Thread: Canadian Tire Sucks at Bicycles - Can't return once assembled, won't stand behind them

Heather O.:

Just brought my son to Canadian Tire to buy a bike out of the money he has saved up. Got home (an hours drive away) to discover the back tire and tube is no good. Called the store to see about getting a refund or exchanging it for another bike, only to be told there is nothing they can for us. I have a very upset 9 year old boy and am quite upset myself. Will never buy anything from Canadian Tire again!

Sean D.:

On Saturday I spent around $200 on a CCM bicycle that was 40% off. On Sunday morning I took this bike for a ride and 10 minutes from home my left peddle fell off. I went back to the store and they said I couldn't get a refund, they wouldn't have a bike builder around and have it fixed for a couple days. I would have been perfectly alright with an exchange however after dealing with the rude manager running the store I am very disappointed in Canadian tire. After reading over 100 accounts of this very exact problem on the internet I would not advise buying a Canadian tire bicycle.

Wendy C.:

Almost a month ago my husband and my son went to Canadian Tire in Kingston (Gardiners/Hwy 38 store) and my son purchased a bicycle for about $200 (I believe it was $179.99 + tax). They came home and he didn't make it to the end of the street before it broke. We took it right back, and concerned about the quality, we wanted to return it and get a better (more expensive) bike. We were told we could NOT return it! Not even for store credit! They took the bike and said it would be repaired. We've checked weekly and the bike is still not repaired. So, after spending his hard earned money for a bike he needed, my son STILL has no bike, but Canadian Tire has his money. This weekend my husband and I went to Costco and spent over $400 ($359.99 + tax) to buy him a bike. We asked at the customer service desk and were assured if we got it home and it broke, just return it. I don't know what we'll do with the Canadian Tire bike, if/when they ever bother to get around to repairing it? Apparently Costco stands behind the products they carry and sell to their customers, but Canadian Tire does NOT. We are so upset and disappointed in Canadian Tire and the horrible customer service that we will not shop in your stores again.

Wendy C.:

... If a store won't stand behind the products THEY choose to carry and sell to their customers, I will never shop in that store again. Period.
I don't think the onus should be on the customer to know that a store as big as Canadian Tire doesn't stand behind the products they choose to sell. What happened to us seems like "hahaha! You bought it . . . sucks to be you!".
Costco, on the other hand, has a great customer service policy and returns and refunds customers when the products THEY (Costco) chooses to carry and sell to their customer are defective, damaged, inadequate, cheap, etc. etc.
You have done nothing but confirm I should NEVER shop at Canadian Tire EVER AGAIN!

Linda H.:


My seven year old grand daughter received a bike for her birthday (purchased at Canadian Tire) Unfortunately a part was stripped of threads when it was assembled so it was returned to be exchanged. Why does she have to wait for it to be assembled? The store was given notice her parents would be coming to pick it up at several days in advance. It is still not done and I am to pick up the assembled bike tomorrow (Tuesday). She is SEVEN - how much patience do you expect her to have?!

So sadly common, among naive Canadian shoppers:


Tracey L.:

I wanted to post about my experience this week at Canadian Tire. We bought a bike for my son's birthday on June 2nd at the new massive Canadian Tire in Edmonton. It wasn't an overly expensive bike ($100), but for what he'd be using it fore, we thought it was a good enough deal. We spent nearly $180 by the time we bought him a helmet, bell, lock etc. Tuesday night, after we got home, my husband had to spend hours tuning it, as the gears kept shifting. Wednesday, my son rode it for the first time and within a few blocks, the chain had fallen right off. Wednesday night, my husband spend another fair amount of time fixing the chain again. Thursday night, my son rode it again and the pedal fell right off and broke. At this point, we decided that perhaps it wasn't the right choice and wanted to return it. I pulled the receipt out of my wallet and noticed on the receipt that pre built bikes were non refundable. At NO time where we told this at the point of purchase from the cashier, however upon phoning the store today we were told that once we left the store with the bike, it was non refundable. They offered to fix the chain if we brought the bike back and when my husband asked if this offer was good every week because the chain and bike mechanisms are SO bad, that's what it will take...we were told no. Of course not! Should I have checked the receipt before leaving the store? Perhaps - but how many people actually do that? Did the cashier tell us about this policy at any time? No. This was a cheaper bike, I get that, but $100 is still $100 and now my son has NO bike. There are no words to express how angry I am. We had already picked out the bike we were going to exchange it for at Canadian Tire. Now Canadian Tire has lost a customer for good on top of the extra cash they would have made from the difference on another bike. Well done Canadian Tire on some great customer service.

So sad, knowing that Crappy Won't help out these poor people:

Priya K.:

Very bad experience with customer service, v r stuck with the bike as they would not refund us, can any one help us?