Every Friday CTV Consumer Reporter Lynda Steele dips into the mailbag and answers a handful of viewer questions.
This week's first question is from Chris, who emailed about two non-refundable plane tickets to Boston he purchased. When his travel partner had to cancel, he tried to transfer one ticket over to his aunt's name so she could go instead – but was told he wasn't allowed. Chris wants to know why.
There is no governing law that requires airlines to allow name changes or corrections, it is solely at the discretion of the airline – and most of the airlines CTV checked won't allow these changes. Travel expert Allison Wallace says it comes down to security reasons and fraud.
"People look at this as a big money grab, but there are reasons behind it," Wallace said.
One concern is that people will buy tickets they have no intention of using just to re-sell them for a profit. Wallace says your best scenario is to cancel the ticket outright, pay the cancellation fee and re-book – but when you buy from some discount travel companies, like Chris did, those tickets will come with the most restrictions.
In Chris's case, his ticket was both non-refundable and didn't allow for cancellations.
The second question comes from Jerry, who wants to know why his favourite Heinz Maple Style Beans don't have a clear best before date on them.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, "Foods with an anticipated shelf life greater than 90 days are not required to be labelled with a ‘Best Before' date or storage information."
Instead, the company prints a production code on every can of beans that tells people the exact date and time each can was produced. Consumers who want to know how to decipher a production code can call Heinz Canada's toll-free number printed on can labels or check the Heinz website.
The final question comes from Renee, whose daughter received a gift card from the clothing store Please Mum – but when she went to use it, she was told the company was no longer accepting gift cards. She wants to know if that's allowed.
According to Consumer Protection BC, the organization that administers and regulates gift card legislation in the province, the law states that a pre-paid purchase card that is issued or sold without an expiry date is valid until fully redeemed or replaced.
Officials there told CTV News they have opened a file to look into the matter. Based on that, it seems the company should be accepting the gift card.
What's your consumer question? We'd like to hear from you. You can email us at steeleonyourside@ctv.ca. If you want to send your question on video, that's even better. You can call our hotline at 604-609-2345 or tweet me your question at @CtvLyndaSteele. We'll answer your viewer questions every Friday.
