Canadian Tire selling used items as new.

Motorcycle Mike

Motorcycle Mike

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I went to the Canadian Tire in Heartland to buy an Evolution Mitre Saw which was on sale with the sale ending today.
There was one on the shelf in the box and appeared unopened, so I took it.

When I got home I discovered that this was not a brand new saw – there was a large scuff on the handle, all of the accessories were strewn about the box and were no longer in their bags or wrapped of any kind. The Styrofoam packing material was broken. The manual was open… it was a mess. Likely someone returned it to the store and the store didn’t check the contents before putting it on the shelf.

No problem – I thought. Canadian Tire has a decent return policy (so I thought).

So I checked the stock of these at Heartland as I still wanted the saw, but they were out so I can’t exchange it there. The back of the receipt states that items purchased at Canadian Tire can be refunded or exchanged at any Canadian Tire, so I took this saw for replacement to the Dixie and Dundas Canadian Tire which indicated they had stock.

When I got to customer service, they said that I can only return a used or damaged item to the store it was purchased from. I argued and said I did not use this item or damage it – I bought a new item that was not new, even read the part on the receipt mentioned above, and even spoke to the manager of the store. They would not let me return the item there.

Now… I understand why they didn’t want to take it, as then they would likely have to submit a claim to corporate for a mistake that Heartland made – however, what about your corporate policy that is printed right on the back of the receipt as well as on the counter of the returns desk?

Anyway… I brought the used saw back to Heartland, then had to wait about 20 minutes to see the manager there and finally they refunded my money. They probably assumed that I opened this item then returned it in that condition – until I pointed out that I bought it less than 2 hours prior. Overall I wasted more than 2 hours of my time plus over 30km driven and ended up with nothing. Is there any good customer service anymore?

Canadian Tire selling used items as new.
 
Yeah, I had an issue returning an item once and found out its often up to the desecration of the store whether to accept returns. I now try and open items and check them before I leave the store. Its the only way to be safe from instances like you describe. Funny enough, its been a while since I bought a large price item from CT. I also never get the last item on the shelf, its usually the "returned" item...
 
Motorcycle Mike said:
I went to the Canadian Tire in Heartland to buy an Evolution Mitre Saw which was on sale with the sale ending today.
There was one on the shelf in the box and appeared unopened, so I took it.

When I got home I discovered that this was not a brand new saw – there was a large scuff on the handle, all of the accessories were strewn about the box and were no longer in their bags or wrapped of any kind. The Styrofoam packing material was broken. The manual was open… it was a mess. Likely someone returned it to the store and the store didn’t check the contents before putting it on the shelf.

No problem – I thought. Canadian Tire has a decent return policy (so I thought).

So I checked the stock of these at Heartland as I still wanted the saw, but they were out so I can’t exchange it there. The back of the receipt states that items purchased at Canadian Tire can be refunded or exchanged at any Canadian Tire, so I took this saw for replacement to the Dixie and Dundas Canadian Tire which indicated they had stock.

When I got to customer service, they said that I can only return a used or damaged item to the store it was purchased from. I argued and said I did not use this item or damage it – I bought a new item that was not new, even read the part on the receipt mentioned above, and even spoke to the manager of the store. They would not let me return the item there.

Now… I understand why they didn’t want to take it, as then they would likely have to submit a claim to corporate for a mistake that Heartland made – however, what about your corporate policy that is printed right on the back of the receipt as well as on the counter of the returns desk?

Anyway… I brought the used saw back to Heartland, then had to wait about 20 minutes to see the manager there and finally they refunded my money. They probably assumed that I opened this item then returned it in that condition – until I pointed out that I bought it less than 2 hours prior. Overall I wasted more than 2 hours of my time plus over 30km driven and ended up with nothing. Is there any good customer service anymore?

Canadian Tire selling used items as new.
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Dear lord I hate when that happens.... (I have had it happen at Canadian Tire before...) They try to make you feel like it's your fault.... ughh.
 
I've had several similar cases at Home Depot, a hot water tank, a weed eater were used and obviously never checked before they went back on the shelf.

I can see the store's problem. They sell you a tool for $100.00 and when you return it they in essence buy it back from you for $100.00. They could have bought a "New in box" one from their supplier for a fraction of that. Add to that the returned one is worth less.

However that's the store's problem. I want new stuff not someone's rejects. I'm sure people buy and return rather than rent but if the stores want to kiss butt then they have to figure out how to handle the flak.

A stupid one. I wanted an insert for my Moen tap and Lowes had them on the shelf. I picked one up and noticed someone had switched their old one for the new one. THEY'RE FREE. You don't have to steal free stuff.
 
Mike, I don't know if you want to waste more time, but I would fire off an email to their corporate customer service. As one of the last major Canadian retailers still around, they should have absolutely honoured their corporate policy. You are a much nicer man than I. I would not have left. I'm not sure if you are on Twitter, but I have found that retailers respond quickly and positively when approached on social media.
 
I've emailed the head office and if I don't hear anything I'll likely call.

I still want that particular saw, and that sale ends today. I also would have gotten a $25 gift card if I bought today, but alas I'm at work and missed it because so much of my time was wasted earlier.

I could have bought one at the Dundas location and then returned the first one, but I left that store quite ****** off and wasn't going to spend any money there. I should have called hq right there in retrospect.

I have no idea how twitter works, do I just make an account and complain to Canadian Tire's twitter account? Or do I need a broad network that I winge to?
 
Usually with Twitter, having a decent amount of money spending followers gets corporate attention quicker. I have a network of mom and dad bloggers. I will post something and see if they get back to me, if that's alright with you. Something along the lines of "disgusted by ct's response to a friend's return request and a refusal by them to honour their corporate policy."
 
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Sure, go ahead. If anyone from CT contacts you pm me for my contact info. Cheers.
 
Gotcha.
 
So why not give CT head office the opportunity to respond to the OP before bringing this to twitter?

Mistakes happen and the store didn't handle it well at all, these are Dealer stores and the Home office at least would deserve a couple of days to respond no?
Joe Bass said:
Usually with Twitter, having a decent amount of money spending followers gets corporate attention quicker. I have a network of mom and dad bloggers. I will post something and see if they get back to me, if that's alright with you. Something along the lines of "disgusted by ct's response to a friend's return request and a refusal by them to honour their corporate policy."
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not in the age of instant everything. lol

Really this sort of stuff has been happening for ages. You'd think retailers would have an idea by now....
 
ZX600 said:
So why not give CT head office the opportunity to respond to the OP before bringing this to twitter?

Mistakes happen and the store didn't handle it well at all, these are Dealer stores and the Home office at least would deserve a couple of days to respond no?
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I think the more pressure the better. When or if I get a response, I'll update this thread to state what happened. I also forwarded this thread and the one I made at redflagdeals to the CT email complaint system.

Usually the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If I just shut up, bought the new saw and returned the first one then no one would know this manager isn't following corporate policy.

If he had just followed the company policy, all would have been okay and no public commentary would have been made.
 
ZX600 said:
So why not give CT head office the opportunity to respond to the OP before bringing this to twitter?

Mistakes happen and the store didn't handle it well at all, these are Dealer stores and the Home office at least would deserve a couple of days to respond no?
Click to expand...


I will agree on mistakes happening, but a complete disregard for following a company policy is not a mistake. Also, I have previously sent out emails and reached out to companies through Twitter, and have found that they respond almost immediately to social media, as opposed to days through email. I'm not impatient, but I find it is best to get these types of things resolved quickly. Like you and I have, iirc, agreed before, we like to spend our $ locally, and this type of lack of customer service, is part of what is driving people to eCommerce. At the end of the day, all Mike wants is the product he paid for, in new condition, and the promotion that was being offered at time of purchase. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
Riceburner said:
I would have bought the new one and returned the used one after.
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Buying the new one there gives that store the sale. I understand not wanting to do that.
 
Update: @CanadianTire has responded to me via Twitter.
 
If they offer ice cream as compensation, I'm in. :D
 
I think stores should be tighter on returns. Too many people buy, use, then return for no valid reason--I'll admit hypocrisy as I've been guilty of this before. It's an abuse of a retailer's good faith return policy. Sure, it's ultimately the retailer's responsibility to manage the profitability of their policies. But a good faith gesture requires all parties to honour it.

It's good you got your money back but it's also good that it was difficult to get it back. That's the way it should be and it's just too bad they aren't more consistently diligent in that regard. It's a crappy situation to try to prove you didn't use the item but the fact is it wouldn't have happened if the 1st return hadn't been accepted in the first place.
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