The Consumer Complaints Blog

When were companies given the right to no longer send statements or bills? I have tried contacting the Consumers Bureau about this, but to the best of my knowledge, no one works there. There’s an answering machine and no one responds to messages.

My complaints:

For years I have given permission for companies to pay bills by direct payment from my bank account or on a credit card with no problems. Lately, companies have decided to save money by never sending a bill or statement. Some say they will e-mail one. It seldom happens. When you contact them, they tell you they don’t have your e-mail address and somehow they never have it, no matter how many times you give it to them. Upon request for a paper bill, they promise but don’t deliver. The problem? You have no proof of payment, no knowledge when problems arise and payment isn’t made, and when you cancel a service they continue to take your money.

1. Rolly’s Transfer – a moving and storage company in Winnipeg. I removed my items from storage, direct billing on my credit card ceased for 2 months, then started again. I contacted the company; they said they’d look into it. I never heard from them again. Visa fought this battle for me.

2. Telus – Just stopped sending bills, then cancelled my cell phone service. When I contacted them, I owed them a large sum of money because my credit card number had changed. With no bills I had no way of contacting them so I waited for them to contact me. It took 3 months. As it was, I had a problem even when I phoned the number in their message on my cell phone. They can’t find the appropriate department themselves. They said they didn’t send bills by e-mail because they didn’t have my address ( not that they ever requested it or even told me they were stopping paper bills.) I have yet to receive an e-bill.

3. U Weight Loss – I used their finance company which offered interest free loans if you signed a paper authorizing them to take the payment directly from your bank account. I have never received a loan statement even though I have repeatedly requested one. I refuse to deal with this company as a result.

4. AAA Alarms – My alarm monitoring company sold their monitoring service to AAA Alarms. I have never received a statement or bill. When I recently married, my husband had a monitoring contract with AAA which he could not be released from even if he sold the house. They did agree to move it to my house. However, they have given us 2 months of run around and red tape. Every time we comply with their wishes, a new rule is brought out. The final one was that I had to prove I had no monitoring contract. Interesting, with absolutely no paper work from AAA. I contacted the servicing company which had the original contract and was told they were not happy with what their parent company had done and were having no end of problems with AAA. They said they would contact AAA on my behalf for the proof and relay the proof to me. AAA never responded to their written requests. Then I began the red tape process of just cancelling my service. I have yet to receive confirmation of cancellation or final billing information. I contacted the Consumer’s Bureau to determine my rights and advice; left a message and have never had a response. Does this place really exist or is it a government front to placate us?

5. Shaw – A direct payment didn’t go through. I didn’t notice. No bills, no contact until service was cancelled. I went down to Shaw in person to straighten out the mess and pay my bill. They had switched to e-bills and mine didn’t go through. They were very nice and said they would send me a paper bill. That was 6 months ago. I have received one paper bill.

Is anyone else having similar problems?

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.

This is the first in our Helping You Shop section. Every once in a while we come across an exceptional business we just need to tell people about.

It’s BBQ season and for those of us that love to grill, there is no better time of year. The best results start with the best meat. Good quality meat is more important than any spice or rub you can come up with. Start with a great cut of meat, from a naturally raised animal, and all you really need is salt and smoke to make it taste great.

1 inch thick cut Berkshire pork chops gently cooking over some hickory wood and maple charcoal.

If you live in the city it’s fairly easy to find a few organic butchers. But what do you do if you’re somewhere else in the GTA or even in the 905? You’ve basically got two options. Either make the drive into Toronto and waste a beautiful day paying for parking or make the painless drive out to Fãmu. If you’re serious about BBQ and your family’s health, you need to go see Fãmu for your next cookout.

Fãmu is located at 3160 Steeles Ave, between Victoria Park and Woodbine just east of the 404. You can contact them by telephone at 905-475-5005 or visit their website at http://www.famu.ca/.

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So what’s so great about them? You mean beside the fact that they custom age their stakes, will cut or source pretty much any cut of meat you want, they cary only naturally raised meat that is free of hormones and other pollutants, and the meat is locally sourced in Ontario from small family farms?

But don’t take my word for it, let’s let the meat speak for itself. Below you’ll find photos of just some of the mouth watering cuts of meat that will make you the talk of all your friends gathered around the BBQ this summer.

Amazingly flavourful skirt steak.

Thinly sliced Wagyu (Kobe) beef. Ideal for Korean BBQ or Japanese grilled dishes.

Naturally raised angus steak.

Just some of the great meats available at Fãmu.