Canadian Car Repairs: Any Garage Reviews Available?

As I am trying to find a better garage for car repairs, I went on Google to find reviews. Surprisingly enough, I didn't find any good site. Do you know any?

My experience in the past, and I'm sure yours as well, is that a lot of those places are more concerned about getting a lot of your money than getting your car working well ...

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On a related note, do you know any good garage in Ottawa ? :-)

New Canadian Forum on Personal Finance

Thanks to Million Dollar Journey and Canadian Capitalist, we now have a Canadian Money Forum to discuss matters related to personal finance. I am going to register just after this posting :-)

Sears Canada charged me because THEY owe me money!

Picture that: I somehow overpaid 56$ on my Sears credit card (which I don't use often). I haven't bothered with that for a few months since I figured I'd use the card at some point.

I just got a statement that borders on fraud! Sears basically charged me 25$ in administrative fees for having to hold the extra money they owe me!

This is ridiculous and I promise officialy here on this blog to give them hell for that. You can be sure that credit card is going in the shredder in the meantime ...

Spend your money "wisely": be careful about Blue Ray Discs Players

If you are going to spend money on a flat screen 1080p TV (if you really have to, like me ;-) and are thinking of getting a Blue Ray Discs player, think twice.

I got a Samsung BD player for "free" with the TV and surround sound system and everything is nice except for one detail: the movie companies keep adding new protections on the discs (against piracy) since hackers tend to crack previous ones pretty fast. What it implies though is that the BD players manufacturers need to release regular firmware updates (that you need to download) to allow us (aka "the suckers") to play the newly released discs. The problem is that Samsung, in this case, is not keeping pace. I just rented two movies that didn't play: Milk and Bolt. I've called Samsung and there's no new firmware available for now and they don't know when an update is coming. That is really annoying! At least I rent my movies with Zip.ca so I don't pay a lot per rental.

I've heard Sony does a better job with the firmware updates (to be confirmed).

note: for the geeks amongst you, the anti-piracy technology that's causing all that problem is called BD+ ... read more about it on Wikipedia

E*TRADE Canada is now Scotia iTRADE

It finally happened! As an Etrade Canada customer I got this email in my inbox:

"Dear Valued Customer, 

Welcome to the new Scotia iTRADE (formerly E*TRADE Canada). We've kept what you like about E*TRADE Canada such as the intuitive platforms, ease of use, low commissions and fees, and added powerful new benefits. 

Plus, your first trade is on us!* 
Place a trade between March 10^th and March 13^th, 2009 and we'll rebate the commission*. 

Now experience the power of Scotia^TM on your side. This includes access to new, top-ranked Scotia Capital^TM research through our Analyst Research Centre. 

Important Reminders 
The E*TRADE Canada website address is now scotiaitrade.com(please update your bookmarks!). The site now has a new look, as will your statements and trade confirmations, but we've retained the same simplicity and ease-of-use you've come to expect. 

There's no change to your bill payment setup. But note that cheque deposits should now be made out to Scotia iTRADE Corp. and that E*TRADE Canada email addresses are changing to scotiaitrade.com. 

So, welcome. We know you're going to enjoy the extra control and independence. 

Get started NOW. Your first trade is on us!*