Shopping Discussion

Returns costing Canadians more than shop-lifting

  • Last Updated:
  • Feb 17th, 2018 1:41 pm
Deal Fanatic
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Mar 28, 2005
8978 posts
2579 upvotes
Cornwall, Ontario
I have never understood how such a massive company has such a God awful website.
Their app is decent but the web browser is just horrendous.
It functions perfectly fine on my system and I have used it quite a bit for orders and inventory checking.
The CTC website always works fine for me too - I don't understand why people have problems.
Must be your browser or OS

Anyway - I find the website very useful to check reviews for things I'm planning to buy.
CTC at least doesn't censor the reviews.

I have posted valid crtitical reviews about product they sell and the review showed up on the website unedited.
Deal Guru
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Jun 1, 2006
12700 posts
15951 upvotes
TrevorK wrote: LOL these Canadian Tire threads are always funny with people bashing them. They offer products of similar quality to all major retailers but there are always the bandwagon jumpers that like to criticize them. I'm not even sure all the "stories" are true that people post of them, or merely tales they have heard based on my experience.
Pretty well all retailers sell crappy stuff. I don't why people bash CT when retailers get their stuff from the same distributers and wholesalers who in turn get their stuff from China or some other 3rd world country. Walmart is no better. They sell crappy stuff too. Sometimes it is the same product but they just package with their own brand.
Have a nice day!


Deal Fanatic
Aug 3, 2014
6089 posts
4352 upvotes
LonesomeDove wrote: Pretty well all retailers sell crappy stuff. I don't why people bash CT when retailers get their stuff from the same distributers and wholesalers who in turn get their stuff from China or some other 3rd world country. Walmart is no better. They sell crappy stuff too. Sometimes it is the same product but they just package with their own brand.
Walmart accepts returns for basically anything they sell without any hassle.
Deal Expert
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Oct 5, 2008
18182 posts
14183 upvotes
Toronto
TrevorK wrote: It functions perfectly fine on my system and I have used it quite a bit for orders and inventory checking. While I think they miss the boat on not allowing online orders to be delivered to you, my experience with the website has been great. The stores follow up with your right away and I even had one call to see if the display model would be acceptable as that was the only one they had left.

The website allows you to easily browse stuff and see store stock levels. It even allows you to see the aisle that the item is in.
funny. every time i try the site the store locator doesn't work and i get an error message when i try to check stock at another store.
Deal Fanatic
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Mar 28, 2005
8978 posts
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Cornwall, Ontario
Swerny wrote: funny. every time i try the site the store locator doesn't work and i get an error message when i try to check stock at another store.
Maybe restart your browser or try a different one.

What exactly doesn't work with the store locator?

I just changed stores from my preferred one and it gave me a map and a list of the 10 closest stores.
I picked one and checked stock of a random item.
There was 0 stock, it gave me the option to check stock at other storesd and a list of stores came up showing the stock of that item at each one.

I couldn't get anything to fail.

That was with the latest version of Firefox on a Mac
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2001
18945 posts
10527 upvotes
Swerny wrote: funny. every time i try the site the store locator doesn't work and i get an error message when i try to check stock at another store.
It sounds like an error with your browser - that works perfectly fine for me right now.

You might want to restart the browser and see if you need to upgrade the version.
Deal Addict
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Mar 12, 2006
2501 posts
708 upvotes
Ancaster, ON
Oh really I beg to differ with that Canadian Tire exec. I shouldn't laugh at someone stealing from Canadian Tire, but I have had enough bad experiences with them that I will. I have to give this guy credit for thinking of this. I can't get out of Canadian Tire without feeling like a thief, they block off all the exit points and force you to climb over other people in checkout line to get out of the store, such a pain if go there to buy something they don't have it and I just want to leave.

https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story ... uum-thief/

Halton police are asking for the public’s help in identifying an alleged vacuum thief.

On Jan. 7, at around 11:27 a.m., a man entered the Canadian Tire, located at 1100 Kerr St., and selected a Dyson V8 vacuum.

The individual placed the vacuum on the other side of the barrier that separates the store’s entrance from the rest of the store.


Police allege he then waited for customers to come through the entrance at which point he entered the entrance area, grabbed the vacuum and left.

The vacuum is valued at around $600.

The suspect is described as white, in his 40s, five-foot-10, 180-pounds, balding with dark hair.

He wore a black jacket, black pants and white running shoes.

He left in a black Pontiac.
Deal Fanatic
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Oct 22, 2007
9280 posts
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London
JACKIE26 wrote: Oh really I beg to differ with that Canadian Tire exec. I shouldn't laugh at someone stealing from Canadian Tire, but I have had enough bad experiences with them that I will. I have to give this guy credit for thinking of this. I can't get out of Canadian Tire without feeling like a thief, they block off all the exit points and force you to climb over other people in checkout line to get out of the store, such a pain if go there to buy something they don't have it and I just want to leave.

https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story ... uum-thief/

Halton police are asking for the public’s help in identifying an alleged vacuum thief.

On Jan. 7, at around 11:27 a.m., a man entered the Canadian Tire, located at 1100 Kerr St., and selected a Dyson V8 vacuum.

The individual placed the vacuum on the other side of the barrier that separates the store’s entrance from the rest of the store.


Police allege he then waited for customers to come through the entrance at which point he entered the entrance area, grabbed the vacuum and left.

The vacuum is valued at around $600.

The suspect is described as white, in his 40s, five-foot-10, 180-pounds, balding with dark hair.

He wore a black jacket, black pants and white running shoes.

He left in a black Pontiac.
So I guess you could say...


he made a...


clean getaway?
Deal Guru
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Apr 4, 2001
11802 posts
620 upvotes
JACKIE26 wrote: Halton police are asking for the public’s help in identifying an alleged vacuum thief.
.
.
.
The vacuum is valued at around $600.
Obviously this guy didn't think it was valued at $600 :)
Deal Addict
Feb 22, 2016
4745 posts
4409 upvotes
mbg wrote: Obviously this guy didn't think it was valued at $600 :)
Or was it "regular price" $600 but the customer didn't want to wait for the bogus 80% off sale....
Jr. Member
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Sep 12, 2017
116 posts
20 upvotes
LaSalle, Ontario
EastGTARedFlagger wrote: Or was it "regular price" $600 but the customer didn't want to wait for the bogus 80% off sale....
100% off > 80%

Face With Stuck-out Tongue And Tightly-closed Eyes
Deal Fanatic
Jun 11, 2005
8633 posts
2399 upvotes
Mississauga
A customer of mine many years ago worked for Future Shop theft division. He told me employee theft is the majority of what gets taken. Out the back door or you get an expensive item and go through the cash where your friend works and charges you next to nothing.
Deal Addict
May 31, 2008
1550 posts
1208 upvotes
Toronto
A large number of returns are put back on the shelf.
Some others are sold off to large scale discounters. I doubt they are losing money are much as they say they are.
Deal Addict
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May 6, 2010
3203 posts
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Markham
Costco and Home Depot are getting about $100 from me each week because of their excellent return policies. Other than small items, nothing from CT.
Deal Fanatic
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Oct 1, 2011
6337 posts
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I returned a pair of (unused) shoes back to Nike.ca because I made the mistake of ordering the wrong size, derp. :( I feel really bad for free returns where it has to ship to/from the company. Somehow I imagine that I'm contributing to airplane/truck pollution with my individually-tailored shipping order.
Deal Addict
Jun 1, 2008
2018 posts
465 upvotes
Toronto
The stores complaining they are losing money from returns do not get any sympathy from me. The whole purchase, returns, etc... model is built into the business model. Often returns are covered by insurance, manufacturers, etc.., Of course if you are simply acting as a distributor of junk then you should expect returns. I’d rather pay a bit more for quality service, a good return policy and products backed by a real warranty. Stores are free to change their return policy. The Source did on many items and my shopping there decreased dramatically.

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