532 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Yes. Even with the 22% mandatory tip, the machine did present options for more tips.

We refused additional tips.

[Mike K.]

I’m sure other times you’d have handed the guy $20, which cost you 17.5% to get from the cash machine at the steak house, and didn’t ask for the change back.

[spanky123]

It’s all relative, right?

One guy’s idea of a predatory loan is another’s life saver, or opportunity maker, or problem solver.

It’d be nice if everyone got 2% loans for consumer purchases but that’s reserved for an exclusive few. The rest of society pays 5-10-15-20%.

 

The issue with predatory lenders is usually not the published terms of the relationship, it is the fine print that isn't fully disclosed. People have a choice deciding whether to take the 10% loan, but if they don't understand that the 10% becomes a 20% if their loan is repackaged and/or that the qualification terms can change between renewals then few of us would argue that is fair. 

Edited by spanky123, 17 October 2021 - 11:05 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

one could well argue that 0% or low financing on new cars is predatory selling.

[spanky123]

^ If they don't disclose that the 0% isn't really 0% since the cash price is lower then yes.

[Victoria Watcher]

It's probably a bit rich to be debating car dealer ethics at all.  Be it Canada Drives or your local Dodge dealership.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 October 2021 - 11:29 AM.

[Mike K.]

^ If they don't disclose that the 0% isn't really 0% since the cash price is lower then yes.

Not always.

You can snag a better deal often when you buy with a loan. The worst thing you can do is blurt out you’re buying with cash, since the cash price is already a value you can negotiate down to but dealers -hate- cash deals.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://en.wikipedia...lionaires_Index

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Manchin says he won't back Biden's spending bill that contains major trade irritant with Canada

 

 

Canada says controversial electric-vehicle tax credit violates trade agreements, would torpedo jobs here

 

Canada and other countries were hoping a U.S. senator might kill a controversial electric-vehicle tax credit that has angered America's trading partners.

 

Sen. Joe Manchin is now threatening not just to do that: he sounds like he's planning to torpedo the entire Build Back Better legislation that contains that provision as one of numerous measures that form the heart of the Democratic Party's priorities.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...nchin-1.6291914

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 December 2021 - 01:42 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

This is a very good article.

 

I admit to never being a Volvo fan, but I also admit to enjoying seeing the range of especially older model Volvos in the parking lot here every time going by.

 

 

 

He escaped Russian invasion, discovered Victoria, opened shop that was beacon for Volvo enthusiasts

 

Mechanic Peter Landsman, who operated a small Victoria garage that specialized in Volvos, is closing the shop and retiring after 30 years. People went to great lengths to be his customers.

 

https://www.timescol...0-years-4974262

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2022 - 03:34 AM.

[UDeMan]

Mazda has moved to 2829 Douglas St.

 

https://www.mazdavictoria.com/

[Victoria Watcher]

Unifor says former president Jerry Dias engaged in a number of ethical breaches, including accepting $50,000 from a supplier of COVID-19 rapid test kits that he promoted to employers of Unifor members, several of whom purchased those test kits.

 

After an internal investigation, Unifor national secretary-treasurer Lana Payne says he stands charged with violating the union’s constitution. The union’s executive board will now hold a hearing into the matter.

 

In a statement earlier on Wednesday, Dias said he is entering a residential rehabilitation facility and stepping away temporarily from all of his advisory positions.

 

Dias said that he has been using pain killers, sleeping pills and alcohol to deal with a sciatic nerve issue.

 

Dias said these factors have impaired his judgment in recent months and is seeking treatment at the advice of his doctor.

 

“My physician has told me, straight up, that I need help,” Dias said.

 

 

https://www.theglobe...ab-temporarily/

[Mike K.]

Taking bribes is the more commonly understood term, Unifor.

[rjag]

couldnt have happened to a nicer guy....

[Mike K.]

Turns out he was his own worst nightmare.

[Citified.ca]

Harris is moving its vehicles to Langford now from its dealership on Yates Street at Cook Street.

 

Harris auto's move to Langford brings prospect of 1,500-unit Harris Green rental dev a step closer

https://victoria.cit...ev-step-closer/

[Dr. Barillas]

Harris is moving its vehicles to Langford now from its dealership on Yates Street at Cook Street.

 

Harris auto's move to Langford brings prospect of 1,500-unit Harris Green rental dev a step closer

https://victoria.cit...ev-step-closer/

 

Vehicle move was completed on Sunday. 

[Victoria Watcher]

Apparently this company named VINN is based here.

 

https://www.vinnauto.com/

[spanky123]

Apparently this company named VINN is based here.

https://www.vinnauto.com/

Yes. They are a popular online new car broker.

[max.bravo]

This is interesting

https://www.timescol...-killed-5561504

Greater Victoria woman awarded $5.5 million for her future care; she was badly hurt in crash, her sister was killed
They were struck by a vehicle while walking their dogs along Central Saanich Road on Aug. 27, 2018.

A Greater Victoria woman who was critically injured when she was struck by a Jeep Cherokee on Central Saanich Road four years ago has been awarded $5.5 million by the B.C. Supreme Court for her future care.

Tracey Ann Ward suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the Aug. 27, 2018, crash that killed her sister, massage therapist Kim Ward. The two women had dinner with their mother, Ellen, that evening, then went out to walk their dogs.

Anthony Thomas was behind the wheel of the brand new Jeep on Central Saanich Road when he lost consciousness, crossed the centre line and struck the sisters. After a criminal trial, Thomas was found guilty of impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm and is waiting to be sentenced.

Tracey’s mother, Ellen Ward, 81, launched the civil suit in ­February against Thomas, the Harris Victoria car dealership and Aggatha Siah, a woman who had signed a purchase ­agreement to buy the Jeep.

Ward said Thursday she was happy with the judge’s decision. “It will help for looking after Tracey that’s for sure,” she said.

“But it still doesn’t change anything. Tracey’s still in the shape she’s in and Kim is gone. But I’m so happy to have the money to look after Tracey.”

Tracey, whose left side is paralyzed, was in the intensive care unit at Victoria General Hospital for one month after the crash and spent almost a year in hospital.

She now lives in a long-term care facility in Sidney. At the time of the crash, Ward was 48 and worked as a self-employed bookkeeper.

The issue in the civil case was which of the defendants was ­­liable. Justice Brenda Brown found Thomas was negligent. She also found that the ­Harris Victoria car dealership, as owner of the vehicle, was vicariously liable and responsible for paying the $5.5 million. Siah was found to be not liable.

“It’s a very tragic story but it’s a good example of how car dealerships need to be more careful about how they are ­selling cars,” said Darren ­Williams, the lawyer ­representing the Wards.

Court heard that Siah went to the dealership on Aug. 18, 2018 and signed a purchase agreement to buy the 2019 Jeep. Harris Victoria applied to a lending company for financing. The financing was not approved that day, but an employee took the plates off Siah’s car and put them on the Jeep.

Siah was told she could take the Jeep home until financing was approved, then she could return to the dealership to ­finalize the document.

Harris Victoria continued to communicate with the ­lending company over the next nine days. At the end of the ninth day, Thomas was handed the keys and asked to run an errand.

The judge found that Siah did not own the Jeep because she didn’t have financing. The young First Nations woman was a weak, vulnerable party in the purchase negotiations and therefore at a disadvantage in the contracting process, said the judge. She found the transaction was “unconscionable” — which in legal terms means unfair — and thus not binding on Siah.

Harris Victoria argued that it did not consent to Thomas ­driving the vehicle.

But Brown said one of the ways Harris Victoria generates new business is through other people seeing and driving new vehicles purchased by ­customers.

“It is also important to Harris to have the customer leave the lot in the car they are interested in purchasing while their financing is pending,” she wrote.

“If the customer cannot complete the transaction fully on that day, part of Harris’s process is to make sure that the customer can go home in the car until their financing is approved. The purchaser or ­proposed ­purchaser is most likely to purchase a car if they leave the lot with the car the first time they come in.”

The judge said she was satisfied that the dealership expected other family members and friends to drive the Jeep.

And the fact Thomas may have been impaired at the time didn’t change that consent, because the dealership didn’t learn about that until after the fact, said Williams.

“You can’t retrospectively change your consent,” he said.

ldickson@timescolonist.com