Consumer Information

My Thoughts On The Throne Speech

There were quite a few music related  issues mentioned in the throne speech that I’d like to discuss, so here they are in the order presented in the speech :

Government assets

“Our Government will review federal assets; when it is in the best interest of Canadians, they will be sold.”

Unfortunately that may include the CBC/Radio Canada, which has been in the cross hairs for years.

The CBC/Radio Canada has remained a constant for the promotion of Canadian music so its loss to another major network would be felt through-out Canada. And I’m hoping that the support shown during the recent CRTC hearings will keep the CBC/Radio Canada going. But I suspect the current government will cut into this public broadcaster’s budget again soon.

Heather Conway will be the new executive vice-president of English-language services at the CBC in a few weeks so we should know CBC’s fate soon.

Cable/Wireless

“Our Government will take steps to reduce roaming costs on networks within Canada. Our Government believes Canadian families should be able to choose the combination of television channels they want. It will require channels to be unbundled, while protecting Canadian jobs.”

A deduction on wireless roaming fees would be great. But I have some doubt in regards to the reduction of cable fees through unbundling.

Yes, it would be more convenient to choose which channels you want. But will choosing individual channels result in lower monthly bills for the average consumer ?

The providers have been hiking their rates significantly higher than the rate of inflation, claiming the expansion of their services justified these rates. And I suspect they will fight any reduction tooth and nail until their industry is eventually decimated by online broadcasting.

The CRTC will be holding public hearings on the future of Cable and Satellite television, starting on the 24th of this month, and I’m sure Canadian consumers will make it abundantly clear that it’s time to move on.

I, for one, will probably only have an antenna and internet access in four to five years if they don’t get their hikes under control.

Rural Internet

“Our Government will continue enhancing high-speed broadband networks for rural Canadians.”

Good news but I just hope the rates will be more reasonable. There definitely needs to be a reduction in price to make these services more affordable to the average Canadian consumer.

I would hate having to download music and stream music videos using the very limited speeds found in some rural communities. And with cutbacks at Canada Post access will become essential.

At Par Purchasing ?

“And our Government will take additional action to protect Canadian consumers. Canadians are tired of hidden fees. They deserve to know the real cost of paying by debit or credit card. And they should not be charged more in Canada for identical goods that sell for less in the United States.”

When I purchase books I mostly purchase music biographies, industry books and sheet music. But I’ve pretty much given up on purchasing books in my local book stores because of the higher Canadian sticker prices.

I don’t think the industry can be helped now because of the e-Book, which is much more convenient. But it could help people who prefer paperbacks, like yours truly.

My most recent paperback purchase was Belinda Carlisle’s Lips Unsealed: A Memoir, whose regular price is $17 in Canadian book stores but $15 in American book stores.

The difference in price is usually attributed to higher labour and transportation costs but many consumers have been questioning whether this is a valid argument since our dollar got strong.

Seriously, if it weren’t for the shipping costs I’d probably buy more from the states and several Americans companies have already started offering free shipping to Canadians. The Canadian retailers definitely need to get their prices down.

The prices on compact discs and DVDs/Blu-rays are o.k but when it comes to imports I can still find better deals outside of Canada, even with shipping & handling.

For example, I just imported Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven On Earth" and "Runaway Horses" CD/DVD boxed sets from England for $35, shipping and handling included. These British releases would have cost me at least $42 to purchase in Canada, with free shipping but taxes not included.

I don’t know what measures can be taken to help this situation on the federal level. But as a consumer I’d appreciate lower costs.

I’m sure rural Canadians would enjoy an elimination of the fees associated to paper billing proposed in this speech. But I’m guessing public consultations will probably be required for most of these changes.

I will of course post additional details on these issues as they come along.

Apple To Introduce New Radio Service In Canada

iTunesicon Radio is on its way into Canada, offering iTunesicon users on Macs, PC and Apple mobile devices the ability to create their own stations.

Funded by advertisements, the service will stream music from pre-set and customizable stations to iTunes icon and may be ad free for iTunes Matchicon subscribers.

The service will feature an extensive selection of recordings from iTunesicon’ catalogue.

Adobe Hacked

Adobe had been breached and have issued a consumer security alert.

Those of you with accounts at Adobe have probably received emails asking you to reset your password. You may also want to keep an eye out for Phishing attempts by fraudsters claiming to be Adobe and unusual activity on the credit cards you’ve used on Adobe. 

For additional details, consult the consumer security alert linked above.

Google Play Gift Cards Now In Canada

Google Play gift cards are now available in Canada, in increments of $15, $25 and $50.

They are available at select Shopper’s Drug Mart/Pharmaprix, Future Shop, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Mac’s, Couche Tard and 7-11 stores.

Click here for your nearest participating location.

Bell’s Fibe TV – Wait !

I’ve been on this service for two months now and when it comes to the television side of the service I’m quite happy.

It’s slightly cheaper than cable, the reception is pretty consistent and though time shifting is no included in the basic package, there is pretty much no need for it because of the video recorder.

Well, of course you’ve read the title of this article and know what word is coming up…. BUT !

BUT when it comes to internet I have been subjected to an issue that I think everyone should be made aware of.

During the month of August I had been noticing that my internet transfers would just stop.

I couldn’t load a page or random item so I assumed from what I had read online that my D-Link Powerline devices were failing. And I decided to go wireless until I got a wired network up to my second floor.

Then the wireless started failing.

The connection rate was high but the transfer rates started dropping erratically. And when I decided to stream an HD video from a USB stick I have connected to the back of the Bell branded Segamcom modem it worked fine.

I had never had this issue on the Fibe 12 service so I was perplexed. How could I be connecting to my local devices, including an NAS, and getting such miserable service from the internet ?

“Sync No Surf”

Apparently this issue has plagued some Segamcom modem users for years, on Bell, Teksavvy and other internet providers.

Also known as “ping no browse”, this issue causes users to be unable to surf even when they are able to use their connection to ping hosts to see if they’re active.

It can cause most users to be unable to surf for a minute to fifteen minutes and can cause modems to reboot themselves. But it also doesn’t happen to every user of a particular model of modem, which has puzzled technicians for years.

A firmware upgrade is scheduled from October to January at Bell so if you’re thinking about joining Bell Fibe ask if their modems have had their firmware upgraded before joining. And state that you are concerned about “sync no surf”.

I’ve had to inform myself of this issue independently from their tech service, who have had me reboot my modem repetitively and have had numerous technicians over to check my line, to no avail.

Save yourself the hassle and shop around.

More Information Added

I’ve decided to add a Security/Online Storage listing because I think it’s quite important for people to secure their computers and backup their most important files.

Many malicious programs are handled by Microsoft and Apple but there are a multitude of software packages that help protect computers from malware, spyware and viruses. And if your computer fails because of these programs or a hardware issue, it’s always great to have backups of your content.

I’ve backed up documents, photographs and videos online on Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive, both of which offer free storage. And I’m currently considering getting more space for my future needs from a paid service.

By the way, you may already have access to the aforementioned free services if you have email accounts on either gmail, hotmail or yahoo. And Google currently offers 15 gigs storage for free whilst Microsoft offers 7 gigs and Yahoo offers 2 gigs storage for free.