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Private Notes
It’s a back to school special like you’ve never seen before - Marketplace exposes the big business of fake degrees. While real students return to the classroom spending years studying to get real degrees from real universities, Marketplace scores a PHD in weeks. We get our very own fake transcripts with a list of bogus courses we never attended, and best of all: a 3.92 GPA. Plus when you call up our phony school, there’s a fake receptionist vouching for us. It’s the latest way to pad your resume.
As bachelor degrees become more common and job competition heats up, experts estimate that up to half of all new American PHDs are fake.
So just how widespread is the deception in Canada? We obtain a secret list of about 800 Canadians who could have bought a degree from the world’s largest diploma mill in Pakistan. Engineers, legal clerks, CEOs, politicians, teachers...
In this episode, we investigate counsellors treating serious mental health conditions: childhood trauma, suicide, ADHD, and PTSD. They have fake degrees, but will their counselling feel real? Our undercover producers record treatment sessions and then we get them analyzed by a psychologist. Reviewing our bizarre visits, the expert concludes they're “inappropriate”, with "boundary violations”. We also track down a college professor with a fake degree. How did his phoney credentials not get spotted by the schools?
When you bring your car to the dealership for service, how do you know what they recommend is what’s really needed? Marketplace rigs up “bait cars” and exposes aggressive upselling and careless inspections.
Most people don’t realise "service advisers" who tell you what's wrong with your car aren't mechanics at all. They're actually salespeople.
We interview a former service adviser who admits he was sometimes on 100% commission and that’s why he often felt pressured to recommend maintenance that’s not required.
In one of our hidden camera examples, a consumer gets up-sold on brake repairs she doesn’t need, but she isn't told about a safety recall her car really needs: her Honda Civic has one of those faulty Takata airbags.
Farmers’ markets are a growing billion dollar industry. Chances are you’re willing to spend more to buy direct from a farmer, but how do you know you’re really supporting a local grower? Time for a Marketplace fact-check. In an undercover shopping trip, we record Ontario vendors lying about where their produce is grown. To get to the truth, we follow them on market day to trace where that “homegrown” produce really comes from.
Hundreds of viewers have flooded our inbox demanding we investigate skin care products that seem linked to legit companies and celebrities: Costco,Rogers, Dragons Den, Ellen, Oprah, Celine Dion.
It’s an online scheme that uses free trial offers, bogus endorsements, and surveys to trick people into paying for products and subscriptions they had no idea they were signing up for.
We uncover a network of at least 371 different suspect company names, 312 merchant accounts from over 80 different banks in 14 different countries. This episode features Arlene Dickinson from Dragon’s Den. She’s asked her lawyers to stop these companies from using her image to sell this scam..no luck….
When we get our own “miracle anti-aging cream”, the trail leads us to a man from Calgary living in San Diego.
Charlsie Argo takes a closer look at the hype behind these three exotic "superfoods" - coconut water, chia seeds, and quinoa. We dig into the science and uncover cheaper, Canadian alternatives. So you don't have to pay super prices to get a dose of super nutrients.
We're back on the case investigating food waste. Last season Marketplace found bins of wasted food at Walmart, and it pledged to make a change. We check in on whether the company followed through. Plus, while Canada lags behind other countries when it comes to policing supermarket food waste, some children are organizing to make their own change.
Revealing how companies influence us, our brains, our behaviour, our emotions. How they use science to ensure we're more engage in 'the infinite scroll' on our smartphones. And tech insiders teach us how to curb the urge to constantly stay connected.
David Common went to California to talk to an app developer about how companies keep us hooked on our phones.
We track a family's device usage over several months and reveal their staggering results - from the 8 year old son, the teenage daughters to the parents.
Plus, David Common gets wired up. We test how his cognitive efficiency changes when he hears that familiar "ping" on his phone
Marketplace went undercover at 10 car dealerships to investigate what salespeople are telling you about car financing.
Are they revealing everything you need to know?
And what are the techniques are they using to get you into a more expensive car?
When we show our hidden camera to Ontario’s auto sales regulator, he calls some dealers’ advice misleading, troubling, and illegal.
With new car sales in Canada nearing a record two million this year, you can't afford to miss this investigation.
In a unique Marketplace test, we reveal how your personal data like your search history, social media profiles, and what device you use, can give companies clues about what they can charge you online.
It's called personalised pricing or price discrimination - and it results in different prices for different people for the same product.
If companies think you would pay more, you will. Find out how to game the system in your favour to get the lowest price online
Plus, we’ve commissioned a poll on Canadian attitudes and perceptions about online shopping, privacy, and price discrimination.
Canada is finally getting an air passenger bill of rights. But will it offer the protection you want? CBC Marketplace pulls apart the new law on overbooking, delays and tarmac holds -- and finds other countries offer more protection to passengers. We travel to Europe where must follow a stricter set of rules, and ask Canada's Transport Minister why Canadians don't deserve the same rights.
You want what's best for your child, but how do you know you're getting the best price? Marketplace compare prices between Canada and the U.S. on baby items to see if you're getting gouged.
Plus, we scour the shelves for recalled products that shouldn't be there, and uncover dangerous products for sale at popular retailers.
We're back on the case, investigating our top scams and schemes: tracking annoying telemarketers, fake reviewers, and a pricey bracelet with health claims that are beyond belief.
In 2013 Canadians were telling Marketplace the long-awaited Do Not Call list was not stopping some telemarketers. And they were still getting those annoying
calls over and over. The CRTC said it couldn't crack down because it couldn't track the companies responsible. But we did. So did the government follow up?
Do you rely on online reviews? Do you trust testimonials from the people or so-called professionals who claim to endorse a product or service? Marketplace tracked down one of the most prolific reviewers for cash. She's a Canadian and posed online as a financial advisor, health care expert and regular Jane. We confronted her last year, and now we're checking in to see if she's still in business.
And would you spend $200 on a bracelet that would make you feel better — maybe even take away your pain? The Q-ray bracelet brought in millions of dollars before authorities in the US cracked down and called it "a scheme" meant "to defraud consumers out of millions."
Meanwhile, the owners had set up shop in Canada. Watch as Wendy Mesley challenges the marketers and owner of this jewelry business.
Marketplace reviews one of the most common surgeries, gastric banding, and reveals its success and complication rates, and the cost to public health care of the people who need it fixed. Asha Tomlinson confronts the doctor and the director behind one of the most popular private weight loss clinics and uncovers a trail of victims across the country.
Marketplace investigates clothing recycling programs at fast fashion chains, and reveals the marketing may not live up to what it promises consumers and the planet. While you feel good about dropping off all those used clothes, you might not be doing as much good as you think. Watch Charlsie Agro's journey as she follows the trail of your old T-shirts around the world.
In a special year-long investigation, Marketplace uncovers a shocking rise in the number of abuse incidents inside Ontario long term care homes. We obtain exclusive security video of a brutal attack between two residents unfolding in the hallways of Baycest, a Toronto nursing home.
And we head inside homes with some of the highest rates of abuse to see for ourselves why the statistics are on the rise; and follow families fighting for better care.
In Ontario, reported rates of abuse have doubled in just 6 years.
Every single day, 9 residents are harmed by another resident; and 6 are harmed by staff who are supposed to care for them.
UPDATE: On the day this story was broadcast, Health Canada informed Marketplace that it has required NeuroReset to stop selling three more of its products (Neuro Connect One, Neuro Connect Lifestyle, Neuro Connect Golf) because the company doesn't have the necessary medical device licences. NeuroReset's Mark Metus told Marketplace his company is working with Health Canada to ensure the full compliance of all its products.
Asha Tomlinson is on a mission to find out how a chiropractor convinced the investors on Dragons' Den to endorse his unproven product. Plus, We go on an undercover dining trip to see who's getting gouged. Servers dish out a percentage of all their sales to bartenders and kitchen staff. Since the minimum wage hike in Ontario, chains are increasing that tip-out amount so they don't have to pay their employees more money.
Erica Johnson and Go Public team up with Marketplace to dig deeper into telecom sales tactics.
In the battle for customers, Canada's telecommunications giants are going door to door to convince you to switch. But many Canadians feel they were duped at the door - misled about great deals and better services. After hearing hundreds of complaints about the largest company, Bell, a Marketplace producer gets a job - posing as a new hire inside the company contracted to sell Bell products door to door.
What’s lurking on all those free make-up samples? We swab testers from Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart, Mac and Body Shop. And we ask the ultimate question: Can spraying them with alcohol kill mould and bacteria like staphylococcus aureas? And how often should you change your car engine oil? Depends who you ask. In a hidden camera investigation, we test what you’re told at the dealership and then actually test your engine oil in a lab to see who’s right.
What's in your bottled water? Microplastics seem to be everywhere - in soil, air and lakes and oceans - so have they also made their way into one of the most popular drinks? Marketplace asked a lab to test five of the top-selling brands of bottled water in Canada.
Regardless of the source, tap water or spring water, all brands had bottles containing microplastics. Find out what this could mean for our environment and for your health.
And...what you need to know about probiotic yogurt.
