Canadian Tire
Reviews and Complaints

LOL this guy is a ###ing ###, check your grammar before you post bud.

I also found this odd... but CTC gave me a number to call and it turned out there was a product recall on the charger.
They are sending me a new charger in the mail... no hassle!

I found the same at the Brantford store. Rude assistant manager, and a Store Manager(Jason Adrian) that refused to come out and see me after repeated requests. Avoid that store at all costs. Lowes here I come!

I personally will not shop at the Canadian Tire located in Brantford. I have been treated poorly on several occassions at that location and experienced the same when talking to management. They rate a zero in customer service.
I have numerous friends who have experienced the same and will never set foot in the store again.
I recently shopped at Brantford's new Lowes and was impressed with the friendly, helpful staff. Clean, organized well stocked merchandise.
Shame on Canadian Tire. Thank you Lowe's for coming to Canada.

You can't expect to be able to return something you've already used. Would you want to by things that other customers have bought and used? Since you're paying full price... probably not. Canadian tire won't let you return things that they can't sell when you are the one who damaged the item. If they did, they would go out of business, since so many stupid people try to scam the sales reps, who by the way are making minimum wage, and can't really be expected to care if you made a mistake, and want you're money back.

I agree, if you return something it helps to be completely honest. If they catch you in a lie they won't know what to believe and everything you say become suspicious. You have no idea how many people try and scam the custome rservice representatives on a daily basis. No one likes helping liers.

Well it says original condition on the back of your receipt and this is not as you used it so that is why you shouldnt have gotten your money, as for the weird behavior she was probably having a bad day.

You will find the person you spoke to is the owners son and is under strict orders from his father to give out as little as possible, not withstanding the fact he is in a position that NO ONE else will take, unfortunatly for the good people working at that store the owner and his son are nothing but money hungry and couldnt give a damn about customer care..as you found out

CANADIAN TIRE SOUTH, RED DEER
EXTREMLY RUDE FEMAILE CUSTOMER SERVICE AT PARTS DEPARTMENT

Hi,
On May 05, 2014 at approximately 6 pm I came into the Canadian Tire south located at 2510-50 Ave. Red Deer, Alberta.to get my battery tested for the first time. I pulled up to the garage door and the guy opened the door and i drove my car into the bay and i told the gentleman to leave the car running incase my car did not start again, and he said okay as i made my way into the parts department to pickup a new battery for my car. There was a lady there in the customer service department and i explained to her that i needed a new battery and she took my name and the type of car and what kind of battery i needed etc.. Then i told her the car was inside the Bay and right then she freaked out on me and said why I drove in without checking in first, and i told her im sorry i just pulled up and the guy opened the gate and i pulled in, I was not awaire that was not allowed, She did not take that into consideration, She was not professional she was screaming at the top of her lungs for this mistake i had made even after apologising she did not calm down. Then she went to the shop and told the guy to get my car out of the shop and not to work on it and as i was making my way to my vehicle to sit on the drivers seat i heard her swearing at me, litterly saying the f word 3 times and i said she will not work on my car not even if i drive it outside the shop, They young guy said he will take a look at it outside and the lady from the front desk threatened him that if he touched my car she was going to tell Dan to get him fired and the guy said sorry buddy i cant risk that, Then i told the lady to give it to me in writing that she will refuse to not work on my car at all and thats when she started swearing at me and saying the F word and i said how dare you swear at me and she called the manager which was a young female also. she just told me to leave with the car and to come to the front to buy my battery. I came to the front purchased a battery and the guy said that they will not be able to replace my battery for me because they dont have time. I felt that he was lying to me hands down. Then i asked the lady that was swearing at me for her name and told her i was going to complain about her and she refused to tell me her name and threatened me that she has all my information with her, im not sure what that meant but i just was so mad that i left. I felt humilated and disrespected with the worst service my friend told me to just record her next time and put it on youtube which is a good idea.Im not sure how she can get away with treaing loyal customers like dirt and swearing at them and bossing them around. This is the first time i have ever made a complaint in my life i feel that she should never be allowed to serve a customer. I certainly would not wish that feeling on anyone what she had made me feel like.The whole staff need training in dealing with customers.

I own a '96 Yukon with 260kkms...all origional equip, Had a situation where the vehicle would not start..Cdn Tire replaced the rotor and dist. cap..I drove 375 kms and the thing quit.. the replaced them again. I have to travel up north into the bush...shoild I be concerned about the quality of Cdn. Tire parts?

Nothing to do with this article what so ever but thought I'd share two stories of people that are full of crap.

1)So I'm working at a Canadian tire in Alberta in the auto parts department and to be honest i like the job for what it is as management here is excellent. So im helping a customer with brake parts when another guy just butts in and asks where are the spotlights and which would work best for him. So I tell him he has to wait his turn as it is not fair for the customer I am helping. Anyway he walks away and a few seconds later butts in again and said something like Well for gosh sake you could at least give me an aisle number so fair enough it takes two seconds to say a number as rude as he was being. So off he goes, low and behold he comes back and actually waits in lines for me to finish. I ask him if there is anything more that I can do for him and he says that the spotlights are not down aisle eight like I told him. So I walk over there to show him and point out the entire left side of the aisle is spotlights, and he has the nerve to say "Well these were not here before, I cant believe you would prank me like this". Anyway end of conversation I walk away.

2)Someone comes to me wanting to special order something, awesome we do that all the time and it is a painless process. So I ask him what he wants and he says he wants a full chevy 350 engine, I look at him as no canadian tire orders engine for over the counter use, hell I dont think any even order engines period. I unfourtanetly have to tell him no, he gets irrate and starts to explain that a "Canadian" Tire in the USA told him that any store could do it no problem. I am stunned as there are no canadian tires in the USA obviously, he later specifies it was in Montana. Anyway after telling him no repeatedly (If we had a supplier and he prepaid it would have been no problem, but there is no crate engines shops in the county) he walk away saying of course they dont honour what they say at another tore that would make sense.

Both of these people made me laugh as there actions are so stupid.

Yup, Crappy Tire really does suck for auto service. I took my car in there about a year ago for an oil change and plugs. $25 for the plugs, $30 for the oil change...and over $250 in labour/shop fees. The idiot doing the oil change actually forgot to put the plug back in the oil pan before pouring in the new oil, so they double charged me for oil, *and* charged me labour on said ### cleaning up the mess he'd made. Went straight to the manager after getting this ridiculous bill, and he flat out told me "Too bad. If you have a problem, don't come back." Needless to say, I haven't.

Canadian Tire has the WORST service I've ever seen. Everytime I go there I walk out 5x more pissed off then when I walked in. The car parts department is a JOKE in every way I can think of. Between the looooooooong waits in line, the very slooooooooooooooow inept people working the counter, its almost like the staff hates there job, are they getting min. wage or something? Seriously, AVOID CANADIAN TIRE AT ALL COSTS!

Canadian Tire does not carry every key in the world. I doubt they had that type of key, if they did I'm sure they would have cut it for you. Think about how many keys they would have to stock in their store just hoping someone buys a rare one eventually so they won't loose their money.

There are two Canadian Tire locations in Peterborough: Chemong and Lansdowne. Today I bought a bike from the Lansdowne location. It was a little pricey, nearly $300. When I got home I noticed that the gears didn't shift properly. Little disappointing but no big deal.

I brought it back to the Lansdowne location but they didn't have any more assembled and no one was in to assemble a new one. They did however call the Chemong location who told them that I could go there and exchange the bike no problem since they had several assembled. Cool.

So I loaded up the bike, drove across town, unloaded it and went to the returns desk at the Chemong location store expecting to exchange it no problem. Was I ever wrong. First off the customer service clerks whispered between themselves when they saw me walk up with the bike. To me it seemed as if they were getting ready for it. They then said that they would not exchange the bike and that they did not receive a call from the Lansdowne location.

Now I know for a fact that they had received a call as I was standing at the customer service desk when the clerk from the Lansdowne location called the Chemong location. They would not help me, provide any assistance or even call the Lansdowne location to see what the confusion was about.The manager then came out and basically said I was lying and that he would not exchange or provide a refund for the bike even though I had my receipt that was dated only hours earlier.

With absolutely no help being offered at the Chemong location I had to reload the bike, drive back across town, unload the bike and bring it back into the Lansdowne location store. Now I am waiting for a new one to be assembled, hopefully tomorrow it'll be ready.

At the Lansdowne location I received great service and was quite helpful. The Chemong location on the other hand was horrible, I have never been treated so rudely or given so little help in my life. The manager at the Chemong location was incredibly insulting and in my opinion completely unable to run a store if he's going to treat paying customers like that. In short I will from now on only shop at the Lansdowne location and will strongly encourage everyone I know to do the same.

So, today I venture back to what is my local, and, in my opinion, Canada's worst Crappy Tire store on Gibb Street in Oshawa. My needs are simple - I've lost the extension tube for the spray can of silicone lube I use on my treadmill, and, since they don't sell the tubes, am prepared to buy another can of lube. As well, I hope to buy a nice shiny chrome or stainless (Chinese chrome?) tailpipe extension for my new car. What do I find?... all the "shiny accessories" are now behind padlocked wire grills! This means you have to go in search of an "associate" (I think that's what they call them nowadays) to unlock the wire cage, and escort you, like a convict, to the cash with this $10.99 made in china piece of crap that they, for whatever reason, think has the same appeal to a shoplifter as the Hope diamond to a cat burglar. It's very difficult to pin down one of these "associates" - they gather in groups, like antelope at a watering hole, to gossip, but, should they catch you approaching with that "help me" look, or trying to make eye contact, they scatter like cockroaches when you switch on the lights. So, I forget about the chrome exhaust tip, since I can go to Walmart, or Princess auto, and actually fondle similar merchandise without the key wielding gestapo standing impatiently over my shoulder.

I go to the "express" cash with my can of silicone lube. There is a woman trying to exchange a pair of sunglasses. Trouble is, the old ones have no tag or bar code. The obese cashier is busily phoning departments to find out what to do - why doesn't she just send the sunglasses queen to customer service? I stand there for what seems like eternity, and then notice that the next guy in line in front of me has a fistful of documents. I put my can of lube on the counter, think to myself, "Hello Walmart!" and leave.

I have worked as a CSM in the Ft.Garry location and some of the managers will NOT back you up. All they care about is the store score going down if a customer calls the head office and complains. I have been yelled at, got the middle finger right in my face in front of the store manager and he gave the customer what ever she wanted. I did my job well and 90% of the customers loved me. Keep in mind that this CT is in a neighbour hood that like to think they are rich and need to be served on a silver platter. Ct is a good company to work for, but it all depends who you work for since they are all individually owned. All the senior management wants is deep pockets to put money in them. If we worked our butts off and got a good store report then more money for them and we get nothing. The senior management have favorites and no people skills. Since I have left there, I have never shopped there again. Always at the Southdale location. Ft.Garry never had the proper merchandise in the flyers and they were always out of stock. I was there for many years and watched the company fall over the last few years and it is sad to see people get treated like garbage especialy the good employees that put their neck out for even the rude customers. Some days, customers woulld just walk in looking for a fight because they had a bad day. I would kill them with kindness and when that didn't work, a store manager would be called up and they would give them anything they wanted. Whay were there policies and rules that the employees would obey by and the management would just overide you and make you look like an ###. I will never step foot in the CT in ft.garry ever again.

I agree with what you are saying. I actually have worked at the automotive service desk at Canadian Tire for about 3 years. In response to your last remark, it's true, they would rather hire a cheaper teen and train them rather then pay for someone more skilled. Those who are more skilled usually flock to a better place with a better reputation. And yes, when I was hired at 14 I knew not a thing about cars. But I appreciate the opportunity they gave me, as I have learned TONS! I am proud to say that my position is an "automotive service advisor" and even more proud to have the knolledge to back up that statement. While most 17 year old girls are working at grocery stores or cafe's, it is nice to know that I am getting an education, and hopefully it will help me in my post secondary advances. I do try to keep my additude and ignorance to a minimum while working with grumpy customers. Sometimes its not worth it to cause such a fuss, I just do my job to my best ability, hope that they leave a little happier, and move on to the next person in line. It's hard to work with the public, but I will say that there are some people who definatley need a lesson in customer service, but they are not found JUST a big corporations like CT and Walmart. I guess its just the person you get served by. But it does make m job and life a lot easier when I greet with a smile and get one back! So Ashley, good point!
--Courtney

'Cheated Customer' how original. You have a problem that can't be fixed within the store, call head office. That's what they're there for.

Ashley, I agree completely with you. Thank you for your insightful post.

This is a case of “BUYER BEWARE” at Canadian Tire (Calgary Store #419, 64th Ave & Deerfoot Trail N.E, Calgary, Alberta).

Here’s my little story:

Bought a cordless mower one year ago, the battery dead just few days before the warranty expires, I think I was lucky.

Then the trouble starts, first I took the battery to the return desk, two ladies ask me to bring the whole mower so that they can replace a new one for me. (sounds too good to be true for Canadian tire.), I believed them.

the whole stupidly heavy mower was taken to their store today, the new face behind the return desk asks me why bother to take the whole machine here? she was trying to kick me back to the factories, I explained to her, but then she told me there was no battery and this type of machines in the stock right now, and I have to take the mower to the other store to try.

I'm getting confused and feel like a fool, this yardwork mower is used only 4-5 times, and where am I suppose to take it now? so I asked her to call the manager who's named James, that so called manager has the worst attitude I've seen in Canada, first he told me I must have void the warranty by store the battery outdoor, I swear in Jesus name that I keep the battery in my basement all the time cause my charging station was there. and I'm that type of guy who always read the users manual. When I'm trying to speak something, he start yelling..." do you want me to help you or not?, will you let me finish?" I realized that I have no more things can talk with this guy. Then I ask him who's the higher manager, he points back to himself and told me he's the one...Great way to go! Canadian tire!

in the end, he told me he knows some magic, and he can get one new battery for me if I want, (now you want me to believe a new battery is in stock now?), I asked him is there any warranty for that "new battery", he says no! I might be stupid once, but not twice in two days!.

anyway, I will never buy anything from that 64 ave store, Just a simple battery swap within warranty has already made me looks like a scam customer. Bye Canadian Scam Tire!

Customer service will lie and manager will cheat you. If you try to complain to Canadian Tires customer complain department on their poor website - they will try to cheat you as well instead of help you.
They just making money anyhow.
Montreal. Canada.
Cheated customer

As someone who has worked for Canadian Tire Corporation, I can add this bit of insight:

Most (but not all) of the Canadian Tire Employees at the store in which I worked, were between 17 - 23 years of age, and most of them were still going to school. The vast majority of them were both very polite and diligent in their work. But obviously there will always be some bad apples within a big barrel.

The problem in the CTC store where I worked was not with those aforementioned younger employees, but rather in management, both on and off the visible floor. Just as a case in point, I had been hired to work on cash - with no experience in either retail or on a cash system like CTC was using.

Bottom line was that the supervisor-manager who hired me (in my second interview), passed off responsibility of my training to one of the aforenoted younger part-time workers. I received what amounted to maybe 5-10 minutes of training, in a very complex financial system ... and was thereafter left to fend for myself, for all intents and purposes.

Pretty careless thing to do considering how many thousands of dollars can roll through (credit card; debit card; cash; cheques and gift certificates), in just a few hours.

While everyone here has a valid point, the fact remains that in CRM (customer relations management) it is on the onus of the company (represented by the front line customer service staff) to initiate a polite and positive interaction, regardless of the mood or disposition of the customer. It has been my experience in customer care that though a customer may begin an interaction with a rep in an "irrate" state, it is in the rep's power to turn the mood around so that the customer leaves the store satisfied. This however can only be done if the rep employs the needed charm, unthreatening body lanquage, and humble self confidence required (nothing escalates a customer's ire faster than an arrogant, smug, defensive response). Not every rep has these "soft skills" and thus is not really suited for the job. One of the secrets a rep must learn is not to take the customers "guff" (for lack of a more expedient term) personally. They are mad at THE STORE (unless your personal incompetence was responsible for the customer's related irritability to begin with) not YOU personally. Another thing I have always found valuable is to acknowledge the store's alleged error (even if the customer is totally "off base", acknowleging it is the first step to diffusing the initial anger). People will listen to other people who believe that the person with whom they are speaking is "on their side". I can not emphasise this point enough! Once they sense your "genuine" support (and it must be genuine because customers are not the fools many businesses would have you believe they are) then you have total clearance to resolve the problem calmly and satisfactorily. Remember that there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying to a customer "Oh my goodness, I'm so very sorry to hear that. That shouldn't have happened and I'll work to fix it right away!" Another valuable thing is to offer a discount or some kind of "freebie" (I know this isn't always possible in some companies but that is another topic --the lack of customer relations skills of the company as a whole). Nothing brings back a customer (and provides that all-valuable word of mouth) like a complimentary item or discount! One thing reps should remember, that is completely in their control is that many customers will specifically want to deal with you and only you if you have made them feel like "gold" (this is especially valuable if you're on a commission-basis pay of some kind or other). Reps don't realize that they can be as much of a customer draw to a store as any sale item. Conversely, a bad and percieved "nasty" rep (and it's all about perception, remember) will develop a reputation which will follow them where ever they go in their community, even to other jobs, and prevent people from entering the store as long as you are there. You think it doesn't happen? How many times have I heard friends tell me "see that guy, that's that a__hole who gave me the hard time at Canadian Tire". Anyway, these are things which your store (CTC specifically here) should be teaching reps. It is NOT the onus of the customer to create the proper retail mood or to "give respect". As my father used to say "repect has to be earned" and you'd be surprised what little it takes to earn that respect --that is the job of the service rep and the store. The customer may not always BE right, but it is your job to make them FEEL right.

Kim you outright are absoloutely stupid. There now that its off my chest. Did she state anywhere in the article her respective age?. No I do not believe so. Just to let you know adults can be just as competent as todays youth if not more incompetent. IF YOU DO NOT GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND REALIZE THAT THE YOUTH IS THE FUTURE THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU. As well judging by the wording composition and setup of your article it seems that you are very bitter towards anyone that tries to help you. For your information miss not everybody gets bitter as they get older as you have seem to. Milan it sucks to be ripped off by anyone and it is human nature not to trust again after being hurt but not every store is the same nor the employees.

Kim you must have an IQ of 35, maybe more as you spelled most words right. But you decided to lump an age group together, all 50, 000 of a companies employees together, and above all made assumptions about age. You are simply idiotic and when you get old and need help hope that the stupid incompetent youth that don't give a damn wont help you out. Seriously. I could go on and on about different things and why you are doing what you are doing but I choose to use my IQ points in other places.

You were young once to, you can try to hide this and you will as you seemed to not have a great experience growing up.

Your neighborhood genius,

Bill

recent visit to canadian tire in port perry last wednesday to purchase items go to check out no staff on cash tills two staff on cutomer service desk dealing with returns one trying to process a customers credt card for 5 minutes by this time 10 people waiting to cash out asked staff member if they could open a cash out lady (catherine snapped back she was coming, no manners no words exchanged like thank you, how are you., sorry for the delay. Why open a millon doller store with no staff. spoken to others in the town who also complain about the lack of service, stopped using canadain tire for auto repairs years ago for bad workmanship and over pricing.looking at other coments on the web its time canadain tire started to wake up. We have a Wal mart opening in the town this year i would think this would motivate candain tire but i doubt it.

A raincheck does not guarentee a product, it only guarentee the products price WHEN/IF it arrives. I don't understand why you would have to pre-pay for the product with a raincheque. That does not add up.

A raincheck does not require payment. Why would you pre-pay for a product and need a raincheck. If you are paying to the product at time of the sale, you don't need a raincheck.

Besides, you are not out the $$. Just get your money back with your receipt.

What do you expect from someone making minimum wage lol? They are always lazy

I was at Canadian Tire, purchasing ball equipment for my children. I purchased 2 pairs of baseball shoes that were ticketed at 19.99 per pair. I went thru the til, and the teller, pulled the tag off that had the price off and proceeded to charge me 22.99 per pair for the shoes. My sister was behind me, purchasing the same thing for her son, and the teller did the same thing. When we got out to the truck, she mentioned this to me. I took mine back to customer service, and they made him pull the tags out of the garbage to find out, they were tagged at 19, 99 and he was just too lazy to ask for a override, so he pulled the tag and charged us 22.99 for the three pairs of shoes. I am NOT impressed. Yes, I got the refund, but the fact that the teller had no conscience and was going to rip us off was unbelievable.