Grudges, Complainers and Other Retailers: Canadian Tire Still Sucks!

Rona and Loblaws had bad third quarters financially as well as Sears.

Ah, Crappy Tire!

It sucks on so many dimensions!

Obviously there isn’t a standards international unit of Suckage (but if there were, maybe it would be named the “CanTire”?)

In one sense, Suckage is an individual assessment, based on personal knowledge and experience. They may have lucked into a store that they actually like, with good service, where the harsh default policies are not enforced to the maximum extent, and the owner/dealer seems to actually care about customers, when those people might safely conclude that their local store does not suck as much as the whole chain.

Other individuals will have come up against dirty stores, indifferent (or even rude) staff, low quantities of sale items, and the bare mimimum (or lower) return policies, etc. They would reasonably that their local store does indeed Suck.

And the fact that the Corporation has allowed even one store to descend into Suckiness, and cause a reasonable person to conclude that CTC is capable of dropping the ball on standards enforcement, and reasonably conclude that the entire chain sucks – or at least is vulnerable to suckiness.

And indeed individuals who take a wider view, can educate themselves on the general issues with the whole chain, and find out about just how wide-spread the issues are, most of which have been detailed here. Poor quality products. Terrible automotive service. Poor installations. Poor driver training. The list goes on, and new types of suckiness are being exposed almost daily.

The other scope of suckiness determination, is societal. Once the tipping point is reached, the public perception of the Brand itself will become wide-spread, and it will no longer be considered as a go-to retailer. Instead, ‘the penny will drop’, and it will be recognized for what it has already become: a glorified Dollar Store, sometimes attached to a poorly-run garage.

It's interesting to that read that CT/Me/Lawguy would dare to challenge the opions which consumers are forming, that The Red Triangle of Crap sucks.

But that doesn't mean that consumers have to share their self-serving view.

Obviously, this is an individual who cares not about the financial hardships being endured by the people who are stuck with expensive, defective items, or whose vehicles have been damage through their carelessnesss.

And they clearly don't care about the growing list of people who hate their business, or even go so far as to boycott them.

Well, it's OK if they want to deny the obvious on this forum, and pretend that everythign is hunky dory based on recent financials (ignoring other factors like population changes, economic conditions, demographics, and so on.)

But that doesn't mean that general puplic opinion is going to shake out the way they are hoping.

This is SUCH a good example of exactly what we are discussing, and why CT sucks, especially when compared to other stores.

You simply cannot walk into any other major Canadian retailer, buy a store-brand power-tool, and then be screwed over by the store's return policies in this fashion.

CTH8R said:

Richard M.: I return a defective nail gun that was brand new unused and a defective Mastercraft product and they told me they wanted to send out for repair I bought it to use that day not to have sent out for repair.

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I suppose there might be some demented consumer out there, just dying to 'donate' to a corporation, and would argue that this is a 'good' policy, but they would be by definition economically irrational.

The poster also has the standard message: beware that CT even has this policy, watch out for this trap, and stay away.

The CTers would like to bury this information, but I applaud Local Heros like Richard, who are helping to Get The Word Out! If only more Canadians would do so, and warn one-another, then the naive shoppers would make better decisions!

It's interesting, this claim that CT is just like all the other stores, so CT doesn't suck.

It's so obvious, you have to wonder why they try to deny it:

Even if every store sucked as much as CT already does? Well, CT would still suck!

Just sayin', LOL!

CTH8R said:

There is an interesting theory being proposed, that profits are the one and only measure of whether or not a given business sucks.

This is the most ridiculous claim ever!

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Did you even read what I posted? Of course you did.
"Remember business is based on numbers (sales, profits, customer counts, share price, assets, liabilities etc....) "
That's what I typed. In case you missed it sales, profits, customer counts, share prices, assets, liabilities etc....
By my count that's 6 metrics by which businesses are measured, not "one and only" as you've misquoted

That mam is what we call a misrepresentation.

You're lying to consumers to make it seem as if I'm ONLY driven by profit and greed. I run a business so yes profit is important. 50 people make a living here, not just me. Anyone with a basic understanding of business understands that money is made by having repeat customers spend money. How do you get repeat customers? Good value, good service, convenience, good products, good prices....
Just so happens there is 20, no wait 30, nope, 40...hang on 50, 60......90 years of proof that we do just that!

Concrete hard evidence that CAN NOT be disputed by any reasonable person. Math isn't a guess, math isn't open for interpretation. Our math, AKA accounting of our businesses prove it, have proved it and will continue to prove it for many decades to come.

I can only laugh at your ongoing ridiculousness each day as I take a few minutes of my day to see what ridiculousness you come up with. Who needs the newspaper cartoons, you're all the comedy I need.

By the way, do some research on the term tipping point as it relates to business and economics before you use it. Dude hasn't even removed one brick in his "brick by brick" CT will fall theory, and you're already thinking critical mass LOL

Such a misguided man you are. Get a clue

Now, CtMe/Lawguy/moaner will disagree, but its up to individuals to decide what they think of a store, and wether or not they want to return, ever.

But here's thing: the people who still go there, clearly don't yet know about all their terrible policies. We know this because we read over and over again, about people who find out, after even years of faithful patronage, that they are one purchase away from being screwed over on a defective or unsatisfactory purchase.

Then it's all, "Holy Crap! Does that place every SUCK! I'm gonna tell everybody I know!"

There are reports of some individual stores that don't suck as much, so customers there are happy. But it just takes a new, greedy owner or a an incompetent manager, and all bets are off.

CT Challenger said:

It's interesting to that read that CT/Me/Lawguy would dare to challenge the opions which consumers are forming, that The Red Triangle of Crap sucks.

But that doesn't mean that consumers have to share their self-serving view.

Obviously, this is an individual who cares not about the financial hardships being endured by the people who are stuck with expensive, defective items, or whose vehicles have been damage through their carelessnesss.

And they clearly don't care about the growing list of people who hate their business, or even go so far as to boycott them.

Well, it's OK if they want to deny the obvious on this forum, and pretend that everythign is hunky dory based on recent financials (ignoring other factors like population changes, economic conditions, demographics, and so on.)

But that doesn't mean that general puplic opinion is going to shake out the way they are hoping.

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It's almost like you WANT to illustrate my points with paragraph after paragraph of junk writings.
Deny the obvious on this forum? This forum is your opinion. I absolutely ignore your opinion because it's not even close to accurate. You try to represent this as if massive amounts of consumers share your opinion on Canadian Tire. You try to make it seem as if our financial strength is only a recent trend. You mentioned in another post about problems with drivers training. One complaint and BOOM it's a national problem.

You have ZERO concept, in fact LESS then zero concept of how a multi billion dollar company operates. You wouldn't even have a clue of the scope at the multi million dollar level of an individual store. You just simply don't have a clue period

and it's super

CT Challenger said:

There are reports of some individual stores that don't suck as much, so customers there are happy. But it just takes a new, greedy owner or a an incompetent manager, and all bets are off.

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LOL here we go again, it's only about the policies for you. The policy, the policy, the returns, the returns. Your benchmark isn't everyone's benchmark. I've been a consumer for several decades. Naturally a lot of purchases have come from Canadian Tire but many have come from other places as well. Funny how I have a workshop and garage full of tools that I personally use to do everything from weld to build walls, a kitchen full of appliances that we cook and bake with and a storage shed with my lawn mower, trimmer, leaf blower, snow thrower, hedge trimmer etc.... and the need to warranty or return anything of any significance has come up twice that I can recall. a broken hedge trimmer and problem with a drill. I'm sure you will make it seem as if I magically got the only products that work and stand the test of time lol nobody will believe you.

...incidentally if since you say "all bets are off" guess what, I won the bet. I won the bet when I put everything I own into a successful franchise.

CT Challenger said:

Now, CtMe/Lawguy/moaner will disagree, but its up to individuals to decide what they think of a store, and wether or not they want to return, ever.

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Oh no, I will 100% absolutely positively agree, it is up to each person to decide where they shop, what they buy and when they buy it. Great news is, for decades and decades, right up until this minute, they keep on choosing Canadian Tire.

It also bears mention that in 2012, consumers did not have the option of shopping at Target here in Canada. Now, they do. Yet our sales grew, with as you once called it a giant red bullseye coming north of the border. I'm sure you once claimed that Target would be our death lol


Another stellar prediction by one of three resident retail, economic, consumer behaviour, consumer law experts.

Remember, Forzani was an insolvent company
baahhhahahahhahaha

CT Challenger said:

Now, CtMe/Lawguy/moaner will disagree, but its up to individuals to decide what they think of a store, and wether or not they want to return, ever.

But here's thing: the people who still go there, clearly don't yet know about all their terrible policies. We know this because we read over and over again, about people who find out, after even years of faithful patronage, that they are one purchase away from being screwed over on a defective or unsatisfactory purchase.

Then it's all, "Holy Crap! Does that place every SUCK! I'm gonna tell everybody I know!"

There are reports of some individual stores that don't suck as much, so customers there are happy. But it just takes a new, greedy owner or a an incompetent manager, and all bets are off.

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On one hand I would agree and on the other the comment is so general it could relate to any and all businesses.

Ah, such a typical Troll post.

Sounds so innocent. Gee, aren't all stores the same?

But Ct is such a unique place - let's give them full credit for their anti-consumer innovations!


- Canadian Tire has the dreaded Repair Only Policy for a very wide range of products, including all types of outdoor power equipment.

- Not just these two items, but also: snow blowers, electric generators, compressors, weed eaters, etc.

- Also for ordinary household appliances, such as blenders, vacuums, irons, etc.

- CT also sucks because they have an "Exchange Only" warrantly on many items that escaped the Repair Only category.

- CT even has a large number of items that are "No warranty", meaning they won't even repair it.

- CT has a long history of terrible customer service, supported by survey after survey, and by the tsunami of complaints on their own Facebook page, each time they to for a Spamming of Canadians.

- CT has a long history of terrible auto service, shown by one hidden camera investigation after another.

- And let's not forget their unique Dealer arrangement, which allows Joe's Tools and Sportswear, 'Featuring Crappy Tire Products' to disguise itself as an outlet of an actual retail chain, with a genuine 1-800 number.

So, overall, we can conclude that Canadian Tire still sucks far more than Home Depot, or any other major Canadian retailer.

Not that Troll would ever admit to that fact here!

there sure was a flurry of typing yesterday by CTMe/Lawguy/Moaner. seems to me they are totally losing his sh*t, Ford style!


What really seems to be setting him off, though, isn't the mounting evidence that his beloved money-machine is falling into disfavour with the consumers he clearly hates.

No, I think it the fact that his greed is being highlighted here, by his very own words!

Way to throw yourself under the bus, LOL!

Would The CTer care to make some confessions about alcohol, drugs or hookers, before the spittle dries of his chin?

It is always so interesting, to read how CTME/Lawguy/moaner sees the world.

Recently, we got to read how The CTer thinks consumers go about deciding if a retailer sucks or not.

Apparently The CTer thinks consumers should focus on financials! As in, they should check whatever financial statements are available. Maybe they should read the business pages, and definitely consumers should check out the stock price of the parent company.

What an idea! Perhaps consumers should consult a forensic accountant, before they buy a tube of toothpaste!

Well, I guess that's what CTme/Lawguy/moaner does before entering a store, but I use a different approach. Surprise!

I look at the quality of their products.
I talk to friends, coworkers and family about their experiences.
I read online product reviews for things they sell.
I might even watch their Facebook page, to see what kind of complaints are being posted, and whether anything is being done about it.
I also follow the business pages, especially consumer columns. And blogs on consumer issues.
TV programs and news articles often explore automotive service and consumer surveys.
Plus I have my own personal experiences to go by: how I was treated in the store, and how they responded to past problems.

Oh: one more thing: I like to know what kind of return policies the store has! Very important (but far from the only factor!)

(And nobody who reads this site should have any doubts that CT has the WORST policies!)


So, CTME/Lawguy/moaner thinks their approach is the most common, and I am alone on my methods.

Perhaps The CTer has spent too many hours behind the counter, trying to figure out how to get inside those wallets that they are so focused on!

Owner 1 said:

Did you even read what I posted? Of course you did

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Of course I didn't!

Frankly, I generally scan these litanies of 'dribble', looking for anything that might mislead a naïve consumer. If I find any, I point the interested reader to the evidence refuting the bogus claims.

You see, I long ago recognized that CT-Me/Lawguy/Moaner1 will post just about anything. We've all seen cases where The CTer "can post lies faster than consumers can post the truth".

(Obviously, if someone isn't going to let facts or reason interfere with what they will write, it's not hard for them to crank out reams and reams of such nonsense. But that doesn't mean anyone else is obliged to read it, let alone respond to it!)

There's also frequent misrepresentations about what consumers have posted. But there's little point in highlighting the truth that's there for all to see.

And lately there's been a resurgence of the chest-pounding posts, about how great and awesome the Red Triangle of Crap is - generally without even a lie to back it up.

Nothing to see here. Move along. "Scroll, scroll, scroll", as I'm sure most consumers do.


But once in a while, there will be something especially ridiculous - which I then make a sport of ridiculing. It's great fun!

For example, the above post. I had decided to circle back, and see if I'd missed anything that might actually fool people, in the recent rants by our own version of Rob Ford.

And I stumbled on the above gem.

"LOL Hilarious", as The CTer used write, when posting as CT Me, I think.

Saw Walmarts 3rd quarter results today. It does not look like they did very well in sales and new customers both in Canada and the US. Looks like employee hours will be cut yet again.

It's been a long tradition of CtMe/lawguy/moaner1 and now Sangria to post results of companies who operate in diverse countries (some not even operating in Canada, or not even retailers at all).

The goal seems to be, to make CTs own results look better.

As usual: Nice Try!

It took about 29 seconds to dig up some actual info. for Walmart Canada - and it looks even better than Crappy!

Walmart Canada had sales growth of 4.9%! Woo-hoo! Compared to a mere 2.9% over at CTR.

Sure, profits were down, but that's due to the "Aggressive expansion".

Watch out, Crappy People! Walmart Canada's comin' to show you how it's done!

Oh, and this crap about Walmart Canada cutting hours? Just some of the usual CT crap, just posted under a different account, LMAO! Here comes The Golden Quarter!

For those of you who are learning to disregard the crap posted by CTMe/Lawguy/moaner/sangria, here's something to look at instead:

Wal-Mart Stores Management Discusses Q3 2013 Results - Pre Recorded Earnings Call Transcript - Yahoo Finance



Moving to Canada. Walmart Canada had good sales growth and grew operating income faster than sales. Net sales grew 4.9% in the third quarter compared to last year. Comparable sales increased 0.7% with average ticket up 1.7% and traffic declining 1%. We had strong comp sales in food and consumables and Health & Wellness, but weakness in Hardlines and entertainment. Gross profit rate increased due to improved initial margins and lower markdown activity. However, expenses grew faster than sales, primarily due to preopening costs associated with aggressive real estate expansion plans. We've completed 49 projects to date with 24 projects to be completed by year end. We now have 30 of our 39 Zellers to Wal-Mart Store conversions opened and the early results are encouraging. We're pleased with the way the Canadian leadership team managed this conversion process and it appears our new customers are, too.

Canada is heading into the golden quarter with plans to make this a memorable season for Canadians. Canada will kick-start the season with Black Friday and Cyber Monday promos as we did last year. Our Top 20 Toy digest will give customers a best-in-class offering for the holiday season gift buy and Our Finest private brand selection, a new Walmart Canada brand that was recently named by Progressive Grocer magazine as Best New Product for a Mass Merchandiser, will be a favorite for festive celebrations.

Sangria5 said:

Saw Walmarts 3rd quarter results today. It does not look like they did very well in sales and new customers both in Canada and the US. Looks like employee hours will be cut yet again.

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Hey, just a couple a quick questions for the person now posting as "Sandria5".

Um, where did you see results that suggested Walmart Canada didn't do well in sales? New customers?

And where exactly did you get the idea that "employee hours will be cut"? Or did you actually just pull that out of your *ss?

And is it the same deal with your claim that Walmart Canada employees were recently cut? Hmmm???