Do you support Athena? Athena is a broad coalition of people and organizations who seek to change Amazon’s practices through a variety of tools and tactics, including from the inside. In a braindump called the post of orphaned notes, I found this. athena is organizing against amazon, and you can help
Continue readingTag: consumer issues
wmtc: in which i buy eyeglasses online and am super excited about it: zenni optical
I recently bought new eyeglasses: price tag: $165.00. This is 80% less than my previous pair of glasses cost. I can see well and the frames are great. I’m going to buy a second pair — and maybe a third. Buying glasses online: hallelujah! At the end of this post,
Continue readingwmtc: planned obsolescence, future landfill, and premium-priced durability: in which we buy an expensive new washer
One of the things I hate most about our current world is planned obsolescence. There’s a “wmtc’s greatest hits” long piece unpacking planned obsolescence, as it relates to capitalism and our deteriorating environment: “we work to buy things that are built to die so that we must work to buy more
Continue readingwmtc: the great canadian sox shop for quality products made in canada
Add the Great Canadian Sox Shop to the list of companies I’m happy to have found. I am so, so, so tired of buying things that instantly fall apart. I’ll absolutely pay higher prices to avoid that. The worst is when you opt for higher prices, and the damn thing still
Continue readingwmtc: the unscented company for greener, scent-free products
I highly recommend The Unscented Company! Here’s why. Looking for a pump-bottle liquid soap, I was very surprised to find a total absence of unscented soap where I live. In a large supermarket and two drugstores, there was no unscented hand soap! I was even more surprised — and disgusted — to
Continue readingwmtc: follow-up: response from pacific coastal airlines
This is a follow-up post to getting home: horrific customer service from pacific coastal airlines. Tl;dr: Those are the rules. Too bad for you. Next time buy travel insurance. Good afternoon, Laura I wanted to write today to let you know your letters to [company’s principals] were all received and forwarded
Continue readingwmtc: getting home: horrific customer service from pacific coastal airlines
On the way home, I flew from from San Francisco (SFO) to Vancouver (YVR) on United Airlines, then from Vancouver to Port Hardy on Pacific Coastal. Pacific Coastal flies out of a separate terminal, not connected to YVR proper. You need a shuttle or a taxi to get there. This
Continue readingwmtc: cpmvfsgu days 8 and 9: monday and tuesday on salt spring island; whether or not to leave a negative review for an airbnb
I’ve spent the last two days reading, blogging, scratching, and occasionally eating and sleeping. There were other things to do on Salt Spring Island, but I was too uncomfortable to do anything. It was very nice to have uninterrupted time to read and write. Tomorrow we’ll take an early ferry
Continue readingwmtc: five reasons streaming is still better than cable, even if the price tag is the same (plus a long story mostly for myself)
If you stream movies and TV series, you know that the proliferation of streaming channels has had mixed results for consumers. Many shows that were formerly on Netflix have been pulled by their media parents, and are now found on different streaming apps. At the same time, Netflix’s monthly price
Continue readingwmtc: outstanding customer service from wayfair.ca
Wayfair.ca has amazing customer service! Their selection is great, the prices are competitive, and they offer free shipping with orders of more than $75. But their customer service has sealed the deal. We bought two lamps, replacing the lamps that were smashed by We Help Moving‘s ineptitude. The glass shade on
Continue readingwmtc: true confessions, or will laura buy new window treatments for a house that doesn’t need them
I don’t care much about clothes, shoes, bags. I don’t buy expensive cosmetics or skin-care products. As long as I have what I need, I’m good. It’s easy to watch my spending about any of those. But. There’s always a but, right? I love home things. Towels, linens, dinnerware. Rugs.
Continue readingwmtc: in which i buy shoes on the internet and this makes me way happier than it should
I have two stories to tell about my shopping habits. This is the one with a happy ending, the story that makes me appear to be a rational adult. On our road trip from Mississauga to Port Hardy, I quickly became aware that my boots had become useless. They were
Continue readingwmtc: the move west: day six: swift current saskatchewan to calgary alberta
Greetings from Mountain Time! I had a friend from Denver who always said Mountain was the forgotten time zone. He may have been right: we forgot about the hour time difference until we saw the time on a bank sign. On the way out of Swift Current, the highway was
Continue readingwmtc: sheraton hotel’s "green choice" is really just precarious work
These days, most hotel rooms contain some sort of green messaging, as companies are expected to show how eco-friendly they are. Usually guests have the option of not having their towels changed daily, which is supposed to yield big energy savings. Last week at the Sheraton Parkway in Toronto, I
Continue readingwmtc: the mysterious case of kars4kids: deceptive advertising for orthodox jewish proselytizing
When I watch baseball, I always watch the “away” feed — the Red Sox broadcast — and almost always choose local radio for the audio feed. (Hooray for MLB streaming on Roku!) And while I always mute the ads between innings, hundreds of ads are stuffed into the broadcast itself, so
Continue readingwmtc: an open letter to loblaw: greed is not good — especially for public relations
Loblaw Companies Limited1 President’s Choice CircleBrampton, Ontario, L6Y 5S5Attention: LCL Customer Relations Centre Dear Loblaw Ltd.: I am a Loblaw customer and I was extremely disappointed by recent public statements made by Loblaw CEO Galen Weston, Jr., regarding the proposed raise of the minimum wage in Ontario. Mr. Weston claimed
Continue readingwmtc: the great whole foods experiment of 2017
In our home, shopping at Whole Foods was once reserved for special dinners or used a stop-gap during an extremely busy week. Then slowly, over time, it became habit — and a big one. For a long time now, we’ve had two regular shopping days each week, one at Loblaws
Continue readingwmtc: mighty leaf tea: green tea and greenwashing
I recently tried a new brand of tea. I’m always looking for almond tea, which is difficult or impossible to find (more on that below), and noticed Mighty Leaf had an Almond Spice. It’s green tea, and I prefer black, but I thought for the almond, I’d take a chance.
Continue readingwmtc: amman to cairo to home: in which things out work very nicely
EgyptAir, we love you! I’m writing this from an airport hotel, where I did not expect to be. After Ridiculous Breakfast #3, we did a little negotiating (see below), then packed up for the airport. On a tip from the concierge, we stopped at the beautiful Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets
Continue readingwmtc: amman to cairo to home: in which things out work very nicely
EgyptAir, we love you! I’m writing this from an airport hotel, where I did not expect to be. After Ridiculous Breakfast #3, we did a little negotiating (see below), then packed up for the airport. On a tip from the concierge, we stopped at the beautiful Zalatimo Brothers for Sweets
Continue reading