Yet another Air Canada story, with a special twist

For a long time after the government of Canuckistan privatised the former TCA (Trans-Canada Airlines, aka Tin Can Airlines) and renamed in Air Canada, it enjoyed a pretty good reputation for on-timne performance, customer service, safety etc. Within living memory it was voted the best North American airline. But not lately.

AC has been struggling since it got "woke", because the push for DEI (Diversity, Equity and Includsion) has forced the airline to hire staff based on how many boxes they check on the woke list, instead of merit. And there's a whole slew of employees now whose job is to ensure compliance with the wokeness mandate.

One of those employees is Stephanie Cadieux (woman, French-Canadian, disabled), whose lofty position is that of Chief Accessibility Officer -- the first of her kind in Canada. Recently, Mlle/Mme/Ms Cadieux (Walt isn't sure which honorifc applies) complained on X-formerly-known-as-Twitter that the airline had forgotten her wheelchair. Here's the photo she posted of Herself waiting in front of an AC service desk in a replacement wheelchair. 

Ms Cadieux left YYZ (Toronto) on Friday, October 20th, and arrived at the Vancouver airport (YVR) without her wheelchair. In her post, she wrote "I'm now without my essential equipment. Independence taken away. I’m furious. Unacceptable." ["Unacceptable" is the liberals' go-to expletive for anything they don't like. Ed.]

Unlike most helpless Canadian travellers, Ms Cadieus is in a position (maybe) to do something about the "unacceptable" service. After all, she's entitled, having been appointed Chief Accessibility Officer in May 2022. Before that, she was a member of B.C.’s legislature from 2009 to 2022 and has held several ministerial positions. 

In response to her post on X, Air Canada said that what happened is “certainly not the level of service we strive to provide” and said they would certainly do something about it, if she would just provide more information to the customer service department by filling in this form yada yada yada. Rotsa ruck, Stephanie.

6 good reasons to STOP selling on eBay

Just four days short of eight years ago [! Ed.] I wrote "Fed up with eBay? There IS an alternative!" (WWW 12/11/13). It was the third or fourth in a series detailing the frustrations and pitfalls of buying/selling on eBay and dealing with its then partner, PayPal. One might think that the self-proclaimed leader in the online auction/sales market would try to raise its customer satisfaction level, but empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests the opposite.

This is what I've heard from a long-time follower who didn't heed my advice but continued selling on eBay until this spring when he finally weaned himself off that addiction. I should point out that the complainant [This sounds like a legal document! Ed.] is not running a business, trying to make a lot of money. He's jus an old guy who's got a houseful of junk which he's trying to dispose of to eke out his retirement income.

Here, from our disgruntled reader and other sources, are 5 good reasons to close your eBay account and find another place to buy and sell online.

1. eBay's new(ish) "managed payments system"

eBay used to own PayPal, which meant that money paid by purchasers through PayPal went straight into the seller's PayPal account. PayPal deducted a service charge immediately, and eBay billed the seller for their commission as well as insertion and other fees. So sellers lost up to 20% of the money they expected to get.

Now eBay has divested itself of PayPal and is forcing sellers into their managed payments sytem. That means giving eBay access to the seller's bank account, so that payments can be deposited directly, after deduction of eBay's ever-increasing fees. And payments will no longer be transferred immediately, but after a delay of, typically, a week.

2. Buyers now have to deal with eBay (only) to get their money back

Under the old payments system, if you bought something on eBay and didn't get what you paid for, or were dissatisfied, you could get your money back after going through a long and tortuous "customer service" process with eBay. 

If eBay found your complaint was justified, they would direct PayPal (which they owned, remember) to give your money back. 

You could also start the process by filing a dispute through your PayPal account. PayPal would buck it over to eBay, so it still took time.

Now that eBay has cut PayPal out of its "system", you have no choice but to complain to eBay and allow weeks for their system to deal with it. Your refund will come out of money they haven't yet paid to the vendor.

The only good news in that, for buyers, is that eBay almost always takes the buyer's side, even where the seller can make a good argument that they're being scammed by a buyer who says they never got the goods. How can you prove that? That's why a lot of sellers refuse to ship to south Asia or Africa.

3. eBay are now acting as tax collectors

American and Canadian governments -- federal, state and provincial -- have been itching for years to grab a chunk of all that money that's changing hands through online transactions, especially those that cross borders. eBay has caved under political pressure, and now charges sales tax, rated according to the residence of the buyer.

For example, suppose you live in New York state and buy something from a vendor in Ontario, Canada. The applicable tax in Ontario would be 13%, but the tax rate on foreign sales is 0.00% -- no tax. All the same, eBay will add the NY tax to your invoice.

4. And they snitch on you to your government

There are a lot of people and corporations doing business -- big business -- on the Internet. And yes, it's only fair that they should pay taxes on their profits, just like the bricks-and-mortar stores. But, there are also 1000s of people like the old guy described in the second paragraph above, trying to turn their junk into cash. Should they have to give Uncle Sam (or Mr Socks) a cut of the pittance they get for collectibles, craft items and suchlike, on which they make next to nothing after they pay eBay's commission and other fees?

Put it another way... Suppose you cleaned out your attic and held a garage sale or a yard sale. Would you be happy if, at the end of the day, an agent of the IRS or CRA came to your door to collect the sales and income taxes -- part of the money you got for selling your "treasures" -- which they would then give to such needy folks as illegal immigrants?

Under its managed payments system, eBay now has access to not just your sales records, but your banking information. They can and will give that information to the government on request, and if you think the government won't ask, LOL.

5. eBay's customer service sucks

See that meme above? eBay's customer service is actually worse than that! The chances of your having a phone conversation with a real person are slim and none. If you have a question or complaint and click on any of the "help" links, you will be directed to a list of possible problems, then to page after page of "solutions", which you've likely already tried or aren't relevant. 

You can go around in circles like that for hours. If you look hard enough, you might find an e-mail form which you can submit, but good luck with finding a phone number, and if you do somehow find a contact number, be prepared to be "on hold forever".

Before "managed payments", if you were dealing with PayPal, you could (with slightly less difficulty) contact their payment resolution centre or help desk, and you eventually got an answer. PayPal's bias is also towards buyers, but at least sellers get a chance to tell their side of the story.

6. There are alternatives

Our assiduous reader has looked at and tried a number of alternatives and has come up with four that can be recommended. None of them has as big a "reach" as eBay, but all of them are better than dealing with the Big Tech monster.

Etsy Inc. - American e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft supplies and tools. Not so strong on collectibles (stamps. coins, comics etc). Has its own managed payments system, with the same drawbacks as eBay's.

Webstore - US-based FREE online marketplace. Free, how? Webstore is currently supported by donations and ad revenues. They say they are "operated as a free public service so that our members may benefit from a professional, feature filled, FREE community in which to buy and sell goods and services without all the common fees of most auction sites and online marketplaces." Website cluttered and clunky, but user support is very good (according to our reader), with text exchanges with a real named person.

Delcampe - European website launched in 2000, "to provide a suitable environment for collectors to buy and sell their collectibles." More than 180 nationalities are present on the site, 1000s of new collectibles are being listed every day. Claims over a million active users, but little-known in USA. Easy-to-use site. Has its own managed payment method, but doesn't insist you use it.

eBid - British company created in 1998. It markets itself as an eBay competitor with the main difference being the vast difference in fees charged to sellers. If you sign up for a lifetime membership fees are minimal or even free if you settle for limited options. Very user-friendly site. They leave it up to you if you want to charge sales tax, and let you receive payment through PayPal (or whatever). They claim a monthly average of 8 million page impressions, and a daily traffic volume of around 60,000 visitors, but that's still just a fraction of the business eBay does in a single day.

So there you have it, folks. If you buy and sell online, don't put up with the hassles of eBay one second longer. Consider the alternatives and if you're scared to leave eBay, remember that there's no law that says you can only use one e-commerce platform! 

Walt also recommends SaleHoo, "a powerful research tool, supplier directory, and online community for dropshippers, wholesalers, and e-commerce stores." If you've never sold online and don't know where or how to start, this is the place to learn.

VIDEO: Hitler gets furious talking to a call centre

These Hitler parodies have been around forever, it seems. Or at least since November of 2009 when we posted links to seven of them, specially selected by Poor Len Canayen for hockey fans. See "If Hitler was a hockey fan". WWW 26/11/09.

Most of the dozens of clips floating around the internet use the same scene from Downfall (2004), in which Hitler's last secretary tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. But there are other scenes, and other parodies. Here, for the first time on WWW, is one that we can all identify with, in which Hitler gets frustrated talking to an ISP's call centre. (Spoiler alert: It's not really an Indian call centre, but the routine is always the same no matter where it is. Right?)

WARNING: Several F-bombs and other strong language.

Just between us retailers, customers are a pain in the ass

Walt doesn't have a whole lot of followers in France. [Possibly because we rarely post anything en français? Ed.] So it's not likely you, dear typical reader, will have heard of French high-tech retailer Boulanger. They sell lots of cool electric and electronic stuff though. They have a website and a blog and of course they sell online as well as their bricks-and-mortar magasins.

You might want to think twice, though, about buying from them, if you're the kind of person who believes the customer is king... or queen... or flaming queen.... The friendly sales and service reps at Boulanger don't always see it that way. We know this because the company apologized yesterday for vitriolic comments about its customers found in its computer files by France's CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés).

CNIL is an independent administrative regulatory body whose mission is to ensure that data privacy law is applied to the collection, storage, and use of personal data. Let's just call them the "privacy police". Naturally to do their job they have to access all the data, including very personal data, collected by the French government, businesses, ISPs, and... well... everybody!

In the course of snooping in Boulanger's database, CNIL found over 5800 instances of "inappropriate" comments about clients, including "stupid", "fat bitch", "ball-breaker", "retard", "Jew", "strong African accent", "alcoholic" and "nutcase". [The comments were in French, of course. Translations by Agence France Presse. Ed.]

After a public upbraiding by the watchdog, which gave the company three months to ensure its files contain only pertinent information about clients, Boulanger apologized. Managing Director Etienne Hurez said, "They were rare occurences, but did happen and we shouldn't try to not own up to this serious failure."

So, if you're a Boulanger customer, you must feel better now. Right? But what if you buy from other retailers -- American, British, Canadian, Dutch or whatever? Do you think the French are the only types who would vent their frustration by putting rude remarks on your file? Hm? Wouldn't you like to know what your providers of goods and services are saying about you? LMAO.

Ma Bell wakes up at last

Agent 3 grew up (more or less) in southern Ontario in the days when the Bell Telephone Co. was the only telecommunications game in town. They provided very good telephone service -- no TV, no internet -- at reasonable rates. If there was a problem, you called the local operator who fixed it or sent someone out.

Then came the telecommunications explosion: the internet, cable TV, wireless, mobile phones and other electronic gizmos which are supposed to improve communications around the world and right around home. Unless, that is, you're trying to communicate with your service provider.

Gone are the days when you could dial "0" and talk to a real person, maybe even a neighbour. First we had the late unlamented Emily, an automaton who, although she didn't understand very well, at least spoke with a good North American accent. Then came outsourcing.

Having spent many years overseas before returning to Canada in the mid-90s, Agent 3 thought he could cope reasonably well with unfamiliar accents and vocabularies such as might be uttered by native speakers of Swahili, Chinese or even British English. But he hadn't recked with Bell's "service personnel" in India or the vicissitudes of "Indian English". (If you doubt there is such a thing, consult The Oxford Companion to the English Language.)

To avoid having an apoplectic fit, Agent 3 resorted to dialling "2" for service in French. That used to get you someone in Montréal who could be persuaded to switch to English. No more. The best ploy now, for internet service, is to chat online. If you can see on your screen what they're trying to say, usually you can figure it out.

The problem with the unintelligble accents of the Indians was getting so bad that other telecoms companies started to advertise "Canada-based service operators"!

You will understand Agent 3's reluctance, then, to sign on for Bell TV. Finally he did so, all the while dreading the day when he would have to make a service call. Last night the screen went black during the Canadiens game, so he had no choice but to pick up the phone and call 1-888-SKY-DISH. (Well, he might have tried trouble-shooting himself, but Agent 3 is a Luddite.)

Imagine Agent 3's surprise when the phone was answered on the second ring (after pressing "1" for service in English) by a pleasant-voiced young lady who spoke clear Canadian English! She got to the bottom of the problem quickly too, and walked 3 through the reset process in time to see the next goal.

Suitably impressed, Agent 3 asked the young lady if she was in Montreal or Toronto, only to be told that she was in Manila! How about that! So it seems that Ma Bell, never the first with the best, has finally figured out that there are alternatives to the cheapest outsourced workers.

Maybe they're paying the Filipinos a little more, but they'll reap the reward in customer satisfaction with the service experience. There's more to service than fixing the problem. As advertising guru David Ogilvy said, "the customer should get a first-class ride to his destination". It seems Ma Bell has at last listened to its customers' demands for just that!