Daniel:
Sorry to hear about your rude awakening to the crappiness of Canadian Tire’s return policies (or lack thereof).
You should be aware that anything that is purchased becomes non-refundable the second you break the seal on the packaging. Some stores might give you a break & give you a refund, but don’t count on it, especially if it looks like they can’t just re-seal the package and sell it to someone else.
Regarding the Gift Receipt, I don’t think that changes anything after the package has been opened. It might buy you a few more days if the package was unopened – there is no clear statement on their web site about this.
I am surprised that they wouldn’t give you an exchange, if it was defective. Possibly they believe the 15-second wait time is acceptable, or that there is an issue with settings or configuration? Is there perhaps a 1-800 support number? In the end, if you think it is defective, they should at least be willing to help you send it away for repairs.
I’d agree with you that it is unusable, if you have to wait a full 15 seconds for a response to an ordinary key-press. This might be a defect or a design flaw. Where you might have a hope, is with the consumer protection laws. They state that the product must be fit for its intended use (or similar wording, depending on your province).
You can check with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs (or equivalent in your province) for the specific sections. In general, you can claim ‘misrepresentation’ and then ‘cancel’ the ‘consumer agreement’ (i.e., contract) due to the product not being of ‘merchantable quality’ or ‘not performing its intended function’ (i.e., planning a route to an address in a reasonable amount of time).
The store might pull out their long list of excuses, but none of them matter.
And recently we heard a story from user 1wildhorse , who was told he had to deal with the manufacturer, and not the store. Don’t fall for that one!
The biggest problem with a lawsuit is the cost to file the suit (maybe $50 to $100), and the time attend at the courthouse to file, attend conferences, go before the judge, etc.
Sometimes we hear about a store that waits until you actually file the suit, and then caves in & give a refund.
You can also harass CT here:
www.facebook.com/CanadianTire. That doesn’t seem to work for returns, but it’s worth a try. Plus, it can be satisfying, and it warns other consumers.
At the very least, you’ve learned a valuable (if expensive) lesson: don’t buy anything from Canadian Tire unless you are 100% sure you’re willing to settle for whatever might be inside the package, even if it’s defective. Otherwise, you should simply go to any of the other major Canadian retail outlets to make your purchase, because they will all have some kind of Satisfaction Guarantee.
Please keep us posted on how things turn out, especially if you have tips and hints for your fellow Canadian consumers.