Add
Private Notes
We're back, with a whole new season of shows, and we're on the hunt for Canada's Dumbest Charge.
Sick and tired of being nickel and dimed by big companies? We hear you, Canada! That's why we've been on the hunt for the fees that frustrate you the most.
Is gluten-free better for you? Tom Harrington investigates The Truth Behind the Trend.
Celebrities are touting the benefits of gluten-free diet, and companies are pitching their own gluten-free products. We reveal how a serious disease is becoming a marketer's dream, and what you should know before dropping gluten from your diet.
PLUS: You nominated. You watched. You voted. Now we reveal Canada's Dumbest Charge. And Erica and Tom are taking your winning fee to Ottawa to try to get it stopped.
Natural cure-all ... or waste of cash? This week, in Remedy or Ripoff?, Tom and Erica check out four natural products to see if the science lives up to the hype.
And we take a look at the recall madness that's affected millions of cars and trucks across North America, and find out what you should know before you get back behind the wheel.
This week, we're faking out fake reviews.
The better the reviews, the more we trust a business. And for companies that means a better bottom line. In a months-long investigation, we went undercover posing as a new business, and discover how companies can buy a positive reputation online.
We reveal an entire industry devoted to helping businesses mislead you. Host Erica Johnson reveals how cheaters pull it off, and how you can spot a faker.
Are you really getting the mileage you were promised when you bought your car? Host Tom Harrington reveals what you're not being told about those numbers on the window.
After Marketplace hears complaints from viewers across the country, host Tom Harrington hits the road, putting a popular pickup truck (that promises fuel efficiency) to the test. We visit car owners and showrooms, revealing the truth about fuel efficiency ratings, and why car companies should have known for years that Canadian ratings may be unrealistically low.
And, we have an update to last week's show investigating online reviews, and the entire industry devoted to faking you out. We sum up your reviews of the show, and your stories about online reviews, including a Nova Scotia man who posted a negative comment on TigerDirect, which the company changed.
This week: We're at the checkout and Tom and Erica have found a new front in the price wars. It's the Battle of the Sexes, and here's what we want to know: Who's going to pay more, men or women?
Should you vaccinate your child? Overwhelming evidence says you should, yet many parents hear conflicting advice even as disease outbreaks make news. The stakes couldn't be higher. Erica Johnson examines the confusion, investigates the source, and reveals how trusted health practitioners may be putting your kids at risk. It's an investigation every parent should see.
Canadians spend big bucks to keep our pets safe and healthy. But do the things we buy really work? Marketplace investigates pet safety products, putting them to the test and revealing why they could put your pet, and your family, at risk.
If you drive with your pet in the car, chances are you own, or have considered buying, a restraint. But would they really protect you and your pet when it counts? Tom Harrington crash tests best-selling brands. Plus, Erica Johnson examines what's really inside products that are supposed to keep fleas off your pet and out of your home. We reveal why there's Paws for Concern.
Fed up with an appliance on the fritz? Wondering why they just don't last like they used to? Considering buying a major appliance or picked one up during Boxing Week sales? We kick off 2015 by revealing five secrets appliance makers might prefer you didn't know.
Marketplace bites into breakfast, spilling juicy secrets about premium orange juice and putting popular breakfast sandwiches to the test.
About two-thirds of us have bought premium orange juice in the past six months, many convinced by claims of pure and natural juice, which make it seem like oranges fall off the tree into the carton. But that's not the whole story. Tom Harrington talks to juice lovers and an expert who wrote the book on OJ, revealing just how much it is processed and what the labels don't tell you.
Plus, just about everyone's trying to make healthier choices in the new year. So Marketplace is digging into breakfast-on-the-go, a booming business with restaurants hungry to win you over. Erica Johnson joins the morning commute in Toronto, serving up breakfast sandwiches. We crunch the numbers on the trendy take-out meals, revealing sodium, fat and calories - and better ways you can start your day.
We rely on pharmacists when we're sick. But what happens if they make a mistake?
We're investigating pharmacy errors, taking hidden cameras into 50 Canadian pharmacies in the largest test of its kind in Canada. Do pharmacists dispense the right advice and catch potentially dangerous drug interactions? And who's tracking the mistakes that happen?
Seems everyone is watching their money this time of the year. So we reveal three ways to keep your money in your pocket, from a tourist fee you may not have to pay to bank discounts they may not be telling you about to questionable warranties.
We send an Ontario couple to do some sleuthing at one of the top tourist destinations in Canada. We outfit them with hidden cameras and send them to Niagara Falls restaurants, hotels and other attractions, investigating a tourism fee that many businesses charge. Host Tom Harrington reveals what visitors are told about the fee, where it goes, and whether you really have to pay.
Plus, we investigate extended warranties. Lots of people buy them to protect their digital devices. So what are you told at the time of purchase and will it really protect you if something goes wrong?
And, Erica Johnson looks into banking fees. The Big Five all offer discounted plans for seniors, so they can really save. But even after years of being a loyal customer, do they even tell you about them?
We help our Marketplace viewers set things right, and reveal ways you can stash your cash.
Canada's universal health care system is a source of national pride: Money or income doesn't determine access when you need emergency care. At least it's not supposed to.
A Marketplace investigation finds almost every province charges for ambulance services, with fees ranging from $45 to hundreds of dollars, and reveals other costs that can't be measured in dollars and cents.
Host Erica Johnson meets Canadians who are stressed emotionally and financially after using ambulance services in emergencies. We reveal how some are risking their lives, or those of their loved ones, by delaying calling an ambulance or finding other ways to the hospital. We show how many Canadians are making that dangerous calculation, delaying an ambulance because of cost. Plus, we visit one province that has opted to remove ambulance fees, and show how a vast majority of Canadians want the same across the country.
No doubt you've spotted them in the grocery store: Food with labels that claim to be a healthier choice. But are those claims supported by the facts or are they really just Food Fiction?
Hosts Tom Harrington and Erica Johnson hit the grocery store to check out some popular foods covering a whole day's worth of meals. With the help of nutritional watchdog Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, we break down the foods, revealing what's really inside, and tell you what the labels don't.
We dig into two common checkout complaints: being put on the spot for charitable donations and poor customer service.
Tom Harrington investigates the practice of so-called "checkout charity." Some of the country's biggest retailers are asking for your donations at the cash, even though many Canadians say they don't like it. So why do companies do it? Who's it helping? In Doing Good, Feeling Bad, we raise some big questions about those little charitable donations.
Plus, Erica Johnson looks at bad customer service, turning the cameras on shoppers. We want to know: What does it take to get Canadians to complain? We wire up a Toronto shop with hidden cameras, dish out some bad service, and see what happens. With the help of a customer service expert, we reveal why so many of us are reluctant to Speak Up For Service.
Canadians are taking on record levels of household debt, and money is top of mind for many trying to tighten their belts. But if you need cash, are companies being clear about what you're signing up for?
In Uneasy Money, we investigate the business tactics of a popular loan company that offers easy loans to people who need money. Erica Johnson investigates how high interest rates and added charges can add up to a bad bottom line for borrowers.
And we put a major bank to the test about the biggest debt that many of us ever sign up for: A mortgage. Not all mortgages are created equal, but how upfront is the bank about what's hiding in the fine print?
This week, we're looking at dumb charges that you hate to pay. Got a fee you're sick of forking over? Let us know; we're going to continue to look at all the ways you get nickel and dimed.
It's the kind of drugstore remedy that sounds great: Nighton says it relieves kids' fever, pain and inflammation, with no side effects and no dyes. It's even licensed by Health Canada as safe and effective, a powerful stamp of approval that gives parents extra peace of mind.
And yet, there is absolutely no scientific proof Nighton works as it has no active ingredients. In fact, Nighton is really nothing. We know: We made it up.
So how can a fake, unproven product get a very real government licence to make powerful claims?
In LICENCE TO DECEIVE, a months-long investigation into drugstore remedies and their claims, we raise serious questions about the government agency that's supposed to keep you and your family safe and healthy. We uncover a troubling lack of oversight for some over-the-counter remedies and a lack of scientific proof behind some claims. We reveal how consumers can be misled with potentially dangerous consequences.
Tired of bringing home the bacon only to find that there's less bacon in the package than there used to be? We're looking at the Grocery Games that manufacturers play.
Tom Harrington reveals the five ways that companies get you to pay more for less, and why you may never know it.
In a shopping challenge, Marketplace viewers go head-to-head in search of shrinking products. All over the store, they find examples of products where companies have downsized the product, without always reducing the price.
We talk to Edgar Dworsky, a U.S.-based consumer advocate, consumer protection lawyer and founder of consumerworld.org, about how companies downsize. And we also hear from Kate White, a University of British Columbia professor and marketing expert, who lets us in on industry packaging secrets.
If you could see into the future and find out if you'll get sick, would you want to know? What would you do? What would you change? We investigate home DNA kits. They promise you insight into your medical makeup. For little money or trouble, companies say they can examine your genes and predict your risk of everything from cancer to heart disease. But what's the real cost of these tests when it comes to your privacy? And how accurate are they anyway? Erica Johnson puts a booming business under the microscope.
Can you train your brain to be better?
In a powerful journey into the world of memory, Tom Harrington explores the fears of many Canadians, and his own, when it comes to memory loss. Having lost his parents and father-in-law to Alzheimer's, Tom puts himself, and an industry, to the test.
From popular brain training games to new technology that claims to improve brain function, he examines the promises and pitfalls of a multi-billion-dollar business in his most personal investigation yet.
Should you vaccinate your child? Overwhelming evidence says you should, yet many parents hear conflicting advice even as disease outbreaks make news. The stakes couldn't be higher. Marketplace examines the confusion, investigates the source, and reveals how trusted health practitioners may be putting your kids at risk. And Tom Harrington enlists a popular prankster to surprise Canadians with personal information they've shared on social media.
