Complaint Rating:

I have made my last trip to Canadian Tire. A few weeks ago I purchased several items from a local CT. I made it as far as the parking lot when I realized that one of the items was packaged incorrectly -- the contents of the box were not what they should have been. So I went to the return desk. The woman working the desk was the same cashier who had sold me the product not five minutes earlier, and she remembered me. I had the original receipt, the original CT money, even the original bag (not to mention the debit card I had just used to buy the item), but they insisted they needed photo ID to do a return. Nobody, including the idiot "manager" who was called, knew why they collect the information, what they do with it, or how long they keep it. Ultimately I was able to return the item without showing my driver's licence.

Yesterday, however, I had purchased an item from a different location and went back to exchange it for a higher priced item. Once again, I was at the same store where I purchased the item, I had the original receipt, original CT money, the debit card used to purchase it, even the original bag, but they insisted on ID. The manager came and gave me what seems to be (from reading this site) the standard nonsense about "fraud, " telling me they keep the information for 2 years and use to it see if anyone is making "too many" returns.

Following a huge fight they ultimately refused to do the exchange without photo ID. Not wanting to give them any more of my money than I already had, I relented and provided ID, but I won't be back.

And all this for an item costing less than $10.