Survey for Lovers of Vancouver, BC

I almost forgot to mention a new wrinkle on evalu8.org...we now have our first survey on the home page (right in the middle). It's kind of an experiment. The point of this survey is to find out who the really big fans of visiting Vancouver might be. Please participate! we're not really sure where this will go, but we will share the results. Go to www.evalu8.org -- home page -- to vote.

April in Paris

It's another glorious day in the City of Light, so I must be brief and get out into the street to soak up more atmosphere, n'est-ce pas?. Poor John is in the grip of a grippe and must stay in bed. We are due to join a tour of "Ghosts of Paris" this evening, so either he will be well enough to go by then, or we will have to rebook.

I have been obsessed with finding miniatures and craft shops in Paris, and have so far come up with quite a few, but anyone who knows of heretofore undiscovered ones, please let me know.

Here's a preliminary list:

Dentelles et Ribambelles
www.dentelles-et-ribambelles.com
(Montmartre)
6, Rue Trois Frères
75018 Paris, France
(+33) 01 42 54 20 72
Specializes in miniature musical instruments

Emmaflam & Miniman
http://www.emmaflam-miniman.com/
The most amazingly lifelike cakes, cookies and accoutrements. HOW do they get that convincing texture on their madeleines, for example?

EOL International Hobby
3 r Louvre 75001 PARIS
(+33) 01 43 54 01 43
fax : .01 43 54 90 58

L'ile Flottante
29 rue des deux ponts
Paris 75004
www.lileflottant.com
chocolates, miniatures -- the best in Paris, actually

Nation miniatures
(+33) 01 40 01 08 09
6 Rue Fabre d'Eglantine
75012 Paris, France

Pain d'épice
www.paindepices.fr
29, Passage Jouffroy
75009 Paris, France
(+33) 01 47 70 08 68
Specializes in dollhouse furniture, electrical items, plumbing and décor items. When you ask about miniatures, almost everyone mentions Pain d'épice.

And I recently found a few miniatures -- actually more of the scrapbooking kind -- at Le Bonheur des Dames. I will add more info when I have downloaded my photos. This place -- on rue Desmesnil under the arches of the old aquaduct -- mainly has a wonderful collection of ribbon and supplies for embroidery.

City destroys harmless trees!

Okay, one more complaint and then I'll try to move along to kudos...

Last month's tempete in Vancouver, knocked down quite a few trees, notably the one pictured here, which fell across East 12th Avenue. Fortunately, no one was hurt -- and because the tree landed on another tree across the street, even the house shown in the background was spared damage.

But -- upon inspection a couple of days later -- it turns out that the City of Vancouver took the opportunity to cut down two OTHER trees. Apparently, they used the excuse that these trees also represented a threat (even though they did not), but the real reason is that these trees have all ended up being "too close" to the street, so they have been a thorn in the side of City Engineering for ages.

It seems to me that if we have a city law in place to "protect" trees, the law should apply to ALL trees, and not just the ones that do not "insult the sensibilities" of city workers, n'est-ce pas? Especially when we lose trees in Stanley Park and wring our collective hands over the loss. Shame on the City of Vancouver! (And Gregor Robertson is supposed to be such a tree-hugger, too!)

Canada Post offence

Offering no apology when you inconvenience your customers is the same as pretending you didn't do anything wrong in the first place.

In order to expedite a letter's delivery to our recipient, we have learned that the fastest method is to drive all the way into downtown Vancouver and drop the letter right into the mailbox in front of Canada Post's main building on Georgia Street. During the winter games, we were greeted by this annoying sign affixed over the mail slot. No apology.

And to add insult to injury, the powers that be at Canada Post had the nerve to start out with "For your convenience..."

How convenient COULD it be, when the post office is closed?

I rest my case. Gr-r-r-r!

Another consumer-fueled reason to be annoyed at Loblaws

OK, so I'm in Toronto to visit and help my 93-year-old parents, and I can't say that the majority of Torontonians is any nicer than during my last visit four months ago. True, the occasional person says "Thank you" or offers a smile, but typically I figure most are just too pissed off about having to live in what I USED to call "Tee-Zero," but now that they have reinvented themselves as the "GTA" I have refer to them as "BFD." If you get my drift.

The closest supermarket to where I'm staying is known to the cognoscenti as "Blob-blaws" and that store's management has become weaker and weaker lately. This evening I decided to work in my health-motivated walk and kill two birds with one stone by picking up a few groceries. I was on a very short time-line, because I didn't want to miss too much of the hockey game.

Of the six items I wanted to buy, two were difficult to locate in the store. After being misdirected twice (by well-meaning but "new here" employees), a third spotted the manager -- David -- so I trotted up to ask him where I might find a coffee mug. He didn't even answer me, just shook his head to indicate "NO." I repeated my question in case he hadn't heard me. "No coffee cups or mugs AT ALL?" THIS time, he didn't even look up, just shook his head again. I tried again: "You don't even have any travel mugs for coffee?" Same treatment. So off I went to where I THOUGHT there should be coffee mugs -- and found them ($4.98) -- and then I remembered the other missing item. Back to David, where I asked him where I would find the horseradish mayo. "We don't have that. I've never even HEARD of it," he said in an accusing tone. I was dumbfounded: "But it's a PC brand. It's your HOUSE brand!" Back he went to the head-shaking. Fed up, I said: "Well, that's unbelievable. But just in case anyone ELSE asks you, I found the coffee mugs without your help!" And I showed it to him.

If this guy is the manager, I mean, aren't they TRYING to sell product? This is the "Forest Hill Market" branch of Loblaws, so it's hard to believe they don't have the full product lines one expects in a store on the edge of one of the wealthiest areas in Toronto! And PS, I have purchased PC horseradish mayo at this particular store on several occasions.

So, Manager David, I suggest you freshen up your resumé, as you are bound to be job-hunting soon (at least as soon as the Weston folks discover how poorly you are doing your job, and how dreadfully you are treating your customers). And PPS: I was so annoyed that I walked out without buying anything. I think I'll try Sobey's instead, even though it means getting into my car and driving there! Bah!

Michael's Beats Walmart's price

Well, despite my resolve to stay mad at Walmart, I saw something in their flyer that I wanted, so I nearly weakened. But first, I had to return something to Michael's in Richmond (no hassle, BTW). On the way to the cashier. I noticed the item in question, so I asked a supervisor "Do you do price-matching?" and she said "Yes, if it's the same item." So I went out to the car to retrieve the Walmart flyer. The item I wanted was a set of three baking sheets from Wilton. (My old ones are GROSS.) I was dubious that Michael's would match Walmart's $8.98 price, because Michael's shelf price was $24.98. But miracle-of-miracles, Michael's price actually came up at even less than Walmart's -- including the taxes!

So -- fair warning -- if you want to buy those Wilton cookie sheets, go to Michael's for the best price!

A furious finger pointed at Walmart

OK, fellow consumers, here's the bottom line, right at the top: This is about as close a case of bait-and-switch as I have personally experienced in the last decade or so!

First of all, Walmart is currently running national ads boasting that the stores will price-match any other stores' sale prices. I heard a radio ad on the subject today. But just try to claim your "right" as a consumer at the store.

I wanted to buy something I saw in XS Cargo's Boxing Week flyer -- a Dr. Scholl's Paraffin Bath Spa kit -- but to get one, I'd have to drive out to Surrey. XS Cargo was asking $9.99 for this first-quality product (i.e. not refurbished). So I thought "Aha! I'll go to Walmart to take them up on their price-matching offer."

Coincidentally, manager for the Walmart store on Grandview Highway in Vancouver -- Will Semaniuk -- happened to be chatting with store personnel in the pharmacy section when I located the last package of the product (the one that was IDENTICAL to the version shown in XS Cargo's flyer).

Manager Will shook his head, telling me (a) that Walmart would not price-match to XS Cargo because "they sell refurbished goods," and (b) that it was Walmart's policy not to price-match Boxing Week prices.

Pharmacy staff checked the price on the Dr. Scholl's Paraffin Bath Spa kit I had brought up to their till, and it scanned in at almost $53! And just for the record, this unit was EXACTLY the same as the one offered at XS Cargo, and it was definitely not a reconditioned unit!

I mentioned that the policy of not price-matching during Boxing Week seems like false advertising; that Walmart should not be running ads AT THIS TIME OF YEAR if they have suspended their price-matching policy AT THIS TIME OF YEAR. Just to be sure I had heard right, I went over all the details with Manager Will and his minions. One of the pharmacy staff was kind enough to walk me over to a display of SIMILAR units (they only included 2 oz of wax, compared to the 4 oz supply in the one I chose; there were only 30 glove-liners, instead of the 60 included with the XS Cargo unit), that were sale-priced at $29.99. ("A great price, I thought" chirped the sales clerk.) Well, that might SEEM like a great price, but not once you've seen Paree (i.e. a $53 unit clearing out for $9.99.)

As I said, a classic bait-and-switch scenario.

But beyond the illegality of what Walmart is doing, the greatest insult was the manager's ATTITUDE. He looked at me as though I had been caught shoplifting, for heaven's sake. When I said I was going to write about the incident, I seriously thought he was going to have me escorted from the store, but you know me: Never one to back down, I asked for his name, which he gave me VERY reluctantly.

Just for the sake of comparison -- and because I was going there anyway -- I asked Melissa, acting manager at Canadian Tire what their price-matching policy is. She said they would always price-match XS Cargo's published prices, unless the price in question WAS for a refurbished item (especially electronics), or if it was for a "door-crasher" item where the flyer stated something like "minimum 4 available per store." She added that "At Canadian Tire, we would always try to do SOMETHING for the customer, even if we couldn't actually give them the full price-match discount." And she confided that Walmart is having financial trouble these days, so they are locking customers out of "normal" courtesies, like allowing returns without a receipt for good they recognize as their own. Well it's no WONDER Walmart is in difficulty if they turn their backs on good customers and treat them shabbily! I was going to stock up on meats for the freezer, but instead, I left without buying anything. And I urge anyone else who feels humiliated in Walmart to do the same thing.

Just an aside, I don't find Walmart's prices to be better than most nearby stores like Superstore, Price Smart or, yes, XS Cargo. And I've just gotta say that though the underling level staff are very friendly and helpful, they really cannot hold a candle to the competition.

And -- just for fun -- check out this anti-Walmart site.