Mar 27, 20081
Mar 9, 20080
Canadians Car Buyers Are Getting Screwed By Manufacturers
If recently you bought a car in the U.S., you probably had to go through some red tape and additional expenses. It’s becoming more complicated to buy a car south of the border. It all began when car manufacturers ordered American car dealers not to sell cars to Canadians. Since last January, some manufacturers imposed new constraints on car import to Canada. Manufacturers have restrictions on their warranties in Canada. To have more information on warranty restrictions in Canada when importing a car into Canada, visit the Automobile Protection Association (APA) website. The APA is a membership based non-profit association dedicated to promoting consumer interests in the marketplace.Regulations became so complicated, that the APA recommends dealing with a broker when buying a car in the USA. A Tale of Two Prices is a good site where you can compare Canadian and US car prices.
“Now, as a Canadian, that makes me furious. There’s no excuse for it. The media have started to pick up on this and there is some pressure on the manufacturers, all of which have remained stonily silent. I suspect that if the reverse were true, and American’s were being fleeced out of $16,000 everytime they buy a vehicle, they’d be a little more responsive. I did hear Buzz Hargrove, spokesman for the Canadian Auto Workers Union, say that this wasn’t about pricing, it was about keeping jobs in Canada by supporting the Canadian auto industry. What? Like the Canadian auto industry is supporting us by giving us clear, fair and transparent pricing? Buzz, you have your head up your ass. This is about not treating customers like a bunch of stupid sheep. It’s about doing the right thing and valuing us. And if you can’t do that, you don’t deserve your jobs. I want Canada to be able to compete in a fair and open market place, not by slipping a fast one past your neighbours.”
“What the manufacturer’s, like Toyota, don’t seem to understand is that in today’s world, the customer isn’t ignorant. We know when we’re being screwed. And we don’t like it. Why would you expect us to react differently?” [Out Of My Gord]
Technorati Tags: Consumerism, Cars, Car buyers
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Mar 3, 20080
Starbucks “Problemo” Has Nothing To Do With Coffee
Last week, Starbucks lost up to $4 million in sales when all U.S. 7,100 Starbucks closed simultaneously for three hours. They did so, chief executive officer Howard Schultz said, in order to retrain their near minimum wage “baristas”.
The problem at Starbucks has never been its coffee but it’s the pseudo-european stale sandwiches and pastries. Last weekend Tabatha Southey said in her Globe and Mail column:
“Closing every store for three hours isn’t going to fix the problem. It will only make the sandwiches three hours older – and although three hours is mere seconds in Starbucks Sandwich years, it certainly won help the situation. Also for the records, sir, and I can be quoted on this, a combination of ancient and olive does not necessarily something European make.” [The Globe and Mail]Bookmark this article:
Mar 2, 20080
Consumerism: Free Slaves
By: Joey Strauss
Ezvancouver.com Contributor
In North America, people are under the impression that they are free. In reality they are more submissive than citizens of totalitarian countries. They do what they are told. They obey to advertisements and mainstream media propaganda.
People are conformists. The government steals billions from them and they re-elect the same governments again and again. They fear that by rising above the crowd, they will get their heads chopped off. The crowd equalizers move through crowds like lawn mowers through grass.
They get used to this slavery, which becomes disguised as freedom by the economic and multinational authorities. For as long as this society, based on consumption, guarantees them a certain “level of comfort” and nice toys, they do not ask too many questions and accept their destiny. Just the thought of the poverty experienced by half of the humanity scares them into denial and is unbearable because it would pop their bubble of illusion.
To change the world, you must disobey. Does that terrify you?
Technorati Tags: consumerism, over consumption, consumption, brainwash
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