The Savvy Boomer

I understand begging bloggers- but the Consumerist?

A few bloggers put "DONATE" buttons on their blog which I guess I understand although I would find it demeaning to do so but some people have no pride and choose virtual begging.  After all, blogging is cheap to do, albeit, it can take a lot of time.  But let's face it, if you're good you can make a lot of money just running Google ads-I haven't blogged for a few months but I still get a small check every month from Google and I probably get less than .0001% of the Consumerist's traffic, and I have far less talent than their writers.  Yet there they are, begging for donations because they say they don't want to be labelled as biased if they accept advertising. 

But wait a sec, aren't they owned by Consumers Reports?  So really, aren't they an ad feed/link for that organization which charges $26 a year for a subscription or link to another of their companies which charges for car price reports or consumer health reports?  Do they ever say anything negative about Consumer Reports? Hmmmmm........??

I like the Consumerist for the most part but they aren't getting a penny from me.  Time to man up Ben and put some other advertising on your blog and maybe I'll click on something.  And I won't think for one second that you won't bitch about some company just because they advertise on your blog through a third party ad service.  Perhaps altruism may be alive and well at the Consumerist.

Beware of long distance telemarketers who "phone slam" seniors

Phone slamming is a new term to me that I discovered on the CBC website about a telemarketer doing this to a 95 year old woman.  Be sure to read the article and if you are friends or children of seniors who may get confused from time to time, ask to look at their telephone bills to make sure some ratbag organization isn't ripping them off.

What pisses me off most about the article is that the telemarketer must have known that he was dealing with an older person who was confused about what was going on and took full advantage of the situation.  If there's a hell, these kind of people should get VIP passes.

Who to complain to in Canada

 

If you live in Canada, there are various agencies that you can complain to if you are having problems with various types of services.   Some of these are national and some only for B.C. but if you are in another province you could contact them to see who to contact in your province.

• Local phone, long distance including calling cards, wireless phone service and internet access-Commissioner for complaints for telecommunications online complaint form or call 1-888-221-1687.
• Telemarketers, home inspectors, metro Vancouver taxi, travel assurance fund-Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority online complaint form or call (604)-320-1667.  They have a very comprehensive list of agencies you can contact.
• Cable companies-Cable Television Standards Council-www.ctsc.ca (not working when I wrote this) or call 1-800-426-4170
• Door to Door Selling-Direct sellers Association complaint form or call 416-679-8555
• Restaurant and food service inspection-each province has its own agency you can contact from the information on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website.
• Measurement-Any type of product you buy by measurement such as food and fuel.  Each province has its own agency you can contact from this list on the Measurement Canada website.
• Scams-A list of scams to watch out for and you can also report a scam at Phonebusters, the Canadian anti-fraud call centre, a service supported by Canadian government and law enforcement.

Before you start complaining, you may want to check out CBC's advice on how to complain effectively.