Credit By PAT GUERGIS Examiner Staff Reporter If you have never checked your file at the Credit Bureau of Barrie it may be in your best interests to do 50 Bruce Phillips manager and partner in the Barrie office says most individuals dont know what information is in their files We have 86000 dockets in our office and 93 per cent ac curacy level but errors can oc cur and we dont really have any way of knowing if the in dividual doesnt tell us He said in order for person to check his file they must first come into the office make out written application providing adequate identification and then sit through personal in terview during which their file will be explained in detail If there is anything they want added or taken out we will first verify the informa tion and then add it to the file or take it out Phillips said INFORMATION SERVICE We are an information ser Tips for wise credit buyers How good is your credit rating bets it what you think it is or think it should good credit rating is very important to day even if ou dont want to use credit The tren towards making decisions based on facts and opinions supplied by others is growm For is reason it is essential that informa tion which is collected about individuals by certain agencies especially credit agencies be correct and project the person in as favorable light as possible This information can influence where or if you will work and how much you can borrow CREDIT TIPS The Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations has several tips for those dealing with credit Always pay your bills promptly If you have reason for being late with pay ment let the company know Always read and understand the small print Always deal with known respected and established companies Be familiar with brand name merchan dise and its cost so you can compare goods and prices Make sure you understand the total cost of your purchases Add up those monthly charges Besides these helpful hints on handling credit there are few more THINK ABOUT IT Consider very carefully whether or not you really need credgt Will the item you are buy ing be necess ry item Are those monthly payments and finance charges going to be worth it Can you really afford it If minor finan cial emergency arose could you handle it and the payments too If you are not sure about the implications and responsibilities of financing there are Try to pay off any debt quickly Avoid those prolonged easy terms and avoid having to refinance at higher interest rates Never sign blank contract or sheet of paper Remember contract is legal document ache people who can help The Barrie Credit Bureau works closely with the Credit Counselling Service of the SimcoeGeorgian Bay Region Check with them before you use credit Their assistance may save you lot of heart BRUCE PHILLIPS Barrie manager Reporting Act protects consumers Agencies such as the Barrie Credit Bureau operate under the control of the Consumer Reporting Act The act sets out guidelines on the kind of information that can be reported the way it can be used and rocedures for protecting consumers from inaccurate or out ated informa tion Bruce Phillips partowner of the Barrie Credit Bureaus says his firm is registered with the Ontario Ministry of Con sumer and Commercial Affairs They control what we can and cant do with the informa tion we keep on file If they receive complaint about us they act very quickly There have only been couple of times we have had to deal with them about complaints so far Those were mainly because people didnt know who to conéact about information reported from their files he sat The Consumer Reporting Registrar is responsible for ad ministering the act which is designed to protect the con sumer as far as the law can go The act deals with the reporting and gathering of both credit and personal information relating to an individuals lifestyle and character If an individual cant handle his own financial affairs and is cojntinually getting into debt there is not much the law can COMMON SENSE Common sense is your best defence says Phillips Any consumer is entitled to know what information is in his file at credit bureau The opportunity to change any incorrect information is open to anyone who wishes to do so It may be in an in dividuals wishes to do so It may be in an individuals best interest to see that certain good aspects of his financial background are added to his file Usually most good information is only added in this method Unfortunately we tend to hear all the bad news here and not too much of the good stuff Naturally when someone gets into difficulty with credit the company he is dealing with reports it to us and it goes in the file Phillips explained All county court judgements are kept on file and once chattell mortgage is registered it comes directly to us from Toronto The consumer also has the right to know what is being reported about him as well as to whom it is being reported ACT PROTECIS The act ensures that agencies providing information for unauthorized purposes are liable to prosecution In the case of bankruptcy no information more than seven years older than the most recent bankruptcy may be includ ed in the report the exception being when the consumer had declared bankruptcy more than once No information as to race creed color sex ancestry ethnic origins or political affiliation may be included Any person knowingly supplying false information in the preparation of consumer reports is liable to prosecution Consumer reporting agencies cannot use any information unless it is stored in Canada If you apply for credit the credit grantor must tell you in advance if he intends to use credit report The credit grantor cannot pass any information about your credit background on to anyone else unless he has in formed you in writing at the time of the original application or has obtained your consent DISCLOSE SOURCE If you have been refused benefit or have had your charges increased as direct result of information supplied from credit reporting agency the credit grantor must tell you so The credit grantor must also at your request supply you with the names and address of that agency where you can check the nature and source of the information It you wish to check your file you must make request in writing and arrange specific time for an appointment Should you discover any information in your file which you do not think is right tell the bureau they will check it out to varify what you have said and change the file if it is not correct If they do not then the Registrar of Consumer Reporting Affairs will use its power to order changes or deletions in any file if he is satisfied that the information is inaccurate incomplete or does not follow the act If any errors are found once they are corrected the agen cy will inform all persons who have made inquiries about your credit within last 60 days of the correction The main purpose of the Consumer Reporting Act is to see that the rights of consumers are protected The registrar has gone to great lengths to ensure that this is done But help is needed from the consumer as well As Phillips says It is to an individuals advantage to take look at his file sort it out and check it over Shoe imports threaten iobs Canadian tanners say Representatives of the Cana dian tanning industry want restraints imposed on volume shoeimports They told the AntiDumping tribunal in Toronto last week restraints will stabilize the domestic market and help not only domestic manufacturers but retailers and consumers They say the degree of injury heavy imports are causing warrants strong emergency action If such action is not taken said tanning industry spokes man Con Riley Jr we believe that the Canadian shoe industry and its suppliers in cluding the tanning industry will suffer irreparable damage The result will be pockets of serious unemployment in rural Ontario and Quebec he said Also the Canadian footwear market would be increasingly subjected to international price fluctuations He says without domestic industry acting as price regulator the extremely low prices not available would disappear There would be uniformly higher prices and Canada would be increasingly subject to international supply uncer tainties Riley says restraints are needed now He told the tribunal restric tion are particularly necessary in view of negotiations between the United States and South Korea Taiwan and other low cost countries over voluntary quotas Success of the American quota negotiations could mean that the Canadian footwear market would then be exposed to surge of imports diverted from the US market he said The tribunal was told imports of leather shoes for the first two months of this year increased 42 per cent over the same two month period last year Since 76 per cent of tannery shipments involve leather shoes the tanning industry is also hurting says Riley He says indications are that sales are falling inventories in creasing layoffs or production cutbacks are planned and capacity utilization is dropping Net domestic orders booked for the first five months of 1977 are down 30 per cent compared to the same period last year say tanning representatives wheels of yesteryear pttuu Cadillac Fairview Last weeks Wheels of Yesteryear example of elegance in action Coronet and Jim Armstrong 46 Collete Cr Barrie wins agift certificate from the Brass Group good at Brass and Glenn Dunlop Street East This weeks Wheels of Yesteryear may be little tougher the manufacturer is out of business but one of the Iirms most famous model names is still around Were not asking for the model name of this weeks car just the manufacturers name and the year of the car nu was 1954 Dodge earnings down CadillacFairview Corp Ltd Torontobased development firm which numbers Georgian Mall just outside Barrie among it holdings reports drop of about six per cent in net income in the year ended Feb 28 despite an increase of about 25 per cent in total revenues Gross revenue was $2534 million up from $2004 million million in the previous year while net income was $152 million down from $165 million Also down were net income er share basic 604 cents mm 665 fully diluted 592 from 65 cash flow $384 million from $408 million and cash flow per share $153 from $166 basic $148 from $160 ful ly diluted Book value assets were $1269 billion up from $1045 billion Where do you stand How should you use it Vice We provide information on an individuals or com panys financial history we dont decide who gets credit and who doesnt Our service provides the in formation to the client and it is then up to that company to decide whether or not to grant credit based on that informa tion What sounds like bad risk to one company may not sound that way to another Phillips said The credit bureau operates for its members To be member company must be in the business of granting credit and must sign statement to that effect Statements must be varified The member is then given code which has to be given along with the persons name who is calling and the name of the company when credit history is given The credit history goes back seven years Information older than seven years is destroyed The crdit history is gathered primarily from information received form banks lending companies and mortgage com panies but can also come from other sources The name of the company which provided the information is not given to member re questing credit history description of the person address name job and the like is given along with credit in formation This is phrased in such terms as payments as agreed some payments slow normally slow recommended and poor These are terms which have been given to the credit bureau by the companies who supply the information REDIT AFFILIATIONS The Barrie Credit Bureau is affiliated with other credit of fices throughout North Ame rica If person comes here from outside our own area we can phone and get credit check on him and other companies all over Canada do the same with us Bruce said All county court judgements are kept on file as well as files on commercial businesses and industries in this area This in cludes information on direc tors and partners in the firm At the same time Phillips explained It person hasnt used credit we dont know him NEW OWNERS Phillips partners in the Bar rie Orillia and Midland Credit Bureaus are Grant Showers of Orillia and Paul Mattor of Midland The three also own the Barrie Answering Service along with Brian Turnbull of the Orillia Answering Service They purchased both busi nesses May Credit card applications take up the most of our business with respect to the reporting side of it There is also collec tion side to the credit bureau company cant adjudcate credit rating by todays in formation That is why records for the past seven years are kept The main problem Phillips says is when people think credit is right and not privilege realize its beginning to look like it is right but if you dont qualify and meet the rules set down by the person offering credit then you dont have the right to get credit After all its someone elses money you are using the examiner Saturday June 18 1977 13 Examiner advertising director Len Sevick left admires certificates of achievement won by sales representatives Dan Gaynor centre and Lyall Johnson The two recently completed Thomson Newspapers career development pro proposed tax on life in surance policy gains will fluc tuate widely depending on the time of year death occurs say representatives of the Life Underwriters Association of Canada LUACl Association chairman Nor ris Bowden says Canadians would be better to die in one month than another under the scheme LUAC spokesmen met with federal finance minister Donald Macdonald last week in Ottawa to protest the tax as socially wrong They warned him it would also create administrative nightmares and result in numerous inequities Bowden told Macdonald life insurance policy holders already pay their fair share of taxes Life insurance is subject to premium tax of two per cent in each province except On tario where it is higher he said Bowden says life insurers pay corporation income tax at the same rate as other corpora tions and says policy owners are already taxed on any policy gains in most situations And they cannot take ad vantage of the $1000 year in terest income deducation allow ed on other investments except on onetime basis when and if the policy owner surrenders policy for cash He says the trend in Canada is generally to reduce or eliminate taxation on death It has generally been con cluded in Canada and other countries that the social Wintarios winner Marshall Pollock isnt household name but everyone in Ontario wants piece of his action Pollock is the managing director of the Ontario Lottery Corporation the crown cor poration that runs the Wintario Lottery and Ontarios involve ment in the Provincial Lottery He was in Barrie recently after noon to address the Barrie Rotary Club Wintario is North Americas most successful lottery he said grossing $6 million every two weeks Results of survey released Thursday said Pollock show that 82 per cent of Ontarians like the lottery He said big part of that suc cess is due to managements willingness to be responsive to the publics changing moods and attitudes towards the lot tcry Like any other business he said the lottery corporation must provide the kind of lot tery that the public wants USES RESEARCH Pollock said the lottery cor poration makes extensive use of consumer research to gauge its market and tries to make as many changes as possible to keep its product popular For example he said the Wintario prize structure has been changed five times since the lottery began in April 1975 The most recent change an nounced Thursday night at the draw in Penetanguishene is the creation of windfall prizes Starting with Thursdays draw if the first three numbers on your ticket match the first three numbers of any winning number you get free book of five tickets for the next draw Pollock said the corporation is very sensitive to the need for the public to believe that Wintario is an honest lottery For that reason he said the company decided to put the draw on television and use the Rio ato machines invented in Belgium to choose the winning numbers The corporation decided against using computer to choose the winning numbers because many people wrote in saying anyone who could pro gram computer to send man to the moon could program computer to draw any number he wants $300 MILLION GROSS To date Pollock said Win tario has grossed about $300 million About $117 million has been allocated through the ministry of culture and recrea tion he said and about $14 million from the Provincial Lottery has been allocated for health and environmental pro tection research in Ontario He said that out of each dollar Wintario receives about 40 cents goes towards prizes eight cents goes to the retailer about six cents goes to the area distributors six cents is used to cover the lotterys operating expenses and 43 cents is profit It is the profit he said which becomes Wintario grants Thanks to the overwhelming support Wintario and the Pro vincial has received from the public Pollock said there is enough money coming in to be used for the goOd things that allow us to say With Wintario we all win and the Provincial is better chance for everyone grounds and the severe economic realities of death render it undesirable to tax any part of life insurance proceeds at the time of death he said The LUAC wants Macdonald to withdraw that budget pro posal along with ones which would affect life insurance policy loans gram for advertising salesmen Examiner Photo business Proposed insurance tax plan ripped by life underwriters In human terms the whole concept of tax at the time of death or in the case of policy loans at the time of financial need is wrong said Bowden He also wants Macdonald to withdraw the proposal to disallow policy loan interest as an expense where money is bor rowed for use in busmess or to acquire income producing pro perty This is unwarranted dis crimination against life in surance as form of property hesaid Kitchener wholesale firm opens outlet in Barrie Barrie has gained another new business The first branch of the William Knell and Company Limited of Kitchener is located at 99 Vespra St in Barrie Why did the hardware com pany pick Barrie as the location or its first branch We feel that Barrie is the hub of the North It is centrally located for our customers in this area we expect it to grow says Wayne Starr branch manager Starr knows the area well and is himself well known in the area He has been travelling salesman for William Knell for the part of Ontario for the past 15 years Starr she was Knells first salesman to reach the million dollar mark for company sales said the response from area customers has been great We have already opened 25 new Barrie accounts and have had to restock our shelves several times in certain items Starr said 71 YEARS OLD William Knell first opened the building supply business in 1906 in Kitchener with small store and two employees In 1913 he went into the wholesale hardware field and called on customers by horse and buggy By 1956 50 years after he started he had expand ed twice and employed more than 100 people The company is wholesale outlet which supplies retail hardware plumbing and elec trical supplies and tools Marie Miller president is the daughter of William Knell who died in 1972 We are quality house Starr said Our stock is all good namebrand products The outlet carries Ski and Makita power tools all NuIone and Amerock products fasten ing devices panic bars and complete line of Crane Jenkins and Worcester items We do not sell retail only to building supply houses plumb ing and electrical contractors and builders The new branch carries 20000 to 25000 different items with an inventory of $250000 Items which were only available in Toronto can now be purchased through us Starr explained The store consists of 4000 square feet of office showroom and stock room space 4000 square feet of outside stock area plus another yard for holding piping materials The stores staff of four employees will soon be increas ed says Starr My assistant Jack Bettke will be moving to Barrie in another month and as we grow we will be adding staff FAMILY MOVE The Starr family has also moved to Barrie My wife and children love the area We moved up here and rented house two months ago and have since had home built in Midhurst We will move in as soon as mover free to Wayne Starr is manager of one of the newer businesses in Barrie the William Knell suppliers of wholesale hard ware plumbing electrical and building supplies at 99 Vespra St Starr has been with the Kuell company of Kit chener for 22 years 15 of which were spent as travelling salesman in the Barrie area The Starr family has built new home in Midhurst and have been living in the Barrie area for the past two months Examiner Photo move us It seems they are all tied up right now Starr and his wife Francis have three children Brian 14 Kevin 13 and Karen who is 12 Starr plans to get involved in community life when he gets settled While in Kitchener he coached minor hockey for eight years and minor baseball for 19 years He was an umpire with ASA for seven years working both with children and adults Barrie has everything to of fer Starr says It is centrally located and there is lots to get involved in This is such busy time right now that we have put our official grand opening off until the fall he said At that time we plan to have display areas so that all our suppliers can set up demonstra tions and displays for our customers The company has truck on the road making deliveries in such places as Sutton Tot tenham Meaford Midland Penetanguishene Brechin and Bracebridge Industrial vacuums water purifiers bug killers range hood fans industrial ladders and wheelbarrows are among items found in the stock room The showroom is filled with displays of tools lawnmowers table saws and other equipment needed by local contractors and suppliers Starr says the diversity of his companys product line is one of its most important features Local people have been employed to do the work which Knell has required so far We feel it is only fair to reciprocate in doing business in the area and we hope to keep it that way Expansion lans are not 1m mediate but the first months business is any indication of need for more space they wont be far off