Canadian Tire 110% policy applies to cash purchase amount only???

[brunes]

So, yesterday I executed a PM for a Cuisinart Griddler at CT - $119.99 at FS right now, CT has it for $149.99. I had a $50 GC from Canadian Tire so I wanted to get it there.

So I do the PM, and the cashier says "don't forget, you also get 10% of the lower price in Canadian Tire money for price matching". Then I hand her the $50 GC, and say the balance I will pay with my CC.

She then rings it all through, but then says "oh by the way - just so you know you only get your 110% back on the amount you paid with the gift card, we can't give Canadian Tire money back on credit card purchases". She then hands me back only 5.00 in Canadian Tire money (10% of $50) instead of $12.

Now, I have a few problems with this:

1) Assuming this is the correct policy, she should have told me this BEFORE she rang stuff through with my CC. If I would have known this in advance I would have paid the balance with debit instead.

2) It doesn't say anywhere on their signage in the store that you have to pay with cash to get the 10% guarantee. I can't find any online policy.

Does anyone work for CT and can shed some light on this? At the time I just shrugged it off and didn't say anything, but I have gotten more irritated over time.

[3weddings]

Last I recall is that you only earn CT money of 'cash' transactions, so she was not out of line in only giving you the $5

However, she should have told you this before you paid via CC, just to remind you.

[brunes]

Last I recall is that you only earn CT money of 'cash' transactions, so she was not out of line in only giving you the $5

However, she should have told you this before you paid via CC, just to remind you.

I realize that is the standard Ct reward structure, but you would never expect that to apply to the 110% price match policy. The sign just says "... and we will give you 10% of the lower price in Canadian Tire money!" or something to that effect. Cash is not mentioned on it anywhere.

[Chookman]

I had this exact thing happen to me about 2 months ago. Be prepared for a huge hassle. I phoned head office and firstly, they misread the policy - trying to tell me that it was 100% of the difference. Secondly, they told me it's "not a policy", it's "best business practice" - meaning that each franchise isn't required to even offer the PM policy.

I finally got her to clarify that method of payment does NOT matter and a CC is allowable to receive the PM money.

When I pressed her to ask if she can call the store and REQUIRE them to rectify the situation, she wouldn't say she could do that. She just kept repeating over and over "If they have the PM policy, why wouldn't they?" I kept saying, "How should I know? That's why I'm calling you in the first place?"

I had to drive back to the store, talk to the manager, tell them that I was right according to head office and argue with them to actually phone head office. They had to then go through a lot of paperwork to hand over my $20 in CT money.

The real funny thing is that their system is so screwed up. Basically here's how the PM money is calculated.

Suppose I PM something for $200. The system determines that I should get $1 CT money because I spent $200. Because it's a PM, the system then multiplies the $1 by 10% of the $200 for a total of $20 PM money. They've actually ripped off the consumer who pays cash by $1.

The way it should work is that the customer who pays cash should get $1 for paying $200 cash and then get 10%=$200 in PM money for a total of $21. However, the system only doles out $20. Try explaining this to the CT customer service. If you're lucky enough to get through the explanation, you'll get a blank look followed by "That's the way the register does it." More than likely, you'll get cut off prior to finishing your explanation because the math has confused them 15 seconds into your explanation.

There was more insanity I went through, such as getting a photocopy of the PM policy and head office refusing to allow me to read it over the phone to them etc.

Good luck. At least you know that the road has been travelled before and maybe if you call head office, they'll remember my same issue and it'll go smoother.

[molala]

I had this exact thing happen to me about 2 months ago. Be prepared for a huge hassle. I phoned head office and firstly, they misread the policy - trying to tell me that it was 100% of the difference. Secondly, they told me it's "not a policy", it's "best business practice" - meaning that each franchise isn't required to even offer the PM policy.

I finally got her to clarify that method of payment does NOT matter and a CC is allowable to receive the PM money.

When I pressed her to ask if she can call the store and REQUIRE them to rectify the situation, she wouldn't say she could do that. She just kept repeating over and over "If they have the PM policy, why wouldn't they?" I kept saying, "How should I know? That's why I'm calling you in the first place?"

I had to drive back to the store, talk to the manager, tell them that I was right according to head office and argue with them to actually phone head office. They had to then go through a lot of paperwork to hand over my $20 in CT money.

The real funny thing is that their system is so screwed up. Basically here's how the PM money is calculated.

Suppose I PM something for $200. The system determines that I should get $1 CT money because I spent $200. Because it's a PM, the system then multiplies the $1 by 10% of the $200 for a total of $20 PM money. They've actually ripped off the consumer who pays cash by $1.

The way it should work is that the customer who pays cash should get $1 for paying $200 cash and then get 10%=$200 in PM money for a total of $21. However, the system only doles out $20. Try explaining this to the CT customer service. If you're lucky enough to get through the explanation, you'll get a black look followed by "That's the way the register does it." More than likely, you'll get cut off prior to finishing your explanation because the math has confused them 15 seconds into your explanation.

There was more insanity I went through, such as getting a photocopy of the PM policy and head office refusing to allow me to read it over the phone to them etc.

Good luck. At least you know that the road has been travelled before and maybe if you call head office, they'll remember my same issue and it'll go smoother.

They always only give CT money for cash or debit transaction. They can't reward you with CC transaction because of the fee they have to pay for CC transaction.

[iamnotamerican.com]

They always only give CT money for cash or debit transaction. They can't reward you with CC transaction because of the fee they have to pay for CC transaction.

Getting CT money for a purchase is a completely separate issue to getting CT money based on their PM policy. Their policy says they will give the 10 % of the difference in CT money. It says nothing about the need to purchase using cash or debit.

[brunes]

I had this exact thing happen to me about 2 months ago. Be prepared for a huge hassle.

...

Wow. I could never put up with that much BS, I just wouldn't be patient enough for the sake of $10 or whatever.

kudos to you for pressing the issue though. Someone has to do this or else things will never get fixed.

[Chookman]

Wow. I could never put up with that much BS, I just wouldn't be patient enough for the sake of $10 or whatever.

kudos to you for pressing the issue though. Someone has to do this or else things will never get fixed.

Thanks. As you probably know, as you get into it and see more and more stupidity, it starts to get more and more personal and becomes less about the money and more about principles.

[Chookman]

They always only give CT money for cash or debit transaction. They can't reward you with CC transaction because of the fee they have to pay for CC transaction.

You must work there. You sound like one of the drones I ran into during this issue.

Even after reading (and quoting!) my post that stated that head office admitted that method of payment doesn't matter to receive PM money, you make this post.

[ES_Revenge]

They always only give CT money for cash or debit transaction. They can't reward you with CC transaction because of the fee they have to pay for CC transaction.

It used to be like that before, but in the last 10 years or so I've been getting CT money on CC purchases as well. I don't think it's as high a %age as if you pay cash/debit, but you still get it. The only time I don't get it on a CC purchase is when I use my CT Mastercard (which I don't even use anymore) which has the CT money going directly into the Mastercard account like a points balance.

[Cheap Cat]

Getting CT money for a purchase is a completely separate issue to getting CT money based on their PM policy. Their policy says they will give the 10 % of the difference in CT money. It says nothing about the need to purchase using cash or debit.

+1 You get 10% of the difference for the PM plus the regular CT money if you pay by cash.

Wow. I could never put up with that much BS, I just wouldn't be patient enough for the sake of $10 or whatever.

kudos to you for pressing the issue though. Someone has to do this or else things will never get fixed.

Good for you Chookman for being persistent but the fact is that we all need to do this when confronted with these situations. CT and other retailers use these policies to get customers to purchase from them and then don't live up to their policies. If only 1 in 10 complain, they still benefit more often than not.

Thanks. As you probably know, as you get into it and see more and more stupidity, it starts to get more and more personal and becomes less about the money and more about principles.

I agree, it is always about the principle and we can't let these companies get away with this crap. If we all complain each and every time this happens, retailers will have to follow their policies and we all benefit from less hassle in the future.