Buying Batteries From Canadian Tire - Warranty Issues, Etc.

A story from March at Canadian Tire Battery Scam. None of it is surprising, to anyone who has read the many similar horror stories on this thread:

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I bought a new top quality car battery from Canadian Tire for my Ford Explorer.It came with a "Best in the business" warrantee that was for about 5 years.

Turns out the the warrantee is only good for 2 years and after that they prorate the thing. So the battery cost about $135 before taxes. It crapped out and wouldn't hold a charge for more than 2 days. Thankfully this happened just before the 2 year 'free' period elapsed.

But I still had to argue with the guy and eventually get the manager involved to get a new battery. They tried to charge me $85, then $65, then they just wanted me to go away so they gave it to me. They claimed that the battery was still on the edge of being good. I was outraged but also thankful at the same time!.
Right away I started having problems".

The Ford kept dying after a week or so of being parked'. So, knowing the problem could no longer be the battery, I took it to an Auto-electric place/. They tried and tried to find a problem but the only thing they could come up with was that it was the battery/. "Not so," I said".

"It's brand new"?. So eventually they took it out and just let it sit on the bench unconnected/. Within a week it was completely dead. I was on holidays while all this was going on so 2 months passed since I picked up the "new" battery.

I then went to the Auto-Electric place and took my battery back to Canadian Tire for a replacement, thinking there should be no problem. Well! They tested my battery and pronounced it completely useless. I presented them with my warranty and they brought me a battery, along with a bill for $65.

They said I was now past the 'Free Replacement' period. I said if I had been given a battery that was actually good 2 months ago I wouldn't be here now so they should backdate the claim to that date and give me the battery free of charge. They said they had no control over policy, that being controlled by Toronto headquarters. I thought they were all independently owned.

Anyway, I gave up trying to get them to see the logic in my claim and walked out. I'll get a Delco battery from the Auto-Electric place instead.
I give up on Canadian Tire.

They treated me like *** and I'm not going back.People call it Crappy Tire for a reason I guess.

From https://www.canadiantiresucks.net/c...ervice-experienced-my-lifetime.html#post8668:

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Went to this store last week on 17th May 2013, at around 12.35 pm to get my battery tested and if needed replaced. The only person on the desk told me that I had to wait for another test to be completed before I could start my 1.5 hours testing/diagnosis. Waited an hour and then finally my testing started and I gave my cell number to be called when they had finished the test and had printout of the diagnosis. After 2 hours had elapsed and still not receiving a call from Cdn Tire, I reached there to be told that battery needed new replacement, and with my original receipt it was still under pro rated warranty discount when new battery bought from them.

But I still had to wait as per Jason (some what polite guy) to wait for another 20 minutes as the ONLY person who could calculate the warranty discount, Ms. Carol was out on lunch and returning in 20 odd minutes. I waited almost an hor waiting for her and reported this to the Manager Mr Mike (somewhat rude, insensitive manager - who had no clue what was required of him or of the store). He went out on a search for Carol with me and finally we saw her returning back from lunch after 1.20 hours or so.

Now this lady was not apologetic about extended lunch around and took almost 45 minutes to advise me that I need to pay $ 105 for $ 120 battery and you can pick up the battery right away.

Anyway when they checked the new battery to be sold to me, it needed new charge as it was never charged as they were supposed to have done in Apr'13 as per sticker on the battery. Finally when I advised them to return my paperwork so that I could walk into another cndn tire store and pick up a fully charged battery I was told by Carol that the diagnostic test printout was misplaced by her, and that I would have to start the whole process of retesting the battery if I chose to walk into another cndn tire store.

And without any apology I was asked to wait for another 1.30 hours for this to get recharged. Finally I paid out at 5.25 pm and was given the battery by 5.35 pm. CALLED MIKE again to be told this is how they do business and if I do not stop complaining or cribbing about their service, he will get us escorted/thrown out of the store.

Called corporate to report the insensitive attitude and abnormal customer service experience in last 20 odd years in this country and was told they would call Kevin the owner of the Cndn Tire store and he will call me to address the issues.

Finally got a call on 22nd May 13, and was told by him that he has another side of the story and this is the way we have and will be doing business. If you have to wait and have been given such service, it was because of busy day at the location. And when I told him that it was not busy at all as most of the staff there was just sitting idle and even the automotive hoists were less than half on job.

Kevin was not apologetic nor did he say sorry and his tone was very off as if he had already presumed that I would be lying and was cooking up stories. This kind of attitude I have only seen in Oriental stores where the prices are so cheap and they do not care if they get repeat business or not. Not sure 100% but Kevin's tone and accent was somewhat oriental too and had the same icy, rude and suggesting that I was a liar and just cooking up stories.

Terry B.: I bought a new battery in The St Laurent Branch, And the next morning it was dead, I went to the service Manager who would not speak english and told me in french I killed the battery ???, He is rude and has walked away from english customewrs leaving them standing there, Oh yes $28.00 to fix a flat on a wheel I took in

Sherry B.: Just had a horrendous ordeal with Canadian tire Red Deer South, after the first battery dies they charge me to put the second one in when it is warrantied, then the second one dies and kills my cluster and radio, and I spend four hours waiting with no service while they leave my vehicle running so is does not die again. I end up having to take it elsewhere, for service who only find the battery as an issue and since it was completely dead after only 8 months this time they have to put a battery in so I can take it home and tell me to take it to the dealership to figure out why the dead battery made the instrument panel and radio stop costing me further. I take the battery I got from Canadian tire to the store I got it from and they will not give me a refund or a credit only another crappy battery which I explained the ordeal. They were rude and told me to tell anyone I wanted about this they did not care that is their policy. I was a loyal customer as was my mom but no more, completely unimpressed with their lack of integrity and unwillingness to make things right. This cost me well over $500.

Sherry B.: e-mailed you as you requested and your reply was unsatisfactory with no compensation at all!!

Phil G.: Well they couldn't get mea battery ....said they would the next day.Came back ...no battery ...forgot the whole incident...I was forced to go else where.

Seems the poor service is actually HELPING people. When they leave in frustration, they actually are 'dodging bullets' buy passing over Crappy Tire, and buying from somewhere with better products and policies.

People don't buy automotive batteries very often, so they have a long memory when they die early. Not surprising that when CT spams people to post a review, they get some negative feed-back:


Rob U.: Bought 2 batteries for my truck 6 months ago and they are already junk.... Nt even made it thought the winter.. Well over 300 spent are you sure you want a review

Usually the batteries conk out in the cold of winter, but not for this poor guy:


Michael T.: I tried to return a battery for warranty and was told I needed the paperwork from three years ago . that was in my motorhome a hundred miles away in the bush and was told sorry its company policy . Then they gave me a story about how they would not get reimbursement from the manufacturer without "my" paperwork . Please don't insult me by telling me to email or call someone at customer service as I was there with the battery last week ... and im sure the people at customerservice@canadiantire.com. are just better excuse makers ....

Chris R.: Canadian Tire ripped me off charging my wife 99.00 to diagnose a dead battery only one year old even though the battery came with a nine year warranty. Manager was insulting and ignorant of my complaint...and no one at Canadian Tire cares. Never shop there again. Never!

i just remembered a funny thing that happened to me.back before i had all the trouble with ct,i was in the process of buying a new set of golf cart batteries(6 in total) for my solar system.i think it was back last september.so i went into canadian tire.i wont say which store or what the employees name was,but he was extremely knowledgeable about the whole thing,and then went on to let me know that i would be better off buying the batteries from one of the main battery shops in the area,because if anything was wrong with them i would have a hard time returning them to ct.hell if even your own employees are recommending you go somewhere else,you really are in trouble......

Some Angry CT Troll has been stalking Chris R., when he tells Facebook about the poor treatment he's been getting from Crappy Tire. She sounds a LOT like Moaner 1 ...


Chris R. Oh, and as far as being lazy and removing them from my Facebook... Not a chance, I told the manager this was not the end of my complaint. His response " I'm not afraid of you, you don't scare me! I don't care if you ever bring your car back here for service, we have thousands of cars in here every year". That is not customer service. I will continue to spread the word reference Canadian Tire and the poor service until someone decides to take it serious and actually investigate. Lip service does not work, actions with results WORK.

Chris R.: Yes I did, they sent me a contact number and that was followed up only to be told by the service manager that he would get back to me in a few days. I waited a month before I walked back in to speak face to face with service manager. When I asked what transpired as a result of his so called investigation and he replied, " Nothing, nothing I can do". My response " Why" his response was "because You are complaining about the store manager who happens to be my boss". That does not take away the fact that we were charged 99.00 for what the store manager called diagnosis to confirm the battery was dead.... That should have been covered under warranty. I asked why, this the second battery in two years would be dead again almost exactly one year from the previous replacement. "Is there something wrong with my charging system or what"??? Store managers reply "we don't know because the diagnostic test stopped when we confirmed the battery was dead, but if you want to bring the car back in, we will do another diagnostic test". And with a big grin he said "only 99.00". I asked if he was kidding about me paying another 99.00??? He smiled and said "No, 99.00 for another diagnostic...."
It goes on and on...Canadian Tire Kanata and its store manager are a joke. My neighbours agree, they have had issues at this same location. I'm thinking of starting a CanadianTireSucks.com web page because as the manager told me that he didn't care, I didn't scare him, he was not afraid of me. I told him this was not over, no way.
I was not then or now looking for a confrontation, physical or otherwise but I did say this was not over.....

Chris R.: Doing something right!!! Are you kidding. How does getting charged 99.00 to do diagnosis on a one year old " Eliminator Battery" which states clearly on signage in store and on the battery itself has a nine year overall warranty and a Three year no charge replacement guarantee. How is that doing it right. And they don't even provide paper work for the diagnostics only a bill with the 99.00 charge, 25.00 to remove and install the new battery and we also had to pay over 100.00 in towing fees. Then the store owner/manager has the gall to completely insult and ridicule us for bringing up a complaint. You haven't a clue Melissa about dispute resolution

Another:


Brian F.: I can't access Canadian Tire's "tellcdntire" website without a store access code (which is impossible to find), so I thought I'd start off the discussion here. On June 30th I purchased a seadoo battery from Canadian Tire. The battery turned out to be faulty (as confirmed at a CT store). In trying to find a replacement battery, I’ve encountered the worst customer service experience. Today was the 5th and final store visit in an attempt to find a replacement battery. The first store that I visited, I was told they didn’t have a replacement in stock but they were able to send me to another store that did (their inventory search “confirmed” a unit at another store location). However, upon visiting the second store, I was told they didn’t have it in stock. They too looked at store inventory and were able to provide me with yet another store location that would have the replacement…..this went on 5 times. Today I visited your Owen Sound store (after the store in Wasaga Beach confirmed inventory) my 5th store visit!!! Guess what….Owen Sound could not find the 1 battery that was noted in store inventory. At this point, after wasting a lot of time and energy on this search, all I wanted was a refund. Afterall, my receipt clearly states that a refund would be given within 90 days of return. The Owen Sound "service manager" (in this case the term is an oxymoron) didn’t show any interest in proceeding with a refund – even though I repeatedly requested one. In fact, he insisted on searching for yet another store that could provide inventory!!!!! I don’t live in Owen Sound or anywhere near Owen Sound – I happened to be passing through and had hoped they could provide the part. He expected me to wait around while they found the part elsewhere and would have it delivered to the store. After 45 minutes passed at this store I hunted down the service manager to again request a refund. He told me I'd have to wait as he was dealing with another customer, and that only he could authorize a refund. Somebody needs to remind Canadian Tire that their receipt clearly states 90 DAY RETURN POLICY WITH RECEIPT. I'm owed about 300 kms in travel and several hours of my life back. As a do-it-yourselfer with a house, cottage, bikes, boats and cars, I should be CT's most prized possession. If I operated my business like this, I'd be out of business 15 years ago. Thanks to Canadian Tire today for opening my eyes to other retailer options.

Brian F.: So far I've had 2 automated responses stating that they will follow-up. I find it interesting that companies like Honda have an area on their facebook page where you can post messages, whereas with Canadian Tire you can only post something by commenting on a thread that already exists. It's obvious that other people needing a forum for venting their lack of satisfaction have come to the same conclusion. It's shameful for a company to send you to 5 different locations to replace a product that you originally bought from them only to be ignored and mistreated when requesting a simple refund. I go out of my way to buy Canadian but this is an insult.

CT paid Facebook to spam Canadians, but mostly they are just getting heckled, LOL!

Here's a typical one:


Jerry F.: My fav story though is my neighbour who bought a battery there and it died within 7 days (I think to the day). The store told him it froze so there was nothing they could do. It had been about -2 the night before. He said he never had an issue with a battery freezing before, and the woman asked him if he out a BLANKET on his battery the night before. A blanket! That's rich. We live in Canada. He ended up returning it to another store for a full refund and bought one where... Walmart. He contacted the customer service email (as I did on the weeder) and was given the same poor customer service. Guys...even Home Hardware is easier to deal with than you. Have you seen Sears lately? They tightened up their returns policy a few years back too... Have you seen their recent financial results? Maybe a lesson to be learned there? Evolve or be Zellers... Up to you

Lucinda M.W.: Your customer service in the tire department in your Lethbridge south side store is terrible we were going to drive 50 miles to buy a set of tires but after being treated badly we will be going to Walmart

When the colder weather arrives, I'm sure we'll start seeing more stories like this one:


Jeremy S.: Dear Canadian Tire, I am writing this message to you to express my disappointment with your company as my experiences dealing with your auto services centre at the Vancouver (Cambie St location) has been nothing short of pathetic. I have had the unfortunate circumstances of having to deal with your auto centre for warranty repair work time after time. After having had reached my limit with what I could stand for, wasting my personal and work time, I took my Jeep to a closer and more reputable/qualified auto-mechanic shop, and had to have them service most of the unsatisfactory work you did in the first place (not withstanding the fact that I have spent thousands of dollars on repair work with your company). Having had put my negative experiences behind me, Canadian Tire has now come back to haunt me yet once again. Now, years later, the car battery that was sold to me by one of your "qualified" auto services representatives 3 years ago, actually sold me the WRONG one, and now also needs to be warrantied. The problem here is not the warranty on the battery, we all know batteries die, or cease to function with use.., but rather it's the fact that your staff does not actually know what they are doing and could not give even an inkling of care or customer service. Apparently, the battery I actually need is not currently available at the Cambie St location, and I now have to drive all the way out to Burnaby to pick up a replacement battery that I am not even sure you have in stock because no one over there will even pick up the damn phone! When I asked the Vancouver location if there was any possibility of having the battery transferred in from Burnaby, they said they can't and don't offer a courier service to pick it up and bring it to Vancouver for me. Matter of fact, the gentleman I spoke with said that he couldn't do that, as it would "personally" come out of his pocket. I work retail, and have been on the front line of customer service for 15 years. The company I work for trains us to handle situations like these. Most of the time it's a common sense thing, (If I sold you the wrong item, I will fix the problem at no extra cost or inconvenience to you). In fact, our company motto is "When in doubt, use common sense to figure it out." Well, its painfully obvious that the staff you hire and train, have no common sense, and could care less about being assistive or empathetic to a rather simple and easy customer service situation.

This story has its own thread at https://www.canadiantiresucks.net/g...t/947-horrible-customer-service.html#post9202


I have used CT for quite awhile but now have learned to despise them. Tried to return a defective battery today for a new one, was a 12 month free exchange but I was 1 month out. Battery would not accept a charge and my smart charger kept indicating it was a bad battery.

Used the battery maybe 5 times since purchase and always kept it fully charged while not in use. The Belleville store whereI purchased would not exchange for free, had to pay the warranty costs for a new one almost 60 after tax. They couldn't provide me with a fully charged replacement as well. The issue arose when they were bench testing the old batter and came to the conclusion that a cell was bad to which I replied" I already told you that" and was instantly cut off by "Sylvan" asking how was the battery kept while not in use.

He was dealing with another customer but had to begin arguing with me on why the cell went bad how it should be maintained etc, to which I replied "I don't want to argue" but he insisted on continuing the argument by replying " I should know how these things are built and how they last" etc. Again I replied I just want to exchange the battery and not argure, he kept going on and on like my sentence in front of his customer many others on how I'm an idiot and it's not coming from his paycheck?

I was dumbfounded, never been treated and berated before by an employee of a store where I spend hundreds of dollars. I'm wondering if it's worth calling the store manger or head office and complaining about this employees demeanor and attitude when it comes to dealing with current customers?

Would you complain ?? I almost want to let it go but he has me in a awful mood on how I was treated in that store. Thanks.

Brought a 2 year old battery in for replacement because of not taking a charge. Said they would put on charge for an hour and to come back. Came back an hour later and was told that the battery acid is black and the battery has been frozen. Hello!!! it's September!! They then said it has been frozen at one point. I then told them that it comes out of a corvette that has been parked in a heated garage during the winter months. Then they came out with another lame excuse that it must of been overcharged!! Saying it must be my vehicle!! I looked at her and said "your not going to replace this are you?" She said no, not when it's your car. I kinda lost it at that point but who can blame me. Funny, other patrons who heard me lose it, told me as I was storming out to bring it to another CT store. I then went home and tested my cars alternator output and it is at 14.1 volts where it's suppose to be. I will try another store and see what they say. Probably more lame excuses. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER THING FROM CT!!!

Thanks for sharing your story here, PissedCDN.

It will help to warn other Canadians of the perils of giving CT your business.

welcome pissed cdn,you are not alone here....and we will not delete your comments unlike certain facebook pages.....