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The fitness industry in this country is huge, worth more then 2 billion dollars a year. As the new year arrives, many Canadians may be thinking of joining a gym. But before signing up, watch the season premiere of Marketplace. In his debut with the program, Tom Harrington investigates the sneaky charges and over-billing that have been plaguing the gym industry for years.
Just how bad is it? Marketplace commissioned the first-ever poll on this topic in Canada, and uncovers a startling percentage of Canadians are getting ripped off.
Canadians are clearly fed up, so we also asked people to fill out an online survey, telling us their stories in our Big Gym Ripoff Search. The results are clear. The gym with the most complaints is one of Canada's largest chains.
Watch as we tell the unsettling story of an industry gone awry through the experiences of three frustrated people who, despite their best efforts to cancel, keep getting charged.
Erica Johnson investigates one of the country's fastest growing alternative health treatments: homeopathy. Ontario homeopaths are about to become the first province in Canada to regulate homeopathy -- lending credibility to this unproven practice.
Canada's leading consumer ally takes a long hard look at the theories, and the remedies. For the first time in Canada, we conduct a test of homeopathic medicines, investigating the science behind these so-called medicines. In light of our results, we ask both the Ontario government and Health Canada why they are lending credibility to the homeopathic industry. Johnson also meets up with a rep from the world's leading manufacturer of homeopathic medicines, who admits that even the company says how homeopathty works is a mystery.
Watch, as we witness a Vancouver group of skeptics taking part in a group overdose of homeopathic remedies. Perhaps most disturbing we learn that some homeopaths are treating cancer patients with homeopathic remedies. A leading cancer specialist says there is no role for homeopathy in the treatment of cancer, that it is a "scam that is not evidence-based."
A controversial oral contraceptive called Yasmin has become the country's top-selling birth control pill. In the United States more than 4,000 women have taken legal action against the manufacturer, Bayer, and more than 800 in Canada have joined a class-action lawsuit. Co-host Erica Johnson meets young women who have taken Yasmin or its sister drug Yaz and experienced serious health problems, and asks why so many others are unaware of the health risks associated with these pills.
Marketplace goes undercover to expose the techniques used in door-to-door sales of water purification systems -- devices that can cost thousands of dollars, but which most people simply may not need. Co-host Tom Harrington investigates the scare tactics used to entice people to buy -- and meets an elderly woman who spent $3,500 on a purification system.
Marketplace joins forces for the fourth time with contractor Mike Holmes, this time to investigate the shady world of shoddy roofers. Co-host Erica Johnson discovers that some roofers are experts at taking your money, eluding the authorities, and re-inventing their companies -- but not so great when it comes to protecting your house. We set up a "bait house" -- badly in need of a new roof, and equipped with hidden cameras -- and watch as a surprising number of roofers fail to meet Mike Holmes' checklist of "good roofing 101."
Then we chase the stories of two roofers with a trail of unhappy customers -- and tracks down the roofers themselves.
Canadians are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. As a result, people are getting sicker and are taking longer to get well. It is now not uncommon for people to be administered antibiotics through an IV because the usual drugs in pill form can't fight off their infections.
While we've all heard that over-prescription of antibiotics to people is one cause of the resistance, what many Canadians don't know is that another major cause is because the animals we eat are also given large amounts of antibiotics. And not just when they're sick: healthy animals can be fed antibiotics every day because it makes them grow bigger, faster.
In an important story about human health, and the food we eat, Marketplace tests 100 samples of chicken bought at major supermarkets from across the country.
In Superbugs in the Supermarket, we name popular brands, and also reveal surprising information about organic poultry that claims to be raised without antibiotics.
Co-host Tom Harrington investigates what some call the best kept secret in the car insurance industry: why insurance companies prevent people from claiming diminished value insurance on vehicles that have been in a significant collision.
Harrington's own car was in a collision and he takes it to a dealership for an appraisal and discovers how much value it has lost -- even though the damage was repaired expertly to the manufacturer's standards.
He talks to a B.C. man who is taking his insurance company to court, and travels to Georgia, where paying out diminished value insurance claims has been the law for almost a decade.
Will the laws ever change here?
We follow up on some of our favourite stories. See what's changed, and who's been busted since we "Busted" them.
More and more Canadians are living with debt. The latest figure puts Canadian consumer debt at around 1.5 trillion dollars. That's big money, and with rising default rates and late payments, collecting that debt can be difficult. Enter the debt collector.
Debt collection can be a ferocious business, and while many collectors play by the rules, what happens when they don't?
Viewers have sent us horror stories of collectors becoming wolves at the door -- hounding them with scare tactics. Some have been victims of mistaken identity, caught in a Kafkaesque nightmare, afraid to answer their phone; in other cases, they're chased by collectors when they don't even owe any money.
No one is saying that it's okay to not pay your bills, but when collectors cross the line, can you count on the rules in your province to protect you? Erica Johnson investigates.
Marketplace is once again on a mission to find Canada's Worst Cellphone Bill. We revist Canada's cellphone industry and uncover more horror stories.
Co-host Tom Harrington looks into some incredible cases, including a woman being asked to pay a cancellation fee even though she's being deported, and an octogenarian war veteran who's out of pocket because his minutes expired.
Also, Harrington asks Industry Minister Tony Clement what the federal government is doing to protect Canadians with respect to the telecommunications industry.
How many personal care products have you used today? Shampoo, deodorant, lotion, makeup, diapers, baby wipes, etc. -- the products add up, and so do the chemicals.
That's why about 64 per cent of us say we're using more "natural" items. But how can you tell if a product is really natural or organic?
Marketplace takes a closer look at some of the green labelling on personal care products. We discover that many of those natural and organic labels are often misleading or exaggerating their claims.
It turns out that labels such as "natural" and even "organic" are not regulated. They're just marketing terms.
Some of the "so-called" natural products on the market are no different than the regular, often cheaper brands.
Erica Johnson separates the truly green products from the "greenwashed" -- products that look green, but really aren't -- in our top ten countdown of the most misleading natural products.
At Marketplace, we've revealed just about every kind of scam there is -- it's our job as Canada's consumer watchdog. And yet week after week, our mailbag is overflowing with stories of Canadians getting ripped off by the same old cons. Why do Canadians keep falling victim, over and over again?
In Won't Get Fooled Again, our special season finale episode on April Fool's Day, we're turning the tables on our viewers - and for the first time ever, Marketplace will be running the scams instead of exposing them. And instead of grilling the bad guys, we will be confronting the "victims" with one simple question: "Why do you fall for it?"
The show also features interviews with real-life con artists to give viewers an inside look at the anatomy of a swindle. And we reveal the simple but effective psychological tricks they use to rope in their victims -- the clever behavioural tactics that have been used time and again to rope in everyone from teens to octogenarians.
For the first time ever, Marketplace will be running the scams instead of exposing them.
