Customer service

I don't know if some of the positive reviewers here are biased because they own or work in a CT, or perhaps they live in a small city or town where CT is the only store in town. However, big city CT's -- such as in Vancouver -- are ghetto.

1. There are hardly any floor staff to offer assistance so you have to chase one down across 5 aisles to get something out of a glass case, and then they have to find someone with a key, etc. etc.

2. Half the cash registers are closed in the middle of the day and there's no express aisle for those of us only buying a couple of items and having to stand behind the half a dozen people buying up the store...The poster with the "windshield wiper" experience is correct.

3. Products are strewn all over the place, not in stock, half the price labels are missing off store shelves. In one store, they routinely leave ladders and palette jacks in the middle of aisles and you have to squeeze past them! That's not only annoying and inconvenient but probably a safety violation.

4. Many of the staff are clueless. I don't think they're incompetent; just underqualified (half of them look like they are remedial high school students from shop class), poorly trained, and understaffed.

5. The "Canadian Tire Account Card" sales people are aggressive and irritating. No means no.

I wish I could say this is an isolated incident but happens far too often - much more often than other warehouse stores or chain hardware stores. I only go to CT if I absolutely need to because it's just an effort in frustration.

I agree with other negative posters. CT's bargain prices is no excuse for its terribly run business model because there are chains like Revy's, Home Depot, Wal Mart, and CostCo that do it much better. Unfortunately, sometimes you need that 3/8" socket bit and CT is just down the street.

I've had a few instances where a CT staff person really knew their sh*t and were very helpful but then he probably got a job at Revy's and moved on.

I am so glad that Wal-Mart just opened a superstore within walking distance of the local Canadian Tire. I hope that Wal-Mart blows CT's frigging doors off. In Wal-Mart I am always find someone to assist me and if their attitude sucks, I can summon a manager who will go out of his way to please me. Not so at CT. At CT, the attitude that permeates the entire organization is, "We don't really need you as a customer, so if you don't like any aspect of the way we do business then there's the door." It's going to bite CT right on the ass.
It's funny though that only Canadians would put up with Canadian Tire's horsesh*t. It's like we have a Stockholm syndrome whereby we can be crapped upon again and again to the point where we start to identify with the offender and actually start to defend them. There's no other way to describe the CT "groupies" out there.

What's with all the checkout aisles?

Why do some of the bigger Canadian Tire stores have 10 cash register checkout aisles when they never have more the three of them open?

Have you noticed as well that the queue at the "customer service" desk (ie - the returns section) is always longer than those at the cash desks?

yes. gee, i wonder why

Actually those free lights you see up top.... Average toronto store spends upwards of 110,000 to 150,000 a year on electricity, so with a shit economy yes they bring in less people to help you find your flovoured washer fluid (it doesn't take 20 minutes to decide between blue pink or green) And that case is locked because the average store (in toronto) loses about $300,000 worth of inventory a year to theft which is made up for once again by less staff working. Cnadian Tire is cheaper because our margins are shit, have those "decent sales" actually cost the store money to sell. Oh hey what about wage costs average toronto store has approximately 30 cashiers 15 hardware personel 12 houseware personel 10 people between sports and seasonal, 8 warehouse staff, 20 fillers, and 8 people in auto parts 9 mechanics and 5 service advisors all of whom work about 25 hours per week; never mind management costs works out to...about $27,787.50 (about 1.5 million a year) a week at base ct starting wage of $9.50/h and I don't know any mechanics that will even spit on your car for 10 bucks an hour. So when you divide those 120'ish people over 4 warehouse areas, service bays, cashes, departments, ailse cleaning after you slobs leave at the end of the day, filling up the crap you just bought, and the fact that most of the stores are open for over 12 hours a day and yes retail people are people too and do need things like breaks, lunches, maybe the occasional minute to take a fucking piss, it's no goddamn wonder you might have a little trouble finding a person in a red fucking shirt in a store with 200+ fucking aisles in it. Oh management costs... general manager $200,000p/y store manager $150,000p/y department managers x5 $50,000 to $80,000, plus department supervisors $30,000per year x5 is about a million bucks, plus the avaerage toronto store owner gets about 5 to 10 million a year..... building maintentiance etc benefits etc, etc, etc, etc... means the store spends a fucking shit load more than you can even come to grasp of just to keep the fucking doors open. shut the fuck up until you have any remote fucking clue as to what it costs to run a business.



So maybe your thinking how does it stay afloat? volume of sales.

Well I am glad to see I am no the only one who has had trouble with Canadian Tire.

I bought a BBQ 19 days ago Today it is on sale for $100 dollars cheaper. I found to ased about the store credit as most store have a 30 day policy. The Manager of this store told me I should have waited till it was at a price I was willing to pay!!!

That was her answer!! I couldn't believe it. I am so sick of the customer service industry going down hill. This would have been grownds to be fired when I worked in Customer service.

I called corprate office they said they have a 7 day policy but store are able to set there own according to there needs. So 4 days past the deadline and they will no budge.

I own a landscaping business and shop there on a regualr business anywhere from 1000 - 5000 a month sometimes 10 - 30 depending on the client.

Today I canceled my credit card, along woth 15 others I had in the business name and will never be shopping there again!!

Anyone can spout off numbers and dig for empathy about running a corporation, but the true fact that remains is... consumers don't care. If you open a retail store to the public and allow anyone to walk in off the street, you'd be a complete idiot to think that you will never run into problems dealing with customer service, shoplifting and the high overheads of operation. Sure, you are going to run into customers that are difficult, but that?s the price of running a large retail outlet.

It's absolutely pathetic to even mention that "Canadian Tire loses money on sale items". Sale items bring customers into the store (which they inevitably get distracted) and spend money on other things. This scam is especially brilliant when the stores don't actually carry stock of the sale item, or the 2 they had in stock sold out 5 minutes after the store opened.

Canadian Tire has the worst inventory management system I have ever seen. From their archaic computers to their poorly organized warehouses, it is no wonder that I am only able to locate a sale item once in every 5 visits. The most common line I?ve heard is: ?The computer says we have 98 in stock, but we can?t find them anywhere?. In a well run company, this normally would set off red flags galore and invoke some sort of quality assurance process. CT?s solution (and I?m sure it?s part of their staff training): ?(staff shrugs shoulders) did you check the South store?? Unbelievable.

The quality of products now available at Canadian Tire have reached an all-time low. With the introduction of ultra-super-low quality products like JobMate, this tells the faithful patrons that ?We don?t care about the quality of our name, we care about the volumes of sales?. The sale of these ?use it once and throw it away? items should be banned, and the manufacturers fined for wasteful production. If not to save the overall frustration of both the customer and retailer, then to save the environment from landfills full of broken and faulty products.

Better store management, staff training and improved customer service is the ultimate solution, but I don?t foresee this happening any time in the near future. Canadian Tire is losing perspective of its values, and is showing signs of spiraling into a collapse under a weight it cannot support.

Personally, I avoid the place to save myself from an anxiety attack. There are usually other local shops that carry the same items, and I?m perfectly happy with spending an extra $2 on an item to support them.

ZigZag said:

Canadian Tire is losing perspective of its values, and is showing signs of spiraling into a collapse under a weight it cannot support.

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If only this were true.

The fact of the matter is that in spite of the shit service, in spite of the shoddy merchandise and in spite of the likes of you and me boycotting the place, millions of Canadians still shop there.

Why? Apathy I guess and the lack of decent competition.

I got and still get loads of abuse over my stance with regards to my story.
The sad truth is a lot of Canadians allow themselves to be treated in this manner time and time again and it's only a few who say "enough is enough".

Unregistered said:

Well I am glad to see I am no the only one who has had trouble with Canadian Tire.

I bought a BBQ 19 days ago Today it is on sale for $100 dollars cheaper. I found to ased about the store credit as most store have a 30 day policy. The Manager of this store told me I should have waited till it was at a price I was willing to pay!!!

That was her answer!! I couldn't believe it. I am so sick of the customer service industry going down hill. This would have been grownds to be fired when I worked in Customer service.

I called corprate office they said they have a 7 day policy but store are able to set there own according to there needs. So 4 days past the deadline and they will no budge.

I own a landscaping business and shop there on a regualr business anywhere from 1000 - 5000 a month sometimes 10 - 30 depending on the client.

Today I canceled my credit card, along woth 15 others I had in the business name and will never be shopping there again!!

Click to expand...

They don't have a decent price guarantee policy, but you can return stuff you bought up to 30 days after the purchase. Just bring in your old reciept, buy a new item, and return it using the old reciept. Problem solved. I did this with a treadmill, and it worked beautifully.

As for the cost of running a business, does our CT guy on the inside think that the staff at stores like Home Depot work for free? Get free hydro? Don't eat, sh!t or pi$$? Spare me the crying fit...

Just as an FYI, what you're recommending is fraudulent and therefore illegal. I hope the forum administrators deal with that accordingly.

What do you expect the admins to do? They can't police the actions of anyone. All they can do is let people have an opinion. I've said before in another thread, they don't condone stealing of any kind. Opinion will always be opinion. That's why there is a disclaimer on this site stating that the admins/owners will not be held responsible for what others say. If someone commits fraud or steals, there's nothing anyone else can do about it except the proper authorities. I honestly don't know what you expect the admins to do.
Would you like the admins to call the police and have RogerRZ arrested?
Let it go, it's not your problem what this person does in his or her spare time. If you're so concerned, why don't you do something.

So what you're saying is that if I put the original treadmill in the box, brought it back, and bought a new one at the lower price, it would be ok?

Whining about the poor quality products is perhaps the stupidest thing I've seen on this site, and I've seen a lot of ignorant comments in my short time viewing. From my reading, very few of you have any idea how a business is run - especially a big-box retail outlet. Go get a job in retail for a year or two before you whine.

But as to poor quality lines like JobMate: yes, we all know they suck. But those tools are sold in response to consumers' demands for lower prices. You can't get low prices AND top-shelf quality. That's why Mastercraft tools with a Lifetime warranty are more expensive than JobMate tools. You get what you pay for.

Now, you can cry "they shouldn't sell low quality stuff". But then you'd just be here whining about how prices are to high... you can't win with people like you.

Unregistered said:

Whining about the poor quality products is perhaps the stupidest thing I've seen on this site, and I've seen a lot of ignorant comments in my short time viewing. From my reading, very few of you have any idea how a business is run - especially a big-box retail outlet. Go get a job in retail for a year or two before you whine.

Now, you can cry "they shouldn't sell low quality stuff". But then you'd just be here whining about how prices are to high... you can't win with people like you.

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Another CT stooge.

I have worked in retail for many years and one thing I have learned is that if you sell people shit, don't be surprised when they turn around and bite you in the arse for it.

Partner the piss-poor quality products with piss-poor customer service (a la Crappy Tire) and you're just asking for trouble.

That's right. Princess Auto also sell crappy products, but when the stuff breaks, you don't get stonewalled.

IKnowThings said:

What do you expect the admins to do? They can't police the actions of anyone. All they can do is let people have an opinion. I've said before in another thread, they don't condone stealing of any kind. Opinion will always be opinion. That's why there is a disclaimer on this site stating that the admins/owners will not be held responsible for what others say. If someone commits fraud or steals, there's nothing anyone else can do about it except the proper authorities. I honestly don't know what you expect the admins to do.
Would you like the admins to call the police and have RogerRZ arrested?
Let it go, it's not your problem what this person does in his or her spare time. If you're so concerned, why don't you do something.

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The rules state: Please DO NOT post anything PORNOGRAPHIC, EXCESSIVELY VIOLENT, ILLEGAL, ABUSIVE or HATEFUL.

Returns fraud is ILLEGAL. You're demonstrating your own intelligence level by suggesting that I want the administrators to call the police and have RogerRZ arrested. The post should be taken down because it breaks the rules and RogerRZ should be warned or banned.

And incidentally I am doing something - pointing it out to the administrators.

Take your own advice - let it go.

Filthy The Dog said:

Another CT stooge.

I have worked in retail for many years and one thing I have learned is that if you sell people shit, don't be surprised when they turn around and bite you in the arse for it.

Partner the piss-poor quality products with piss-poor customer service (a la Crappy Tire) and you're just asking for trouble.

Click to expand...

Hey admins - anybody watching this forum or should the rules just be removed and we'll have a big free-for-all and swear and recommend illegal activities. You're just asking for a law suit.

Any of you idiots aware of the fact that Canadian Tire is the most successful retailer this country has ever known? The reality is, and read this carefully because it is a fact, every retailer will display good and bad service, have product quality issues, and will make mistakes, sometimes grossly negligent ones, as they relate to customer service.

Canadians hold Canadian Tire in higher esteem than any of these other retailers - for those of you that don't know what the word esteem means, Canadians have higher expectations of Canadian Tire. Why? Because they do things better than the rest of this countries retailers. When other retailers screw up, you don't get upset because you expect it. When CTC screws up, you are affected on an emotional level because of every Canadian's emotional attachment to this great icon - Canadian Tire is almost as Canadian as hockey, beer and Timbits. Canadian Tire is Canada's second most trusted company - do you know who number one is? Tim Horton's.

So in reality - all you whiners on here have actually had your feelings hurt because you went and got all emotionally attached to this wonderful company (which kind of makes you a loser) - and they let you down - probably the same way your mommies or daddies did when you were kids.

And you all know I'm right.

1jacques said:

Hey admins - anybody watching this forum or should the rules just be removed and we'll have a big free-for-all and swear and recommend illegal activities. You're just asking for a law suit.

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Yeah - sorry - I forgot it's illegal to swear in Canada - especially in reference to the Almighty Canadian Tire (let us bow down to thee O Great Seller Of Inferior Product).

Did you get bullied at school for always going running to teacher by any chance?
"Miss, Miss, Johnny said 'poo' again Miss"
"Miss, Miss, I saw some big boys jaywalking in front of school yesterday"
"Miss, Miss our school bus driver was driving at 82 on an 80 road again Miss"