u/sealovki

I am in a dispute with my former housing company in Finland over an unusually high water bill.

From the first month, I repeatedly reported a persistent toilet leak. Each time, the housing company took around 15–20 days to respond and claimed it had been fixed, but the leak continued. After several months, they finally admitted that the toilet needed to be replaced. By then, I had already decided to leave.

My total recorded usage was around 67 m³ of cold water and 13 m³ of hot water, about 80 m³ in total. I lived alone, had no washing machine, and rarely cooked, so this level of consumption is clearly far beyond my normal usage. Most of it appears to have resulted from the toilet leak, which I reported from the beginning.

I received a water bill of around €350 for six months, but the housing company has offered only a €25 reduction. I would prefer to resolve this without escalation, but they do not seem willing to offer a reasonable reduction.

What legal or other options do I have in Finland if the housing company refuses to reconsider the charge? Is there a consumer authority or dispute resolution service I can contact?

Hi everyone,

I'm an immigrant living in Finland, and I've been offered the opportunity to buy shares in a restaurant. The investment would be around €10,000.

The problem is that I've never invested in or owned a business before, so I have no idea how to properly evaluate it. I want to understand things like:

Whether the business is actually profitable.

How to analyze its financial statements (profit, loss, debts, cash flow, etc.).

Whether there are any red flags.

Whether the asking price is fair.

What risks I would be taking as a shareholder.

Whether I can easily sell my shares later if I want to exit.

Whether there are any legal or tax issues I should be aware of.

Ideally, I'd like a professional to review everything and tell me whether this is a good investment or if I'm being overcharged or misled.

The issue is that I've heard lawyers and business consultants often charge €1,000–2,000 or more for this kind of work. Since I'm only investing €10,000, that feels disproportionately expensive.

What are my options? Are there more affordable professionals who do this kind of due diligence? Are there any free or low-cost organizations in Finland that help small investors or entrepreneurs review business opportunities? Or is there another approach you would recommend?

I'd really appreciate any advice from people who have been in a similar situation. Thanks!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up about my experience with Rentola ( online platform and real estate aggregator) . I signed up for a trial, forgot to cancel, and got hit with a full subscription charge immediately after the trial ended.

I contacted them the very next day to cancel and request a refund, but they’ve completely shut me down. They use their Terms and Conditions as a weapon—specifically, they claim that creating a profile means the service is "in use," so they don't have to honor the 14-day right of withdrawal as I am from EU Country.

They aren't sending renewal reminders, and they've explicitly told me they won't give me the refund. If you’re considering using them, please be extremely careful. Does anyone know if there’s any way to fight this? I feel like their business model relies on people forgetting to cancel

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up about my experience with Rentola ( online platform and real estate aggregator) . I signed up for a trial, forgot to cancel, and got hit with a full subscription charge immediately after the trial ended.

I contacted them the very next day to cancel and request a refund, but they’ve completely shut me down. They use their Terms and Conditions as a weapon—specifically, they claim that creating a profile means the service is "in use," so they don't have to honor the 14-day right of withdrawal as I am from EU Country.

They aren't sending renewal reminders, and they've explicitly told me they won't give me the refund. If you’re considering using them, please be extremely careful. Does anyone know if there’s any way to fight this? I feel like their business model relies on people forgetting to cancel

Hi everyone, I'm looking to rent an apartment in a major city in Finland, but I need to do it remotely without a physical viewing.

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​I'm concerned about two main things: First, what are the risks of hidden issues with the apartment quality? Since I've only seen videos, how can I ensure I'm not missing major problems or defects before signing the contract?

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​Second, the landlord is an individual I found through facebook post. He has a company. If I agree to sign contract, how can I safely verify their identity, legitimacy of the ownership of the apartment, buisness and ensure that the bank account I'm sending the deposit to actually belongs to them and is legit?

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Like anything I can do to make sure to avoid scams. Appreciate your advice

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Hi everyone,

​I am a non-EU citizen currently living in a Swedish-speaking region of Finland, where I am actively learning Swedish. I have plans to move to Norway in September 2027 to start my Master’s degree. By the time I move, I am hoping to be fluent (or at least highly proficient) in Swedish.

​I’ve heard that Swedish and Norwegian are very similar, so I wanted to get your realistic perspective on a few things:

​The Job Market: Does knowing Swedish actually help a non-EU student break into the Norwegian job market, or do employers strictly demand Norwegian?

​Verbal Communication: Will I be fine just speaking Swedish in daily life? If I speak Swedish to a Norwegian, is it exhausting or difficult for them to understand and reply back to me? Or is the mutual intelligibility smooth enough for casual and professional settings?

​Hejsan,

​I’m stuck in a frustrating phase with my Swedish. My vocabulary is decent—when reading or listening, I know the meaning of about 90% of the individual words. But when they are put together into a sentence, my brain freezes and I completely miss the overall meaning.

​Right now, analyzing a 3-minute YouTube video takes me 30 to 60 minutes because I have to constantly pause, break down the syntax, or use AI to explain the structure. If I don't pause and look things up, I understand nothing. If I do, it takes forever and is exhausting.

​This happens with both reading and listening, so it is definitely a syntax/word-order issue rather than just audio speed.

​How do I train my brain to stop word-for-word translation and start processing actual blocks of meaning? What specific exercises or resources helped you break through this?

​Tack!

I used to be happy with Gemini 3 Flash. Even though it was slow, it felt reliable to me. But for the last two days, whenever I tell it to do something, it ends up doing something completely different from what I asked.

Sometimes it starts a task correctly, but after finishing it, it begins changing code in other parts of the app on its own and keeps running for 20–30 minutes until I manually stop it. When it changed the code and I asked it to undo the changes, it made things even worse.

Overall, my project got completely messed up. I eventually had to revert back to a commit from a couple of days ago. I don’t think I can trust Gemini Flash anymore. I’m done with it.

Hej everyone!

​I’m currently living in Sweden and speak moderate Swedish—I’d say I’m comfortable enough to handle daily life and basic conversations. I’m also fluent in English.

​I’m looking to transition into the tourism or hospitality sector, specifically eyeing roles like waiter or tour guide or kitchen assistant work or similar service positions. I’ve been thinking about making the move to Spain, as I know it's a massive hub for Swedish tourists.

​A few questions for the community:

​How high is the demand for Swedish speakers in the Spanish tourism industry right now?

​Are there specific regions (like Costa del Sol, Alicante, or the islands) where being bilingual in Swedish and English is a major plus?

​Is it realistic to find a waiter job there if my Swedish is "moderate" rather than native?

​I'd love to hear from anyone who has made a similar move or works in the industry there. Thanks in advance!