Canadian Tire
reviews and complaints

I purchased two sets of xmas lights no.2316-6 at $19.99 a set, at store no.303 on Sunday Dec.4 at 12.50.When I installed the lights, I realized I needed two more sets and since I live closer to store no.454 and it was 4:45 P.M. on the same day, I drove to that store (454). I chose two more sets of the same lights & went to the cash to pay for them. The cashier advised me that the same lights were $24.99 and I explained to her that I had purchased them earlier today for $19.99 & showed her my bill.

She refused to match the price & sell them to me for $19.99, so I asked to speak to the manager. The Assistant Manager came over to the cash & told me that if I wanted to buy them at $19.99, I would have to return to the other Canadian Tire store to purchase them. No sorry, we can’t give them to you at the same price, just go to the other store if you want them. I have been a Canadian Tire Credit card holder many years and I don’t think this kind of attitude is acceptable.

I was under the impression that all Canadian Tire stores had the same price policy. Even if it doesn’t, the staff should be more polite & flexible.

Yesterday I purchased bird seed in a Canadian Tire Store that I normally do not shop at. I was in a different part of the city, driving an elderly lady to a doctor’s appointment, and stopped at the store by her house. There was not a lot of stock in the store, what was there was kept in plastic bins; I ended up buying item042-867-6 MM PRMM WBF 18K for $16.99. What I really wanted was out of stock. A kind store clerk helped me out to my car with the bag. This afternoon, my husband and I wrestled the bag from the car to the back of the house where the bird feeder is. We have a special container for the feed.

When we dumped out the new feed, it was rotten, smelled awful and is obviously unusable. My closest store, that I usually shop at will not allow me to get a replacement at their store. I am told I must return to the original store, which probably does not have the bird feed I want.

I had purchased a 17 foot step ladder at the Canadian Tire in Buckingham, Quebec. I took it home but could not open it, the small devices were jammed, i tried with some tools, but would not budge. I did not want to break it, so I took it back, they absolutely refused to take it back. It had only been one week since it was bought it was in its original package and I had the receipt, he said I had to take it back to the Canadian Tire store I had bought it from.

That little man was very rude and condescending. I will not go back to that store, there were 6 people in line and they saw the whole thing, they were all disgusted at this man’s attitude.

On January 24, 2012 we purchased wheel bearings from the canadian tire in owen sound. At that time we were told it had a 60 day warranty. On March 13, 2012 the wheel bearing failed. We contacted the canadian tire store on March 14 2012 and were told they only had a 30 day warranty. So now we are out $160! They refuse to replace the part or to compensate us in anyway. Canadian Tire should be replacing the part at no cost to us. Very poor product and customer service.

I'm writing this email to describe what a horrifying experience I had with Canadian Tire Auto Service. Hopefully it helps to remedy your business practices. I'm also tempted to post this all over the web to warn consumers about your service.

I received a $100 gift card to Canadian Tire for Christmas. On December 29, 2011, I had an appointment at the Fairway Road Canadian Tire in Kitchener at 2 pm to have my summer tires swapped with winter ones that I had purchased at the same location the year previous. I had already come in twice that week without an appointment and there were booked solid. Despite arriving just before 2 pm, it took 30 minutes for the Tire Installer (Jamie) to bring my car into a bay.
After another 10 minutes he came to tell me that he was unable to remove a lug nut and doesn't want to break it. I told him that I would take it to my mechanic and to just put the tires back on.

I drove my car to Cambridge and explained the situation to my mechanic. He came outside with a screwdriver and a socket wrench and was able to remove ALL the nuts with little effort and without a bar on the wrench. After looking at me like I was mental, I asked him if maybe the tire was stuck onto the hub. He said that every mechanic knows that all you have to do is hit the tire with a mallet or 2x4 and it comes right off. (All of this was very confusing to me in the first place considering that I had the same location put my summer tires on the car only 3 months ago and there's no way anything should have seized up in that short time).

So I called Canadian Tire back at 3:45pm and told them that my mechanic had just removed all the nuts with a simple socket wrench. I asked them to ask the "Tire Installer" (Jamie) to confirm that it was a lug nut that was the problem. After a brief time the "Service Adviser" (Taneng) came back on the phone and said that he could get me back in tomorrow. He didn't even answer my question at first and I had to persist to hear that the "Tire Installers" will not "force" any part on a vehicle. I reiterated the fact that there was no force involved. I told Taneng that this was unacceptable and that under the circumstances I wanted some VIP treatment and to somehow squeeze me in the same day. I also told him that this was the third day I had tried to been in. He once again said he was unable to do it so I asked to speak to the manager. The manager told me to bring the car in right away and he could get it done.

I arrived back at Canadian Tire in Kitchener at 4:20 pm due to traffic. I told Taneng, the "Service Adviser" that I had forgot to ask the Manager if I was going to be charged for this and if so that I was taking my car somewhere else. He went into the shop to ask the manager if I had to pay. He came back and said "It's not gonna happen". Since I had asked if I was going to have to pay I heard this as a "no". That believe was reinforced because at the exact same time Taneng handed me a form to sign that had "Does Not Pay" stamped across it. So I signed the paper and took a seat. At that time I text my girlfriend that at least I wasn't going to have to pay for the service and was just trying to stop being angry now.

After another 40 minutes of waiting Taneng - "Service Adviser", came out and told me the car was done. He then asked me if it was going to be credit, cash or debit. I laughed and thought he was joking around with me. He repeated the question and I asked what he was talking about. He said that I wasn't going to have to pay for it! He became angry and said that he had stood right there and told me that I WAS going to have to pay and that I had even signed the work order. I told him that the thing has "Does Not Pay" stamped on it and I thought that it was just procedure. I said that they had severely inconvenienced me and I had stated when I came in that if I had to pay for it then I was taking it somewhere else! They had wasted my entire day and I wanted to speak to the service manager. He stated that the manager had left for the day. He got on the phone and said that there was an irate customer who was refusing to pay. I told him to put the summer tires back on the car then cause there was no way they were getting a dime out of me. So off they went to put my summer tires back on my car! Over $68 they had wasted my entire day, made me drive to Cambridge and now they were putting my summer tires back on. I was furious at this point and told them I wanted to speak to the store manager. They said that everyone had gone home and that there was only one manager still at the store. I said that I'd speak to that manager then. She came over and I explained my whole experience. She then informed me that she was the sports and seasonal manager and there was nothing she could do for me except give me a number to Customer Relations.

So to add insult to injury, after they had re-installed my summer tires for the second time that day and parked my car outside, the parking lot was almost empty but my car was on the far side of the parking lot. They had parked my car as far away as possible in an empty parking lot so I'd have to walk farther. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to go back in and strangle someone but I was just happy to finally be getting away from Canadian Tire.

Last night I opened a complaint file with Customer Relations #[protected] and they have offered to pay for my winter tire installation. I'm not sure if I even want to take them up on it and I still have a $100 gift card that I'm tempted to throw in the trash. I own a gym in Cambridge Ontario and I have hundreds of members here who are soon to be ex Canadian Tire customers.

Crappy Tire is a complete Rip Off. From extra fees, to poor installation, to rude management, I don’t even want to think about it again. Again, I can’t really put the entire experience into words. Worst experience ever and I am a proud Canadian and literally shopped at Canadian Tire on a weekly basis, stopping on the way home from work to pick up paint or car supplies. I WILL NEVER SHOP AT CANADIAN TIRE AGAIN. There is nothing at Crappy Tire you can’t get anywhere else. By the way this happened in Milton, Ontario at the Steeles and James Snow location. You will recognize the service manager. Just look for a fat Al Borlan!

I bought Canadian Tire Lawn Mower from GTA area Canadian Tire store. After bringing home I plugged it to my outdoor outlet and immediately circuit breaker went off. My Chord gage was as per the manual. When I contacted Yardworks they ask me to change the chord. I tried couple of times Yardworks technical support suggestions but finally gave up. Did not want to damage my circuit breakers and also to waste my time further ... When I tried to return the product Canadian Tire said they cannot accept it because it is a repair only product. After many conversations I was able to get my money back – thank god. Horrible customer service ! Think twice before you buy Yardworks from Canadian Tire.

I understand now why Canadian Tire is called Crappy Tire. The Service Department at this Canadian Tire is crap. The customer service from the bottom right up to the manager, Ken is crap! I took my Ford Explorer in to have the Power Steering Pump replaced because my truck was making a squealing noise. I even brought the part in. The service advisor agreed that it was probably the power steering pump making the noise. When my husband picked the truck it was still squealing. He was livid. Their excuse was, get this – “We did exactly what you said sir! We replaced the power steering pump.”

I guess if we told them to jump off a bridge, they would do that too. We did find a really good local mechanic in Ranchlands. They fixed the squealing noise which was just a belt tensioner and a pulley that needed to be replaced. It cost a $150 less than Crappy Tire charged to not even fix the problem. I wouldn’t suggest this Crappy Tire to my worst enemy. The staff is verbally abusive and very unprofessional.

On 10 August I brought in my 1992 Ford Taurus to ask Canadian Tire to inspect it for road worthiness. I explained that my elderly aunt & uncle from Europe would be using the vehicle for two weeks, and I wanted to be sure that they didn't get stuck with some mechanical problem. I explained that I did not need the oil changed, because I had just changed it myself. The attendant asked if I wanted new spark plugs. I agreed. When I retrieved the vehicle I noticed that none of the fluid levels had been checked, and I had to "top up" several of them. None of the lids of any of the fluid reservoirs showed signs that they had been removed and checked. Calling Canadian Tire, the manager explained to me that my $212.90 had paid for simply replacing three spark plugs! The cost of these three spark plugs amounts to half the price I paid for this vehicle! I kept explaining that I had ASKED for a complete check-up of my car, and the attendant kept explaining that that would have cost me $190 dollars. Every time I explained to him that I had paid more than $200 dollars, his response was that that was just for changing the spark plugs - insinuating that I had only asked to have my spark plugs replaced!
These guys are not just incompetent; they seem to go out of their way to rob you blind!
I recommend anyone to stay as far away from this store as possible!

We purchased 4 life jackets and 4 canoe paddles along with a Canoe from Canadian tire in Pickering ON in June 2011. We did not use any of the items and decided it was best to return them rather than leaving them to go to waste. When we went back to the same store we purchased them at. As expected they asked for our receipt. We explained that we had lost it as it has been 2 months. The teenager behind the counter said they would not refund the products. I asked for a manager and was told I could ask her but she'll just tell me the same thing. When the girl called her manager she stated on the phone. Some guy with a cart full of stuff is trying to return it without a receipt and no I didn't see him come from outside. My wife and my 8 and 5 y/o children were with me and there were other customers in line all looking at us as the girl was implying that we had stolen the items. When the manager arrived without asking questions or looking at the items in the cart she too said I'm sorry but we can't help you. Adding that without proof of purchase they have no way of knowing if I bought it or got it from somewhere else. At this point appalled by the accusation of theft I became very angry and told her where to go. The manager told me she has no authority to overrule decisions made by the staff. Then why the hell are you a manager?... I asked to speak to someone who could make decisions. She left and sent over the biggest guy they had in the store who asked me to step outside to talk and on the way laughed and said come outside so I can beat the ### out of you. After I told him off I demanded the owner. They sent the General Manager who inturn treated us like we were criminals and refuses to beleive his staff would speak to customers that way. When the other manager admitted to making the threat he brushed it off and said it has nothing to do with why I was there. After an hour of embarrassment and almost using one of the paddles to bludgen the staff. We assured them we would be taking this matter higher up and left the store. We went to the Canadian Tire in ajax and they were glad to help us even after we explained the trouble we had at the other store. We contacted Canadian Tire Head office Saturday night. But after 3 days have not had a responce.
We were very aware of the policy and all of the items were in original packaging with all the tags still on and not a spot on anything.

This has to be, by far, the worst experience I have ever had in a canadian tire store, and I am definitely not going back ever again after what happened today. I was going in to get a simple little $5 item that I needed, and what should have been a maximum 5-minute in-and-out visit turned into a half-hour ordeal, beginning at the entrance. It seems canadian tire financial services is so desperate to get people to open new ctfs credit card accounts and/or give up their personal information that anybody going into the store or auto centre today (And into this weekend) was being directed to a pod of touchscreens in the automotive department to "play" a "game" before they'd let you go in for what you were after. In short, they try to sign you up for a ctfs credit card and/or divulge your info. If you're lucky, you'll get what I got: a ctc reusable bag and two or three run-of-the-mill store coupons.

Seriously, canadian tire and their dealers/franchisees/whatever you want to call them have sunk to a new low. I'd had previous problems with ctc involving inventory (Or lack thereof) , customer service (Or lack thereof) and "charity" blitzes but this is the absolute final straw. Following today's nightmare, I am never again doing business with canadian tire, mark's work wearhouse/l'equipeur, partsource, ctfs or any other business in ctc's hands. My wife is a ctfs cardholder, and as forgiving as she may be when it comes to annoyances like these, she's on the verge of joining me in severing my ties with ctc, including cutting up her options mastercard and closing the account.

I am absolutely sick and tired of retail stores that use annoying tactics such as the above to weasel people into signing up for the store's credit card. With every other major retailer joining the store credit card craze, I figure it's only a matter of time before places you'd least expect to have a store credit card program will jump on the bandwagon... Places like giant tiger or dollarama or mac's/couche-tard. If you really want people to shop at your stores, you don't need credit cards or points cards or irritating crap like that - just provide simple, friendly customer service, have what the customer needs, offer your products/services at competitive prices, and if you want to jump on the community involvement bandwagon, make sure your contributions come out of your profits and not from your customers via charity blitzes.

My experience...

August 2nd 2011, I took my 2002 explorer to get two new tires installed on the rear. When talking with the service supervisor, the person who booked my order, I specified 235/70r16. He took my vehicle ownership info, made the work order, and told me the price. I questioned him on why the price was different than i expected? He replied that i saw the "starting from" price and since my size was bigger it cost more. I re-itterated that i thought there was a problem and he re-assured me he was correct. I took his word for it, signed the order, waited for the tire change, paid, and left.

Driving through the city was fine, but when I entered the highway the vehicle started to vibrate and the 4x4 transfer case sounded like it was going to explode and tear out of the truck. I pulled over and inspected things and all seemed ok. Tried again with same thing. Drove 30km home at about 30km/hr (did not happen at the slower speed) on shoulder and looked at the vehicle again. This is when I noticed they put 255/70r16 tires on. My explorer is always in auto mode and can't be turned off so when it detected slip between the front and back tires at the faster speeds, because the front tires are spinning faster than the back, it continually tried to engage in 4x4.

I called the store and the supervisor who put in the w.o stated that he installed the correct size tire and that someone else must have previosly changed the tire size. No apollogy. He said that if i took the tires off myself and brought them in he would change for tire size i wanted. Thats what I did. When I got to the store the supervisor approached me right away and said that he could only re-install my old tires and refund my money. Remember he has cost me an extra trip to town and did who knows what kind of damage to my transfer case. No apollogy. Instead he denies that I even asked for 235/70r16 size and that it is not the correct size, so he would have origionally refused me the service if that were true...so now I'm a liar whith a damaged truck.

Out of options I go home and re-install my old tires. I look at the sticker inside my drivers door and it clearly states the tire size to be as I instructed. Now I'm really upset. A wasted afternoon, a damaged transfer case, no tires, and I was labelled a liar in front of other customers.

I called the service manager and he supported his supervisor. Finally he put me on hold and checked the internet and sure enough found a discrepancy in the system and in fact I WAS CORRECT.

He offered no apollogies, laughed that there may be damage to my truck, but would install the tires if i went back again and give me a $50 gift card.

I called the customer service hotline and it is currently in their hands. The operator stated that there would be NO MONETARY RESOLUTION, free tires, or compensation. They may ### the complaint and respond with performing an ispection of the transfer case but they have to fully review my complaint. I am currently waiting a return phone call to determine if there will be resolution.

I don't believe I will ever shop at Crappy Tire again.
This was the REGENT ST south-end location in Sudbury Ontario. BEWARE...Stay away from this store!

I spent $1132.49 to have my van repaired in London. I called the shop to tell them my address is wrong, my postal code is wrong, my telephone number is wrong and why am I charged for 5.20 hours of labour when I was there just under 4 hours. This is double charging. I have been overcharged approximately $100. The shop said it is alright. Is this the way Canadian Tire treats all their customers? It is very inappropriate to overcharge. If I don’t get any satisfaction from your complaint office, I will carry this further. We pay our bill on time and expect good customer service. Is this how you treat a great customer? Waiting for your reply. Also our bill is time stamped at approx. 4 hours labour.

I came to get keys cut on July 11th - (3 keys) at Store 302 - Richmond Road. As it turned out - they didn't work - the wrong blank was used. On July 12th I came and had replacements cut - then had to go to customer service to return the others and pay for the difference - the total time for this on July 12 exceeded 40 minutes due to line-ups at Automotive and customer service. As it turned out - these keys still didn't work - the wrong blank was used again. I returned them today - July 13th. I was refunded the amount paid less the Canadian Tire money - which I couldn't return as I always drop it in the donation box at the front of the store. I don't want the money in the first place but now I have to pay for it. 3 trips, in total - gas, time and effort - and I had to pay Canadian Tire for the privilege of doing so. That's really adding insult to injury. Signs should be posted that any returned items must be accompanied by Canadian Tire $ - or you have to pay for it - customers should also be given the option of opting out of receiving it. Being charged for it really added insult to injury in this case after allt he time and effort it took to buy - oh yes - NOTHING!.

i was given a mastercraft dremel/ rotary tool for christmas. upon opening the packaging it was noticed the tool was defected from factory, i went to return this item today with hopes of a replacement or re- emberrsment, the lady at customer service more less laughed at me and told me i was an idiot for trying to return it without a receipt, this after telling me that the tool did in-fact come with a three year warranty, she then proceded to take the serial# off the item and type it into her computer, and told me it was sold in 2009 which implys i am still in the right when trying to return this.. not sure if it's the lack of a replacement or the lack of respect i was shown as a customer who regularly frequents their store that urged me to write this complaint but in my eyes either way its a very unproffessional approach to take with a regular paying customer

I would like to bring your attention to a rogue manager at the Canadian Tire in Castlegar that doesn't know when to use common sense. Today, I refused to turn in my small backpack to store behind the counter while I shopped, while my vehicle was getting repaired. My pack has many valuables in it, like my passport, chequebook, medicines, and my daily planner. Too much stuff to jamb into my pockets, yet too valuable to leave unattended in my vehicle or behind the counter. My pack is the same size as many women's purses, yet they are free to shop with them. I even volunteered that my bag be searched.

Instead the General Manager of the store, Nick Ahlefeld went to the extreme measure of calling the RCMP on me! When the officer came, I explained my side of the story. The officer listened, and then left, no doubt wondering why a store manager would waste his time like that. The only people that were creating a problem were the staff in the store. I have already shared my story with many people in and outside of the store, and will continue to share it with others. I will avoid Canadian Tire in the future. What a bad, unnecessary experience. It seems that this manager has too big of an ego, and wanted to throw his weight around. An easier solution would have been to ask to check my bag when I left the store, or to escort me in my shopping. The store was totally overstaffed anyway, with very few customers..

The absolutely most disgusting integrity issue with Canadian Tire was the statement that was issued on WV - Toronto, Saturday, April 9, 2011. The public denial by their head office of any wrongdoing by their auto service repairs in light of the profound evidence given in that same production is unforgiveable. The person who issued the statement from the Head Office should be fired with a company apology to the Canadian public. I will never, never cross the door of a Canadian Tire store. They say they have minimal complaints. It is simply not true. I have met dozens of people like me who refuse to patronize this business.