I’m here to tell you a little story – maybe more a word of caution but in either case, if you shop at Canadian Tire you may want to read this.
I have a tendency to over talk (or in this case would it be type?) so I will try to keep to the most important details of this story. Here we go..
Back in mid-November (I can’t be certain of the exact date), Ryan and I ventured off to 1 of our 2 local Canadian Tire stores in the spirit to do some Christmas shopping. While we were there, we noticed that the Lemax Christmas village collection pieces were all on sale. I’ve always wanted a Christmas village, so we made the decision to pick up a few houses and start our village, thinking we would add a new house or 2 every year – kind of like a tradition 🙂
We picked up a the Holiday Homecoming House, Barton’s Bookstore & the Hat Trick Hockey Shop (a Canadian Tire Exclusive) by Lemax. We brought them home and started to hook them up a little later that day. All that had to be done was the batteries put in the compartments. Ryan took the hockey shop and I took one of the other buildings and got to work. Mine all went together without issue but Ry complained that he was having a hard time getting the batteries in his. When he finally did, he started saying how hot the pack was getting and it wasn’t even turned on yet! I though he was nuts, I had mine turned on and working and it wasn’t even warm. But sure enough, I tried touching it and it was BURNING hot, like couldn’t even hold on to it. So we immediately opened it back up and low-and-behold, A SMALL FIRE had sparked in the battery pack – WOW!! All I can say is I am so thankful that it happened while we were sitting right there and not one night while we were sleeping or something!
I hopped in the truck and took it right back to Canadian Tire explaining what had happened. They offered me an exchange with no hesitation at all. Even though I was a little hesitant about these things now, we decided to go ahead and get another of the same. When we got it home it all worked fine, and it sat happily on our mantle for most of the holidays.
Then, when lighting up my village for the last time on New Year’s Eve, I noticed that the light in the Hockey Shop wasn’t working. It was only about half as bright as it should be, and it was flickering quite a bit. I turned off the pack, took it off the mantle and tried to play around with it a bit, thinking maybe something had come loose. Nope, something was wrong with the light.
I decided right then and there that I was going to take the house back to Canadian Tire again. Having 2 defective of the same item screams production error to me and thought they needed to know about it. Not to mention that these things aren’t cheap and we didn’t want to run the risk of forgetting about it until next year, setting it up and the whole thing goes up in flames. No thank you.
I admit, through no fault but my own, we didn’t get to Canadian Tire until just yesterday. And I didn’t have the receipt, well I couldn’t find the receipt, but I’ve NEVER had an issue before. Besides, I wasn’t looking for a refund just a store credit as has always been done in the past. Also, according to Canadian Tire’s Return Policy, if you don’t have a receipt, the store can go back 90 days for receipt look ups. What happened next was a TOTAL SURPRISE!
Ryan and I walked up to the Customer Service Counter and I explained the the cashier that the item was defective and that I would like to return it. We also explained that the first one had caught fire and that there seems to be a problem with this particular item. We were than informed that Canadian Tire does not accept returns on Christmas Decoration?!?! Since when?
There was no explanation, no apology and no attempt to satisfy a clearly disappointed customer. No one seemed to care that their products are dangerous and defective. In the end, we wound up just leaving the fire-hazard of a Christmas Decoration on the Customer Service Counter and walked out of the store.
I came home and did a little research. NO WHERE in the Canadian Tire Return Policy does it state that Christmas Decorations cannot be returned, refunded or exchanged. (see for yourself here) I was able to do it in November, so why not January? I wasn’t looking for an exchange (which I knew was impossible) or any sort of ridiculous compensation, just an in-store credit!
This whole scene really upset both Ryan and I myself. There are so many “what ifs” that could have changed the outcome of this story. Luckily, we are only out around $25 but it could have been so much worse.
To top it all off, Canadian Tire has made 2 very loyal shoppers quite upset, over $25! That and now we’ve told you, and word of mouth travels very fast!
I can’t say we won’t ever shop at Canadian Tire again, because we will, but you can bet I will look elsewhere to spend my money first. Maybe a store that values its customers a little more?
What are your thoughts? Have you ever had an issue like this with Canadian Tire or any other store? Please share with us on our Canadian Coupons | Free Samples Canada FB Page! We’d love to hear it!
