What to look for before buying a mattress online; Airline regulator questioned: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet

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Many mattress-in-a-box companies offer a compelling sales pitch: free shipping, reasonable prices, and a money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied with your purchase

But some clients who purchased beds from GhostBed — a competitor of companies like Casper and Endy — say that after trying to make use of their "hassle-free" return policy, they've been left in the lurch.

Peter Learn and his wife Paula, of Kelowna, B.C., purchased a GhostBed last year and found it a bad fit for their sleeping habits. But when they requested a refund, they say the company gave them the run-around.

Learn was told that instead of having a pickup crew come and get the mattress from his home as advertised, he would have to find a "donation solution." 

That is, find a charity willing to take a mattress — during a pandemic, no less — transport it to the charity, obtain a receipt — made out to GhostBed — for the price he paid, and send that receipt to the company, which would then provide a refund.

"The whole thing was just so ludicrous," said Learn. "We would have to hire a truck to deliver it to a non-existent charity which wouldn't want the mattress, either."

In a statement to Go Public, the company said it takes customer service and satisfaction seriously but that when customers don't get the resolution they seek, they often "blame the business" and feel the company's policies "are unfair." Read more

When the pandemic abruptly laid siege to the travel plans of thousands of Canadians back in March 2020, many would-be travellers questioned the Canadian Transportation Agency's (CTA) decision to allow airlines to offer consumers vouchers instead of cash refunds. Nearly two years later, correspondence between the CTA and Transport Canada from that time period is raising new questions about the relationship between the regulator and the airlines it operates at arm's length from.   Unredacted emails show senior officials spoke with the agency's top brass in March of 2020 about pressure from airlines to let them avoid passenger refunds for trips cancelled because of COVID-19. Days later, the CTA posted a "Statement on Vouchers" establishing that airlines could generally issue flight credits or vouchers to customers whose flights had been called off due to the pandemic, instead of reimbursing them. The CTA falls under the purview of Transport Canada, and regular communication between them to keep the minister briefed on relevant matters is an established practice, a spokesman for the department said. But some critics disagree on the meaning of this correspondence.  "It's a troubling view into the way in which the government was putting pressure on the CTA and doing the bidding of the big airlines at a time when they should have been standing up for Canadian passengers," said NDP transport critic Taylor Bachrach, who called the revelations "disturbing," and said Canadians would be "shocked and disappointed" to learn of the nexus among industry, government and regulator. Read more

They're not just for chips and pop anymore. Vending machines are increasingly taking on a new, upscale form across Canada, selling everything from gadgets, to Build-a-Bears, and even cake from the cake boss himself. Globally, the industry is expected to see 10 per cent annual growth each year until 2027, and big Canadian companies like Sport Chek, Canadian Tire, Rexall and The Source have all started to invest. Kersi Antia, a marketing professor at the Ivey Business School at Western University, calls it's a perfect storm due to social isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic "We'd rather not do with the awkwardness of human interaction," he said. "It may be impersonal, but not everybody wants personal service." Read more

'It just sucks': Service workers in Quebec say they aren't paid enough for all the stress, abuse Rude customers and low pay are pushing people out of service jobs, say workers.

Long-term Statistics Canada research shows cities across country losing green space Canada's cities are growing browner, satellite survey shows.

Matrix T1 and T3 Treadmills recalled due to fire hazard Immediately stop using and unplug the units and contact Johnson to schedule a service call.