Credit Debt Banking News | CDBN

In today’s column, I talk about a small business owner who believed in the values advertised by his Big Five bank. He thought that RBC had his best interests at heart.

He was turned down every time he asked for a Euro account to save on currency conversion charges until he said he was going to move his business elsewhere. Then, the bank offered to give him what he had been denied for two years before.

This kind of behaviour is commonplace in the business world. Companies fight to increase their market share by offering juicy incentives to new customers. Meanwhile, they ignore their existing clients, who only get their attention when they threaten to leave.

This means you have to change your behaviour ..read more

In just a short time, Twitter has become an essential tool for both media and business.

I have a Twitter account and so does Rogers Communications. In fact, it has a few of them. You can check out what Rogers is doing, even if you’re not on Twitter yet:

twitter.com/rogersrob

twitter.com/rogerskeith

twitter.com/rogershelps

twitter.com/fidomobile

Rogers told me that it’s trying to reach out to people who post online comments about their bad experiences, Then, it works to resolve these complaints offline.

Wouldn’t you know it? Right after I talked to Rogers, I got an email from someone who was helped this way. And he was pretty happy about it.

Hi Ellen,

I just thought to pass this message to you to inform other readers of your articles and on your side blog.

I recently ..read more

I’ve written about Direct Energy’s practice of automatic renewal of gas contracts. Finally, after much nagging, I think I’m getting somewhere on behalf of frustrated customers whose relationship with this company has been extended without their express consent.

DE spokeswoman Lisa Dornan told me that changes are coming to the renewal packages sent in the mail.

We are continually looking at our renewal process to make the necessary improvements to communicate clearly with our customers about their options at the end of their contract term.

Some of the recent changes have included the addition of a “Frequently Asked Questions” section in the package, and upcoming changes include:

* “IMPORTANT RENEWAL INFORMATION ENCLOSED” message on outer envelope – coming in August.

* Underlining the “Renewing this Contract” section on the ..read more

It’s not clear that company blogs are a good idea, despite arguments for social media generally.

I’ll give you the bad news first, dispelling some common myths about what corporate blogs can achieve, but then I’ll show you how a corporate blog can significantly increase revenue, even without 10,000 RSS subscribers.

If you follow this kind of thing, you’re already familiar with the Oct ’08 Forrester poll that measured how much people trust various types of media.

Specifically: Only 16% of respondents said they trust company blogs. In fact, blogs came in dead last in the list of 18 types of corporate communication including print ads, direct mail, and radio. The average consumer is more likely to trust a random postcard or spam email ..read more

I often think about replacing my 12-year-old car. But then I remember it works well (mostly) and has low mileage. So why not keep driving until it drops?

My column this week was for those sitting on the sidelines, wondering whether to buy or not to buy. Will the hot deals disappear? Seems like some already have.

When I talked about using dealer cost information to negotiate for a good price, I heard from several industry insiders. They felt I didn’t have the whole story.

The commissions are much lower than customers believe them to be, I was told. And selling a car is a tough, time-consuming, not all that rewarding job.

If you’re planning to buy a car, here’s what the other side is thinking.