so you want to divorce your bank?!

Oh.  My.  God leaving your bank is difficult.  After *cough years with one of the blue banks, I started to feel that my faithfulness and invested money maybe wasn’t getting the best treatment.  And so I started shopping around and discovered all sorts of free chequing accounts available and perhaps even worse that my own bank was waiving fees for those with multiple accounts – like me.  But not like me because nobody ever mentioned this offer to me.  In spite of the fact that they telemarketed me at least three times a week and didn’t leave a message.  Needless to say after banking at the same place since I was a teenager, I decided I was done.  I walked my butt over to one of the red banks and signed myself up for a new free chequing account.  Then I started moving all the prearranged payments company by company to the new account.  Then I moved my RSP.  Then I applied for a line of credit.  Then I waited. 

At this point it’s been almost 8 weeks and we’re still waiting on some of this and honestly, it might be easier to divorce a spouse than a major financial institution.

First, it takes you about 3 pay cycles to figure out what comes out of your account and when.  Or at least it did for me.  Then it takes each of them about 3 weeks to move these so you need another pay cycle to confirm that the move was made.  So I get paid bi-monthly.  If I remembered on the 13^th that something came out of my account on the 15^th, and I called to make new arrangements, because I remembered so late, it took another month to confirm that everything was hunky dory. 

Secondly it takes 4 to 6 weeks and some paperwork to move an RSP.  And dealing with a venue-less bank means you do all of this over the phone and (eek) fax.  And if you’re like me, they keep sending your confirmations to your misspelled e-mail address.  Which is almost like not sending them at all.

You will have to remember and repeat a lot of things about your financial life to many people many times.  Have you ever missed a bill payment? Answer ‘Never’, ‘Occasionally’, ‘Often’.  So there’s no point in fibbing because you’ve just given six people permission to pull your credit report, but honestly the only answer reasonable is ‘Occasionally’ because yes, I probably forgot to post a payment once or twice in the 20 odd years I’ve had to pay a bill.

You will also learn a few new idiosyncrasies of your new financial institutions.   Among them PC Financial makes it so difficult to set up a credit card password that, if you’re like me, you will forget it instantly completely eradicating its effectiveness.  And if you are on hold with ING as much as I have been of late you will notice that they play only songs with the word ‘Money’ in them on their hold music.  It’s actually quite entertaining.

Finally, you will have to toggle between two institutions until this is completed because otherwise you’re just writing cheques to yourself and having to go into the bank branch – which I have spent the better part of *cough years avoiding.

Hopefully all this malarkey will be over shortly as soon as move the last of the balances over to one of my 

two new red institutions and finally give the blue bank the one finger salute goodbye.

I have a bottle of bubbly on ice for when this absurdity is finally over.  And other one for the un-cabling of Rogers.  Which is next.  But not for awhile because if you’re like me, there’s only so much of this you can take.

and there's that

What a difference a week, or probably a little longer in reality, makes.

According to the man himself the entire gentleman's deal went down in a van on a country road, which hopefully isn't as untoward as it sounds when you write it down.  The deal gets voted in or out in September but the deal for Loblaw to purchase Shopper's Drug Mart gives them not only an entirely new-ish market segment but also unprecedented urban locations.

So while the webesphere goes on about how 'expensive' these retailers are - not understanding that there is a fairly large group who are not willing to take transit out into the wilds of the 'burbs, walk across a massive parking lot to save 29 cents on a can of tuna - 'we' are wondering how exactly this will look.  However I admit that on those Friday nights when I don't want to cook and I'm standing in the freezer aisle of my local SDM I'm a little stoked that there might be some Blue Menu options.

or in that direction

Not that I fancy Galen Weston actually reads my blog.  But just a few days after my last post, Loblaws company announces their new format for small urban stores, 'The Box by No Frills'.  Essentially a small, 10,000 sq. ft. version of No Frills - your average No Frills is 25,000 sq. ft.  The tests run in Calgary to see how the market responds.  To be a tad elitist, what plays in Calgary may not translate here, but I'm just one voice.

dear galen weston,

Why am I so faithful to your corporation?  When challenged to write you directly as a tactic for seeking employment I can't help but reflect on my years of loyalty to the Loblaws corporation and wonder why.

I 'sit' on your consumer panel and clearly as a single working adult urban woman with no kids you're not listening.  Your panel consists of asking me to participate in surveys that appear to be written only for a single desired outcome and not to gauge actual consumer interest.  We have never met.  No one has ever responded to my suggestions, which to be bold, I think are pretty useful.  No one has asked what I'd like in a supermarket.

Then again I keep frequenting your establishments.  So I am, in part, to blame for our continued dalliance.

Part is learned behaviour.  Part is convenience.  Part is liking your points program and PC line.  So in some ways you, as Loblaws, have done well in capturing an audience.  But after several decades we appear to be having relationship growth pains.

Urban locations are key to your success of keeping me as a consumer.  But they are also the cause of the strife.  In the smallish town I grew up in yours was the only downtown location.  So my ‘car-free’ family shopped there.  I continued the tradition when I moved to Toronto because by then it was rote.

However of late you miss opportunities to innovate those urban spots, instead pouring money into suburban stores and frankly I'm starting to feel dismissed.

Massive expansions and super stores aren't feasible in tight urban spaces I realize.  But instead of studying the habits of your small urban stores you tried to whack as much as you could in one store narrowing the aisles to almost impassible.  And perhaps I'm in the minority but does a small store really need almost half of the available freezer space for frozen pizza and ice cream?  Seems that space could be used more advantageously.  

PC brand is good and often of quality but your stores lack of a decent selection of ready made fresh food ala Fresh Co and Sobey’s.  If I see another rotisserie chicken with a side of wedge fries, I’ll, well, I just don’t buy them.  What about pasta dishes, baked chicken and fish, bean chili or, whatever else might be easily packaged, to take home and eaten that night?

Urban locations have slowly started to pop up, but why is it so much more expensive at these locations?  Yes I’m paying for convenience but to the tune of almost a $1 per product?

What happened to your almost secret delivery service?  It wasn’t convenient, you had to shop before 5 on a weekday or on Saturday, the day I loathe to be at the grocery store, but at least I could pay to have everything brought to my door and for less than the cost of a cab.  I assume it wasn’t popular because nobody knew about it.  Which leads to my biggest question; why no online shopping?  If you’re not going to set up in easy access locations or offer delivery that’s available after a long workday, then online might be the answer.  You know everything I buy from my points program.  Analyze these purchases and start to assess what you might offer.

You have prime real estate in many cases, probably purchased lucratively in the 70’s and 80’s but they need a reboot.  Broadview for example, and while it would kill me for you to close it to do construction, it set back 40 feet from the side walk for no discernible reason, and that’s without considering the parking lot next door, or building up.

In the end Galen, you, as a corporation, know who I am, as I’ve let you by participating in your points program.  You have a long term fully realized idea of my purchases via my PC credit card – all that data at your disposal to consider and shape a customer profile.  I’ve been loyal and I’ve been paying attention to you, and yet I feel like you haven’t been listening to me.

to e or not to e?

Believe it or not I’m not entirely sold on internet shopping, which when you know that I consider shopping my ‘cardio’ seems a bit off.  Mostly I wonder if the items for sale are as good as they appear online.  In past experiences I’ve been nailed for random import fees, seriously it was a different rate based on the day I ordered.  We’ve all heard the stories of excess shipping across the border, among the many things.  

I’ve had success ordering books, CD’s, DVD’s and even the occasional kitchen appliance online, but you pretty much know what you are getting, no big surprises.  Now if my favourite grocery store would get themselves on line, along with my favourite drug store I’d order from them in a heartbeat and save myself a load of time and aggravation and yet those particular needs go unfulfilled.  And yes I know we have an online grocery store in Ontario but I’ve never quite been able to switch to their ‘brand’. 

Of course the other downside to going online is that I have a particular friend who I like to go shopping with.  We get our girl time in, I get my cardio trying things on and I have a trusted companion who will tell me I look like a deranged school teacher in that.  She’ll also push me to try something out of my comfort zone so I’m reluctant to give up that.

In the name of curiosity I gave it a whirl, trying, specifically, online clothing and shoe shopping to see if I was missing anything.  First go was an impulse purchase, a dress from Sears, I guessed the size, zoomed in on the very blurry ‘fabric swatch’ and expected the worst.  And it turned out I got myself a pretty cute $30 dress that fit.  I had to pay a nonrefundable $4 for the privilege of picking it up at the local store, but otherwise it would have been twice that for delivery.  So while I’m stoked at my find I’m wondering why I have to pay for the processing.  I don’t have to do so when I shop at the store and I didn’t get delivery.  I suppose it’s based on the old catalogue model and if I was in rural Ontario I might not mind, but considering the 2 way TTC travel to go to the store I’m not sold on the nonrefundable ‘delivery’ fee.

Next item was a pair of shoes from the The Shoe Company, the discount face of Town Shoes.  I felt confident because I already owned the same pair in another colour.  This time I could get free delivery to the store or pay for delivery when my order was under $80.  I chose to pick up as there was a location easily accessible to me.  In spite of the fact that it took about 5 days to take delivery the transaction was pretty smooth.  And now I have a new pair of spiffy blue Converse.

Having recently tried on most of the store at Ricki’s, on one of those ventures with the good friend who tells me like it is, I had decided I didn’t want to pay full price for a couple of things.  So when they went on sale for 40% off I jumped online and made my discounted purchases.  They offered a special flat rate of $4 for ground shipping from the Prairies, although with my bill over $100 I would have thought it was free, but I was wrong.  However the package showed up within 2 days which satisfied some of the instant that I prefer in my gratification.  What did through me off was that the products were still in their ‘shipped from far away’ plastic, which was very off-putting.

With my credit card getting full, I tried one more place on the advice of a friend who had tipped me off about Montreal retailer Simon’s.  Their online selection seemed decent, prices where good and they offer free shipping over $50.  I bought a few things, and only had to return one for a size exchange.  Their site offered something interesting, the composition of each item so you could determine if items had stretch or not.  The website didn’t offer exchanges per say but within minutes of asking for assistance via their online chat feature I had an e-mail in my inbox with the return label, no questions asked.  My return was prompt, and I was e-mailed upon the receipt of my return.  Their products were compactly but nicely packaged, with the clothing folded neatly, wrapped in tissue to keep it apart from the shoes.  On the replacement order I asked for my purchased to be in a free gift box, just to see what that comes like.  All in all for a retailer I have not had personal experience with, I was impressed.

So where does this all go?  I’ll still always want to wander the mall with my friend if only for the camaraderie and free fashion advice.  And nothing will ever replace the act of feeling the quality of fabric and the look of the colour in person.  But I will admit I’ll take a second look at online.  So far as the budget will allow.

no, no, no, thank you!

As much as I gripe and whine about the day to day slights of poor or none existent customer service, I do actually appreciate the little things that get done for me as I go about my day to day.

So without much ado here’s a heartfelt Thank You for the guy who makes sure I get two copies of the free paper every morning and wishes me well.  To the girl at County Style who fixes my coffee on Sunday’s and always asks how I am.  To the owner of the Sugar Maple across the street who holds a copy of the Saturday and Sunday papers for me to ensure I get them each weekend.  To the various girls at Shoppers who always seem to have a good idea of a well priced, good product that will do the thing I want it to do.  To the cashiers at Jerry’s supermarket that will always trade me for a newer $5 bill so that I can use the change machine at the laundry matte next door.  To the staffers at Global Pet Food who always looks up the name of the food I buy my cat because after 2 ½ years I still can’t remember.

It often really is the little things that count.

why size matters

Anyone who has ever purchased clothes knows that size isn’t consistent.  In fact there is no such thing as a size ‘standard’.  Each manufacturer sets their own sizing and, usually, tend to stick with them.  As a woman, you’ve undoubtedly learned who ‘fits small’ and who doesn’t.  

And if you haven’t been living in a cave you’ll also be aware that over the last ten years of so, you know that sizes have been increasing, but while staying the same – which is to say that the size 10 you bought a few years ago is the size 6 you bought recently. 

If you’re like me you don’t weigh yourself very often but instead use your clothes as a gauge of your weight gain or loss and mostly was a decent way to judge.  When things start to feel a little tight it’s time to lighten up a bit.  And this is why I’m currently in a bit of a conundrum about the role the clothing manufacturing industry has in the management of my waist line.

Now realistically, nothing, but somehow that doesn’t sit so well with me.

For some reason I am pretty good at maintaining my weight.  Over the course of my adulthood I’ve pretty much been the same size.  As I’ve mentioned before, my office moved away from the more populated area of the city and in so my habit of running a few errands over the lunch break wasn’t possible anymore.  The reason I mention these facts is that I seem to have added a few pounds over the last year, unwanted ones   However, I have also seemed to have reduced my clothing by a size.

I’m no math wizard, but that does not add up.

Weight is a ‘massive’ issue in North America, one that I’m not going to go into beyond my own experience. And this is where I start to question if it is reprehensible that clothing sizes continue to grow in girth but stay the same in name – giving us all a false sense of the facts.

Recently I tried on pants at a store where I shop in a regular basis.  They manufacture their own brand so the sizing is relatively standard year to year.  But this time, some of the garments I tried on where two sizes smaller.  I had not lost the estimated 20 lbs required for that much of a size difference.  And I was stunned.  So stunned I mentioned it to the store manager.  Fortunately this seemed to be an isolated incident but it still makes me wonder how much the recalibration of sizing affects the weight of North Americans.

In the end there’s probably nothing to be done except maybe uses the scales instead of the waist band to gauge my size.