Canadian Tire Sucks at Auto Repairs - Unnecessary, over-priced, incompetent, incorrect and incomplete!

Jessica C.: Sorry to change the subject, but I can't post on here … you changed my windshield wipers. Of course due to the lack of snow, I was especially excited to start my trek to Fort McMurray on last night's fresh snowfall and slushy roads. With new wipers in tow, I drove around the city running errands before going up north, and was so pleased to discover the quality wipers installed on my truck were definitely put to the test.
What a great surprise to find one of the wipers fly off just when I was behind a huge truck with little visibility on the Whitemud. I'm sure the car behind me was just as ecstatic to receive one extra wiper blade to his windshield as well. I guess you really wanted to put my truck driving to the test with perfect driving conditions and no wiper blades. I also enjoyed the ease of removal of the remaining blade once I had a chance to pull over. I am a tiny girl and all I had to was touch the blade for it to come off. I guess the clips in those blades are meant for decorative measure, not usefulness.
Unfortunately, Jiffy Lube affixed blades that actually stuck. So I guess if I have to remove them I'll actually have to put some effort into it. Talk about making life difficult for me!
Once again, I do enjoy paying for decorative blades that also decorate the highways in our city. I suppose their shelf life is about 2 weeks, since that's all I had them for before they were donated to our city's landfill. Next time I want to put my urban driving to the ultimate test, I'll be sure to stop in to your store!

Sincerely,
Jessica

Well, I see things remain unresolved with Mark. This was plastered over most threads on CT's Facebook page:

Mark M.: http://www.pissedconsumer.com/reviews.../canadian-tire.html

William B.: Watch the automotive section if given a qoute should go somewhere else n possibly see if things r as they say n surprisingly you shall see cheaper and ur part may not even be broken

William B.: Canadian tire is a gd franchise but there upper gage location is a scam and full of scammers

Marko V.: Whatever u do don't get ur car services at any canadian tire's, they don't value customer's like they should, in mississauga, Mavis and dundas there is a sight in the auto dept that says" if u yell we call police" that's how bad there staff and service is there, I bought a car battery there , my alternator craped out , and they charged me 30$ to recharge it, jus to get home, wow, Mavis and dundas, you will never get my business agian. My grandfather shopped there, my father, and now myself, and I brought my son there, 4 generations if shoppers and that's how u get treated,,,,,

CT says, "Hockey is our game”


Brent D.: yes and ripping off Canadians too!!!! with car repairs Not so good of a reputation to be proud of

Marko V.: Whatever u do don't get ur car services at any canadian tire's, they don't value customer's like they should, in mississauga, Mavis and dundas there is a sight in the auto dept that says" if u yell we call police" that's how bad there staff and service is there, I bought a car battery there , my alternator craped out , and they charged me 30$ to recharge it, jus to get home, wow, Mavis and dundas, you will never get my business agian. My grandfather shopped there, my father, and now myself, and I brought my son there, 4 generations if shoppers and that's how u get treated,,,,,

Paul H.: Dear Canadian Tire,

I have been a loyal customer for over 40 years but I have now come to the conclusion that it may be time to shop elsewhere.

This past February, I took my truck to the mechanics at Canadian Tire located on Gibb Street in Oshawa. I explained to the service person that I suspected there was an issue with my rear transmission and described the noise I was hearing while driving my truck. The location kept my vehicle over night and contacted me the next day to explain that the issue was actually caused by my rear breaks. They gave me an estimate of $400 - 500 dollars to fix, and I okayed the work. The following day I picked up my truck. While driving off, I noticed that the noise was still there, so I went right back into the Canadian Tire. When I went back in and told them that the noise was still there, I was informed that they were aware that the noise was still there and I would need to bring it in the next day to have a Master Mechanic check it out. I then went out for a test drive with their Master Mechanic. His response was that they may never be able to figure out what was causing the noise. They then took my truck back into the bay to further investigate what my initial concern was. They then suggested it was a transmission issue (which again, I initially told them I suspected). They said they could take it apart but at this point I was already frustrated by the fact I had paid 500 dollars for a break job, which did not address my main concern and they let me leave with the assumption my main concern was resolved. Having already spent 500 dollars, I left and took my truck elsewhere to a mechanic that diagnosed the transmission issue after a 5 minute road test. I have to say that at that point, my faith in the abilities of the mechanics at Canadian Tire were tested, to say the least. Again, they had my truck for two days and could not diagnose this issue even with my explanation to them.

My next concern was that the mechanic who ultimately fixed my transmission suggested that the breaks were likely not the original issue. Of course I am aware that I have no way to prove this. However, I went back to Canadian Tire and asked to see the original breaks which they had removed. They could not produce them and I was told that I would need to go on the mechanics word.

Subsequently, I went back to the same Canadian Tire location last week to address a separate issue, now with my front breaks which were installed there less than two years ago. I was informed that the parts were still under warranty but that I would be responsible for the cost of any labour to replace the parts. I was given a quote of 450 to 500 dollars. My argument is that if the parts were in fact faulty and under warranty, why should I the customer, pay for labour to replace them? Their response was that this is the policy. I have parked my truck in my drive way and am looking for some assistance in resolving this issue. Overall my experiences with Canadian Tire in the past year have been frustrating to say the least. I welcome your input to resolve my concerns.

Signed one frustrated customer

Annd ... here's one that was deleted, accidentally/on-purpose, within hours of appearing on Crappy's Facebook page:


Victoria M.: A few weeks ago, my emergency brake cable snapped on my family van. My husband and I took it to Canadian Tire (Lower Sackville, NS) as it is very close and we didn’t want to drive too far with the emergency brake still on. They quoted us $250 to fix the emergency brake. Later that day, we received a call telling us that we needed to replace the rotors and brakes – now the price would be $900. When we picked the van up that evening, not only did the emergency brake not work, now the ABS light was on, the rear defrost and wipers didn’t work, the power locks were broken, the panel lights were all dead (except for the bright warnings for the emergency brake, ABS and engine) and the fan was stuck on high heat. We were told to bring it in the next day and they would fix it.

The next day we brought it back and we were told that they cleared their schedule to make sure they could fix our van. We were also told that on the previous day, the mechanic working on the van left the dome light on while trying to fix it and the battery died – they had to jump the van. We had to fix the spark plugs and wires so now our total would be up to $1300. We told them to proceed, although we were disappointed, I need this vehicle to transport my 2 little kids (1 & 3) to daycare and I wanted to make sure they were safe. When we picked up the car that evening, everything was still broken including the emergency brake we initially brought it in for. My husband spoke to the mechanic that was extremely rude and told him that he didn’t have time to really look at it (even though we were told they were clearing the schedule to fix it). Now we were told that we would have to take it to the Dodge dealership to get diagnostics done and they would take care of it. The manager, Kyle, said that he would cover it and likely the labor at Canadian Tire as well but he had to see what the total was at Dodge first because “if it is like $3,000 I might not be able to do that and the labor fees”. We asked him to book the appointment at Dodge but he said it would be better for us to do it but he has an account set up there and gave us his card to set it up.

So another day of being late for work and a third day of driving my kids to daycare in a vehicle that was unsafe, I dropped the van off at the Dodge Dealership on Bedford Highway. I was greeted by Cathy and she was a pleasure. I gave her Kyle’s card and explained the situation. She had a great deal of empathy and assured me they would help. After the diagnostic, they called Canadian Tire to let them know the charge and they disputed it and said they would not cover it because it wasn’t their fault. They covered the $250 diagnostic fee but left us with a $600 bill for Dodge to fix what was broken in their care. They claim it was a coincidence….hmmm. I will say that they refunded the inflated labor fees for the brakes only but we still had to pay for everything else

We have contacted Customer Service in Ontario and they contacted the store owner (Jeff Burrey?) and he said that he would not pay for it. My husband also spoke with Jeff and he wouldn’t even hear our side of the story, he just said they concluded that it wasn’t their fault. So now here we are. $600 may not be a lot to them, but it is taking food from my kids mouths. This $250 brake job turned into a nightmare and I will not let this go until they give us back our money.

I have been in the customer service industry for years and would never treat someone with such disrespect and dishonesty. I am not looking for a free ride, I am just looking for them to pay for what was broken under their care. Please help!

Maybe the CS folks can help with the e-brake situation? After all, they also answer questions for Motel 6 - they must be super knowledgable about automotive repair stop, right??


Brett M.: We've already been through all the "helpful customer service". It's no help

Shirley L.: Outraged! I book an appointment with the auto service for Sunday April 20th and the supervisor confirmed they were open and what happens? I show up and they're closed today! Why did they schedule me in and confirm they were open? Waste of my time

Kenny C.: Took my car into Canadian tire in Red Deer Alberta to see what was wrong. They charge me $170 just to hook it up to diagnostics to tell me it needed a speed and ABS sensors ($150 worth of parts). That seems like a bit much just to run some codes. When i took my car out of the shop it now has 2 or 3 more lights on and it hits 2500rpms at 40km/h. More troubles now than when i took it in. The guy there said will more happen after you took it out, i think not. If fact I’m pretty sure I know what they did. I will be taking my car next door to another shop and see what codes come up, Canadian Tire will not be doing any repair work on any of my cars or trucks again. How do you go from a ABS and traction control light to 5 lights and 2500rpm at 40km/h just by reading the codes off the computer. Also to charge $170 to get my car back in worst shape than when i took it in. PLEASE ADVISE!!!!!!!!!

Ernie M.: And their helpful response was to bring it back to the same 80+ year old mechanic/BBQ assembler at Lauzon & Tecumseh store so he can do more work on it! The front shocks were twisted so bad he cut a washer in half and shimmed the front disk caliper to stop rubbing on disk. Needless to say it wasn't obvious and I rode it for a month before the front pads burnt right up. My story is on the page above along with all the "helpful" emails.

Dawn M.: Herd I am done with Canadian Tire!!!! At the end of Feb '14, we went in and ordered a part for one of our vehicles. It wasn't anything major that needed to be ordered from a dealer or anything..... So, this part had to be paid for before they would order it and told us it would be in in about a week or so and they'd call when it arrived. 2 weeks pass, no call... We wait another week, I go in to check, the young person, in the department can't find anything on it, says "I'll check into it and give you a call"... Still waiting..... no call, another week passes, no call. March passes and we are now into April.... Hubby finally has had enough, goes in, with the receipt, "Oh ya, that's been here for a while..."!!! He brings the part out, (it's a dip-stick by the way) and it's the WRONG FLIPPING DIP-STICK!!!!
Needless to say.... Money was returned and business went elsewhere!!!!
The customer service at our particular location is NON-EXISTANT. It's appalling!!!
When you live in the country and the location you deal with is the only one for miles around.... You'd think they would teach their employees how to do customer service. Because regardless of location, if you treat your customers like crap, they WILL go elsewhere.

With a bonus partical boycott:


William H.: Went to CrappyTire 1 time for federal inspection (car from the US coming to Canada) called first they said it was free RIV pays for it, double checked they said I do not need to bring any cash. Got there, first inspector, failed me cause my "airbag sticker doesn't have french on it" it had 2 languages on it, pulled out my phone, goggled the one that was not english it was in FRENCH, showed them it was french. then they tried to fail me for no driving lights.. told them to put it in drive (OMG the lights turned themselves on) then they handed me a bill and told me if I didn't pay it they were keeping my car. The customer service sucks, the 2 people I talked to on the phone were a bunch of liars, the mechanics were idiots that didn't know a thing about the 2nd language of this country or how some cars work. NEVER GOING BACK.

This thread is soooo close to breaking into the "Top 10 Most-Read" list.

Maybe this will push it over the top ...



Lisa M.: Stop supporting these lying negligent crooks!! Their mechanics in Saskatoon at their Confederation Drive location, did work on our truck and their sloppy negligent untrained mechanics could've killed our family on the highway, and possibly anyone else that would've been travelling close enough behind us. Then their mechanics took everything apart to try to cover up their massive mistake, after they were told by my husband to LEAVE THE TRUCK ALONE until we came down to deal with it in person. They listen as good as they do mechanical work lol.

CTH8R said:

This thread is soooo close to breaking into the "Top 10 Most-Read" list.

Maybe this will push it over the top ...

Click to expand...

Wow that's quite the hefty little accomplishment you've achieved there. Congratulations. That and $2 will buy you a coffee at Tim Hortons.
Meanwhile over at Canadian Tire, our share price is rocking, sales and profits hit highs last quarter which simply means....more of your "fellow Canadians" are shopping Canadian Tire.

How's your little side hobby of "Taking down Canadian Tire brick by brick" going?

Automotive horror stories are officially in the Top Ten!

Here's another:


Florian P.: The most disrespectful, irresponsible, careless, unprofessional Manager I have ever dealt with. His name is Sogi he should not be on this job, for tho he does not care about the customers safety on the roads. if they fix ur car wrong they will blame another part on the car or the manager will try and blame you. So pathetic avoid going here, I repeat for your safety of ur family and children do not go here to get ur car fixed. This store is located 4630 Sheppard Ave E, Agincourt, ON, Canada

I suspect the popularity of this thread reflects the growing awareness among Canadians of just how big a risk they take, when people entrust their vehicles to the yahoos at Crappy Tire.

Hopefully word will continue to spread, and fewer people will fall victim to these incompetent scammers.

The Crappy People have finally admitted that their automotive service sucks, but only in the same breath as their Rob-Fordian claims that all problems are now in the past & should be forgotten.

Our collective thanks to those who've taken the time to warn others!

Sandra R.:Took my vehicle to Canadian Tire Lawrence Ave. W. Saturday afternoon because the tech at Mr. Lube told me the fuel line was leaking and they couldn't fix it. On Sunday they told us they didn't have the parts and it would take 2 weeks to come from the U.S. and it would cost approximately $1000+! FOR A FUEL LINE!!!!!


Sandra R.: Unless Canadian Tire would like to refund the $223.74 I paid to have my vehicle put back together and for the 'work' done there is no discussion necessary. I will never again set foot in Canadian Tire and will be sure to let everyone know what goes on in your auto shops. I will also post on yelp.com in case I don't reach enough people.

Ashley D. Risen Canadian tire is a joke. I know that this vehicle went to another shop the day it was picked up for a total cost of 450$ including tax for the repair and fixed the next day. How do you get off ripping off the little people. Even one of your associates suggested taking it elsewhere. I can guarantee that anyone I know will ever step in a Canadian Tire store again.