CT_MANAGER

New member
Hello,

I will admit there is a problem with customers taking advantage of Canadian Tire. Returning products that are used claiming not to be used. Or claiming defective when not defective. Or dropping a vacuum down the stairs and claiming it defective. But while this does happen, there are also reasons other than this, and that is due to the quality of the products.

I personally would recommend not purchasing a pressure washer from Canadian Tire. The manufactures for pressure washers are too 1-sided and not in the favor of the customer.

I would also not recommend purchasing bicycles from Canadian Tire.

Most bicycles that I see are NOT set up completely. Customers tend to push the levers without the wheels turning and thus stretching the cables. Once this happens you won't discover it until after you get the bicycle home. When it's returned for adjustment, you are likely out of a bicycle for many weeks as not too many stores will give you a bicycle in the meantime.

I've also come across where wheels were not true to begin with, and headsets, and bottom brackets loose.

Just because I work for Canadian Tire does not mean I necessarily agree with everything. I personally never would purchase a bicycles, large mechanical product (ie. treadmill), or pressure washer.

Stay away from Simoniz! They seem to have the same problems where the bottom of the connection to the wand either breaks, or the o-ring in the end of the wand stretches and sprays waters all over the place.

Another huge fault that I don't recommend buying are AIR MATRESS'S. I don't know what it is but it seems that there is a HIGH return rate on air matresses. I don't know if customers don't know how to use them, seal them properly, do their (duty) on them, or are just plain ALL defective.. I've never needed one so I can't speak from experience but it just so seems everyone who comes in to do a warranty return say the say thing, They layed on it full the night before, and were on the ground the morning after. I don't know if any other retail stores have this problem (perhaps someone could chime in) but for the most part I would recommend not getting them.

Also, when you decide to purchase a bicycle (anyway) be sure to check the tires and MOST of the time they are not pumped up fully. When bicycles arrive, they aren't usually pumped full (approx 70%) and like car tires tend to lose air thru evaporation of thru the rubber.

Same goes for Dolly's (Rarely have come across dolly's with completely full tires).

Before shopping, I would jump on google and do your research so you down run into any unforeseen problems of bad quality or pre-mature returns.
 

Angry CT Guy

Posted by an unregistered user
Hello,

I will admit there is a problem with customers taking advantage of Canadian Tire. Returning products that are used claiming not to be used. Or claiming defective when not defective. Or dropping a vacuum down the stairs and claiming it defective. But while this does happen, there are also reasons other than this, and that is due to the quality of the products.

I personally would recommend not purchasing a pressure washer from Canadian Tire. The manufactures for pressure washers are too 1-sided and not in the favor of the customer.

I would also not recommend purchasing bicycles from Canadian Tire.

Most bicycles that I see are NOT set up completely. Customers tend to push the levers without the wheels turning and thus stretching the cables. Once this happens you won't discover it until after you get the bicycle home. When it's returned for adjustment, you are likely out of a bicycle for many weeks as not too many stores will give you a bicycle in the meantime.

I've also come across where wheels were not true to begin with, and headsets, and bottom brackets loose.

Just because I work for Canadian Tire does not mean I necessarily agree with everything. I personally never would purchase a bicycles, large mechanical product (ie. treadmill), or pressure washer.

Stay away from Simoniz! They seem to have the same problems where the bottom of the connection to the wand either breaks, or the o-ring in the end of the wand stretches and sprays waters all over the place.

Another huge fault that I don't recommend buying are AIR MATRESS'S. I don't know what it is but it seems that there is a HIGH return rate on air matresses. I don't know if customers don't know how to use them, seal them properly, do their (duty) on them, or are just plain ALL defective.. I've never needed one so I can't speak from experience but it just so seems everyone who comes in to do a warranty return say the say thing, They layed on it full the night before, and were on the ground the morning after. I don't know if any other retail stores have this problem (perhaps someone could chime in) but for the most part I would recommend not getting them.

Also, when you decide to purchase a bicycle (anyway) be sure to check the tires and MOST of the time they are not pumped up fully. When bicycles arrive, they aren't usually pumped full (approx 70%) and like car tires tend to lose air thru evaporation of thru the rubber.

Same goes for Dolly's (Rarely have come across dolly's with completely full tires).

Before shopping, I would jump on google and do your research so you down run into any unforeseen problems of bad quality or pre-mature returns.



I don't totally agree. We sell 250 bikes a year and have 5 or 6 that have problems....I will agree that it is a pain to wait for parts if something does go wrong. My son has a $3000 mountain bike (obviously not from Canadian Tire) and he has it in for repair at least once every two weeks due to the nature of it's use.
Helps to have a good bike builder too.
Simoniz used to be a disaster but have been getting better for the last 2 years with last year only having to exchange 1 out of about 70 sold of various models. But previous to that it was 1 returned for every 2 sold.
Air mattresses are news to me, unless it's that cheapo blue rubber one that smells like petroleum. Not much of a problem with Coleman or Roots at my end but they are a lot more expensive.
My 2 cents worth.
 

Guest-0276

Posted by an unregistered user
Thanks CT Manager for this eye opener. I find it rather telling that employees don't buy or recommend their own bikes. Does it have anything to do with one of your bikes causing permanent facial and brain injury to a kid? Simoniz is still a disaster in my eyes on many fronts. One of them is how canadian tire and simoniz treats the customer after we bring in the defect. As for air mattresses I've come to the conclusion that all of them will leak no matter water. That's why I picked up a fold up cot from mountain equipment coop. Still works after years of heavy use!
 

Guest-0593

Posted by an unregistered user
What sort of bike was involved in this case, anyhow? The Supercycle Vice had a recent long run on cranks falling off, so that wouldn't be surprising.
 

CT Challenger

New member
What sort of bike was involved in this case, anyhow? The Supercycle Vice had a recent long run on cranks falling off, so that wouldn't be surprising.

It's good for consumer to know what types of bikes have recurring problems.

Even better to be warned about the troubles customers have getting bikes returned, or even just fixed.

Crappy Tire is definitely not a good place to buy a bike.

As the seasons change, we should be alert to the next batch of bad products that will be filling the shelves.

Better to just go someplace else, that has will stand behind what it sell, no matter what the actual price.
 

One Man Crowd

New member
It's good for consumer to know what types of bikes have recurring problems.

Even better to be warned about the troubles customers have getting bikes returned, or even just fixed.

Crappy Tire is definitely not a good place to buy a bike.

This is sadly becoming truer and truer.

Canadian Tire *does* carry several bicycles that are very reasonable and well priced, but the assembly often leaves much to be desired.

I'm employed at Canadian Tire, myself. Originally hired on as a bike builder / repair guy. We now have contractors assembling them as I assemble them far too slowly. (I like to make sure everything works 100%, you see.)
And repairs often languish in wait for weeks at a time due to the fact that my managers have me working on the floor 90% of the time. Often we'll have those same contract builders do the repairs, instead.

A good 50% of those repaired bikes immediately come back to us as they were barely looked at and are still in need to repair. It's depressing on my end as I'm the face of our bike department and end up answering for all the stupidity as if it was because of my own inability to build and fix bikes.
 
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