Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Well after lodging an incident report with my Car Manufacturers web site, where I sent them a detailed description of what had transpired, as well as sending a copy of my car rental charges, low and behold I received a call from my Dealership (and my assigned service clerk). He was almost incredulous in tone that I had not mentioned a rental and that I wanted it paid for, because certainly they would have done that if I had asked.

Now if I take that at face value I am either being called:

1. A liar, because I know I did mention the rental and the charges more than once.
2. An idiot, because I didn’t ask for proper compensation.
3. A whiner, for wanting more

Well, call me what you want (Ishmael, if need be), but they are sending me a cheque to cover my rental charges, so it just shows that you need to stand up for your rights, if you have been wronged (or you perceive you have been).

One for the good guys –C8j

This past weekend, I ran into a problem with my van. Thanks to the engine not being put back completely correctly (at least this is my impression of things) a part of the Starter Relay was left unattached, and it became entangled in my belts. The problem of course wasn’t noticed until I tried to START the van again. Needless to say nothing happened, and I was stranded 200 km from home, with a group of girls going to a basketball tournament, with a dead van. I ended up having to rent another van to get the girls home, and because all of this happened on a SUNDAY the van was only repaired late Monday.

I went back to my dealership (name not disclosed for now), and I showed them the part that I had noticed was dangling in the engine compartment, and that was replaced in Montreal, and I pointed out that I had paid over $140 for a rental. They were sympathetic and offered me a free oil change, while initially that seemed ok, afterwards I was not satisfied, so I have now lodged a complaint with the Van Manufacturer’s Management Service site. I have outlined in as much detail as possible things, and we shall see whether I am compensated any more than a free oil change.

I supposed I could go to small claims court, but that is a bit of a pain, so we shall hope that this line of attack if successful.

Stand up for your rights as a consumer, if you feel you have been wronged, complain, in writing. –C8j

My electricity Utility allows for equal billing, so that I pay the same amount every month of the year, instead of having my bill fluctuate with the months, which on the surface sounds good. The problem is that in the past year I have managed to cut down on my electrical use a great deal, to the point where I have built up a positive balance of over $800 (approximately 6 months worth of electrical bills).

I sent the utility an e-mail and they have agreed to refund my money to me (finally), but I have not seen it yet, so I will wait until I start tap dancing at the win fall of receiving back my own money, but then they went on to say they were going to adjust my monthly payments to drop it by $17 per month (or $154 a year). This seems a little small, given the amount I have not spent in the past year. Now it may well be they are implementing a MASSIVE rate hike at the same time, but I don’t think so (since the rates are government regulated).

I think my battle here has only started, as will tomorrow’s story about my Van dieing after being serviced. Stay tuned! –C8j