None of what you wrote matches what I was told on the Customer Service line, or in the stores, or by the Crappy Person who admitted to the policy on the charger.
Customer Service line won't tell you these things because stores aren't "binded" to take those actions. It's at every store's discretion. BUT, every store does have the mechanisms to take advantage of if they so choose. I'm not ignorant enough to assume all stores serve their customers in the best ways possible, and as far as I can tell there's a lot of terrible management going on.
None of what you wrote matches the experiences customers report on this site and ones like it, on a regular basis.
I can see that, and it's definitely cause for concern. It's a sad state of affairs if this is actually a widespread problem, but Canadian Tire serves millions and millions of customers. There are very few complaints here. My store gets complaints from the customer service line maybe once a month. It seems to me there are a lot more satisfied customers than disgruntled ones.
With that said, there are kinks that have to be ironed out. For a customer to be told "there's nothing we can do" within a week of buying something is nothing short of ridiculous. There are multiples ways to help the customer out in that situation.
Maybe your particular store is really awesome, but any store that follows the actual policies of the corporation, is going to suck.
If they followed the actual procedures of the corporation, there wouldn't be issues. Most of the issues I see here are managers following the manufacturers warranty a little too tightly. That's external from Canadian Tire. We're a profitable enough business to support the customer in our own way, completely leaving the manufacturer out of it.
You are wrong to suggest that consumers who go to a Crappy Tire store can expect the level of service and the type of refunds and returns you describe.
You're probably right. My hope is that these customers will take the information I'm giving here and use it as ammo should they have any issues in the future.
Before you continue posting this stuff, you should look at what your fellow Crappy People have been writing about these crappy policies, and how wonderful they think these policies are.
There are a lot of (bad) managers who, if the customer doesn't strike them the right way, they'll deliberately try to sabotage the customer's chances of getting what they want. It happens in all retail settings, when small minded customers upset small minded staff. There are problems, but I'm saying that there is always a way. If the Manager is doing their job, they should be able to find a way to get the customer to leave happy. If they aren't, they're simply not doing their job well. God knows there's a lot of people in this world guilty of that, not just Canadian Tire employees.
The policies of all the other major stores have written policies that promise what you are describing. Crappy Tire is the only one that does not. Instead, consumers are at the mercy of the person behind the desk at Crappy Tire.
Canadian Tire's written policies are nearly identical with the others. If you were to look as deep into every other retailer as deep as you look into this one, you'd find their dirty laundry too.
Perhaps it is you, who has an unrealistic view of the rest of the chain, and of the Crappy People who run the other stores.
I think what's happening is a disconnect between the corporation/associate dealers, and the staff on the ground who are actually dealing with the customers. A lot of these people are minimum wage, a lot of these people make a career off this minimum wage job. A lot are small minded, and they think that they're appeasing their employer by keeping the returns down. It simply isn't true. Any dealer, or anyone at the top of the corporation, or any good manager would tell you the key is to keep your "lifetime" customers. Very few people make ONLY one purchase at Canadian Tire in their lifetime, very few. It's the most shortsighted thing in the world to piss off a customer and have them not come back over one measly transaction, when you can bite the bullet on this case, and enjoy their patronage for the rest of their lives.
Have a look around the site, and you'll see what I mean.
I'm learning a lot... but... there aren't THAT many complaints. No offense, but even you have to admit you have somewhat of a skewed sense of reality here. I challenge you to buy any of these products, and attempt to return it the next day. Let me know if there are any issues. If there are, let me know the store you're at, the product, and the person you were dealing with and I can get to the bottom of it. I realize that's a perceived monetary risk for you and I actually expect you to do it, but I'm quite confident I'll be right.
Are there problems with the policy and its execution? Absolutely. Is it as bad as you say it is? Absolutely not, not even close.