Peter Silverman Still Helps
Peter Silverman may no longer be part of the Rogers / CityNews brand (he was prematurely and surprisingly axed last summer), but he still helps.
Little did I know, he continues to lend a hand to those in need of someone with a wealth of experience (and cojones) in the realm of consumer advocacy.
Seeing that I'm not much of a commercial radio listener, let alone on Saturday mornings, it came as news to me that Silverman's skills and "helps" concept continue to live on in the form of a radio gig on CFRB 1010. While the show is quite different (especially being on radio, and lacking video footage of Peter hunting down culprits and forcing them to respond in front of a camera crew), it retains some of the same principles and goals as the original award-winning CityTV program.
I caught up with Peter Silverman, still tough as nails at 75 years young, to ask him about the end of his tenure at City, the pressures of being the go-to guy for thousands, and how his CFRB radio gig is coming along.
blogTO: How did your 19-year tenure on Silverman Helps on City News come to a sudden end?
Peter Sliverman: Silverman Helps was the longest running Canadian Consumer advocacy show ever. It had gained a well-deserved reputation for honesty, fairness, and as the court of last resort for thousands of people. In fact, people would write and say that the mere mention that they, the consumer, were going to contact Silverman helps was enough to "resolve" the dispute they were having.
My producer, Terry O'Keefe and I were hoping (at the time it seemed certain) that we would achieve our two decades, and if my stamina held up, even more years at CITY. After all, we'd won more awards than anyone else in the newsroom, and we were told by Rogers that we were a vital of the City News brand and image. Vital or not, on the morning of June 4, 2008, (and without any warning) Terry and I were called into the City News boardroom and were told by Jamie Haggerty (Rogers then point man) that as of that moment we were shut down.
When we asked what the rationale was, we were informed that none would be given. When I inquired what was to be done with the 12,000 consumer complaints we had received up to that point in 2008, we were told to "shred them." Over the next few weeks we cleaned out our desks, gathered up our awards, mementos and memorabilia, and went off into the night quietly.
When did your show on CFRB first air?
Not long after leaving City, Steve Kowch of CFRB offered me the Saturday Radio gig. The first show aired on Saturday, the 6th of September, 2008, and it's continued since.
What did you do with your time between media "helps" gigs?
I kept busy. I'm a board member of Car Help Canada, Save a Child's Heart Israel, and the OMVIC Compensation Fund. I also did some charity work, but mostly I went to our cottage and chilled out.
Were people still seeking help from you, even though you didn't have an official outlet to broadcast?
Yes, people continued to ask if I could help them. But it wasn't until I was afforded the opportunity of free time that I suddenly realized the stress that Silverman Helps generated. It was not a job we left at the office. During the evenings and weekends, Terry and I would be on the phone discussing investigations were were involved in and upcoming stories. But the results were worth it, (I think). It wasn't without reason we were referred to as a mini Sixty Minutes.
Your new job at CFRB is on the radio. Does the show suffer from the lack of a video component?
Yes, of course. Radio is a different medium with a different ethos and as such is limited in its impact. Radio stations generally do not have the resources to carry out a Silverman Helps program (the CBC excepted, and even then they combine the TV and radio on many occasions). That said, radio does have a certain cachet, and CFRB"s listeners are loyal and involved, and the station dose have a great reputation within the community, so I do still manage to help good people.
But it is different. I pass on their complaints to the appropriate contacts I have gained over the years, or I advise the listener who to contact and how to resolve their problem. Most of the time it works out. I also have experts within certain areas (condos, contractors, movers, etc) on the show to field questions and offer advice. That's the strength of CFRB's talk format - the interaction with the audience, which offers people the chance to vent, and if not get answers, at least get some practical advice that they can put to use.
How does it feel to once again be a "go-to" for people in need of help? How much longer do you see yourself being a prominent consumer advocate?
It's stressful, yet again. I'm finding myself spending too much bloody time on the computer doing this, and have to find ways of cutting back.
But there is the great satisfaction that comes from helping people who badly need it, and I've found some great individuals within various disciplines' or professions, (lawyers etc) who offer a lot of help for very little in return.
I'll continue for perhaps another year. We'll see. I have some offers that I am pondering along the advising business about customer relations, dealing with complaints, etc.
In your line of work, you must have encountered some wild and wacky situations on the mean streets of Toronto. Care to share one such recent case you've worked on?
None are "wacky" in the humourous sense - to the consumer, nothing is funny if they have been taken, are a victim of fraud, or lied to. But I am working on one complaint that concerns a person being buried in the wrong plot. Apparently this happens more often then people realize. But consider the outcome - if one body rests in the wrong place, then it's likely there could be a domino effect. One out of place means somewhere else someone (hopefully dead) is also residing under the wrong tombstone. It boggles the mind.
The Peter Silverman Show airs on Saturdays at 11am on Newstalk 1010 CFRB.
Comments (36)
This man is a hero.
I was pretty upset when he was axed from City News, the man is a Toronto institution !!!
I don't think anyone will forget Peter dooking it out on King street with that nutball optometrist. He made CNN for that. CTV seems to be firing the wrong crew, as the new CP24 is a bunch of young idiots who never ask informative questions and rely on a teleprompter 100%. Now this is a real journalist, he didnt just report what happened, he got right in there and took it on the chin. Even though your format has been downgraded, keep up the good work Peter.
Why does Silverman need to stick to radio, and why does he depend on what Rogers has to say about it? Isn't this the age of the Interwebz, where anyone can say anything to anyone in full HD?
I worked at an org that Silverman was involved with (not any of those mentioned) several years ago and from that experience I can say that Peter Silverman is a first class jerk. It's one thing to have the personality on TV but he seemed to think he was entitled to push anyone and everyone around every hour of the day. Lucky for him he was good at his job, otherwise his ass wouldn't have been tolerated by anyone.
I thank all those who wrote in response including the one who said I was a jerk, but did admit I was reasonably good at what I did.
That said I would like to know what organization I was involved with as a jerk
I thank all those who wrote in response including the one who said I was a jerk, but did admit I was reasonably good at what I did.
That said I would like to know what organization I was involved with as a jerk
Reply
PETER, MR SILVERMAN!!!!! I would like to ask for you help/ advice on an ongoing problem that my family is going through. I have watched you for years and have alot of respect for you.
The issue is with Summit energy and I am sooooo frustrated and do not know where to turn. AS a (little guy) I can not help feel overwhelmed by the run around and not knowing what steps are available to me! pls HELP!!!!!
Evan if there is anyone els out there who has/is experiencing the same problem with these "energy companies" pls respond to this Tim_kyte@msn.com.
I heard someone on the radio speaking of this exact isssue with success unfortunatly I was at work not able to follow too closely!
Mr Silveramn! pls help! How do I go after a large company (Summit Energy) for illegally entering me into a contract!!! I have spoken to many people experiencing the same problem with this scam of a company. They now want me to pay $900 to get out of a contract I did not agree to. Meanwhile I am paying through the ____!!! pls steer me in a direction! Tim_kyte@msn.com
Mr. Silverman:
I need your help on a dilemma. I have a client that sold her house, she was excited as you can imagine to take the cheque to the bank to cash it as she had obligations that had to be paid. She and her ex-husband had been with this bank for many years. After cashing HIS cheque, they wanted to hold HER bank draft for 5 days! Dejected, she decided to take it to a different bank. Upon her arrival she looked into her purse to hand the teller her draft, at which time it was gone! It had fallen out of her purse along with her bank card. When she went back onto the street her bank card was there but the cheque was gone! We have pleaded with the lawyer that distributed the cheque (the buyers lawyer), to stop payment and reissue, but he refuses to do so...he has gone so far as to even call the police on her when she went to his office to ask him for his assistance in stopping payment on the cheque. The bank is willing to stop payment, her lawyer is willing to help, but the buyers lawyer who distributed the cheque WILL NOT LIFT A FINGER. If he doesn't do anything she has to wait 2 yrs to see if anyone cashed it then fight with the bank after that time and hope to get her money then. She is a single Mom with 2 small children and the proceeds from the sale of her house was the only thing she had to live on, she has no job, no where to live and now is without that money which is quite substantial, as well. She will be out on the street soon with her 2 small children with no where to go. I and my partner have gone to the law society, pleaded with both lawyers, called the bank and we are exasperated. PLEASE HELP!
Hello, Mr. Silverman:
You are the only one I can turn to. I am in need of your help. I believe that an RESP (USC) has taken dvantage of my desier to provide an education for my daughter. I agreed to a monthly $100.00 deposit to USC. However, I was not given the exact enrolment fees, even though I asked. At this point my contribution is $100.00 and the fees are $98.16 and the insurance premiums taxes $1.84. Which means there is nothing being contributed. This amount was the suggested amount by the sales rep, whom was well awear of the fees and factors for USC's gain. Now having the legal documents with all of the information, it clearly makes no sence. It is not gaining for my daughter of myself as a single mother on a fixed income. If you can advise me as to obtaining the bes possibile
refunr we would be greatful. Thank you.
Mr. Silverman is amazing. A treasure to this city. Thank you so much for all your bravery and hard work.
Hi Mr. Silverman, I have heard good things about you, helping people in need, I can really use your help!! August 10th of 2009 at about 12:10 I went to my car a (2001 Acura Cl) to sit and have my lunch at work it was a very hot day, one of the hottest days of the year so I rolled my windows up and procceded to turn on my air conditioning in the car to cool myself down from the vary hot temperatures, about 2 minutes of sitting in my car I heard a loud shatter of glass that blew all over me, not knowing what had just happened as I turned around I had noticed my back window was shattered into millions of pieces. I was told the outside tempature and ac being on could have blown out my window, so I called Acura Canada and they said that they couldn't do anything about this matter, so my concern is that, if I were to have my kids in the car at the time this incident had accured when the GLASS blew out it would have been very dangerous for my kids sitting in the back seat, they could have been blinded by this glass or serousy injured, thank god I wansn't driving or someone could have been killed. So I asked Daniel at custumers service at Acura Ca. what he thought of that, so he replied that it wasn't a safety concern so they can't or will not do any thing about this. So, please Mr. Silverman can you help me out, what can I do I would like something done about the customer service of Acura I feel there should be a recall done on these windows for these cars. they have straight out told me that there would not be one, because I am the only one that this has happened recently. The warrenty on the car windows are only good for three years of the manufacure date. Please email me and let me know if you can help thank you in advance for reading this.
Dear Mr. Silverman: I have a copy of your book and have seen you speak in person. I had no idea you were still "helping out"! Your help with the attached would be greatly appreciated by myself and my clients.
My clients will be moving on August 31st, 2009 and they need your help. They will be packing up their computer etc. in preparation for their move so I am writing on their behalf.
Coles Notes Version:
ADT/Dealer came to door selling security
Client said not interested we are moving
ADT/Dealer said how can you refuse #1) System can be moved to anywhere except Hawaii or Alaska free of charge, free of hassle
#2) Two incentives A) $25.00 per month gas card will arrive automatically for a period of 3 years for a total of $1000.00
And B) 10% - 15% off our home insurance.
Due to the calculations the ADT/Dealer wrote down on the 8 ½ X 11 piece of paper left with them (by mistake) they concluded it was a great deal. The system was installed.
The contract they signed was never reviewed with them even though questions arose they were assured to just sign and all would be well. They signed only to find out later that the contract did not include any of the incentives mentioned above.
The first incentive turned out was not an automatic monthly gas card it required them perform a multi-step process to save $100.00 worth of receipts, filling out a survey mailing to a company in the U.S.A. and then waiting 6 – 8 weeks for a coupon. (They had to follow up on this incentive and have never made use of it.) The second incentive their insurance company gave them 5% off home insurance which is half of the smallest amount quoted to them.
Once the house was sold they contacted ADT/Battikha Security Inc. to tell them what their move date would be and at that time were told this could not be done and the balance of the 3 year term would now have to be paid out; an invoice has been sent to them for $1343.66. My client suggested moving the system to either her son or daughter in Hamilton or Guelph and was told absolutely not as these area were outside of their territory.
We have been dealing with ADT/Battikha Security Inc. and the Better Business Bureau at this time we are very frustrated.
My client has offered to pay the invoice generated by ADT/Battikha Security Inc. to fulfill their contract if they (ADT/Dealer) prepay the contract in Fredericton with the monies paid to them for the three year term here in Ontario. They will not respond to my clients comments about the fact that ADT/Battikha Security Inc. says there will be no “additional charges” of any kind if my client signs a “New” three year contract in Fredericton ; however this would require a huge leap of “stupidity” on my clients part as they (ADT/Dealer) have misrepresented significant details and have gone as far as to say that my clients are the type of people who just want to shirk their obligation and are trying to get out of paying them. My clients and I believe that when they use the phrase “no additional charges” they mean once my clients pay out their contract in Ontario ADT/Dealer her will not charge them any more however Dealer in Fredericton “will”!!! My clients called Fredericton to find out what the cost would be and they have quoted much higher numbers and assured them no incentives are being offered. I assure you my clients integrity far exceeds the representatives they have been dealing with from ADT.
My clients have a credit score many would only wish they had as only 24% of the population has such great credit!!!! They would like to keep this intact as they start to enjoy their retirement. I do not understand if there are “really” no additional charges why would they not accept prepayment of the three year term and call it a day? I would like to suggest it is because my clients would end up paying far more down east without any incentives at all just to make ADT/Battikha Security Inc. happy. ADT now knows and have been aware through other complaints that their door to door people are misrepresenting details to get contracts signed. My client cannot help but wonder if ADT is using Dealers they know are getting contracts signed and turning blind eye in the name of profit or is Battikha Security Inc. their Dealer using the “good” name of ADT go get contracts signed? Either way they have a situation that is very sad! They no longer trust ADT/Dealers or any door to door company.
Can you please help!
My contact information is 905-427-6522 which is my office/pager. and of course you have my e-mail noted above.
Does anyone know how to reach Peter Silverman by phone or email.
Need to contact him about an issure that involves many people where Ritchie's Auction sold their items in the June 7th sale and haven't been paid for them.
Ritchies do not answer their phone, there are articles in the paper that they have gone under and whoever has taken over is selling our stuff again at auction in September.
Can anyone help?
With many thanks,
Jocelyn Minton
He has a show on CFRB radio now (see below) and is on Facebook you can search for him there.
mr silverman i have a friend who lives i Mattawa and desperatly in need of your help how do i contact you
anyone know how to get in touch with him i have a consumer complaint about ford dealership here in Barrie, bought a mustang 4years a go motor just went out of the blue on monday
Dear Mr Silverman; I use to watch you on TV and was amazed with how supportive you were to those who seeked your advice. I have a concerned matter that involves the Royal Bank and have sought legal advice but they are not thinking along the same line as myself; re what my argument entails. I received a letter dated May 4, 2006 from the Royal Bank stating that my Ex had been approved an increase to our credit line from $17,000.00 to $50,000.00 effective April 11, 2006. This had been without my knowledge as we were legally separated. Regardless of the fact that I had to pay half of the full amount of the $50,000.00; I feel I(joint owner of the account)was not treated fairly by the Royal Bank. I had been in touch with my own Branch at the time, where I was given a print out of the amount being deposited and withdrawn along with being told that it had been approved by one of their direct line agents. I contacted the Office of the Royal Bank Ombudsman by letter. A representative from that office called me and apologized for the error but nothing more could be done as the account had been paid off. Hmmm! How many other innocent people have they done this to and have gotten away with it? I have approached managers at Financial Institutions I deal with at present and they have told me it is unjust what they have done and that I should persue this matter. Due to the fact that they did not respect my rights as a client and I was held responsible for an increase that I was not properly and legally informed of; I am looking for a "just result" to conclude this matter.
Seeking your advice;
Dare Mr,Silverman
i saw you in Tv many times and u help lots of people.
you are great,
now i have encountered some dishonest people in MAINEKE in newmarket
i took my Jeep liberty for oil change,, after an hour waiting they called me and showed me my car is licking with oil from the front to the rear pads of my tire,,they told me i needed to change break pads and rotor etc,,that i don,t understand but i told them i didn't see any lick in my driveway as my driveway is too new,so i could have seen it ,i told them put back my tire that they remove,,,so i can pick up my BF to the airport ,they refuse even when they drive me home i called them don,t do anything to my car as i will show it to my Bf when he get here,the next thing i know they already charge me &1191.00.... and they did work to my car which i didn,t outhorized ,and which is initialy suppose to be $26 .for oil change only.. what do u think
Dear Mr.Silverman:I am 66 year old retired man who is living at Ontario Housing,was married over a year ago and looking for a one bedroom apartment,because our bachelor is too small.I have applied to Housing Connection only to receive a letter today informing me that they had vacancy at Hellenic Home for the aged at 11 and 39 Winona,but to qualify I must be over 59 years of age and of Greek origin.Is Toronto now Greece or South Africa.I would like to know after living in Ontario over 39 years and worked,paid taxes,was also injured in an industrial accident in 1989.Can you please explain this to me.
Hi Mertila,
Please email me at silverman@cfrb.com and I will see what I can do to help.
Thanks
Silverman
Dear Mr. Silverman,
The story below is one that is all too familiar. I found this site (Redflagdeals.com - forum), that had quite a few comments on "Geo Holidays".
I did some research on "scams Geo Holiday" and came up with many people who had been taken advantage like my husband and I. We thought we were finished paying our 15 year old scam - and are now dealing with irate Geo Holiday representatives who claim we are in it for 30 years. Like many of the "victims", we were convinced that it was 15yrs. The pressure to sign was really overwhelming, and we were newly married thinking we had to sign - of course taking the contract to look over was not allowed ... it should of been a red flag.
I hope you would consider helping us and many others that are as far away as Vegas who have been trying to get a class suit against them. Many Torontonians, Southwestern Ontario residents are sure to come forward if they knew you would help us.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Time Share Vic - Liz
We got a call from someone from Geo Holidays last week. This person
claimed
that we had won one of 4 free vacation packages to various locations in
the
world. He stated that every year his company chooses 4 lucky couples to
which are given free vacations. Instead of advertising on TV, radio,
billboards, etc.. he said they believed word of mouth advertisement is
what
they want. We would enjoy our vacation so much that we would happily
spread good word of mouth. (We are in Toronto, Canada by the way).
Being skeptical I asked what the catch was. I asked this guy, "what
will
you people try to sell me when I come there? is this in any way a
timeshare?". He assured me that there were no strings attached and that
nobody would try to sell me anything. We just have to go there and draw
for
the prize (but said we had to be there for approx. 90 mins).
If I hadn't of entered a draw for a vacation at a store earlier this year
I
probably wouldn't have gone at all.... but I didn't want to miss out if I
was mistaken. I also couldn't turn up anything bad for Geo Holidays when
searching on the internet....
Anyways, we drive to the place Saturday morning (our prearranged meeting
time)... and the sign outside on the building says "Fairfield Affiliate".
Interesting... the name Geo Holidays is seen nowhere (apparently they are
just a partner). Inside we were led to a room where we wait a while and
then every couple gets a salesperson sitting beside them to start talking
us
into buying this vacation crap. "All we ask is that you keep an open
mind.
When you get over the anger you have by how we got you all here, you will
be
happy. At the end you just need to say yes or no." Yeah, right. This
strange black guy from Tennessee comes in and start making a big
presentation trying to be funny and all. The audience felt so fixed with
the agents everywhere... they laughed on cue... clapped on cue... like
puppets. The poor people in the front row should have been wearing
raincoats since that speaker guy kept spitting when he talked. The whole
thing felts like something out of the Twilight Zone... it felt like one of
those cults where you are waiting to take your special pill so the
spaceship
will come and take us all away. Creepy...
The speaker goes on talking about points and a system called FairShare
(but
explaining that it is not timeshare). He goes on mentioning it will cost
us $1066 to go anywhere in the world each year... blah blah blah....
He finishes... and it is time for our little salesman to continue to try
to
talk us into it. He reminds us that we are guaranteed our free vacation
no
matter what happens. Out of curiousity I ask how much this actually
costs.
So... we go to a room with about 40 tables with paper and calculators on
them.
He slowly (and I emphasis slowly) explains everything to us. The total
cost for the package came out to about $40,000 something. The membership
is for 45 years. I'm thinking... these guys must be nuts!! And that is
just for the package itself... let alone the annual maintenance fees of
around $500. He does some calculations and says I will only have to pay
$900 per month to get this package. Yeah, right!! ha!! I told the guy
bluntly that there was no way he was going to get a "yes" out of
me.
He told me to wait while he got another representative to tell us about a
package he might not of heard about.
So... some lady who smelt like armpits came over and sat down with us.
She
offered us another package that was for about $15,600 with much less
included (of course). But she said today they had a special on it and
that
it was only $13,600. It came out to about $290 per month or something
plus
the extra $400 maintenance fees (they write a US$ figure to make it seem
smaller). I told her even if it was $20 per month we wouldn't say "yes".
After talking for another half hour she said she wanted to talk to her
boss
to see if there was anything else she could do. She comes back and says
there was a promotion on that she wasnt aware of and the price would
actually be $11,000. We still said "no". She made it seem that us
saying
"no" just boggled her mind.... like she couldn't comprehend how someone
could say "no"! She told us that she was in this program herself and
that
we would be fools not to join.
(Inbetween these discussions we are interrupted 3 times by people
announcing
who has just bought the package. "Quiet everyone. May we have your
attention. Mr. and Mrs. Smith all the way from Toronto have just signed
up
with us." >. Again sounding so fixed and creepy. And when
we
are talking about the packages when this happens the armpit lady tells us
to
be quiet and listen.)
Still not understanding the answer no, my wife writes the letters "NO" on
a
piece of paper a dozen or so times, shows it to them, and tells them that
we
are leaving. They finally understand. They lead us to the prize office
and we draw our 3 days accommodation-only prize for Orlando, Florida.. and
we leave. At least we got something... but I won't fall for that again!!
These companies lure us in with deceit and lies...
Dear Mr.Silverman, please help us!
We cannot solve our problem for 3 years now: we filed a complaint with the city of Scarborough regarding the noise from our neighbours furnace - 7-8 months a year we are not able to sleep in master bedroom, had to arrange another one for this reason. The officer who came for measurements did not consider the night time noise limits and was afraid to say about this mistake to his supervisor. He promissed to come for another readings but never did. I spoke to his supervisor, e-mailed his dept. manager, called councillor's assistant. No result. Nobody wants to deal with this. My husband is in the wheelchair and our house has been modified for his needs. We cannot just switch to another house, which we would gladly have done years ago. This noise makes our life very difficult. There is so much to say about everything that happened, we have copies of all e-mails we sent and received. The way city officials neglected to help us is very frustrating....
We look forward to hearing from you.
Natalia and Yuri
I download tons of apps to my iPod touch, and they transfer to my dads computer when I sync it. When my dad syncs his iPhone, they get transferred to it. Now he wants do disable app downloading because he has to delete so many apps. How can I make it so iTunes doesn't sync all the apps I download to his phone?
________________
unlock iphone
Dear Mr. Silverman, we all miss you...and I need your help regarding a crook Mover that stole all my money. Movemasters on Victoria Park quoted me $350 for my whole move from 2 bed to 2 bed simple enought move. when they showed up with incorrect size truck i knew we had a problem; he DEMANDED $500 deposit before he even touched a thing. When move was completed and ALL of our worldly possetion were in HIS truck he presented me with a bill of $1,265 and DEMANDED i pay full amound before he can even drive to our other apartment. I was devastaed, had to money and had to borrow that monet for the shortfall. Movemasters refused to give me a flat rate as i requested and also requested a 24Ft truck and they send us a 17ft truck which was way too small; they did send another truck AT MY COST....how do they get away with charging me $200 to move my couch???? i thought this was all part of moving furniture.....
Mr. Silverman PLEASE HELP!!!!!
REGARDS
Danielle
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS