If you find that you are unable to view your Top Ad please note the following:

• The Top Ads section only shows a maximum of 5 ads at any given time. Each time a user visits or refreshes the page, the Top Ads will rotate 5 new ads within the featured section. 

• You can see all Top Ads for a category by clicking the See All link that appears just above the Top Ads section. Selecting See All will display Top Ads in the order in which they were posted (with the most recent addition at the top).

• If the number of Top Ad results is too high to fit on one page (after clicking See All), you may have to navigate to subsequent pages which can be done at the bottom of the search results page (underneath Sponsored Links). This rotation system is set up to ensure that all Top Ads are exposed equally to as many DCI Ads users as possible.​

If you can’t find your ads, don’t stress! Read the appropriate section below for help finding it.

Your Ad is Active, but Not Searchable

If your ad is active but you can’t find it on the site, remember to include your local area as well as your ad’s category in the search bar. Looking in too wide an area or category can make even highly ranked ads hard to find.

If you’re using keywords and still cannot find your ads, remember that keywords need to be exact. Double-check that the words you’re using to search are actually included in your ad, and are spelled the same way.

Your Ads are in the Inactive Tab

Ads can be inactive after creation for a few different reasons. The good news is that you’ll be able to get your ad up and running in no time!

Delayed

It can take up to 12 hours for ads to go through our system before they are posted on DCI Ads. This is a normal part of the posting process and your ad should be posted automatically afterward; this also may apply to some edited ads.

Pending

If your ad is listed as Pending, you may need to apply a listing fee. Click Activate Ad and fill in your payment details to apply the listing fee.

On Hold

If your ad is placed on hold by our customer service team, you should receive an email that explains the reason. Please contact our customer service team to correct the issue.

Your Ad is Not in the My Ads Section

If you cannot find your ad in your account by clicking My Ads, please be sure you are signed in to the correct account. You can check which account you’re signed into by going into Account Settings. The email showed there should be the same address that received the “Your DCI Ad Is Active!” confirmation email.

Once signed into the account used to post the ad, you can see if it is pending by selecting My Ads, and clicking on Inactive.

If you’re signed in to the same account but still do not see your ad, look in your email for a deletion notice. If your ad was removed, you should see an email that explains the cause.

If you’re unable to submit your ad, you may see the message “Please fix the errors on the page.” This is caused when there is an issue with the information entered into one or more of the fields. Scroll down to see which sections are highlighted in red.

If you’ve missed a mandatory field, you will need to fill it out before you can post. If it is filled out but you are still receiving an error, double-check what you have entered. Note: Number fields will not accept other symbols such as dollar signs or letters. Enter prices, kilometers, and other such units as numbers only.

If you’re able to submit the ad but an error message appears at the top of the page, you may have previously posted one or more ads that go against our Terms of Use and Posting Policies.

If you’re still having trouble posting, contact our customer service team for more information.

If you find that you are unable to view your ad in the Homepage Gallery please note the following:

• The Homepage Gallery only shows up to 6 ads at a time. If there are more ads than can be displayed, you can refresh the page or click an arrow to the right of the ads to see more.

• You can browse all Homepage Gallery ads for a category by clicking the See all link that appears in the Homepage Gallery section. Please keep in mind that your ad may take a few minutes to first appear in the Homepage Gallery after you pay your Homepage Gallery fee.

The DCI Ads app offers a number of types of push notifications to let you know when you have new messages, alerts, and more. To turn app notifications on or off, select either iOS or Android from the “View for” options above and follow the instructions in that section.

DCI’s location search works by sorting ads into a grid around major city centers. When you enter your address or postal code, it detects where you are in the grid, and posts your ad under searches for that area. This means that if you live in an area with a smaller population, your ad will appear in searches for the nearest region or city center.

If you would like to change the location of your ad, this must be done ­before­ posting. Please follow the instructions below for the category you would like to post within.

To change your ad’s location in Buy & Sell, Cars & Vehicles, Services, Pets, or Community:

1	Enter your address or postal code in the Location field.*

 

2	Select one of the suggested addresses from the drop-down menu.

 

3

Click on the box below “Your Ad Will be Posted In” to select from nearby areas.  If you don’t see the area you’d like to post in, click Change next to your address / postal code and use a postal code from the area that you want your ad to be posted in. Using the first 3 digits of an area’s postal code is enough.

 

4	If you’ve used an area other than your own, remember to list your actual area in the body of the ad so buyers know where they need to travel.

 

To change your ad’s location in Real Estate, Jobs or Vacation Rentals:

1	Before creating your ad, change the location in the search bar to the area you want to post within, and hit the search button.

 

2	Click Post Ad and fill in your title and category.

 

3	Under the Ad Details section, click on the Location drop-down menu and select your area.

 

4	In the Address field, enter the address you would like those viewing your ad to see. This can be as specific as your street address, or as vague as your city.

 

If Your Ad Has Already Been Posted

Once an ad is posted, the location is set and cannot be edited. If you’ve already posted your ad and you’d prefer it be placed in a different region, you will need to delete and repost it.

If the Map Is Wrong

The map shown on the Ad Details page is determined by the information entered into the Location field when you post your ad. If the map address shown on your ad’s page is incorrect but you entered the correct postal code, edit your ad and include more specific information such as your street address.

The mapping function on DCI Ads is provided by a third party (in this case, Google Maps). If entering both a written address and a postal code hasn’t fixed the issue, your address may be incorrect within their system. As we do not have control over the Google Maps application, we are not able to fix this directly. If you encounter this issue, we recommend noting the address discrepancy in the main body of your ad to prevent any confusion.

Trading during COVID-19

In order to help ensure the health and safety of our DCI Ads Community, it is important to observe and apply protocols outlined by Health Canada when trading with other users of DCI Ads. Your well-being remains our top priority. Please seriously consider whether in-person meetings are necessary.

If the transaction you’re making is necessary, please consider the following options:

• Cashless Payment: Please consider choosing your preferred third party, secure cashless payment method.
• Shipping: If considering sending/receiving the item via Canada Post or other shipping agents, ensure that the agent you’re using is reputable; it’s recommended that if using a shipping agent, that a tracking number is used and additional precautions are taken when sending/receiving items; particularly items of a high value. Increased care should be taken with high-value items to ensure both sides are comfortable sending or receiving the item through a postal or shipping service. Please note, DCI Ads itself does not offer postal or shipping services; it is organized between buyer and seller (agreement should be mutual, and we recommend confirming all details such as service provider, cost, packaging, pick-up location, and delivery address). DCI Ads will not be held responsible for items not received or for any items that do not meet the buyer’s expectations (including where they are not as described).
• Curbside pickup / Drop-off / Delivery: This can be a great alternative to shipping and allows both buyer and seller to inspect the item and make an exchange, all while observing social-distancing protocols.

Other things to consider:

• Remote Inspections / Video Chat(s) / Virtual Tour(s) (Long Terms Rentals): Remote inspections via your preferred video conferencing call service, enables Community Members to discuss the transaction while observing social-distancing protocols; Community Members can also send additional images, to show features/condition.
• Online Applications in Long Term Rentals: Online applications for rental agreements enable the landlord and applicant to interact while observing social-distancing protocols. Be careful of applications that request information such as Age, Occupation, Income, Gender, and more sensitive information such as bank or SIN card numbers. These can often be attempts to steal information. Please note that DCI Ads does not facilitate online applications and we are not involved in any agreements made between the landlord and applicant.
• Clean / Disinfect Items: We recommend cleaning items before and after a transaction as per the Health Canada page on Coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention. Please visit Health Canada to learn more about precautions to take at this time.

Reporting bad ads helps keep DCI Ads clean and safe for other users in the community.
To report an ad that appears to be a scam, SPAM, or otherwise violates DCI policies:
1. Click the red flag icon found on the left-hand side of the Ad Detail page.
2. Select the reason for flagging from the report menu.
3. Fill any relevant details in the Tell us more section to assist our support team when they investigate.

Please ensure that you:
Select the appropriate reason when reporting an ad. Reporting miscategorized or spam ads as scams can flood the reporting system and it impedes the investigations of our support team.
Do not report ads that are not in violation of DCI policies.
If you accidentally flag an ad do not worry; flagging will only cause an ad to be removed if it is in violation of our policies.

If another member is being rude or otherwise inappropriate, you can block them from sending you any further messages. Blocking will prevent them from replying to any of your messages or ads. Similarly, you will not be able to reply to their ads or messages.
To block a member:

• Open My Messages.
• Click on the conversation with the member you want to block.
• Click Block under their name.

Once blocked, you will be able to unblock them using the same button until the conversation is deleted or expires. If the messages are gone, then the block is permanent.
Suspicious Messages
Should you receive a suspicious reply that appears to be fraudulent, please report the sender’s email address and any other related information to our customer service team.
If you accidentally report a reply, don’t worry; action will not be taken unless the reply goes against our policies.

If you are the victim of fraud, please contact DCI Ads and your local police service.

You want quick results when posting on DCI Ads. We want that for you too! In order to make this happen, here are our recommendations.

• Do not post duplicate ads in one or multiple categories as they are a source of frustration for our user community. If you’re unsure of which category to use, try searching to find out where others have put similar ads. If you post the same ad in multiple categories, they may be removed from DCI Ads.  
• When posting your ad, post it within your region for maximum exposure. It is ok to post in more than one city, for instance, if you reside in between two DCI Ads cities. 

Remember, people that are willing to travel will search other DCI Ads sites using the Provincial search feature or the distance search feature to find your ad. So posting one single ad will be, in most cases, as effective as posting in more than one city in your region.  

Please note:  

• We reserve the right to remove ads that hinder the user experience.  
• Ads in the Services category must be condensed as much as possible. All facets of service must be listed within a single ad instead of having an ad for each service.

At DCI Ads, your security is a key priority! We act on tips from our user community in an attempt to ensure that only legitimate activity is taking place. This is driving fraudsters to be ever more creative and to find new ways to connect with DCI Ads users, such as via their mobile phone numbers. They’ll try tricking you by sending fake SMS messages via the internet asking to be contacted via email. They do this because they wish to stay off our radar which they can’t do if they reply through the usual channel; our reply email system.

Please note that they may try to disguise themselves by using local area codes in an attempt to seem legitimate.

Text messages will look and sound similar to this example:

“Am Interested in an item, Please email me back at info@dciads.com as I am at work”

Be cautious of contact email addresses that contain gibberish or a lot of numbers. The text itself may also have strange punctuation and spelling.

If you are annoyed by such messages, we suggest that you remove your phone number from your ad. We know that listing your phone number helps transactions move along more quickly, but at this time we have no way of preventing this type of message, so it is your safest bet.

Also, remember DCI Ads always encourages anyone using the site to meet in person. Once the item has been thoroughly inspected, you can pay in cash, or as a safe alternative to carrying cash, consider choosing your preferred third-party cashless payment method (at your own discretion). Secure cashless payment methods include electronic money transfers. Never mail a cheque or wire money to sellers. Services like Western Union or MoneyGram should be avoided. Typically, scammers will use these services and will even falsify documents from a legitimate company. It’s best to avoid them entirely and keep things local!

If you have any questions or need clarification, simply contact us and we can help with any questions you might have.

The biggest threat to the security of your DCI Ads account is fraudulent spoof and phishing emails. Spoof emails look like real DCI Ads emails, include links to “phishing” websites and typically tell you that your DCI Ads account has been disabled, locked out, or suspended.

While these phishing websites may also look like DCI Ads, they are in fact fake sites designed by scammers to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details. To be clear, these emails and websites are NOT affiliated with DCI Ads in any way.

We ask that you forward all suspicious email addresses and websites to spoof@dciads.ca and then immediately delete them. For tips on keeping your DCI Ads account secure when signing in click here.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Customer Support team. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused as a result of this situation.