It's Consumer Awareness Week this week (March 15-22, 2013). We thought we would share our top five tips of all time with you today.

Curious?

If you are curious to know what we at Consumer Protection BC are planning  in terms of our priorities and focus over the coming years, we’ve just posted our 2013-15 Business Plan. Take a look and stay tuned for our next major document to be e-published in the spring: our 2012 Annual Report, which is a look back at our activities from last year.

You may remember a few years back when deals of the day (or flash sales) first exploded on the e-commerce marketplace – I sure do. Online companies such as Groupon, Livingsocial and Travelzoo suddenly became household names and I, amongst countless of other consumers, started purchasing vouchers in exchange for discounted products or services. While these types of deals can be money savers, it’s important to know BC’s gift card law does not apply to these discounts (meaning they can have expiry dates and fees, and you may be vulnerable if the company or merchant closes its doors).

New Year’s resolutions: from pledging to be kinder to your sibling to flossing more often and (finally) dusting off that guitar and learning to play, many of us are starting the New Year with great intentions. If you’re like many of us and have a fitness resolution on your list, this blog post serves as a refresher of your fitness contract rights.

Late last year we first told you about our Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) pilot project. It’s a new and efficient way for consumers and businesses to try to resolve disputes over the internet. We thought an update might be in order.

Did you know we have four separate advisory groups? Covering the industries of telemarketing, debt collection, funeral services and travel services, these advisory groups are made up of both industry members and consumer representatives. Interested in learning how you can become a member? Read on!

Here on the West Coast (read: Wet Coast) of British Columbia, wearing gumboots in July isn’t merely a fashion statement, but a necessity. And while not all areas of the province have experienced our cold and soggy weather (here’s looking at you, Ashcroft – a place that’s reportedly the driest in BC), summer, in all its variations, is something everyone can get excited about.

As you know, our original Consumer Protection BC blogger, Michelle, left our organization in May. We are happy to introduce you to our new blogger, Melaina!

When you have a question or complaint you want addressed, sometimes it is challenging to figure out which organization can assist you. Our Inquiry team often receives inquiries about concerns that do not fall within the laws that we oversee. For this reason, we have created an online directory of organizations which you may find very useful.

2011 was another exciting year for Consumer Protection BC.   Did you know that we answer our calls live? Debt collection, retail and travel questions continued to be the top 3 topics of consumer questions to Consumer Protection BC’s call centre in 2011.