Tax season is upon us and we would like to remind everyone that the due date to file your taxes is April 30, 2012. The deadline to contribute to RRSPs is February 29th 2012. Yes that’s in a few days! Did you buy an RRSP this year? Here is some general information about RRSPs.

A little while ago we had a suggestion from Doug, one of our Facebook Friends, to write a blog about tipping. There are varied opinions out there around tipping. I was surprised to find through poking around on the internet that Canada is apparently one of the highest tipping countries. Apparently in Japan, it’s insulting to the service provider if you leave a tip!

Are you planning a romantic dinner out on Valentine’s Day?  What do you consider when making your dining decisions?  Location, price, their inspection reports, consumer reviews, their commitment to local ingredients?  One of our staff members recently found out about the Ocean Wise program.   If eating somewhere that supports sustainable seafood, you may want to find out more about this program.

Recently it was discovered that some babies became sick after eating PC Organics rice cereal, a product sold at Loblaw Superstores. Loblaws recalled the rice cereals to prevent any further occurrences as a precautionary measure and parents were advised to check any products they already had at home. You can read a related CBC news article here.

Have you ever thought about how often you are asked for personal information? Whether it is for filling out a survey, entering a contest or returning an item, it seems like we are always asked for our names, phone numbers and email addresses.  As a consumer, you have the right to ask retailers about the type of information they are requesting of you, and what they intend to do with it.

As this is the time of year that people begin working on their new year’s resolutions, we thought it would be useful to provide some more information around gym membership contracts. Gym memberships as well as other types of memberships for fitness purposes (i.e. yoga, or swimming lessons) all fall under the category of continuing services contracts.

Now that all the New Year festivities have died down and we are making our way through the first weeks of 2012, here is an overview of the Top 10 Scams to watch out for. This list was created in collaboration with Consumer Protection BC, the Better Business Bureau of the Lower Mainland and the BC Crime Prevention Association.

Recently we received an inquiry which we referred to the BC Ombudsperson. We thought providing some information about this organization would be helpful to our blog readers.

“What’s your return and refund policy” is a question you should always ask before paying for your purchase at a store.  Retail sales aren’t bound by law to provide mandatory returns or refunds. There are dozens of different return policies that can exist at stores and in order to be a savvy consumer, asking that one question can save you a lot of frustration if you decide that outfit you splurged on last week really isn’t as amazing as you thought.

Whether its for $5 or $500, gift cards make great little stocking stuffers and are the perfect gift for those hard to buy folks.  In British Columbia, since 2008,  gift cards for a monetary value are not allowed to have an expiry date.  There are exceptions for when a gift card can have an expiry date however, such as for a specific good like a hair cut or for a mall card, where the card is good at more than one store.  If you are planning on giving a gift card this year, keep reading to see more information and tips we have about gift cards!