Dec 29
A bit of Humor to end the year on!
Serge and I thought you might enjoy this. It pretty well sums up a lot of our Frustrations in dealing with Transport Canada, and the RIV in 2007. Only those that have been caught up in this mess will really understand this soundtrack!
Please note that although the names might sound familiar, they are all fictional characters!
Serge and Bob Show Part I: 
December 29th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
We don’t have a government of, by and for the people,
We have a government of the Ford, by the General Motors and for the Chrysler.
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based on R.N.
December 30th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I believe that I recognized some of the people involved.
The names may be fictitious, but the facts are there and
it rings true.
Quite comical and well done.
December 30th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
A classic!! Thanks for the laugh.
December 31st, 2007 at 10:13 am
This rings so true.
Like on Friday afternoon Dec 21st at about 4 PM AST, when i called the RIV and asked if they had the new TC List of Admissible Vehicles, the lady said “There is a new list? What does it say about Toyotas?” I said I don’t know, I am importing a GM. She then went to check the list and came back on the line and said “Great, my Toyota can now be brought into the country. Thanks for letting me know. This is the best phone call I have received all day!” So I was the one that told the lady at the RIV that her vehicle was admissible. How ironic is that?
December 31st, 2007 at 11:13 am
I finally obtained my recall letter from BMW after waiting since Nov 15 2007 and paying $569.00….PS THE RECALL LETTER WAS DATED NOV 24…..I RECEIVED IT DEC 24 2007…The dealership called me to pick it up…..so I DID and faxed it to the RIV ….The following day I called the RIV…they received it but they cannot accept it because they didn’t receive confirmation from BMW that the letter was genuine….THATS WHEN I LOST MY HANDLE WITH THE RIV AND CALLED MR BRUCE CANTON BMW CANADA 905-428-5653 …….FORM 2 WAS FAXED PRETTY FAST AND TWICE BY THE RIV……..IDIOTS
December 31st, 2007 at 11:53 am
These stories would be funny if they were not so sad. You can call RIV 3 times and get 4 different answers to the same question. Quite frankly I am suprised that Livingston is allowing this to happen. There is a huge potential liability here.
December 31st, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Something is still rotten in Denmark! I mean Transport Canada!
December 31st, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Everything I have seen thus far leads me to believe that it is the RIV / Livingston that is making the decisions regarding recall letters and not Transport Canada.
I have asked both TC and RIV for the information but neither has responded.
December 31st, 2007 at 2:54 pm
This note is from my brother vacationing in Florida
Hi Serge,
My kindest regards to Bob. I wouldn’t have had the patience to continue at that intellectual level and I barely made it out of grade eight. Anyway, good lesson on how NOT to handle public enquiries. Do you suppose that RIV and TC use a Bombay call centre like a lot of other Canadian establishments.
Perhaps Minister Cannon, whom incidentally is seen by Toronto’s Mayor, David Miller as a good choice for the position, should call his Help Centres occasionally to be more in touch with what actually happens. I still think the Canadian public had a real light bulb moment (call it awakening or revelation – humm pretty close to “revolution”) with the change in the value of our Canadian currency.
Let’s hope we/you can keep the momentum going until a Federal election is called, then Mr. Harper can be a true Conservative leader and level the North American playing field for all his constituents. Otherwise, that poor confused Liberal leader could be the Head of the next minority Federal Government.
Mr. Harper, please take the necessary steps now. We can’t afford another mandate under a Liberal Government. Even a minority one.
Did I tell you that we’re picking up our Saab 9-3 Turbo while we’re here in Florida?
Keep up the good work. You have more support than you are aware of. Or, the real value of your support is where the American tires meets the Canadian roads?
Cheers,
January 1st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Battle won but lost the war? I am starting the 3rd month with my 2008 Chev truck in my garage. It has an immobilizer. I have a recall letter and a letter stating no current campaigns and a letter with my VIN # stating I have a recall clearance all from my American dealership. Now I have to get a letter from OEM which will lead GM right back to my sales person and dealership so they can punish them and charge me a punative cost to punish me again. Before we move on could we stop and fight this war as I don’t think that we have won anything yet? I have faxed RIV three times and have yet to receive a reply and just as concerning to me over the holidays I observed many new vehicles on the lots in Canada and US have no export on the window stickers. My vehicle is still in the garage and I believe the border is closed for most of us.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Dale and Helen Greaves;
I have some information concerning GM recall clearance letter that you may be able to use. Email me at
byard.smith@gnb.ca if you are interested.
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Dale and Helen Greaves;
I wouldn’t bother waiting for a reply from RIV. Any sort of common courtesy seems to be beyond their ability.
I would simply assume that your recall letter has been declined and get one from GM. I think that the letters are pretty reasonable and the GM contact info is on the RIV website.