The Consumer Complaints Blog

Even though we think that most of these agencies have little or no power. Well, let’s be honest. We actually think they are a huge joke. Kind of like the life jackets on airplanes. Ever seen footage of a plane hitting the water? Not exactly a smooth landing…

In any case. We thought it would be nice to put together a list of places people can try to exercise their rights. We’ve tried in the past without much success but there is strength in numbers.

Please let us know if there are any problems with the links.

All Industries
Better Business Bureau(s)

Automobile

Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan

Motor Vehicle Industry Council (Alberta)

Motor Vehicle Industry Council (Ontario)

Automobile Protection Association

Automobile Consumer Coalition

Advertising and Marketing

Advertising Standards Canada

Canadian Marketing Association

Competition Bureau

The Bereavement Register

Communications (Radio, Television, Telephone, etc.)

Cable Television Standards Council

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council

Energy, Gas, Electricity

Ontario Energy Board

Quebec Energy Board / Régie de l’énergie Québec

Centre for Energy

Independent Electricity Market Operator

Energy Shop (energy price comparisons)

Financial Services

Financial Consumers Agency of Canada

Centre for the Financial Services Ombudsnetwork

Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments

Canadian Bankers Association — Ombudsman

Financial Services Commission of Ontario

Financial Planners Standards Council (look under “Enforcement”)

Investment Dealers Association

Canadian Payments Association

Office of the Superintendant of Financial Institutions

Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy

Government of Canada Financial Services Links

Food

Canadian Food Inspection Agency – Report a Food Complaint

Canadian Food Inspection Agency — Consumer Information

Canadian Partnership for Food Safety Information Education

Health and Safety

Health Canada — Product Reporting

Health Canada — Consumer Product Safety

Health Canada — Consumer and Public Involvement

Health Canada — Health Protection Consumer Reports

Canadian Toy Testing Council

Pest Management Regulatory Agency

Housing, Building and Construction

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Canadian Home Builders Association

Insurance

General Insurance Ombudservice

Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association

Financial Services Commission of Ontario

Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario

Provincial Insurance Council (Alberta)

Provincial Insurance Council (British Columbia)

Provincial Insurance Council (Manitoba)

Provincial Insurance Council (Saskatchewan)

Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators

Insurance Canada — Consumer Information

Privacy

Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Travel and Transportation

Air Travel Complaints Commission

Canadian Transportation Agency

Stay away from Kiosk Mobilia! If you have a problem it will take years to resolve and months to get your refund.

This is a long saga that started in September 2004 with the placement of an order for 8 chairs, delivery promised in November 2004. We sold our dining room set in early November. The chairs arrived in January 2005 (Christmas on borrowed chairs), colour did not match wood sample in showroom (sample book has wood samples that are about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch.

Kiosk had a sale on in January – and the reduced sale price came close to exceeding the restocking charge (or so we thought!) Funny thing – they have decided to base the restocking charge on the full regular price, not the price you pay – so they are really making money here. None of this is on the order form nor are you told before completing the purchase!

So the second lot was ordered in January. Based on advice from the salesperson, a custom colour was ordered and we paid to FedEx a wood sample to Spain. The finally arrived towards the end of April. What a waste of time – the chairs were way off colour and totally unacceptable. Kiosk was going to get the chairs sprayed in Toronto, but after four trips to their refinisher, over 8 hours of wasted time, several months of chasing, and then the refinisher losing the wood sample, we gave up.

So in September 2005, the third lot was ordered with delivery promised again for early November. To be totally safe we went with colour 39 – and a standard fabric. They finally arrived the first week in December, before Christmas – in a colour that was not even in the sample book and teak orange instead of dark brown walnut colour due to an ordering error by Kiosk staff. Kiosk Mobilia committed to getting them sprayed for Christmas – and as usual did not deliver on their commitment – we hosted Christmas dinner on a mishmash of chairs as we did not have enough for our guests.

In January 2006, the sprayed chairs finally arrived – with drips/runs in the staining, and areas on every chair that were not sprayed. We gave up – and guess what.

We got stung for over $400 on the refund – despite the fact that their staff made the ordering errors. If the last lot was delivered as ordered, we would have ended up paying a couple of hundred more than our original order (still less than full price), and this would not have been a problem.

If we had had accurate advice from staff to start with, this whole process would never have been started. It is totally unethical for a company to base their restocking charge on the full retail – when you pay a sale price and not to tell you up front. Just for example – with a $500 chair on sale for $375- your restocking charge is $100 instead of $75 – a lot when you add up the cost of several chairs.

We got bad advice, poor service, total failure to get orders correct and deliveries on time, and then to cap it all off – when the owner – Robert Sidi and I made jointly made the decision on January 26 to stop trying. To get our refund took nearly two months, 28 phone calls (documented with times),8 detailed emails and finally at the end of February a comment to a store manager that we would cause a scene in the store to get action.

In negotiating the refund – the owner refused to speak to us despite the fact that we were always polite, did not swear, did not yell. It was a horrid frustration to have to deal with staff who have no authority to make a decision – so instead of one phone call – it was always two or three. The refund was reduced by the overpriced restocking fees). I figure – getting the refund took over 20 hours of my time – totally unacceptable. We finally got the money on March 16 – and we had to pick up the cheque.

So we went without dining room chairs for 18 months, spent easily over 100 hours on the order by the time you include going to the store several times, phone calls to chase the deliveries, dealing with deliveries, refinisher etc, problems in getting the refund, and paid $400 for the privilege of ending up with nothing.

Just sign us – Totally unhappy FORMER customer – we will never deal with them again and will encourage all our associates and our adult children and their friends to avoid them too!

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.