Today Is The Day
At 3am Eastern/12pm Pacific Prime Day at Amazon.ca will begin for Amazon Prime Members in Canada. And special offers have also been made available to Canadians at chapters.indigo.ca, Primecables.ca/Living.ca
and American retailers Booksamillion.com
and Barnes & Noble
.
Criterion Collection fans should note that Barnes & Noble is offering 50% off discounts on these classics on blu-ray, including my favourites Moonrise Kingdom
, Silence of the Lambs
and the Beastie Boys: Video Anthology
. And CIBC Credit Card users should check their emails for an offer for Prime Day at Amazon.ca ($10 credit for a $100 purchase during the event).
By the way, an offer is also available to Amazon Prime Members for a $5 promo credit when they buy $25 Amazon.ca gift cards. Click here for details.
Special Offer
Amazon Prime Members in Canada that shop at Canadian Whole Foods Market stores will be able to get a $10 coupon for the upcoming July 15th and 16th Prime Day event at Amazon.ca. Click here for details.
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).
OTA Television Changes Along The Border
Yesterday I received a notice from WPBS-TV, the PBS station based in Watertown NY that broadcasts to Eastern Ontario, that they will be changing over-the-air channels on July 29th, 2019. And apparently several American television stations have already begun transitioning to new channels to free up frequencies for wireless services.
People who use television antennas in southwestern Ontario area have already needed to rescan to find WMYD broadcasts from Detroit on June 1st, 2019 and a new wave of channel changes are expected in July, this transition eventually ending in the summer of 2020.
If you’re getting these stations from cable, satellite or online, you will not see any changes. But if you use a television antenna to get any American station you will need to pay attention to notices by your favourite stations, that will be posted on their official sites and social media feeds for information related to this transition.
Many channels will also start airing notices featuring known personalities from television programs like The Doctors, Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, Dr.Phil, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy a month or so before their transition date. And monthly roundups of these transitions are also posted on the official TV Answers Blog, with occasional posts regarding individual channels appearing on TV Answer’s Facebook page.
I’m a bit too deep into Ontario to get American television stations via my antenna but thought people along the border would like to know.
Mark Your Calendars
Prime Day will be on July 15th & 16th this year. And Canadians can also get a free year of Amazon Prime by opening an All-in Banking Package account with Manulife.ca, provided you use this unlimited daily banking account to make 10 in-store or online purchases per month for the first two months you’ve had this account.
I’m not paid by the bank but thought you’d like to know. And yes, I do believe current Amazon Prime members would have their membership extended by a year on that offer.
By the way, you should keep an eye on Newegg.ca, who may also be offering deals to their Premier
members on these dates. And both Indigo
and Barnes & Noble
are also known to have competitive sales and discounts at the same time.