By Penny

I’ve always been a fan of Reitmans’ Comfort Fit Jeans. They are the most comfortable jeans I’ve ever bought and, I have added their capri lengths to my wardrobe.

The one thing I haven’t been able to find are shorts that don’t bunch between the thighs in Plus sizes. I’d almost given up on finding  shorts until one day I was in Reitmans and, I was just about to walk out when a very helpful sales clerk asked me what I was looking for. I said I was looking for shorts and,  she took me over to the Plus section at the back corner of the store(but that’s another rant), and showed me the shorts she had. She explained to me that they had a lot of Plus size  clothing in a small section of the store so it can be hard to find what you are looking for. I was able to find a pair of shorts that fit and that was the first pair of shorts I’ve found in years.

Now, if they could just move the Plus size clothes from the back corner of the store!

By Wendymac

Like many people who have home businesses, I have a mailbox for business purposes that allows me to have an address that reads “Suite XXX.” It looks more professional than a home address with an office in the garage…which is my reality. So I was upset when my UPS mailbox store put a notice in my box saying that I would have to notify everyone that my address was changing to read PMS XXX. The notice came from UPS headquarters and it blamed the Post Office and new “sorting requirement” for the change in policy

I called UPS headquarters to ask for the notification of new policy that they had received from Canada Post because I wanted to complain and to get clarification — e.g. could I put a # sign rather than PMS in front of the mailbox number? They were wretched in terms of how long it took to respond, the vagueness of their response and the fact that, ultimately, they passed my query off to the local mailbox as a “complaint” and a complaint against them. I like my local UPS store manager! She is great and eccentric and always friendly.  I resent headquarters for making tension where none exists.

Anyway, I called Canada Post and talked to a very pleasant man who knew nothing of the new sorting policy. He looked into the matter and called me back the same day to say that no one at Canada Post knew anything about demanding PMS on post office boxes. So it was entirely a decision of UPS headquarters who outright lied about the reason for that decision.

My local UPS manager was terrific. She wrote a scathing letter to headquarters, advocating for people like me who have home businesses. Yeah her!

BTW, UPS has retracted the demand for PMS on addresses. I know because she put a copy of it in my box. I like this woman.  Whew. Do you know how many people/businesses I would have had to contact to correct mailing addresses?

I was shopping for a new baby carrier about a month ago that I saw on a mom at my neighborhood park.  After googling the brand I found out that it was only available at one store in Ontario.  Since I don’t live nearby I checked out their website http://www.avasappletree.ca/
The website was clear and well organized.  But I did notice some differences in the info between the American and Canadian sites (sizing etc.) so before placing my order I called the store and left a message.  The woman called back in under half an hour after having researched my query.  She gave me the correct info and stated that she was so sorry for the error on her website.  I then went online to order the product and I noticed that she had already corrected the mistake online.  I placed my order and it was shipped that very same day.  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this store for any and all purchases.  It was a great experience

By Ave

I’ve used the Groupon app a few times for the Now Deals. It is very convenient as long as I have a credit card linked to the account. I can just click “buy now” to get a Now Deal (usually I get restaurant ones) but if I don’t end up going to the restaurant Groupon refunded the money to my credit card on the same day. If you have a smart phone I suggest hitting the Buy Now button when you actually arrive at the restaurant that way you know you will be using it within the time period. I’ve also had a few questions about the deals and Groupon replies very quickly.

By Hurtful daddy

Today is Father’s Day. After having a wonderful breakfast with my wife and kids ( 4 & 7 yrs old), we went to RCS Store, Highland & Fisberhallman, Kitchener to exchange a clothing  item for my wife. When we are at the  Joe Fresh cashier’s desk almost at the same time two more customers (most likely rep’s acquaintance ) came there with 20+ just grocery items. Cashier was ringing those items and was chatting like people do at home. We were three customers waiting in line with just clothing items. Since she was talking and ringing her friend’s grocery items, so I requested her if she can call for help and she called for help. The lady who came told me that she can’t ring for return/exchange as other girl was using for ringing grocery items. Before I say anything to her, she called for the next customer. I have not moved from in front of her when she called next person. Lady behind me also felt that new rep just ignored me and requested if they can switch the register. I, then aske
d the lady why is she calling other customer when I am not done. The customers who were getting their groceries (rep’s friends) started saying like…I also work in the retail and I know there are some bitchy customers like you ( pointing me). I felt more upset and humiliated in front of my family, so I just said…excuse me you are crossing your limit…besides, I am not talking to you ( customer - rep’s friend). My 7 years old son felt so bad seeing this that he hide behind clothing rack and started crying.

I thought I should report to this store manager and requested if she can call her manager/supervisor. The supervisor of Joe Fresh came to me and asked what my company is. While I was talking to her , store manager also came and I explained the whole situation. Store manager and Joe Fresh supervisor both agreed that represent should not be doing what she did with me. Store manager also told me that she will make sure Joe Fresh rep doesn’t ring grocery items while keeping their primary customers (clothing customers) waiting in the line.

I am not sure what she will do as I’ll not go back to RCS in future. I have PC’s many services (mastercard, Banking, & mortgage) for last 7/8 years; not only that, I’m their one of those valuable customers specially with their banking division according to the PC Financial.

I felt like I was treated like that because I’m an immigrant and those reps and their friend’s are not. So, I am not expecting to many changes on RCS side but I will first cancel my mastercard and the other services slowly. I just needed to express my feelings so that others don’t have to…

Sorry for writing such a long story.

Thanks,

Hurtful Daddy

Happy Father’s Day
June 17,2012

By Doug

After a very long and early morning doctors appointment, my husband and I went to Tim Hortons to grab some breakfast.  The workers were terribly confused and slow to begin with, but hey, it was early morning!  Upon receiving our order, my BELT was missing the egg and my husbands coffee tasted like it has been burned twice over.  So, I contracted Tim Hortons Head Office, they were so apologetic, and immediately sent me a 10$ Tim Hortons gift card to rectify the issue.  I alos had similar experience at McDonalds, who promptly fixed the issue (I had to return to the same McDonalds and I was on a list to be given 2 free meals)

The moral here is- if you are genuinely not happy, let the Head Office know!  In this day and age, there is so much competition, and everyone wants to keep your business.

By Sandra5

In general the staff at this store are super-nice , but this recent great customer service surprised this jaded shopper, so I think it’s worth posting about.
I was out of diet Pepsi-decaf in cans, and these had just gone on sale so I went down. There wasn’t any on the store shelf, so I asked someone on the floor to
check their stock if they had any more. This fellow came back and said he couldn’t find any and I told him too bad since I had walked all the way down with my
little trolley especially to pick this item up as I had completely run out. About 10 minutes later as I was still browsing the store, he came back and said he found some
way in the back on some slats that had not been unpacked and how many did I need. I said two, and in five minutes more he brought me the two cases I needed.
That this guy went the extra mile to double check really surprised me since so often when an item sells out I’m used to being told sorry, that’s all we have.
His special effort really made my day!

By Thrifygirl

Recently I went to walmart to shop for diapers and wipes for my newborn baby. As I was shopping I found a bag of opened diapers. So I placed them in my cart and figured I could possibly get a good discount on them at the cash. When I got to the cashI asked the red headed cashier  to ask the supervisor to came to see if I could get a discount on the opened package of diapers.She  started to gab about the coupon restrictions and how there told to never give away anything.After all I was paying for it . She continued to say how stupid people were because even if something was broken people would pay for it.She explained how at Halloween Walmart sold a skid of broken black cats at no discount at all. I was trying so hard to pay attention to the prices on the display to make sure everything was  at correct price. I love the Scanning code of practice! So I finally get a word in to ask for a supervisor to give me a discount. She arrives almost right away and looks at  the diapers and says well we usually don’t give a discount but you can have 10% off. So Iam happy with that because I have a coupon to use with my purchase so I am going to save $3.50 now. So the supervisor leaves and the cashier continues to scan all my items.I wait patiently for my savings and dont see her make the change so I ask” did you take 10% off? No , She says Its up to me she says and we arent giving you the 10% off. Iam like what did she just say? I am being told be a Walmart cashier that shes not going to give me my discount. So I tell her that ” Yes”  the supervisor  just said 3 seconds ago to give me the discount. So she plays stuipid for a minute and calls over another walmart employee. She asks her if its okay to give me savings of 10%. The Walmart employee agrees to give me the discount.

By Couponcountrychic

I’m a fourth year Business student, so I’m always in need of affordable, yet classy business casual clothes. About a year ago, the Smart Set in the Pen Center closed, which left Dynamite as the only viable age appropriate option for students. Just recently I discovered the Smart Set on Fourth Avenue. This store is very spacious, and airy. It’s not crammed full of clothes like most stores, and has a long change room hallway, which is excellent for checking out your outfit from different distances. In addition, there are always lots of salespeople to help you, which is important for when you’re shopping on your own. Kudos to Smart Set!!

By Megan

Just a few days ago I finally cancelled my cellphone with Bell Canada. I have to pay over $600 to cancel it because I’ve only had it for a year and a half.

The final straw that led me to cancel with them is the fact that I just can’t trust their customer service representatives at the call centre.

Back in August, I called to change my plan. The representative I had told me I needed to add on a $20 bundle so I wouldn’t get charged for breaching the data contract. She sounded sincere so I told her that was fine as long as I legitimately needed it. She assured me I absolutely did, and made it seem like she was doing me some big favour.

Fast forward to a few nights ago when I once again decided to change my plan. This time I used their online chat option, and I talked to a really nice girl on there. I wasn’t able to get a cheaper plan (my current one with that added bundle from August was $90.40 a month!) but she happened to mention that I didn’t need that bundle. In fact, the bundle that had been added had no data properties whatsoever!

The next day I called Bell’s client care hotline, and told the man I got that I wished to make a complaint against the first CSR that I spoke to back in August. We had to wait a while for his supervisor, so in the meantime he asked what the issue was. I explained to him that I had been paying $20 extra for 10 months on my bill because an employee had lied to me, and told me I had no choice but to add the bundle. He proceeded to make up a bunch of excuses for why the employee was right, and how the girl I had talked to online was wrong. He then asked if I still wanted to speak to his supervisor, I told him I absolutely did.

After being put on hold for 20 minutes, a supervisor named Roxanne came on the phone. She also didn’t seem to believe me at first, but after persisting she went through my account details and admitted there was no data involved in that bundle. She then said she could only compensate me for 3 months worth of the bundle. I asked her how it worked out that I was only being reimbursed $60 when I had been cheated into spending $200. She told me it was too bad, and that she wouldn’t do anymore. I told her to immediately transfer me to the department that processed cancellations.

The real issue with me isn’t the money I spent. The issue is that I spoke to 3 different customer service representatives AND a supervisor, and they all had different answers for me. The only one who provided decent, TRUTHFUL information was the one I talked to online. How do they expect me to stick with a company that doesn’t have employees available to answer questions? These employees are lying and tricking customers into spending money they don’t need to spend. Its ridiculous.

I refuse to pay $90 a month (for 19 more months too!) to a company that lies to its customers, and isn’t even sympathetic about it afterwards. I’d much rather pay close to $700 to get out of my contract then to continue supporting the idiots at Bell.

I sincerely hope anyone considering going with Bell Mobility reads this and chooses not to.

By Missxhillary

was in Dollarama shopping for a few things recently. We went through each aisle of the store looking for stuff we may need or want. There were ladders with boxes on them in a few aisles yet no one was tending to them. This making it very difficult to squeeze by with a stroller. We got everything we needed and it came to about 24$ not much. When we got to the cash we only had a $100 bill but there were no signs anywhere stating they did not accept them. The manager was at the cash to get the change for us. She rudely says to us “next time you have to spend at least 50$ to use a $100 bill”…. I was appalled. I should have spoke up and said my piece however I didn’t want to be rude… So we went on our way. I am in disbelief that she would tell us how much money we have to spend in order to use a $100, when there was no signs posted ANYWHERE in the store. Wasn’t impressed.

By Netterbetter

Customer Service
Last weekend I went to the Whitby location after googling wardrobes and finding one on their site that looked great and was on sale. All of the sale staff was 20 or younger as far as I could tell. Ordinarily I wouldn’t mention age but I think it relevant as they were huddled in small groups chatting instead of asking customers if they required assistance-which we did. That was my first impression.

Stock Availability

When I finally broke up social hour to get someone to help I learned that they were out of stock on the colour that I wanted so I had to wait to weeks or settle for the other colour. I settled. Even though it made me less happy about the experience I wasn’t prepared to wait two weeks. So off to the cashier to pay where I am told to drive around Petsmart at the east side of the building. After arriving I realized that driving around the west side of the building would have been much quicker so I am not sure why I was told to go the long way. Pick up was uneventful but I did ask if any tools were required as this was a two box build it yourself project. I was assured that none were necessary.

Build It Yourself:

2 Door Wardrobe was the item. I have to start by saying that most of my furniture is from Ikea so build it yourself is not new to me. Open the box to find a sheet of lettered stickers fall out. I guess the first step was to determine from the instructions which sticker went on which board. I skipped that step as it annoyed me. The quality of the “wood” was disappointing but not surprising given the price. The build was ridiculous. I wasn’t prepared for loose dowels which caused boards to separate. There was a small bag of glue and I assumed that was what it was for as the instructions made no mention of it’s purpose. There were screws and a tool that did not function well with them. After ten minutes of having the tool slip out of the screw repeatedly as if something was stripped I gave up. I have a tool box full of standard screwdrivers and other assorted tools and was disappointed to find that the screws included with this wardrobe were far from standard and required a trip to the hardware store to buy a new screwdriver that I have never seen or known existed. I am not sure why JYSK chooses to not use phillips, flat head or square screws but it was annoying. The build took far longer than any Ikea build as a result of the gluing (I like the ikea lock nuts) and the odd screws (I like the Ikea standard allen key). For all of the reasons listed about I will not be going back to this store to watch sales associates socialize and I will not buy furniture which is annoying while building. Ikea is the better choice when looking for  frugal furniture.

By Ave

I read many other reviews about the Crest White strips and really wanted to try myself. I got the Professional Effects kit because I really wanted to know if they really worked. It was quite pricey for a drugstore product since it was around $50-60 with tax. I am almost done the box (2 strips left). It’s like putting tape on your teeth and then pulling it out afterwards. It is easy to use but the sensation afterwards doesn’t feel good. After 3 days straight of use, I felt sensitivity from my teeth and gums. There was minor swelling from the gums and my teeth would suddenly hurt for 3 seconds then stop. It is a strange feeling. So I stopped using it for a few days before restarting. I’ve been afraid to use the strips continuously so I would use them for 2 days and rest for a few days to avoid sensitivity. I think it did light my teeth a little bit but the results are pretty negligible. For all the uncomfortableness I will not repurchase this again.

By Confused couponer

I had a $2.00 off coupon for the 425 ml Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce.  So, I was very excited when I saw the Price Smart Foods Flyer had it on sale for $1.47.  I  am new at using coupons as I have only started collecting them, but I do make sure to read the terms of the coupon. When I went to the store and picked up 3 bottles of the bbq sauce (as I had 3 coupons and it didn’t have any limit of usage). At the counter, the cashier was very friendly, but she noticed that the coupon was more than the sale price of the sauce.  So she asked her manager as to what the process was.  I was shocked when the manager told her that since the coupons was more than the sale price, she needs to override the price of the coupons.  So instead of getting $2 off, I got $1.47 off.  I did not say anything, as I am getting the bottles for free, but by the time I got to the car, I can’t help thinking if I got cheated out of my coupons, since the manufacturer will reimburse the Price Foods for $2 but t
hey only gave me $1.47 off.    I was a little bit bummed and confused…

From now until August 30th 2012 submit a review and be entered into a gift card draw for $50.  The gift card can be of your choice such as Tim Hortons, Shoppers, and Walmart.  Reviews can be about any experience at a merchant/service/product in the virtual or real world.  The reviews can be positive or negative.  Have a great makeup counter girl? Give her a shout out with your review. Reviews must be legible and at least a paragraph long to be entered. Reviews that are just a sentence or two will NOT be published. Remember it’s all in the details.  Fake reviews will not be accepted.  Enter as many times as you wish as long as your review is accurate and true. Please do not forget a title and what store/location you are writing about.

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