point. If someone told me that 33% of the reviews for a mechanic marketplace was fake, I wouldn’t go near them with a ten-foot pole — the last thing I need is for my family to suffer an accident in the middle of the Toronto winter.
Please exercise your caution with this company. Their tactics are scummy and break the rules of Yelp. There are better alternatives for finding good, decent mechanics, and stick with what has worked for Canadians for dozens of years — ask your friends, your family and your neighbours.
Merry Christmas to all and have a happy and most importantly, safe holiday.
