IAmKab

New member
So, I went to canadian tire a week or 2 ago and bought this bike: Ironhorse 26-in Jumpstart 2012 Full Suspension Bike | Canadian Tire


It was on sale for $199.99. Everything seemed alright on it so I paid for it and started heading back home(on the bike). I made it about 10 minutes away from the store and the pedal literally just fell right off, no "hardcore" riding or anything was done, just riding down the sidewalk.


I walk the bike back to the store in hopes to just get the same bike that would hopefully stay together, I get there and talk to customer service who tell me there is no bikes in the store that are built(I was there the first day of the sale, early. Really, 1 bike in the store?) and was told that I can either get my money back, or wait until their bicycle guy comes in on Monday to build a bike and try to fix mine. I tell her I'd like my money back and just come in on Monday and see if they have one. Well she gives me a return voucher anyway(I thought it was just something saying I got my money back for it). Got home and checked my bank account, no money back.

Oh well, I just wanted a bike anyway so I wait till Monday and the guy doesn't show up that day and hes in the next day. Tuesday I walk back to Canadian Tire after I had called in and was told he is there and the bike I wanted was in stock so he would build them, well when I get there the guy working in bicycles tells me they have none and are waiting to have more shipped in, guess I was lied to on the phone. Luckily though they did "fix" my bike and I took that one back.

All was fine on my way home, nothing seemed wrong. The next day I go on a bike ride and get 10 minutes away, again, from my house and the pedal falls off, again. Not only that but the back breaks on the bike were locking up because the cord was coming out of the holder thing.

So I try and take the thing back to Canadian Tire but I am told they "Don't do returns on bikes" even though my receipt was a fucking return receipt, not a normal one. And my options are to just keep the bike or have their "professionals" fix it. I obviously take the fix option after telling her its the bike and it is broken, they cant fix it, and have her reply "but they will fix it", having no clue what she is talking about.

There is now a review on the Canadian tire website for the bike saying the exact same problem I had, I told them this but they still didn't even care, some unprofessional looking manager even came up for about 30 seconds to say "nop, we dont do that."


Well, now I am home again with nothing to show for my 200$ and the bike is supposed to be "fixed" on Monday when the guy comes in. I expect the exact same problem to occur again and then be told the exact same bullshit by customer service when I return it.

I am honestly really surprised by this BS, these are 2 very serious problems on the bike that could have seriously injured or even killed me if I were going down a hill or near a busy road and wiped out, but they don't give 2 shits. I wonder if they would act the same if I had died from it.

This is the Canadian Tire in Brantford for anyone wondering.

Is this seriously legal even? How can they sell me a broken bike, fail to repair it and then basically tell me "too fucking bad"?


Pictures are attached.
 

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CT Challenger

New member
Hi:

Sorry to hear about your bicycle troubles. Sadly, your story is not ucommon, based on customer reports.

I suggest you contact your provincial Consumer’s Ministry. In Ontario, it’s the Ministry of Consumer Services at 1-877-665-0662.

In most provinces, there’s a Sale of Goods Act and a Consumer Protection Act that requires stores to sell you a product that does what it’s supposed to do, and give you a refund if it doesn’t work as advertised (like a bicycle that can’t be ridden for more than a few minutes).

That's right, they can't just sell you junk, then make you wait around while they maybe see if they can fix it.

If you are willing to settle for an exchange or a repair by the store, that’s up to you, but you are entitled to the refund, if that's what you want.

However, Canadian Tire stores try all the time to get out of their legal obligations to stand behind what they sell. They like to claim that their “return policy” applies, and they don’t have to give a refund (and sometimes not even an exchange). This is nonsense – the return policy is for cases where everything works fine, and you just changed your mind. In all other cases, the law applies, not their policy.

Stores will also try to say the only option allowed is to have it repaired, so you have to wait around. But you paid for a working product, so you are entitled to one. And, if you no longer trust their ability to do repairs, or their willingness to follow the rules, you would be wise to take the money and shop elsewhere.

Unfortunately, you may have to actually file a lawsuit to get any compensation from them, which can cost half of what the bike was worth. Maybe you’ll be lucky, and they’ll cave if you tell them that you will sue, and with the Ministry helping you.

For more details on the laws and the Crappy Policies, see these threads:

https://www.canadiantiresucks.net/general-canadian-tire-complaints-chat/707-sale-goods-act.html

https://www.canadiantiresucks.net/g...pair-only-warranty-no-refund-no-exchange.html

Crappy Tire is notorious for buying low-quality bicycles, incorrectly assembling them, and then being slow to provide shoddy repairs.

Best to steer clear of these Crappy Stores, for bicycle and for anything else that can have any kind of malfunction.

In fact, why give them any money at all, if this is how they conduct business?
 

CT_MANAGER

New member
I am very sorry to hear what happened with your bicycle. I don't agree with Canadian Tire's policy on bicycles and many of the return policies. Looking at the pictures I tried to see what would cause the pedal to come loose. I repaired bicycles in my day and can say that there is likely one of two reasons for the pedal to come off:

1. Cross threaded (Can't tell by the pic, but are the threads striped?)
2. The pedal arm was threaded with the WRONG threading. Pedals are threaded backwards just like a saw blade on a circular saw. If it were not, then it would come loose as you pedal forward. Now for it come loose in such a short amount of time, it almost appears perhaps the threads are wrong and rather than keeping TIGHT when you pedal, the clockwise motion of cranking is loosening the pedal.

Also. what does it say on the RIGHT pedal. Look at the end of the axle. Do you see "R" or "L"?
 

IAmKab

New member
They were stripped, I am not sure about the R or L now as I no longer have the bike. All I know is I am not the only one who had the problem with that exact model so I am thinking it was a manufacturer problem.

The CT manager let me get store credit for it which was good enough for me, after all the shit their customer service gives you and hes just like "oh yeah sure".

Thanks for the reply's you 2.
 

CTH8R

New member
Yes, it´s always very, very important for consumers to know exactly how they are being ripped off and screwed around.

Maybe they are having to jump through hoops to get a refund for a defective product.

Or maybe they are being given the run around for an item that was assembled incorrectly by the store.

Yes, yes, these are all very, very important details. At least, they are according to Mr. CT Mangler.

But the lesson is the same no matter why, exactly, Crappy Tire is treating its customers so badly.

And the lesson is this - just don´t buy anything there at all!
 

mspolarbear

New member
Sold me a defective portable air conditioner. I paid over $600.00 for this piece of crap and it lasted barely 2 weeks. All canadian tire did was take my money and show me the door. I hate, hate, hate this store and i will never ever shop their again and people if you are smart you won't either.
 

CTH8R

New member
Here are lots more warnings about the crappy bicycles Canadian Tires sells, and the fact that they are non-returnable:


https://www.canadiantiresucks.net/g...rn-once-assembled-wont-stand-behind-them.html


One of the Crappy People wrote a story claiming they actually offered a lady an exchange for an upgraded bicycle, like that was some kind of special, once-in-a-lifetime deal or something.

You've been warned! Help get the word out: "Canadian Tire Sucks at Bicycles!".
 

jchauhan

New member
Same thing here. I bought a bike took it home. Rode it for the 2nd time and the chain broke. I went to get it repaired. I got
The bike back and noticed the pedal was loose. I took it back once again. I got it back again and the pedel was loose again! I did this 2 more times. Problem still persists. I'm thinking of calling head office now . Staff is horrible
 

1wildhorse

New member
i can save you the trouble.believe me youll be lucky to get anywhere with head office.as others have pointed out,there are LAWS governing faulty goods that supercede any so called policy,and under the sale of goods act,not only are you entitled to a refund on faulty goods,but also any expenses arising from the faulty product,including costs of filing,gas money(i believe 50 c a kilometer is the norm),plus any accomodation/food etc if necessary.also any expenses arising from loss of earnings for example attending court can also be taken into consideration.it may seem like a bit of a hassle,but if more and more of us take this route,then we will show this crappy company that we will not take their bullshit customer service,there are laws out there protecting the consumer,and like it or not,the crappy place has to abide by them or face the consequences.
 

Tel

New member
i can save you the trouble.believe me youll be lucky to get anywhere with head office.as others have pointed out,there are LAWS governing faulty goods that supercede any so called policy,and under the sale of goods act,not only are you entitled to a refund on faulty goods,but also any expenses arising from the faulty product,including costs of filing,gas money(i believe 50 c a kilometer is the norm),plus any accomodation/food etc if necessary.also any expenses arising from loss of earnings for example attending court can also be taken into consideration.it may seem like a bit of a hassle,but if more and more of us take this route,then we will show this crappy company that we will not take their bullshit customer service,there are laws out there protecting the consumer,and like it or not,the crappy place has to abide by them or face the consequences.

I had a similar experience with a bike I purchased a few years ago. When I got home and took a closer look at my purchase I noticed that the rear axle was badly bent causing the wheel to bob up and down . I immediately took the unit back and was given the standard policy regarding bike returns. I asked to see the manager and then the owner. No luck. The best I could do was trade up to another model. Fortunately I have not had any further issues but I have become much more wary of Canadian Tire and upon closer inspection have found that their pricing policy is inflated so that most items on sale match regular prices elsewhere . They have since become my retailer of last resort.
 

Buddy_129

New member
I am very sorry to hear what happened with your bicycle. I don't agree with Canadian Tire's policy on bicycles and many of the return policies. Looking at the pictures I tried to see what would cause the pedal to come loose. I repaired bicycles in my day and can say that there is likely one of two reasons for the pedal to come off:

1. Cross threaded (Can't tell by the pic, but are the threads striped?)
2. The pedal arm was threaded with the WRONG threading. Pedals are threaded backwards just like a saw blade on a circular saw. If it were not, then it would come loose as you pedal forward. Now for it come loose in such a short amount of time, it almost appears perhaps the threads are wrong and rather than keeping TIGHT when you pedal, the clockwise motion of cranking is loosening the pedal.

Also. what does it say on the RIGHT pedal. Look at the end of the axle. Do you see "R" or "L"?



I find this very amusing that a CT Manager claims to disagree with the policy of his employer. I hope you would put more effort into trying to change your store policy than you did in the lame excuses you listed. Really, you believe there was a threading issue??? Here's my story.

I bought what seems to be the same bike from CT. I went for a 20 minute ride and my pedal came off as well! Upon checking the threads, they matched, however as it broke free from the arm, it ripped first three threads from the original pedal, so I could not reuse it. Yes CT Manager, my L&R pedals were on the proper sides. I returned to CT and started to get much the same run around as the others, so shut them up before they expended too much verbal diarrhea. I ended up buying a package of two replacement pedals (for ($12) and putting the new one on myself (properly).
Since then, I put about 20 km on the bike and today I have a new problem. It appears there may be a problem with the rear axel. Simply put, if the wheel turns, so does the chain sprockets and pedals!!! Its as though the assembly is seized? IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS HOW TO FIX THIS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
I have always been a CT supporter, but after reading the above posts and considering my experience with the pedal, I think I will follow suit and chant CT Sucks.
 
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