Consumer Complaints

Negative option business practices are a trick that can bilk hundreds, if not thousands, if not millions, out of their savings.

The principle is simple: you get something from a company, whether you asked for it or not, and if you don't say loud enough that you didn't want the product, you're out of luck (and money).

An Alberta-based entrepreneur has been doing just that, using the Internet to trick gullible would-be consumers to share their banking information with him, and making almost half a billion dollars in the process between 2007 and now.

Now, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has put a stop to it and made Jesse Willms, 24, of Sherwood Park, pay for it.

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Consumers have been warned - with Mars in retrograde, electronics and transportation are always affected, as in this week's review of recalls in Canada:

Health Canada has issued a recall for the Lenovo ThinkCentre M70z and M90z desktop computers because of the potential of an internal component overheating and causing a fire.

The computers were manufactured between March 2010 and November 2011.

Lenovo has received reports of several incidents of fire and smoke emitting from the computers, but none of these have occurred in Canada.

Over 7500 computers were sold in Canada via online and authorized Lenovo retailers between May 2010 and January 2012.

Consumers are asked to contact Lenovo to confirm their computer is part of the recall and to receive a free repair at 1-855-248-2194.

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Did you notice that when you buy a book, any book, at any bookseller, it carries two prices? One price for customers in the U.S., the other, for customers in Canada. The difference can be as significant as 20 per cent. Even when the Canadian dollar traded at par with its U.S. counterpart.

This happens not only with books, CDs, DVDs and other such intellectual paraphernalia. No matter what you buy, it costs you more in Canada than in the U.S.

Why is this happening?

If you want to get everyone going at the watercooler, just mention gas prices.

In the United States, the price of gas has increased every day for the past 21 days, while in Canada, many cities are reporting sharp increases in the past few weeks.

In Montreal, drivers who showed up at the pump saw an increase of over 14 cents per litre occur in the past seven days.

For drivers, its a price increase that can't be avoided, and for everyone, the price increases affect more than just the costs of owning a car.

What other things could start to cost more?

You know how it is when you go shopping for something that costs more than a fiver: you compare prices.

Except, such comparison shopping isn't worth much if competing companies agree to fix their prices, thus leaving you in the lurch. Recently, CBC's Marketplace investigated the eyeglass industry and found that in most provinces consumers are forced to pay inflated prices for prescription eyewear because of industry monopolies, and rules governed by profession bodies that restrict the right to give optical exams to optometrists.

If you suspect something like that is happening, visit Canada's Competition Bureau and complain. The effect can be pretty dramatic.

Before this month, Ontarians assumed they knew where the clothing they donated to those bins at the side of the road went. I mean it obviously goes to someone in need supported by the charity pasted on the side, right?...RIGHT?

Um, I'm sorry to break it to you, but it turns out, in most cases, we were grossly misinformed. Instead, a violent million dollar turf war was being waged right under our nose.

This is because the large majority of donated secondhand clothing in Canada is either sold to thrift stores across the country or shipped overseas to the tune of $174 million and over $132 million in Ontario. Big money means bigger stake, which breeds an allegedly violent and bloody competition for pickup routes and deposit boxes among delivery haulers.

"People are getting beat up because these things work as a territory.... We have orders from the company, like don't let competition around you And now they are fighting with each other.... people got beat up, the bins were stolen, the bins were burned out," a driver told CBC News on the condition of anonymity.

"It's a dangerous business and everyday it's getting worse and worse. If you go to someone else's territory, something might happen to you. You can get threats from people."

Related Links:

• Charity Hoaxes: Cruel Abuse of Your Generosity and Humanity
• Top 30 Celebrities Who Gave to Charity in 2011
• Open Your Heart and Eyes When You Donate

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Maybe you've picked up the phone recently to hear the following recording or something like it:

"Are you more than $10,000 in debt? We can help! Press #1 now to get connected with one of our agents and they can help cut you're debt in half for only a quarter of the cost."

Well, unfortunately a lot of these debt reduction agencies are nowhere near who they claim to be and most end up costing you money instead of waiving your debts. This is why The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has issued a consumer warning against those telemarketing calls and advertisements claiming to come from debt reduction agencies or anyone who claims to provide "debt reduction," "debt relief," "debt settlement" or "debt renegotiation."

"Unfortunately, people do not always see the benefits that debt reduction companies lead them to expect-and some people wind up even deeper in debt than they were before," says FCAC Commissioner Ursula Menke. "If an offer to reduce your debts seems too good to be true, it probably is."

The usual setup promises that the company can work out a deal with your creditors so that you're able to pay back only a small percentage of what you actually owe for "pennies on the dollar." It's quite the offer, but it may actually turn into a Faustian bargain.

Related Links:

• Debt Settlement or Credit Counseling?
• What is Debt Settlement?
• It's Never Too Late to Get On Top of Your Debt
• Debt Reduction: Five Steps to Freedom

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Be on the lookout for a few items that may have been brought by Santa in this week's recall report:

Health Canada has issued a recall for Little Tricky multi-purpose helmets that can be used as bicycle helmets. The helmets do not meet the safety requirements for collision testing.

The recall includes the Triple Eight S/M EPS helmet in black, white, bone, blue and green and Sector 9 S/M EPS helmet in gray, white, black, blue and green, both with the logo on both sides of the helmet and can be used for kids or youth.

Almost 1000 helmets were sold from August 2006 until December 2011, and consumers are asked to contact Triple Eight Distribution for a full refund at 1-888-548-8518.

Can you imagine, for example, a strange structure right beside a church, tall, adorned with a cross and looking perfectly innocuous? Guess what: it's a cellular telephony antenna under cover.

Unbelievable? If you enter an address of any place anywhere in the neighbourhood of the structure at this cell phone antenna locator, you will find out not only if it actually is a cellular phone antenna, but even which company it belongs to.

In fact, you will be able to locate all cellular telephone and paging installation anywhere in the country.

And this is a serious matter: there have been studies linking exposure to electromagnetic fields emanating from such towers, to a variety of complaints, some of them fatal. Incidence of cancer from using cell phones themselves, compared to these numbers, are perfectly laughable.

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Swipebids.com promised almost unheard of discounts on iPods, TVs, kitchen appliances, computers and gift cards, but all it ended up doing was swiping bidders' money.

They were an Alberta-based penny auction site investigated and subsequently shutdown by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission amid evidence of fraud. Like other penny auction destinations, Swipe Bids invited customers to buy bids in multiples of ten or more for between $0.50 and a $1.00 each. Those bids are typically used to try and win the auction item and each one brings the item's price up by a penny. On legitimate penny auction sites, like Quibids.com, any unused bids are banked on your account until you use them for the next auction.

Related Links:

• Banned: Stuff You Can't Sell on Ebay
• Senate Suggests Nixing the Penny
• Could This Be the End of Our Penny?

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