Watchdog: Investigating questionable HVAC contracts; how to buy Canadian
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HVAC scams are still happening. Why is the government failing to act?
At the beginning, Crystal Sheffield thought it sounded like a pretty good deal.
A sales representative from a company called Provincial Smart Home Services came to her house and talked her into a $26,000 loan to pay for a UV water filter, a reverse osmosis water system and smart home equipment, like a new thermostat.
The sales representative told her she would qualify for rebates that would help pay for it, Sheffield said in an interview.
"As a single mom of two kids, it was the middle of the pandemic … things were a lot tighter," she said. "I thought, this is great."
She alleges the salesperson never told her that the bi-weekly payments on the loan through a third-party lender — which started at about $65 — would more than double to nearly $150 two years later.
"I don't have that kind of money," she said. "My groceries [are] one of those payments."
Her phone calls to the company went unanswered, and her emails bounced back. Eventually, she refused to pay, which hurt her credit score. Now, she said, she can't renew her mortgage — in part because of her refusal to pay the loan — and she's had to put her house up for sale.
Sheffield is one of 80 people interviewed by CBC's Marketplace who feel victimized by Provincial Smart Home Services. Many say the company convinced them to buy HVAC and other equipment they didn't need by promising government rebates that never came and savings on energy bills that never materialized.
The owners of Provincial Smart Home Services declined a request for an interview. Instead, a statement said the company has shut down, that "client claims stemming from buyer's remorse are not valid" and that staff ensured each client understood the details of their contracts. Read more
- You can watch the full investigation, "Turning Up the Heat," on Friday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m.. (8:30 in N.L.) on CBC TV and CBC Gem.
Trump says tariffs are coming … again
U.S. President Donald Trump says he will end a month-long pause and slap a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian goods as of March 4, claiming he needs to take action because "drugs are still pouring into our country," despite evidence that a crackdown at the border is working.
Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that fentanyl imports are killing people, the U.S. "cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA" and he will levy a 25 per cent tariff on Canada "until it stops, or is seriously limited."
He also says his threatened reciprocal tariffs on specific goods set to come into effect in April "will remain in full force and effect."
The commitment comes after a week of chaotic messaging from the president.
On Monday, Trump told reporters the tariff pause will be lifted because Canada is supposedly ripping off the U.S. On Tuesday, Trump said it was still subject to negotiation.
On Thursday, he linked it back to drugs.
The threat of a tariff war is already driving up housing costs here at home. Crucial materials for multi-unit buildings are purchased mainly from steel companies in the U.S., and industry insiders say the costs have already risen. Read more
Want to buy Canadian? There's an app for that
As the tariff threat looms in our minds, many have turned to buying Canadian.
But with confusing labels, from "Made in Canada" to "Product of Canada" to "Packaged in Canada," how are shoppers supposed to know where their products are truly coming from?
App developers have tried to find a solution that doesn't require deciphering those labels.
CBC's Jenna Benchetrit has flagged four Canadian owned and operated apps to help shoppers identify the origins of everyday staples.
There's Shop Canadian, the brainchild of two software developers in Edmonton; Buy Beaver, which was dreamt up by two Montreal entrepreneurs; O SCANada, created by a mother and son in Calgary; and Maple Scan, an AI-powered tool made by a Calgary researcher. All four apps have a feature that lets shoppers scan an item's barcode to determine how Canadian it is.
Buy Beaver, for example, allows users to scan the product's barcode, and the app will rate how Canadian the product is on a scale of one to five based on several criteria: where it's made, where the ingredients or materials are from and who owns the brand.
Shop Canadian is similar, and relies on crowdsourced information. It searches through a database of company-registered product codes, and then shows the user whether the brand that made the product is registered in Canada, the U.S. or elsewhere. Read more
What else is going on?
Doctors are sick of sick notes
Most doctors across the country want to eliminate sick notes for minor illnesses, saying it takes up too much time that could be spent with patients.
More than 130,000 electric stoves recalled in Canada due to fire risk from front knobs
The advisory states knobs could be activated from "accidental contact by humans or pets."
Do LED face masks really work? Or do they just make us look like sci-fi villians?
Some swear they reduce wrinkles, but at-home masks don't have enough studies to back up their claims, according to one Toronto dermatologist.
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