Something To Consider When You Buy
When someone shops around for a new tablet, television or phone they do some comparison shopping that mostly involves the price, features, specifications and warranty coverage. But have you considered how much you would need to pay to get some of those repairs done, in and out of warranty?
Unfortunately some companies don’t allow customers to repair their own purchases, even after the warranty has expires, resulting in either high fees or electronic waste. But Canada is slowly progressing towards a law that would enable consumers to access manuals, parts and instructions on how to to their own repairs.
Bill 72 may have been voted down in Ontario recently but it is expected to pop up in other provincial legislatures. And meanwhile the consumer can keep track of what it costs to repair their purchases, or access ifixit.com for tips and trick on fixing out of warranty products.
An Openmedia Petition destined for Federal Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains is also available, so please consider signing this petition.
Thank you.
Ticketmaster Settles
Ticketmaster L.L.C., TNow Entertainment Group, Inc. and Ticketmaster Canada LP has agreed to pay $4.5 million dollars to settle the Competition Bureau’s case against them for misleading prices, according to a news release that was issued today by the bureau:
“As part of a consent agreement registered with the Competition Tribunal, the companies will also establish a compliance program to ensure their advertising complies with the law and will implement new procedures to prevent advertising issues in the future.”
The Bureau had concluded that Canadian consumers were paying 20% to 60% more than the advertised price due to fees, which were mandatory. And had decided to sue Ticketmaster and several other associated companies on January 25th, 2018 (PDF).
Ontario Event Ticket Update
The provincial government of Ontario has removed the price cap on resold tickets in that province and increased fines for violators of the Ticket Sales Act, from $10,000 to $25,000.
The prohibitions related to scalper bots remain but the requirement for sellers to disclose the number of tickets they have available has also been removed.
The newly elected government had paused the implementation of the act in July 2018 and had promised consultations.
Click here for the Consumer Protection Ontario site on “Buying tickets to events in Ontario”.
Ticket Sales Act in BC
The Ticket Sales Act was introduced into the British Columbia provincial legislature today, in the to curb abuses in the ticket resale market in that province.
Proposed is a ban on bots that automatically purchase mass amount of tickets to live events and additional transparencies for consumers.
Additional information on Bill 27 – 2019 can be found by clicking here.
Upcoming Changes For Postal Imports From States
Negotiations in-between Canada and the United States has resulted in the doubling of the de minimis threshold to $40.
This means shipments valued under $40 dollars that originate from the states will not be subject to duties or taxes, with another provision calling for duties to be added only to shipments valued at above $150.
Additional details will be added to this entry asap.
Postal Strike Talks This Weekend
Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers will be in meetings this weekend to avert a possible postal strike.