Are you tired of going into a big store and not being able to find help? Retailers should treat you with respect when you try to spend your hard-earned money. Instead, they make you do all the work. You have to figure out where the stuff is located and howContinue Reading

For years, I’ve heard that Direct Energy technicians are quick to shut off furnaces during an inspection. The verdict is a cracked heat exchanger, a piece of metal that separates the furnace’s fire from the home’s air stream. The company says it has to act speedily because of the dangerContinue Reading

After the financial crisis of 2008-09, governments around the world started looking at ways to make the investment business more ethical and transparent to consumers. Some countries are changing the compensation system for financial intermediaries. Instead of allowing product providers to pay commissions to product sellers, they want consumers toContinue Reading

I know mobile phone companies are going paperless, setting off a lively debate. But I didn’t know that Canada’s largest bank had done the same thing. In May, RBC Royal Bank stopped sending paper statements to its personal banking clients. David, who wrote to me, doesn’t remember getting any notice.Continue Reading

I often take guided tours in places where I’ve never been. It’s annoying when you’re taken to a souvenir store and forced to wait for everyone in your group to finish shopping. It’s an unspoken truth that tour guides get a commission on everything sold in shops where they directContinue Reading

Finally, the government has come to its senses about the 70,000 letters sent to Canadians who made over-contributions to tax-free savings accounts or transferred them without the proper paperwork. In a statement issued this afternoon, the two ministers responsible for the new tax shelter said they recognized the confusion thatContinue Reading

Customers often run into pricing errors when buying items online — and when they say they want the original price, they get nowhere. This happened to Tad Klupsas, who’s legally blind, so he filed a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission against Future Shop. His story interested me enoughContinue Reading

Ten years ago, I did a series of columns on Future Shop’s unfriendly customer service policies. They had a 15-day return period and a 15 per cent restocking fee if you bought computers or accessories, camcorders or large-screen TV sets and returned them within the 15-day return period. Future ShopContinue Reading