Savvy Secrets

Rogers' Rules

2007-10-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Most people are probably not aware of the clause in Rogers home telephone contract (and in other telephone service provider's contracts, including Bell) that cancellation of the service will require one month's notice. When changing phone service providers, consumers do not have to worry about it as the new provider takes care of this. People come to know about this clause when they move from one home to another.

We did not think this would apply to us as we had planned on continuing Rogers phone service, not cancel it, after moving to our new home. About a week before our move, when we phoned Rogers to make the change, we found out that Rogers service was not available in the area where we were going to move. In that case, we had no choice but to ask Rogers to cancel our current service as we would moving from our old home. We were told at that time that we would have to pay for the entire next month, even though we would not be in that house and not be using their service, because we did not give them a month's notice for cancellation. They did not have any answer to the fact that they themselves are forcing us to cancel the service as they do not offer it in that area.

In today's electronic age, why do communications companies need one whole month to cancel the service? I fail to understand. Even if they find some excuses to justify this unfair practice, they should not be penalizing consumers for their own inability to provide the service.

Our Moving Experience

2007-10-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

It is exciting to be moving to a new home although the task of moving everything from the existing home is not something most people look forward to. The thought of hiring a moving company is not very comforting either after hearing countless horror stories about movers. But many families have no choice. We had no choice either when we had to move to our new dream home after 35 years of living in the same house.

We decided to take three different quotations to get an idea of the going rates. One of the three companies, Bronte Movers, was recommended by our real estate agent. The quotations from all three companies were very similar. Since Bronte Movers were recommended by our real estate agent, we decided to go with them. Looking at what needed to be moved, their sales agent estimated that it would take nine hours for three men to move everything. He told us that he has been doing it for a long time, and that he has not been wrong before. Just in case, if takes longer, the maximum we would have to pay would be for one more hour--in total for ten hours. He gave us a written quotation for nine hours, with a maximum charge specified, if needed, for one more hour.

We wanted to be well prepared for the moving day. Our new home was only about 30 minutes drive from our old home. We gave some items to Amity, took some items to the dump, and transported most of our breakable items to the new home in our car, making several trips before the moving day. Before the movers arrived on the moving day, all our stuff was packed in boxes, appliances that were going were unplugged, and furniture dismantled.

The movers arrived about 20 minutes late. After taking a tour of the house to see what needs to be moved, they started to load the truck. They seemed friendly enough. After asking several times throughout the morning for pop cans they manged to load most of the stuff by lunch time. We were inside the house checking to see if everything has been taken, when we heard the truck leaving. We went out and asked to wait until we are ready to accompany them. They told us that we do not need to follow them and that they knew where they are going. We noticed during our inspection of the house that they had not taken some of the items which we had specifically asked to load. Nothing could be done at this time as they had already left. We locked the house and left for the new home. We were hoping to see them either on the road or at the new home.

The truck had not arrived when we got to our new home. The truck had left before us, and it was only about half hour's drive. We had not seen it on the highway either. We took a sigh of relief when about two and a half hours later, we saw the truck entering our driveway. We knew then that we would have to pay for that extra hour. They told us that they had stopped for lunch.

Strangely enough, it took them longer to unload the truck than it took them to load it. It was easy to unload as they could extend their ramp straight to our front double doors. We had our share of scratches, dents, spill, and damages. That is something one expects when moving all contents of a house. What bothered me were deliberate and inappropriate actions of the movers. They had opened the cooler, taken out some of the items, opened the containers, and examined the contents inside by smelling them. They had also helped themselves to five of the Five Alive cans from a full sealed case. We did not mind them asking for cold drinks throughout the move (although it was not part of the contract), but helping themselves to drinks for which they were responsible while moving is totally unacceptable.

It was late that evening by the time everything was unloaded. We were looking forward to getting some rest after paying them the amount specified in the contract (nine hours plus one extra hour). We were totally taken aback when they asked us to pay about five hundred dollars more than the agreed amount in the contract. There was absolutely no justification for this, so we refused to pay any more than the amount in the contract. The movers left saying that we would have to sort it out with the owners. They had taken the joy out of the first day of being in our new home.

The matter was sorted out the next day when the owner agreed to accept the contract price but not before investigating why it took this long for his three men to move our stuff. May be he wanted to know if his men were slacking off. Whatever the reason, as far as we are concerned, a contract is a contract. There should not be any questions asked when it was clearly stated in the contract that regardless of the time taken the maximum charge would not exceed one additional hour than the nine hours quoted in the contract. Given the horror stories we have heard about other people's moving experiences, I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky. At least we got our stuff back.

Purchasing a New Car - The Conclusion

2007-07-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

We had tested all three cars we were considering: The Kia Rio5, the Honda Fit and the Nissan Versa. The first Kia dealership experience was not very satisfying, and to give a fair comparison, we thought we should visit another. In any case, we had seen and test drove Rio5, and had enough information to compare the car itself with the other two. All three had some things that we liked and some we did not. Rio5 came with the most standard features, the Fit had the best space management inside the car, and the Versa had the smoothest ride due to the CVT technology. We had to make a decision. Nissan Versa seemed like the best compromise as it came with most of the options Rio5 had, it had the smoothest ride of the three, and overall it looked better appointed than the other two.

Since we were leaning towards Versa, we decided to visit at least two other Nissan dealers to get the best deal. The second Nissan dealership we visited was Southside Nissan, Vancouver. Just next to it was another Kia dealership which was convenient for us to visit. We were hoping to get a better sales person and to have a second look at Rio5.

We first went to Nissan. A sales person who was standing just outside the door greeted us by introducing himself as John and asked us if we needed any help. After knowing that we were interested in Versa, he asked if we wanted to test drive it. He brought the demo car around right away. We wanted to find out if the feel of the steering wheel was the same in all Versa models and not just in the one we had tested earlier. It did have the same feel.

John was waiting for us when we got back after the test drive. He seemed very hospitable and asked us if we wanted coffee or soft drinks. He took us to his cubical after finding out that we did not need any drinks. He wanted to know if we had been anywhere else, and what discounts were offered by them. We were honest and told him what discount the other dealership was willing to give us. He asked us if we wanted to give him a dollar figure for the purchase of the car or would prefer him to tell us how much he will be willing to sell it for. We asked him to give us the figure. The discount he gave us over the MSRP was more than the first Nissan dealership, although we were still hoping for a slightly lower purchase price. We had not yet been to a second Kia dealership, and had only one previous price quotation from a Nissan dealership. We had a choice of going to another dealership for a third quotation or giving a counter offer and ending the search here.

We were impressed with the customer service, the hospitality and friendly attitude of John. So we decided to give a counter offer for the price we had in mind. John went to check with his manager, and we ended up splitting up the difference to make the deal.

The efficiency with which the formalities of the sale were handled was impressive. We were taken by John to his brother Clay who handled the financing. In addition to financing, he explained some of the other options such as rust proofing, upholstery fabric protection plan, and extra insurance if we were interested. We paid the down payment. The car was to be picked up the following day. We asked if they could give us a ride to the dealership the next day for picking up our new car. John said he would arrange that.

We were picked up the following day as scheduled. Our car was being washed and cleaned for delivery. John sat in the car with us and explained all of the features. He also demonstrated the use of Blue Tooth technology. An ICBC agent was already at the dealership to sell us car insurance. A few minutes with him got us the insurance and the license plates. It did not take them long to put the plates on the car. The cleaning and pre-delivery inspection was already done. Our new car was ready with a full tank of gas to be driven off the lot.

It has now been a week that we have been driving the Versa. We just received a follow-up call from John asking us if everything was OK. So far, we have been very happy with our purchase and the service we have received from the dealership. What happens in the long term remains to be seen, but for now we can recommend the Versa to anyone looking for an entry-level hatchback.

Purchasing a New Car - Part III

2007-07-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

After test driving the Rio5 and the Fit, it was time to check out the Nissan Versa. For an entry level car Versa looked very good. It did not have as many standard features as Rio5, but for about the same price (including CVT transmission and the Technology package) it had most of them. The quality of the upholstry and stitching looked very good. Deep pockets in the doors, front hand rest, and the glove compartment gave plenty of storage room. There was enough leg room in the back and the padded back hand rest provided two cup holders. Versa is eqipped with the Blue Tooth technology (included in the Technology package). It allows twinning with a cell phone to receive or send phone calls. The built-in speaker makes it possible to have hands-free conversation. We were not very happy with the way the back seats folded. It created a fairly high step reducing an evenly flat area for carrying large items. The ride in the car was comfortable. It seemed much quieter and less bumpy than than the other two cars we had tested. The CVT technology made the ride very smooth. The steering wheel, however, did not feel as tight as the Fit or the Rio5.

The customer service at this dealership was very poor. No one came to ask us if we needed any help even though they did not seem to be busy with any other customers. When we mentioned to the receptionist that we needed help, she asked one of them to help us. He took us to his cubical and grabbed a pad and pen to write down numbers without asking us if we needed to test drive the car. He did bring the car around when we asked him to test drive it. The only information we got from him were his answers to our direct questions. He did not make any effort to "sell" the car. He told us that we did not qualify for the grad discount ($350 off, 4 free oil changes, and 0.25% off the finance rate) as we had just passed the qualifying period. But he said he would give us the $350 and 4 free oil changes if we bought the car. He could not give an additional 0.25% off the financing rate given to grads by Nissan. In other words, he was coming down $350 plus the cost of 4 oil changes (at his dealership) from the MSRP. He also offered to waive the "documentation fee" of about $400.

In the next installment--The Conclusion!

Purchasing a New Car - Part II

2007-07-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

Honda dealership was our second stop after Kia to test drive Fit. We were told that the Fit is sold as soon as it arrives, so they only had the demo car for it. It was not a problem for us as long as we could see and test drive it.

We were impressed with the way back seats were made to fold flat giving a large leveled storage space. For a small entry level car, the engine responded well when accelerated and the steering wheel gave reasonably good control. The air conditioning did not feel very effective at the beginning, but after driving for a while, it was comfortable. We were told that because of the small engine, it takes a while for it to be effective. Compared with Kia, it came with less standard features. No floor mats (although we were told that they would "throw in" the mats if we bought the car), no ledge behind the back seats over the storage area, no arm rests in the front or back, and no passenger side visor mirror. Overall it wasn't as well appointed as Rio5.

Customer service was not as good as we would expect from any business. When we walked into the dealership, no one came to ask if we needed any help. the showroom was big and had most of Honda models on display except the Fit. We waited for about seven or eight minutes before we found a sales person to talk to. He seemed friendly and knowledgeable about the car and the Honda grad discount which was available only on their higher level models. It is strange that Honda excluded Civic and Fit from grad discounts as most grads would only be able to afford entry level cars. Their financing was also higher than the other two cars we were considering (3.9% for 48 months). We were given the same lines about having very little profit margin and therefore no flexibility in the MSRP. Overall, compared to Rio5 we felt that Fit had less standard features but gave better control of the car on the road. It was time to move on to the third car on the list.

In the next installment we test drive Nissan Versa.

Purchasing a new car - Part I

2007-07-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

Most people make two major purchases in their lives--a home and a car. Recently we went through the experience of purchasing an entry level car mainly for the purpose of commuting to and from the work place. Since a hatchback provides a wider access in the back for carrying odd shaped items, we decided to look for a hatchback. Our decision on which car to buy was based on the price, safety, and features available within our price range.

After doing some preliminary research on the Internet about entry level cars, their prices (MSRPs), and special discounts available for each, we decided to explore three hatchbacks--Kia Rio5, Honda Fit, and Nissan Versa. Toyota Yaris was excluded for not having side air bags. Once we decided on the models, the next step was to visit dealers, and choose one of the three.

Kia was our first stop. For an entry level car it did not look bad and came with an impressivse list of standard features . We test drove the it and felt that it struggled a bit when accelerated, and lacked sound proofing. We could strongly feel every bump, there was not enough leg room in the back and accommodating a third person in the back would have been uncomfortable.

We did not find the sales help received at this particular dealership very helpful. A sales person did greet us as we walked in and offered to help. Although it was nice to have someone to ask questions to, we did not think this salesperson had enough experience or knowledge to answer all our questions. We knew the MSRP from the research we had done earlier. It did not qualify for any of the federal or provincial grants for fuel efficiency. We also knew that we did not qualify for Kia's grad discount (the sales person did not know), and financing was 0% up to 36 months (.9% for 48 months). The price the sales person gave us was more than the MSRP given on the web, not including any of the taxes. In addition, a documetation charge would have been applied as well. We were told that since there is not much profit margin in entry level cars, the price would be fixed. We were not completely satisfied with this visit. We had enough information to compare the actual car with the other two we had selected, but not the price. With a fixed price of more than MSRP plus taxes and fees, it wasn't likely that we would go back to this dealership even if we decided to purchase the Rio5.

In the next installment, we test drive the Honda Fit.

Chalking it to Experience!

2007-05-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

'Chalk it to experience' is what I have usually heard after talking about an unpleasant experience. Like a good pupil, I have always followed this advice, and I am still doing that. The difference is that before the audience for my stories were my family members and close friends. Thanks to technology, I now have a wider audience to share my experiences with. The idea behind 'chalking' my experiences on the Internet is to give my blog readers the information needed to make informed decisions when faced with similar situations. The hope is to reduce the number of times people have to hear the phrase 'chalk it to experience'.

Air Canada vs WestJet

2007-05-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

Air travel has become the most convenient and the fastest way of transportation for most people. Making flight reservations earlier makes it possible to get one of the lower fare seats on Air Canada as well as WestJet. The problem with this is, to get the lower fare one needs to be certain of the departure date, and hope that nothing would happen from the time of the booking until the departure date to prevent one from taking that flight. If life would be that predictable, there would be no problem. Since it is not the case, checking out the cancellation policies of available airlines makes sense. I recently had the opportunity to see the difference between the cancellation policies of Air Canada and WestJet.

Competition in the marketplace helps to regulate price and business practices. Unfortunately in some sectors, lack of adequate competition has made it possible for certain businesses to set their own unfair rules.

One such business is Air Canada. The fares it charges on certain routes are kept in check due to WestJet, but its cancellation policy for Tango is nowhere close to WestJet’s cancellation policy. They both credit the fare paid for the flight minus cancellation charges ($42.40 for Air Canada and $40.00 for WestJet), but Air Canada is much more restrictive when it comes to applying that credit to your next flight. The following are worth noting:

Your credit with Air Canada is not transferable, while WestJet's credit can be transferred to someone else.
You have one year to use up your credit with Air Canada. If, for some reason, you can not fly within one year, you end up losing your credit as you can not transfer it to anyone else. With WestJet, you have to purchase the ticket within one year, but you do not have to fly within that year. Plus you have the option to transfer it to someone else if you wish.
With Air Canada, you must use the entire credit at one time regardless of the amount of fare for your next flight . If the fare is higher, you must pay the difference, but if the fare is lower, you lose the remaining amount of your credit anyway. With WestJet, you pay the difference if the fare is higher, but you also keep the remaining credit if the fair for the next flight is lower, which can then be applied to your next flight.

Air Canada's cancellation policy is not illegal, but it tilts heavily in its own favour showing complete disregard for passenger convenience. Unforeseen circumstances sometimes make it necessary to cancel a flight. If one is certain about taking the flight on the scheduled day when making reservations then I guess it wouldn't matter. If not, then WestJet's cancellation policy seems much more balanced than Air Canada's.