Credit Debt Banking News | CDBN

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 Shop soon revamped its policies, extending the return period to 30 days and socking the restocking fee. The Canadian-owned was trying to fend off a U.S. takeover, which happened anyway when Best Buy swallowed it up. But the customer service policies remained the same.

Now I’m seeing restocking fees used by other retailers. I believe these fees should be disclosed before you buy. Stores should post prominent signs on walls and at counters, so you ..read more

It’s my goal to write more often. I’ll try posting every two days for a while.

Wish me luck in stepping up the pace.

Why do it?

– I want you to find more fresh content when you drop by.

– I want to share the interesting and thought-provoking emails I get from Star readers.

– I want you to enjoy these stories and provide your own views of the topics in question.

This blog has an average 2,216 visits a day and 11,747 daily hits — up from 1,365 visits and 6,869 hits a day a year ago. It’s nice to see the growth.

There’s lots to read here already, but now you’ll find more new stuff on the home page.

So, let’s get started. Check the stories ..read more

As a consumer advocate, I’m always troubled to hear about cases where people make errors in judgment. Do I help them? Or do I tell them to learn from their mistakes?

Here are a few complaints I received this week and the judgment calls I made about following up or not.

– Maintenance not done on car.

“I bought a new van in 2008. After 49,000 kms, the engine goes. They claim that oil was the problem. I admit that it was not changed as often as should have been, but feel they should honour their warranty. They refused and I had to put a used engine in at a cost of $4,450.”

– Airline tickets cancelled because of illness.

“My husband, son and I planned to take our ..read more

Eric Sink says that tradeshows are like sex: When it’s good it’s really really good, but when it’s bad…  it’s still pretty good.

A lot of tradeshows have been cancelled due to low attendance (which in turn is probably due to slashed travel budgets), but those which remain are that much more interesting.

It’s easy to waste time and money at tradeshows. It’s not just the booth ($2k-$20k) and travel expenses ($1000/day including airline, hotel, rent car, shipping, and buying an extension cable at an outrageously overpriced convention center office supply center), it’s the week of time spent at the show (including travel ..read more

You switch to Rogers home phone, based on assurances that the price will stay the same. A few months later, the price goes up.

Is this fair? And what happens if you complain?

Two people told me they had asked Rogers about the recent hike in home phone service. Read about their experiences below.