Walmart picks a fight, but coffee's looking good: Marketplace's consumer cheat sheet

Miss something this week? Don't panic. CBC's Marketplace has rounded up the consumer and health news you need.

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What telemarketers really think

Back in 2013, we tracked down some of the people who keep calling you about air duct cleaning. But we can't make them stop. (Sorry.) 

Neither can the CRTC, it turns out. The council asked companies about the do-not-call list and most said they either don't know the rules or don't follow them.

If you can't beat 'em, have fun with them?

Walmart and Visa break up

The giant retailer and major credit card are having an awkwardly public divorce right now.

Last week Walmart announced it would be cutting the card off over high fees. Soon after Visa bit back, saying the retailer must not love consumers very much.

Watch next week to see if they kiss and make up.

Bad news about bank fees...

Almost all of Canada's major financial institutions are hiking personal banking service fees this year.

The news, predictably, is getting some serious side-eye from customers who  have noticed those same banks have been earning nice profits lately.

"They're getting richer than you think."

...but good news for not-so-morning people

Your beloved cup of coffee is probably not going to give you cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer downgraded the risk associated with drinking a cup of joe this week, but says you absolutely, definitely should not gulp it down when it's boiling hot.​

Not the prescription you're looking for 

Who cheats on tests? As it turns out: some foreign pharmaceutical companies.

Inspectors recently found buried data, evidence of erased computer files and falsified human blood tests in the records of several dozen drug makers.

Here's the kicker: Canadian consumers can't find out where their drugs are made.​

Did you get shut out for Hip tix?

Did you win the "quintessential Canadian lottery" this week? Another block of seats went on sale this week, but if you came up empty (again) on Tragically Hip tickets, you're not alone.

We want to hear your experience with ticket dealers and resellers. Rant and rave to our researchers about your ticket wins and woes.

On TV: Get satisfaction from customer service

Canadians pay some of the highest prices in the world for cellphone service. And yet somehow, mysteriously, when we have problems with those phones, customer service is sometimes not the the greatest.

We talked to insiders about how to really get your cellphone problems fixed. Really. Watch it on TV this weekend or online right now.