Tips for consumers from Yvonne Colbert

CBC Consumer watchdog Yvonne Colbert spends her days tracking down companies and governments, and is on P.E.I. this week to share some of what she has learned about how not to get taken.

Canada's consumer landscape is growing increasingly complicated, and you don't necessarily have to be dealing with a fraudsterto feel like you've been taken advantage of.

"One of the things I get a lot of inquiries about is phone service, internet service, television service," said Colbert.

"People who sign up for something and then find out that they're not really either getting what they paid for or paying more than they were promised."

Colbert will generally refer these complaints to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services, known as the CCTS. This independent agency will investigate your complaint and boasts a 90 per cent satisfaction rate from people having problems with telecom companies.

"The way it works is if you have a complaint against, say, Bell or Rogers, whatever the company, that company then has to pay the CCTS to investigate your complaint," said Colbert.

"So it's in their best interest not to have complaints, because it will save them money."

Colbert said she has received good feedback from people she has referred to the service.

Dealing with cars

It seems as long as there have been cars, there have been complaints about them.

Colbert's first tip is to do your research to avoid problems before you encounter them.

"You need to be informed," she said.

"You need to Google things. If you're going to buy a car, Google the car. You can Google any car and you will see that car's history."

If you see dozens of people making the same complaint about a particular car, you might want to consider a different vehicle.

How to handle recalls

Colbert said she also hears a lot of complaints about recalls, and in particular about when recalls are issued or what can be done to fix them. Recent changes at the federal level might help with that, she said.

"Until the spring of last year [Transport Canada] had very little authority. It could not order a car manufacturer to make a recall. It just did not have the legislation to do that," she said.

"Now that's been changed, and we're hoping to see Transport Canada take a harder line with car manufacturers when there's an issue."

Colbert also noted that once you do receive a recall notice, it becomes your responsibility.

"When you get a recall notice it's very important that you get that work done."

Stay smart

Keeping informed is also important for avoiding out-and-out scams, she said.

While seniors are often targeted, it is isolated seniors who are most at risk.

She encouraged engaged seniors to try to keep their friends informed, and younger generations to talk to their elders about how they might be targeted.

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