Thank you, Chapters.ca, for diverting my order without telling me :(

Oh Chapters. Thou hast disappointed me.

On Wednesday, Dec. 19, I was on the phone with my mother. She was in a Chapters store shopping for Christmas presents and I was looking at the Chapters website and we were noticing the huge difference in prices in-store vs online. I suppose this has a lot to do with the fact that chapters.ca has to compete with Amazon.ca.

Plastered all over chapters.ca was information about their "quick ship" option which provided next-day shipping to certain cities on selected books. Well, I said to my mother, I live in one of those cities so let me order those books for you and we can get them by Dec 24th. The 5 books cost about $40.00 less to buy online.

Thursday... no delivery.
Friday... no delivery.
Saturday (Dec. 22)... I get an email saying the items have been shipped.

Okay, so they'll arrive Monday, right?

Nope.

Wednesday, Dec. 26, I sent them a message asking where my order was. They issued a fast response, which was momentarily encouraging. Then I read the message and found that they were "pleased to inform" me that they weren't able to deliver my order to my address but "successfully" forwarded it to a store location on Dec. 24th.

Um, so what? Does this mean I'm supposed to pick it up now or that it's being returned? More communication please!

I replied (sent to service@chapters.indigo.ca) to ask this question and to say that no one notified me regarding my package so I was unable to retrieve it before Christmas. I also asked for a refund on the shipping charges since my order wasn't delivered as promised (they in fact HAVE successfully delivered to this address before!) and I wasn't even contacted about it.

That reply was sent Dec. 26th. No response yet.

I suppose I'll have to contact them again via their website.

I still haven't had a chance to pick up the package (assuming it's there for me to pick up). Luckily my mum is very understanding. More so than me. Next time I'm shopping at Amazon.ca.


Edit: I just noticed that the last time I posted was Dec. 26th and it was links to sales at Amazon. Now you can see what was on my mind that day. lol

Amazon.ca Boxing Week: Books on Canadian Political Figures

Between 60% and 70% has been slashed from various book titles at Amazon.ca for their boxing week sale. A few of them are on prominent Canadians:

Heart Matters (Paperback)
by Adrienne Clarkson - $8.80
Stéphane Dion: Against the Current (Hardcover)
by Linda Diebel - $14.00
Belinda: The Political and Private Life of Belinda Stronach (Hardcover)
by Don Martin - $10.49

DVD Sales at Amazon.ca

Amazon.ca has a sale on DVDs.

2 for $10
Not a great selection here, imo. I did really like the following though:
Pumpkin (2002) starring Christina Ricci
and
Benny and Joon (1993) starring Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson and Aidan Quinn


2 for $15
It gets better here.
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Dodgeball (2004)
X Men 3 (2006)
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Fight Club (1999)
Thank You for Smoking (2005)


2 for $30
Here we have TV! Seasons on DVD of:

The Simpsons
Arrested Development
Stargate SG-1
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Dark Angel
Family Guy
American Dad

They also have some good new releases for $9.99.

Midnight Shopping and A Christmas Present for Mom

With so many stores open 24-hours a day now (see this post for Zellers, The Bay, and Walmart locations open all night), I wonder how many people are actually shopping in the middle of the night? I'm almost curious enough to go to one of those stores at 3AM just to see how many people are there... almost... LOL. So few stores stay open around the clock in Canada, I wonder if we're ready for it!

I went to Future Shop today and finally bought my mother's present. My mother likes to paint but turns her nose up at digital painting (though she has expressed curiosity toward it). So, is it snobbery or is it fear of a foreign concept? Betting on the latter, I bought her a Wacom Bamboo 5.8 x 3.7 USB Tablet With Mouse for $129.99 (all tablets seem to be out of stock online but store locations appear to have plenty). If you haven't heard of them, it's a flat tablet that comes with both a regular cordless mouse and a pen mouse. The pen allows more control for digital painting and handwriting. There's also a tablet without a mouse (pen only) for $89.99, which I think is a great price. I never use the mouse on the one I have, just the pen. When not using the pen, I put a mousepad over the tablet and use an optical mouse (don't like wireless mice!).

Stores Staying Open 24 Hours in Canada

Zellers, The Bay, and Walmart are going to have select stores in Canada remain open 24 hours a day until December 24.

The Bay locations open around the clock until Christmas:

Yorkdale - Toronto, Ontario
Square One - Mississauga, Ontario
Bayshore Shopping Centre - Ottawa, Ontario

Zellers locations nationwide that will be open 24hrs/day until Christmas:

British Columbia
Burnaby - Metropolis At Metrotown
Coquitlam - The Coquitlam Centre
Langely - Willowbrook Mall
Richmond - Landsdowne Centre
Victoria - Hillside Centre
Victoria - Tillcum Mall

Alberta
Calgary - Chinook Centre
Calgary - Market Mall S.C.
Calgary - The Shoppes At Shawnessy
Calgary - Sunridge Mall
Edmonton - Northgate Centre
Edmonton - Town Centre Shopping Ctr
Edmonton - West Edmonton Mall
Grande Prairie - Prairie Mall
St. Albert - St. Albert Centre

Manitoba
Winnipeg - Kildonan Place
Winnipeg - Northgate S.C.

New Brunswick
Fredericton - Fredericton Mall
Moncton - Moncton Mall
St. John's - McAllister Place

Newfoundland
St. John's - Cabot Mall

Nova Scotia
Dartmouth - Mic Mac Mall
Halifax - Bayers Lake Power Centre
Sydney - Prince St. - Sydney

Ontario
Belleville - 199 Bell Blvd
Bowmanville - 2383 Highway No. 2 Unit D
Brampton - Shoppers World
Brampton - Trinity Common Mall
Brantford - Brantford Centre
Cambridge - Cambridge Centre
Chatham - Thames Lea Plaza
Fergus - 900 Tower St. South
Gloucester - Gloucester Centre
Guelph - Corner Stone Rd & Edinburgh
Kingston - Cataraqui Town Centre
Kitchener - Laurentian Power Centre
Lindsay - Lindsay Square S.C.
London - Masonville Place
London - Westmount Mall
Milton - Milton Mall
Mississauga - Mississauga Square One
Nepean - Bayshore S.C.
Nepean - Meadowlands Mall
Newmarket - Upper Canada Mall
Niagara Falls - 6777 Morrison St.
Orillia - Orillia Square Mall
Orleans - Place D'Orleans
Oshawa - Five Points Mall
Oshawa - Oshawa Centre
Peterborough - 950 Lansdowne St. W.
Pickering - Pickering Town Ctr.
Richmond Hill - Hillcrest Mall
Sarnia - London Road S.C.
Simcoe - 129 Queensway East
Toronto - Cloverdale Mall
Toronto - Shoppers World Danforth
Toronto - Trenton Plaza
Waterloo - Conestoga Mall
Welland - Seaway Mall
Windsor - Ambassador Plaza
Windsor - Devonshire Mall
Windsor - Tecumseh Mall

Saskatchewan
Saskatoon - 3510 8Th St East Un 1

Walmart locations will be open around the clock until Christmas:

GTA
Brampton, Highway 10 and Bovaird
Brampton, Highway 7 and Airport Rd.
Bolton
Markham
Mississauga, Meadowvale, Winston Churchill and 401
Newmarket
Orangeville
Oshawa
Pickering
Richmond Hill
Toronto Stockyards, St. Clair and Runnymede
Toronto, Agincourt Mall
Toronto, Keele and Lawrence
Toronto, Scarborough Town Centre
Toronto, Scarborough West Hill
Toronto, Scarborough, Eglinton Ave. E.
Vaughan

Ontario
Barrie, Highway 400 and Molson Park Dr.
Barrie, Bayfield St.
Brantford
Burlington
Cambridge
Chatham
Cornwall
Fort Frances
Guelph
Kingston
Kitchener, Ottawa St. S.
Kitchener, Fairview Park Mall
London, Clarke Rd.
London, White Oaks Mall
London, Fanshawe Park Rd. W.
Niagara Falls
North Bay
Orillia
Ottawa, Orleans, Innes Rd.
Ottawa South, Bank St.
Peterborough
Sarnia
St. Catharines, Lincoln Mall
St. Catharines, Vansickle Rd.
Thunder Bay
Timmins
Welland
Whitby
Windsor, Tecumseh Rd. E.
Woodstock

Sale: Nice Leather Purse at Sears (different colours)

Sears.ca has had a lot of sales for the season and though I've featured a few that are okay, most of them have sucked, imo.

Today I went to see what their "daily deals" were and found these purses which I think are worth mentioning.


$32.99 online only, $59.99 after Jan. 13, 2008

I like the red one personally...

Digital Picture Frame Deal at The Source (Canada)

The Source's Circuit Breaker/Deal of the Day:

Comstar 7" Digital Picture Frame With MP3 Player
$79.99 (Reg. $129.99) $50.00 Off


Also on sale today:
Centros™ iPod® Docking Micro System
$75.00 (reg. $149.99)

December 18, 2007 ONLY
for BOTH sales.

Electronic Toys on Sale at Sears

XBOX® 360 Lego Star Wars^TM: The Original Trilogy
$39.99 (Reg. $59.99) $20.00 Off

Lego Star Wars II for Xbox

DS - Disney's The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
$29.99 (Reg. $49.99) $20.00 Off

Chronicles of Narnia for Nintendo DS

Panasonic Overhead Headphones
$14.99 (Reg. $29.99) 50% Off


Also:

PS2 DVD Remote Control
$14.99 (reg. 19.99)

Xbox Game Controller and Xbox 360 Game Controller
$24.99 (reg. 39.99 and 29.99, respectively)

Universal RF Adapter
$7.99 (reg. 9.99)
For use with Playstation 1, PS2, N64, GameCube, and Xbox

A Couple of Cool Items at The Source

Both of these are available from The Source online only, not in-store.

Centrios™ Stereo iPod® Docking Dual Alarm Clock Radio
$55.00 (Reg. $119.99) $64.99 (54%) Off!!!
Wake up to your iPod tunes, radio, or buzzer.
Sale is for Dec. 17, 2007 ONLY!


Awesome bundle of toys survival tools here:
Grundig FR250 Emergency Self-Powered Radio w/Flashlight & Cell Phone Charger
$65.00 (Reg. $89.98) $24.98 Off
Sale Ends December 24, 2007

This comes with an AM/FM radio with a built-in flashlight, emergency siren, and cellphone charger that doesn't need batteries. You wind it up to power it! Features 40 station presets, sleep timer and alarm.

Also comes with a 31-piece kit that includes insulated jumper cables, tire pressure gauge, 10-piece nut driver set, slip joint pliers, screwdrivers, gloves, electrical tape, 12 assorted electric terminals fuses, as well as a carry case for the lot of it.

FREE Standard Shipping at The Source to most parts of Canada! (except for TVs larger than 32") Free in-store pick-up also available. Expedited shipping is available for an additional $14.99 per order.

Best Buy (Canada) - TiVo!!!!

TiVo Dual Tuner DVR (TCD649080) !

We have TiVo in Canada??? Apparently it became available to us over a week ago (Dec. 7, 2007) but this is news to me.

It's $199.99 at Best Buy (product linked above).

Quoted from BestBuy.ca:

• Record and store up to 80 hours of your favourite shows and movies and watch them whenever you want.
  
• Control live TV with pause, rewind, instant replay and slow motion functions.
  
• Search for your favourite shows by keyword, actor, title or sports team.
  
• Send shows to your laptop, PSP or iPod with TiVoToGo transfers. (Requires TiVo Wireless Network Adapter (AG0100) and a home network)

Nice!