Canadian Tire Auto, Weston Road and 401
I would like to share a recent experience with a Canadian Tire store in Toronto.
This is the letter I wrote to their Corporate Office:
I’m writing this letter to share a recent experience at a Canadian Tire Auto service located at Weston Road and 401 (#119).
I brought my Chrysler 300C to the above store in the morning of Saturday Nov. 14 to have my my winter tires installed. The service was completed around 1PM. As I drove off the lot entering the ramp to the 401 eastbound, I noticed a loud popping or bumping noise coming from the wheels and felt the steering wheel shake. The noise and shaking immediately grew louder and more frequent as I continue to drive.
This caused a momentary panic in me since I do not know what is wrong with the vehicle or what’s causing the noise. I feared that the wheels might come off or break. The fact that I was driving on the highway when this occurred exacerbated my fears.
After slowly and safely exiting on the first available exit I parked the car and checked the wheels. I didn’t see anything wrong but decided to attempt to make my way back to Canadian Tire. I slowly drove (20-30km/h) approximately 1 km until the noise and shaking grew so loud that I decided to park the car on the side of the road and not go any further.
I contacted the store and spoke to the service manager Shane explaining what had just transpired. He instructed me to bring the car back to the store so they can inspect it. I had to arrange for a tow since Canadian Tire would not assist in bringing my car back to the store in any way.
As I waited for the tow truck to arrive (3 hrs) I decided to remove the center caps on the wheels in trying to determine what could be wrong. To my horror, I discovered that 3 of the 5 lugs were completely loose on the front passenger wheel! I proceeded to check the rear passenger wheel and sure enough 3 lugs were also loose. The driver side wheel had 2 lugs loose while the rear driver side had 3 lugs loose.
If it weren’t for the center caps, all of the loose lugs would’ve spilled on the road. This is when the realization occurred to me that I was driving on the highway with 4 wheels that were not securely fastened! I called the store again and angrily spoke to the store manager Tim to inform him of my shocking discovery. I was furious but understand that anyone in my position had every right to be. Again, I was told to bring my car back to the store to be inspected and nothing more.
Once my car was finally towed back to the store, I had Shane, Tim and Jason (the person who installed the tires) see for themselves the dangerous condition the wheels were in. I realize that this is unintentional and that a faulty equipment may be to blame. However, it is the staff who has to ensure that all equipment are functioning safely and within acceptable operating standards.
They re-tightened the wheels and reimbursed me for the tow and service. However, I wasn’t convinced that they were aware of the gravity and seriousness of their negligence. My safety was put at risk and my life in danger by the callous and irresponsible act. The could’ve easily had a tragic ending. Just imagine a family with children driving on the highway after visiting a Canadian Tire store to install winter tires and all 4 wheels broke off!
I’ve never had a frightening experience as this in my life and I sincerely hope that this is a one time only event. I’ve heard of other horror stories about Canadian Tire but never thought that I would personally experience one. This has definitely shaken the trust and confidence I had in Canadian Tire as a whole and at this moment has no plans to ever visit a Canadian Tire store again…ever!
Please be sure that I will be sharing this horrifying experience to all of my family and friends including any outlet available to me.
I received a phone call from head office offering their sincerest apology and that they will be forwarding my complaint to the owner of the store who did eventually contact me. He also gave his sincerest apologies regarding my awful experience and that he will convey this to the entire staff as an example of ‘what not to do’ in terms of customer service.
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.
December 24th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
It appears that this is corporate policy at Canadian Tire. We recently had an appointment for installation of a remote starter at the store in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. Afer driving in from the country to make the 8 am appointment, we waited TEN HOURS before forcing them to return our car, under threats of lawyer, police, etc. We were lied to, not told that the technician didn’t show up for work that day, not told anything, and stalled. We contacted corporate customer relations, all we got was “Sorry.”
February 10th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I have several horror stories to tell about Canadian Tire in Richmond Hill. I am not sure what has gone wrong with their customer service but there is no “service” at Canadian Tire. Their overall attitude towards their customers just sucks!
July 17th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Candian tire is sucks ?
they are drinking the blood of people.thats why they are growing like this? the staff are so rude and the charges are so high?
i visited one of the store in saskatoon , confederation drive to fix my car AC, they charge me 278$ and after that told me that their is nothing wrong in AC , their is electric wiring problem ,and it will take 7-8 hrs to fix it and cost you probably 1200 $…..
which is totally wastage of time and money?
they are more focused in earning money and customer service is bullshit.
canadian tire sucks, this is my request to all of the readers please bycoute the canadian tire?please they the rip off
November 25th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
My wife did bring our car in a CT in montreal for a tire change… After the change, they did pretend that our car battery was almost dead and that it would probably be impossible for her to get back home with such a battery !
She did not believe the CT guy, since that guy has told the same story to three others customers while she was waiting… She did come back home without problems and, few hours later, we went to see a mechanic we know and guess what ? HE DID CHECK AND TOLD US OUR BATTERY WAS OK !!!
March 2nd, 2011 at 9:20 pm
i hate CT with all my heart…
March 4th, 2011 at 12:00 am
On January 17, 2011 I went to Canadian Tire CTAS #126, G.C. Loh Mechandising Ltd. at the Centerpoint Mall on 6310 Yonge Street to have the clutch replaced on my 2003 Toyota Matrix. It had costed me $1,218.47 ($140.18 HST, $342.37 for parts and a whopping $735.92 for 8 hours labour at $92 per hour!). Invoice 549446.
More on this rip-off story as you read on.
As I turned on the engine and drove out of the repair shop, still feeling hurt and disbelieved, I noticed that the front airbag alarm light was on and the horn was not working. Such failure is normally caused by a damage clock spring or spiral cable that controls the horn and airbag detonator. It is located on the drive column under the steering wheel. Since the airbag and horn were fine (I always check for instrument warning lights after turning on the engine) before I handed over the key to Canadian Tire, it must have been broken at the time when they moved the car, drove it to test the clutch, moved the car around later and left it on the parking lot for the evening for the part to arrive the next day, or while the care was tested after the clutch was installed. I knew Canadian Tire needed not take the steering wheel out for the clutch work. However, any heavy poundings on the horn or excessive force on the steering wheel by them before, during and after the repair, could have done the damage on the clock spring. I spoke to the manager whose name is “Sugi”. He refused to admit any possibility of his staff causing the damage.
So I asked for a quotation. Sugi’s quote was $460.00 for the clock spring (genuine Toyota part) and $185.00 for two hours of labour. That would be $728.85 with HST.
I took the car back without having the clock spring replaced because I did not believe I could trust them after this.
I did some Internet search on the average time needed to replace the clutch, prices for a clock spring and how to replace it. First, I noticed the average time to do a clutch replacement is 4 to 6 hours, and never more than 6 hours. Canadian Tire charged me 8 hours. Secondly, I found Page Toyota, Inc, a Toyota parts authorized dealer in US (State Reg # F104726) and had the part shipped to Canada for $239.52 US including shipping (Invoice No 530411). The total cost for the part was less than $250 including HST. Either Toronto’s Toyota parts dealer charges 92% more than its US counterpart, or the quote from Canadian Tire includes a mark up. I am not sure who is ripping its customer off on parts.
The part arrived in 10 days. Then I took it to a local repair shop. The shop owner/mechanic is “Bo”. His shop is on 12 LePage Ct, Unit 3A, North York, ON M3J 1Z9 (tel 416-849-7976). This was the first time I met Bo, who was recently recommended to me by a friend of mine. I did not tell him how I found him because I wanted to know how he treats his new customer. It took him less than 40 minutes to replace the clock spring while I was standing and watching;20 minutes to locate the screws on the steering column because it was his first time working on a Matrix clock spring replacement. He charged me $50 for one hour labour (including HST) insisting that he couldn’t charge more for this simple task. That is 4 times less that what Canadian Tire will charge for the same job. That was a $300.00 repair including HST, as opposed to $728.85 at Canadian Tire!
Don’t go to Canadian Tire unless you plan to spend anything less than a $29.99 oil change!
July 5th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Let me begin by saying I like Canadian Tire and I do most of my hardware shopping at their stores. The only real problem I’ve had is with their automotive service department.
A couple of years ago, I was on my way to Canadian Tire to buy tires when the brake warning light on my dash board lit up. When I got to Canadian Tire, I had their service department check my brakes and give me a repair estimate. They quoted me more than $1300 to fix the problem, which included replacing brake parts on all four wheels. What are the chances of the individual brake parts on all four wheels failing at the same time? I’m betting it’s never happened in the history of automobile manufacturing. But I’m sure there must have been a perfectly reasonable explanation for the quote, probably something to do with safety and/or higher overhead costs.
To make a long story short, I bought my tires, kept my mouth shut and left the store. The next day I had a private mechanic diagnose the brake problem and repair the brake on one rear wheel, and it cost me $250. Problem solved. Now grab your barf bags! I asked the mechanic if I needed any additional work done on the other three brakes and he said I didn’t, they were fine.
A couple of years later I had a private mechanic replace the front brake pads and rotors.
Are you sick yet?
August 21st, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Never use Canadian Tire Auto Service, Division Street at Hwy 401 in Kingston, ON. They do not stand behind their products. and Motomaster Eliminator batteries fail repeatedly. In December 2010, CT put a new Eliminator battery in my Ford F150. It repeatedly lost its charge. I was left stranded in the cold several times. Told the wait would be three hours for their “towing service” on several occasions; I finally called CAA instead and exhausted our years towing due to this. In January 2011, CT finally replaced the battery (bad cell). This “new” battery kept dying and leaving me stranded. This week, CAA towed my F150 to a highly recommended private garage. Diagnosed “bad cell” defective battery (second one in nine months!). Went to CT Auto today. Spent 1.5 hours trying to get a store credit or my money refunded. They refused even though their tester read “bad cell, defective battery”… They said they could me another battery (the third one in nine months) and I could sell it on ebay!!! I am now contacting their Corporate Head Office. I will never use a CT Auto Service again!
October 13th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
About 5 years ago, I had routers, brakes, calipers replaced at CTC in Barrie. It cost me over $650 to have this done. About 11 months later, driving through Toronto, I noticed squeaking brakes and used them sparingly because of the noise. About six hours later, on my way back to Barrie, the brakes were metal on metal and not much left for braking. I took the car to the nearest garage where I lived and they looked at it. Within a short time of the car being lifted and tires removed, I was told I needed new calipers, routers and brakes. I told the mechanic that was not possible because I had those done less than a year. I was taken to the car and shown the original calipers and routers that were so rusted and corroded, there was no way they were ever touched. I found the CTC receipt in the car (I keep everything relating to my car) and took it to CTC where they charged me over $650. They said there was nothing they could do but would replace them. I ended up contacting Corp office and told that I had to send them the original receipt so they could investigate the complaint. I told them they were not getting the original receipt but were welcome to a copy of it. They insisted on the original and told them I would be happy to discuss the issue in court – there was no way I was giving them the only proof I had. I will never take anything to CTC to be fixed unless it’s a simple e-test. I can’t believe such a large company encourages stealing from customers not to mention putting lives in danger.
March 21st, 2012 at 3:49 am
Bad experience for me too. My wife went to rotate the tires at Canadian Valleyfield QC. Tires installed 3 months ago by same store. She walked out the store with 980$ bill because the brakes where totally worn out according the mec. I was suspicious and asked to have the old parts. Showed the parts to 2 different garage: Both told me that the parts where still good for a bit, not requiring immediate attention. So in 3 months (about 1500 miles) my brakes went from unnoticed to complete waste? Complained to the store, complained to HQ without success. Lesson learned for us.
April 25th, 2012 at 2:26 pm
I recently purchased an auto club card at canadian tire (gold), i’ve had excellent service with their club in the past.
\this time beforeI could activate my card ,somehow I lost it between the home & the store.
I went back to the store where they told me that I would need to phone roadside assistance ,give them my receipt # & they would look after me. I stated at that time there was no way roadsie operator would be able to help me without another replacement card in hand.They insisted that wasn’t the case. I phoned ,& as i’d stated they couldnt help me in any way without another card # to give them , obviously they couldn’t.
I went back to this time speak with a manager, who said to leave it with him and he’d get back to me after looking into it.Apparently after they scan the autoclub card there is nothing which specifies the actual card you purchased in any way? It seems difficult for me to believe it works like this ,but it really doea ,(only at c.t ) . I phoned over the next 2 weeks sevaral times to find out teh manager who was helping me was currently on vacation. Finally a month later I received another refunded replacement card.I wondered what I was supposed to do if my car broke down throughout this waiting process? Their auto club service is far superior on paper to the caa in terms of prices and services offered, like night /day actually , I have been extremely satisfied with the piece of mind a mere 100$ brings me yearly.
November 2nd, 2012 at 8:03 pm
THIS IS THE WORST CANADIAN TIRE I’VE BEEN TO EVER!!! 401 and Weston I will never come back ever. They are rude! Because they are racist! CALL HEAD OFFICE NOW!
February 6th, 2013 at 10:20 pm
Canadian RIPPED me off.!! i bought a
80 piece socket set from them when i opened it
up there were 8 socket pieces missing from it when
i went back and explained that there were missing
pieces they said they could not give me my money back
since it had been opened and used for 2 weeks what.!!
what do i do.? Help!!!