For sure, it's not hard to imagine what goes through the minds of many a consumer, when they are blind-sided by CT's ridiculous policy.
Maybe they bought something that is DOA, and Crappy is saying, 'take it for repair', or maybe even 'sorry, that product has no warranty - you own it now'.
Or maybe they opened the package, to discover that it doesn't do what it's supposed to. A snow-thrower that only throws fluffy snow, or a vacuum that won't pick up cat hair. May fine examples.
So the customer is stuck, trying to get the basic satisfaction they've always taken for granted at any other big store: getting a refund for a defective or unsatisfactory product.
But how to do that? The first run at Customer Dis-service often ends in frustration, as we read at CT's Facebook page almost daily.
You can just imagine the wheels turning:
"If they think it's unopened, I'll get a refund, but if I tell them it's defective, I'll get screwed".
I don't think it's right, for one person to inflict their lemon on another unsuspecting customer.
I don't think 'two wrongs make a right', if it's a different innocent victim.
But I can certainly understand the dilemma: how do I get my money back, if the retailer refuses to stand behind what they sell?
I suppose the customer could sue, and hope it doesn't cost too much, to hold Crappy accountable.
I suppose the customer could just chalk it up to experience, and join the ever-lengthening list of boycotters.
They might even exact some revenge, by joining those who periodically tell their tale of woe to the audience of Canadians at
www.facebook.com/canadiantire.
Again, I don't think it's right for a customer to pawn off a junk product to someone else, anymore than it was right for Crappy to stick the first consumer with the dud, either.
But I certainly agree: this is a scenario of Crappy Tire's own making, in order to get undeserved profits from an unsuspecting public.
They should be ashamed of this type of conduct.
But like Rob Ford, they seem proud of behaviour that anyone else would find abhorrent.
Yuck!