Canadian Tire
Reviews and Complaints

In Sep. 2009 I was visiting Perth, Ontario and my battery conked out. I got in touch with CAA and they sent a guy over to start it. He checked and told me that the battery was almost dead. The nearest place to go to for a new battery, he said, was Canadian Tire, a couple of kilometers away. I drove there and asked for a good brand; they told me they only sold their own Motomasters. I had no choice at that point, other than driving a long way to another town, like Ottawa, and run the risk of the car stalling on the way. So, I agreed, and they installed the battery, which had a sticker saying " 2 Year free replacement".

Come Nov. 2010 and I'm having starting problems again. I look for the reciept from Perth but can't find it. I call them and they confirm that I did get a new battery in Sep. 2009, but added that I got it for free. It was my lucky day blah blah blah. I said how is that possible, why would you give me a new battery and let me drive away?

So, I go to my Bank ( RBC ) and they dig out the records for Sep. 2009 and there it was, the $ 139 plus which had been paid to Canadian Tire. I called back and faxed the proof of payment and only then did they confirm that I had paid.
When my battery finally gave way in Nov. 2010 ( barely 15 months later ) I called CAA again, and they sent someone over within 5 minutes. He checked the battery and said it was almost dead. I got Canadian Tire at Perth to fax proof of purchase to the Canadian Tire at Yonge and Church. I go along and they charge me $ 74.33, just over 50% of what the new battery had cost me.

I thought "FREE" meant "FREE". Not so with Canadian Tire. The fine print said that parts were free, not labor. So how did it work out to $ 74. About 20 bucks was the labor charge, taking the old battery out and putting a new one in. The other $ 50 was for checking the old battery, to confirm that it was bad. Not only did they not trust the customer, they also didn't trust CAA ( a Canadian, not a foreign organisation ).

Why on earth would I go in for a battery change, if it was working fine.

The second point, the replacement battery that they've installed only has a warranty for 9 months, since the first one lasted 15 months. So, I guess if this one conks out in 6 months, they will charge me another $ 74 and give me a new one, with a 3 month warranty.

What kind of people are these guys? I feel like using a lot of expletives, but I shall refrain.

The other experience I've had with them, is taking the car in for an oil change, and while I am waiting in the waiting room, some guy comes up to me and says the oil cap is missing. I tell him that is impossible. How could I have been driving the car around for thousands of kilometers without the oil cap. He tells me to buy a new cap. I said I'm doing nothing of the sort. So, after some back and forth, he goes back in. My car emerges after 15 minutes, ready to go. I ask what happened and the answer: Well, there's this new guy, he had misplaced the cap and he found it.

Not one ounce of decency, to say we are sorry.

I thought it was a good idea to buy Canadian and promote Canadian businesses, but Canadian Tire's policy I think, is to destroy any customer base.

For now I think I will not add another horrifying story about them, told to me by a friend.

What recourse do I have? Any advice would be welcome.

I can assure you I shall never go to Canadian Tire again. Unfortunately, in Perth, Ontario, that was the nearest Auto place.

This is what happened to me at the Canadian Tire Auto service centre on the northwest corner of Queen St & Airport road in the city of Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Today is Monday, November 1, 2010. I arrived at the auto service centre at around 5:10pm asking for an oil change. The man at the counter serving me has grey-white hair with a name starting with "M". This person is obvious an illiterate. He asked my car model twice before he got it right; then he got my name wrong; and lastly, the license plate of my car wrong. After he printed out the work order & I changed all his mess, I asked him how long it would take for the oil change & he told me 45 minutes. Then I sat in the waiting room and waited for my car to have oil change.

During the time that I waited in the waiting room, this is what I witnessed:
First, there was only 3 cars in the garage, the garage was not even full.
Second, there were only 2 auto mechanics / technicians working on the vehicles.
Third, one of the auto mechanics (he has blond hair with a mohawk haircut) kept chatting to a female CanadianTire worker from another department (she has blond hair & tattoos / drawings on her right arm). As one can see clearly, he is obviously not working on the vehicles inside the garage if he is chatting with another person outside.
Fourth, I asked another man sitting in the waiting room how long he waited here. He told me he only needed to change his tires to winter tires but he had been there since 4pm (he waited for over 2 hours by the time I talked to him).

Finally, it was 6:40pm & I could not stand it anymore because I was sitting in the waiting room all these times & I saw my car still outside in the parking lot exactly in the spot where I left it. After 1.5 hours, the auto mechanic did not even bring my car in the garage & did not even start the oil change.

I went to the auto service counter & asked the cashier why it was taking so long. She told me she is only an cashier & she knew nothing about the work inside the garage. There was no customer at the cashier at the time (because nothing was done in the garage so no one is paying money), but this female cashier did not make any initiative to ask other people in the garage about the long wait. She was just sitting there doing nothing.
Then I lined up at the counter again for the grey-white hair man who served me at 5:10pm and told me the job would be done in 45 minutes (which meant the oil change should be done at 5:55pm). He told me it was not his fault the mechanics were slow in the garage, that my extended long wait was not his problem. He then told me since they did not even start the oil change in my car yet, I can always take my car keys back & leave. This grey-white haired man did not tell me what position my car is in the line for the job, nor did he tell me how long more I have to wait so my car can start to have the oil change. His tone indicated that he did not care about my vehicle having an oil change or not; he did not care that I have been waiting there for 1.5 hours for nothing. To sum it up basically, he did not care about my business at the Canadian Tire at the northwest corner or Queen St & Airport road.

The grey -white hair man at the counter displayed extremely poor customer service, his tone & manners to the customer were horrible. First, he had poor communications with the mechanics/ technicians in the garage to result in telling me the wrong estimated time to have the oil change done. Second, he said very loudly that it was not his fault & that it was not his problem that I have been waiting for 1.5 hours with nothing done on my car. He has a very serious attitude problem because he would not admit that it was his poor communication with the garage mechanics that I have been waiting there. If he communicated with the mechanics properly, he would have told me it would require at least 2 hours for my car oil change instead of 45 minutes. Then of course, I would not have been waiting there for 1.5 hours, wasting my time, wasting my life away, plus I had to suffer through this horrible customer service .
I will make sure I tell all my friends about the poor service I received at the Candian Tire Auto centre & make sure none of them ever service their vehicles at Canadian Tire again.

http://maps.google.ca/maps/place?hl=en&rlz=1W1ADFA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=complaints+canadian+tire+ottawa+canada&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=complaints+canadian+tire&hnear=Ottawa, +ON&cid=[protected]

Canadian Tire Coventry Rd, Ottawa, Ontario Canada Store, Automotive Service Centre. Misleading information at the vehicle service centre‎ and employee misconduct - ‎ - Posted today - Tuesday September 21, 2010 @ 9pm est.

I took my van in to have it certified yesterday. A requirement of the certification was to have both strut assemblies replaced due to a broken spring on one side, one bad ball joint, a tire, a light bulb as quoted "license plate bulb". All tallied, 1600 dollars. I bought a tire and some light bulbs following receipt of a detailed quote of all that was required. I took it across the river to Gatineau to a private garage and had the one strut, ball joint and new tire put on. $390.

I took it back to Cdn Tire this evening around 6pm to receive the certification and was advised it wasn't the license bulb but the reverse rear bulb. I asked polititely if they could replace the required bulb free of charge, due to the error and misleading info provided on the quote. I didn't receive an answer from the service manager and I had to ask again when he handed me the certification for the vehicle. Not even an appology for their error was provided to me. I was rather distraught at this point, by the waste of time I experienced buying, investigating and returning a bulb I didn't need. Unfortunately I asked to speak with the F'g manager. The response from the automotive service manager was that he was going to throw me out of the store. He asked me what right I had swearing at him. I told him none. He then told me to shut my ###ing mouth as he proceeded over to the entrance of the store. obviously trying to intimidate me. He then walked back to his work area, got the general auto manager. The GM didn't show any remorse for the error as well and was not in agreement to replacing a $2.00 bulb free on my vehicle either. The same thing, no appology was offered for the error. YES, I was wrong for using the F word but boy do these managers at the automotive desk need a good lesson in how to treat customers and to be accountable.

I do intend on escalating this problem up the ladder.

Bought 2 Noma Pagoda Solar lights for $49.99. Lasted a whole 27 days, just long enough to lose receipt. I have bought $3.99 lights that last longer. Unimpressed with Noma and Canadian Tire.

I ordered and purchased a drivers side brake Caliper. The Parts counter gave me the wrong part as I realized this when my car was apart. The part was also defective. When I brought it back and complained of the lack of customer service and knowledge the employee called me stupid for shopping there. He actually said your stupid for shopping here, if you don't like the service why don't you shop somewhere else. So I got my refund that they also messed up giving me back more money then I paid for the item and went to a real parts store got the same part cheaper, with better service and a life time warrenty. I also called customer service to complain but they did not care much either.

Well not too sure where to start on this one. I had purchased a bicycle (Schwinn) from the shawnessy canadian tire, on june 8th, 2010 for my wife's birthday. She loved it at first site, meaning bike was a nice color, had a nice rugged look to the frame, nice shifters... Etc... She had it out for a quick ride to the store one day, only to come back and say that the bike didnt feel right. Put it away and used her old one instead. So now a month has past and she decided to give this bike another try. While travelling down the street, the bike goes into a really bad speed wobble. Now she had to get off the bike and walk the bike back to the house. At this point canadain tire, explains to me that there was nothing that they could do for me. I took the bike into 2 diffefent pro bike shops and they just shook there head. One fella said that he wasnt going to let this bike leave his shop without being properly assembled. So free of charge he starts to fix and build bike to the best he could... But by this time after only 2 short rides... The back axle is completelt warped, the gears are not set right, the brake cable broke.
My complaint is for this tech to be tested on his workmanship or to have his job terminated. I want something to be done about this issue.
The techs name @ canadian tire shawnessy. Sw. Calgary, alberta is angus. I did chat with him on the phone and he was so rude with my wife and myself. Stating the fact that he just puts the nuts and bolts on, after that he says " I dont really care what happens after that, I still get my pay check"... Now what kind of attitude is that. I really think that there is a big issue here... Someone, one of these days, is going to get seriously hurt due to this guy's incompetence!
I hope that some actions will be taking asap on this matter.

I purchased new tires from Canadian Tire those are high end tires according to them. They come with 100000 Km warranty. Just after one year, three of them start slow leak. I drive to the Canadian tire auto service and ask them to fix slow leak. They change the valve and did balancing etc. and charged me $145. I asked them what is this for because tires are under warranty and I just want to fix slow leak. They told me tons of reason that I can’t write. The Tires are still leaking and I have to fill them every two to three days. I complain this to them many times first time they asked me to visit them again I did so and after three hours they told me tires are good there is no slow leak. But fact is tires are reducing pressure. They just arguing, not solve my problem.

Ah; yet another grievance to add to the already overflowing cornucopia of Canadian Tire return policy complaints. I recently invested in a hybrid mountain bicycle from the establishment of Canadian Tire two months ago and two days ago the unit basically stopped functioning altogether. This wouldn't have been a problem, had bike been fixable. What I had thought to be a malfunctioning bearing in the pedal, turned out to be much more. On top of that the back breaks, and a few of the gears were not working correctly.
Obviously, knowing how stern and ridiculous Canadian Tires policy on bicycles is I took it to the local bike shop to seek a bearing repair. This was an annoyance considering the age of the bike, the function of the bike as a mountain bike, and having to rely on the bus to get from place to place that day. Before the day had come to an end, I received a call from the bike shop saying the bike was not worth fixing due to the extensive defects. I was told that the forks in the front were not installed properly and it was only a matter of time until they break apart from the frame and I lose a couple of my pearly whites.
After acquiring this information from the mechanic I took the bike back to Canadian Tire looking for a full refund (I didn't want to another bike because clearly whoever is putting them together is not a professional, nor would I accept in-store credit because I wanted to put the money toward a bike from the locally owned and trusted bike shop in my neighborhood, nor did I want a repair because I do not trust their untrained bike mechanics).
The teenage female I dealt with was completely lost, consistently regurgitating the same unjustified phrase "I cannot return bikes after they are out of the store". Then the manager of returns interviened and stated that there is a sign on the wall that says "All bike sales are final". That statement is completely unjustifiable, not only does it contradict the policy on the back of the receipt, she is trying to legitimize the sale of a poor quality product.
Even with the receipt(Which states I have a 90 day period to return defective or faulty goods, the warranty(which states all parts are under the manufacturing warranty for one full year), and the input of two bike mechanics(including one of their own) who have both said its repairable but not worth the cost of the bike, they would not give me a refund.
My bike sits in the return section right now as they wait for the manager to make an executive decision on Monday about whether or not I should get my money back.
Basically, all future potential bike buyers heed this warning. Canadian Tire will sell you defective items, and then not have the respect to take it back, which leaves you feeling angry and used. Corporate con artists is what they are.

I booked a vehicle canadian tire for repairs on the passenger side front flat tire and left to do some arrens with a friend I received a call from the service guy who said just letting u know that there is a ticket on your car for 150, disbelieving what i am hearing i said how can i get a ticket when u have the car, guys says u want me to fix the car or what i said of course.The guy hung up.Someone else called a few mionutes later says i am the guys supervisor u have to pay for the ticket i said its you who got the ticket why should i pay for it. the guy hung up
I received another call from the guy to pick up the vehicle as Canadian tire is not going to be fixing it, i am shocked at this time i said why the guy said because we decide who's car we gonna fix.Come pick up your car.
I wrote and served a letter of complaint to their location and picked up the key.
I received a call at a few minutes later and person identified himself as the owner of Canadian tire ; First told me to come pick up my vehicle and when the person overhearing the conversation, , told him that I have picked up the keys already starting swearing at me and said shove this letter up ur **** and ... ...

I am a devout Christian and may be its hard for some of you to believe have NEVER swore at anyone for anything, ( I have never even have drank even coffee).
I cant believe this bullying exercise at Canadian Tire, all the way to their owner.Not once i raised my voice with any of them, not once i asked something which was not reasonable.

I am very hurt with this whole ordeal.

I have consulted with a lawyer already they are quite expensive. I dont want them to get awa with this what should I do.?

Canadian Tire is the worst for auto service

I have a 2002 Pontiac Montana. On February 2010 the driver's side wheel bearing started to howl. At the time I was in Saskatoon, so I had the bearings done at the Confederation St. store. The service manager told me my options and I went with the economy bearing which are $164.00 a side, total cost $575. Seems like now-a-days you don't much for $164.00, because 3 months later they started to howl again, and it was very hard to steer the van, which is very dangerious. This time I was near the town of Kindersley. The bearing that went was on the driver's side. I suggested to the brainless service manager (her name is Cindy if anybody reads this) that both sides should be replaced. The parts have 1 year warranty and 100 days on labor. Being an ex auto mechanic, I would have replaced both sides, because if one wheel bearing is sloppy, the other side will suffer. I got the work done, however they only replaced the driver's side. I bet you can guess what happened next, two weeks later the passenger side wheel bearing started to howl. I made the mistake of bringing the van back to Kindersley to have them look at the van again. This time I asked them to install GM bearings (both sides) and that I would pay the difference. Well they did as I requested, however they said that they had to charge me $120 in labor install the parts because at this point there was no more warranty on the labor. I spoke to the manager of the store, he gave me a sob story about how he was doing all that he could, and how every Canadian Tire is independently owned. I made him aware they didn't fix the problem the last time I was there and I shouldn't be paying any labor charges at all since they didn’t fix the problem when labor was in warranty..
In short I had to pay the labor to get my van back, and the total cost was $764.00 and to top it all off, I lost 10 days of work because of this.

Please run away from Canadian Tire, they are a rip off.

Canadian Tire Options Mastercard is collecting incredible high late fees that are way out of proportion.
Late fee payments are stretching over 2 months.

In my example a three days late fee for an amount of 1436$
The first collected interest was an amount of 30.32$. But that is not enough the following month a follow up interest rate (the explanation I got for that is very foamy) was 14.28$.
To sum it an interest of 44.60$ which is around 2.5% was collected for a three days late payment of 1436$.

I just recommend to rethink before signing with Canadian Tire Options Mastercard.
Just a hint. They don't process payments on Saturday and Sunday which can cause such an interest payment.243

I purchased a 20in Yardworks battery lawnmower 2 years ago. It was great, loved it for my small yard, right up until the charger melted my battery. The smell was awful. I didn't know what it was at first. My husband searched downstairs because it was coming through the vents. Batteries aren't suppose to be soft. We called YardWorks. They said so magnanomously that they'd replace the charger but not the battery. It's past warranty, the fact that it's melted goo in my back yard is my problem. My husband told them that this is our first and only Yard Works purchase and that due to this situation we'll never purchase yard works again. They said "I'm sorry that we haven't lived up to to your standards but the battery is past warranty sir." So they've lost a repeat customer for a $200 lawnmower.

Canadian Tire staff are extremely rude here in N.E. Calgary! We bought a gas Featherlite Weedeater which in fact was not feather light at all. We filled it with gas/oil and found that it did not perform very well, it was very heavy, the ripcord was very hard to work and it did not have a guide like some models which helps to ensure you do get too close to plants or hedges. Because I am only 5 foot tall when the gas was filled it was difficult to ensure that it would gouge into the grass.

I emptied the unit and cleaned it up and took it back to the Franklin CT Store. The return clerk was extremely rude, she said "too bad you put gas in it, we won't take it back" yes I know that doesn't sound rude but it gets better! She then said you should have looked at your receipt it states repair only, I told her that after you pay for the item looking at the receipt is not helpful so if that is the policy then it should be posted next to the item, that way customers would know the policy up front. I asked to speak to the Manager, she said "why, he's just going to repeat what I've already told you, I asked her to contact him anyway, she said "HE IS JUST GOING TO REPEAT WHAT I SAID!" That is when I told her that that was fine but call him anyway! She pick up the phone and said "There is a customer who put gas in a weed eater come and repeat what what I've just told her...so you have to repeat it!

The Manager "Fred", who doesn't have a last name apparently, was no better when I told him that I didn't appreciate the way she spoke he just looked at me he then looked at the weed eater and said "you put gas in it, we can't take it back".

Just as well she fed him the line because I don't think he could think for himself.

It is not like I don't understand but it is the way they treat you that is unacceptable! I can assure you I will never ever shop there again.

Lesson learned ... cost $89.00 & GST!

The Auto parts and services Supervisor "Craig" is confrontational towards customers. I witnessed him raising his voice a a customer and refusing to help and told him to leave the store.

He employes young people and does not appear to provide them adequate training to work on their own, yet he allows them to work alone resulting in aggravating customers. Customers get frustrated due to the lack of knowledge from these young inexperienced employees, than are subjected to bear the brunt of "Craig's" rude and loud behavior. Trainees are not identified as such, so customers have know way of knowing they are in training nor it would be expected as they work unsupervised. "Craig" only comes out to back at the customers.

As far as I am concerned, I will purchase my auto parts anywhere but there.

I received a Canadian Tire Mastercraft grinder as a (X-mas/2008) gift from my mother. I used it once for five minutes to trim a wooden door. It was then stored with my other power tools. Recently I needed to grind a piece of steel plate. After grinding for less than a minute, a large washer fell on my workdesk and the disc began to wobble. (Front bearing failed.) I returned the grinder to Crappy Tire and was told that the three year warranty was VOID because I didn't have a receipt. I didn't want a refund, I wanted a replacement grinder. Crappy Tire here in Sydney refused to help except to give me a toll free telephone number for Mastercraft, their brand. I received less help from them, I was speaking with a very rude woman who couldn't care less about my grinder if I didn't have the receipt. My mother, the original purchaser does not still have the receipt but does remember that the grinder cost $59.99 + taxes. I feel "ripped off" and will never purchase another item from Crappy again my lifetime.

On Friday March 26 @ 0800 hrs, I took my car in for an emissions test at the Canadian Tire on Rexdale and Kipling. I got my vehicle back around 0820 hrs and immediately proceeded to go to work. I drive about 60 kms one way to work. As I got on the highway and hit about 80 km per hour, my hood lifted and smashed into the windshield. Completely blocking my view. I immediately had to pull over as I was in the left lane and there was no shoulder on the left side. Luckily enough there were no cars behind me or beside me. Tow truck driver was not too far away so I had the car towed back to the Canadian Tire. The service adivsor was very defensive and rude when I told him what happened. He immediately stated that the mechanic had no touched the hood of the car. Arguing back and forth was of no use, so I went to find the manager. The manager did not know what to say or do so she went to find the owner. After waiting almost 15 mins, the manager came back with the service advisor and stated that the owner was on the side of his employees and they were not taking responisibility for the damage to my car. I immediately stated that I wanted to talk to the owner. He finally came and introduced himself. I told him exactly what happened and he said that he had spoken to the service advisor and the mechanic and that they did not touch the hood. He stated that the mechanic would most certainly admit that he touched the hood if he had. The mechanic has apparently been doing emissions test for over 25 yrs and has never had a problem with his work.
Anyone know how emissions test work with Canadian Tire?
I work at an independent shop and know alot of mechanics. They all say the same story. They have to get under the hood. Even if its just to confirm the engine size. Is this true?

I need to replace the hood, the windshield, the hood hinges and the windshield wiper hose after this incident.

I went to Canadian Tire to purchase paint. The girl that helped me had to tint it 3 times but just couldnt get it right. Then she said if I changed from egg shell to a semi latex it would be better. So I did. Then she did another tint test on the paint and she still didnt mix it right. She said it will look different on the wall then on the shiny peice of paper she's showing me the dry color on, so I should go test it out on my walls. So I said okay, and paid for it, took it home and its not the right color. Went back to Canadian Tire a few days later and they wouldnt take the paint back, the manager was rude and didnt believe me. No option of refund, only to get it tinted again, which is ridiculous, I've already put the project off, so just wanted my money back to get a professional at Rona to do it instead. So if you have a paint project to do that is within this lifetime dont get paint from Canadian Tire.