Opinion | Canadian Tire has never been more Canadian — and it’s working
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Since abandoning American retailers, I’ve certainly given Canadian Tire way more money than I used to. I’m not surprised that others have, too.
They really are an alternative to many of the things you might find at Walmart or Amazon.
And they sell a surprising amount of Made in Canada products, which is even more important to me.
Back in January I did a bit of price comparing between Canadian Tire, Home Depot and Rona for the materials for a project I was planning. (I wanted to check Home Hardware as well, but the closest one is about 75KM away, so not really practical in my case)
I was surprised to discover that Canadian Tire had better prices on all but 2 of the things I looked at. And even those 2, they were less than a dollar different.
And Home Depot’s owner is Republican megadonor, so I avoid it whenever possible.
Rona is the Canadian alternative, right? Looks like it was owned by Lowes, but was re-established with headquarters in Quebec. Still, it can be hard to know with everybody trying to look as Canadian as possible.
Now owned by US private equity according to wiki.
Cool story. Now pay your workers a living wage and get them health benefits.
That and make the mechanic shop good faith again. Scammy reputation.
I would never take my car to Canadian Tire. I’ve heard way too many stories of bad service.
They would have to do some pretty amazing things to earn that trust back.
Everyone forgot they were using facial recognition cameras
Warranty your products properly as well. I don’t buy anything from Canadian tire that isn’t disposable since they won’t take back a 2 month old vacuum or car jack that stopped working.
They exchanged a Motomaster battery charger that was almost 20 months old. It suddenly stopped working, and they didn’t even bother testing it to confirm my assertion.
The biggest headache was finding the purchase in my account’s history, as they can only search a month at a time, and not by product. Very bad usability for something that employees likely use on an hourly basis.
My latest was a 2 month old Hoover vacuum that died on me. I had to go to Hoover who wanted me to pay to ship and repair it. I bought from Costco after that.
Friendly reminder that Home Hardware is also a Canadian owned hardware & building supply chain. Not as prevalent as the American Home Depot, Rona/Lowes choices, but they take care of their employees, and your money doesn’t go into some MAGA Republican’s coffers.
Shopping at home hardware is such a weird experience. You can ask questions and the people working there actually know the answers to the questions and can point you in the right direction.
It’s weird to interact with someone that isn’t a fucking troglodyte that knows nothing about the products they’re selling.
I agree wholeheartedly. I walked into a home hardware trying to get a replacement for a botd I’d stripped. The guy took one look at it and said “looks like an M5” and it was! Got me a new one and I was on my way. This was after I had just gone to Canadian Tire for the same thing. The “hardware guy” there was pretty much trying to find a match exclusively by vibe and colour matching
Tools are pretty good bang for the buck for regular home owners that are handy…
I still would NEVER take my car to be serviced there… I rather set the car on fire
Last time I had my tires changed I had to bring it back to ask the mechanic for my tires back.
He was more reluctant that I expected.
Their tools barely last long enough to finish the job…
More than half the shit I buy there is some cheap Chinese crap that’s either broken in the package or breaks as you take it out because of how flimsy it is.
what made-in-china brand do you prefer then?
LOL! Good point.
Those that actually make good products that don’t fall apart in your hands on the first use I guess?
In all seriousness though, when I wanted to buy a certain product (like those stick-on battery-powered lamps that you can put in attics and stuff for example) I would check CT and Amazon.
- The CT product would have swollen batteries and acid damage, short circuits, burnt light bulbs, or even burnt LEDs, the casing would be cracked, right out of the package. And the worst part is that when you go to return to the store, they don’t reimburse you for a broken or damaged product. Nope. You can either exchange it for another broken item or they only give you a god damn reimbursement CT card that you can only spend in their stores.
- Meanwhile, Amazon would have a ton of selections with customer reviews to back up the product so you know what to expect. The prices are also competitive, even with the delivery fees. And if the product is damaged or breaks, you get an instant reimbursement as soon as you send it back, free of charge.
For the record, I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription, and boycott Amazon. I don’t buy anything from them anymore unless I really can’t find an alternative somewhere else whether in stores or online at another Canadian location or straight from manufacturers. But, I also avoid CT as much as possible due to my extremely poor customer experience there. There’s always Rona/ Reno Depot, but they were bought by an American equity firm. Home Depot is also American. So I don’t have any other Canadian options.
Canadian companies like Canadian Tire, Loblaws, Metro and other big chains have established themselves almost as monopolies in Canada. Yeah I want to encourage Canadian businesses, but they’re taking advantage of Canadians, and that doesn’t encourage me to buy from them. I try to find smaller providers, but it’s sometimes near impossible for certain types of products.
Amazon would have a ton of selections with customer reviews to back up the product
Amazon is the LAST place you should trust customer review.
Well, so far it’s worked well for me.
Amazon reviews can be pretty bad mix of unreliable data, especially since you fan have anyone review a product as a paid shill for the shitty seller to bump up the rating, and on the flip side there are morons that give 1 star because they disnt know how to use the product. I.e. There was an add on camera for the Essentials Phone. It Only fit the Essentials phone due to proprietary data connection and physical hardware power connectors on back of phone, and clearly states it only fits one phone. People are like 1 star I couldn’t get this working with my IPhone.
And you get stars that don’t match their reporting. 3 stars, this is the best product I have ever owned. 5 stars, It’s Ok. 1 this broke immediately, so I bought another one
Since Amazon commingled stock, you can’t know if the electronics you are getting are knock offs, tampered with, Or a brick in a box.
Keep your money for local businesses.
I usually buy from trusted brands or check the reviews. It’s worked well for me so far.
But, I’ve stopped using amazon now.
Eh fuck you bud, I’ve been doing heavy equipment for years now. I’ve made well over 100 thousands of dollars with their “shitty tools” yeah the Allen keys and torx bits are a waste. But Sokets and wrenches? I think I broke one socket and never broke a wrench. Need good cutters or Pliers? Don’t be a cheap prick they sell the knipex. Need a good knife? Yeah they have the olfa too. Screwdrivers? $30 bucks on regular sale gets you set for about 6months only because you loose them all not broken. Measuring tapes? They got house brands, Irwin, Stanley.
Eh fuck you bud
Shut up, eh you hoser.
( it’s all in good fun 😉 )
Well ill take being a hoser than an ostrich fucker any day of the week. Or worse a yank.
But Sokets and wrenches?
For the longest time almost ⅓ of their Motomaster sets were rebranded Gearwrench. Especially the non-classic ones with extra features.
Now, Gearwrench may not be on par with Grey Tools or Snap-On. But it’s also significantly upper-shelf and definitely nothing to sneeze at.
Their tools barely last long enough to finish the job…
I’ve got a few of the Canadian Tire tools. A few nail guns, a compound mitre saw, air compressor, a few other things. They seem to do the trick and I’ve done a ton of large construction projects with them. They’ve lasted longer than some of the Skil and Ryobi products I’ve bought over the years.
I’ve heard several horror stories from friends about bringing cars to Canadian Tire.
They forgot to put oil in the car after an oil change.
They somehow managed to put a wheel bearing in backwards.
They claimed the lock nut key for the tires was missing when it was in plain view in the glove compartment and they had been told where to find it. They wanted to charge to cut off the lock nuts, which is a common garage scam.
I know of one horror story from my wife’s cousin where they dropped her car from the lift during an oil change
I rather set the car on fire
That would probably make the car safer than a CT tune-up.
I rather set the car on fire
Probably would happen if you took it there for service…
I have a story from the one time I took my car there… when I got the car back it had a funny smell in it, and the checklist said that the horn was non-functional. This car had the horn on the end of the signal stick instead of on the steering wheel. I immediately tapped the horn to verify that it was indeed working, and one of the mechanics flinched and got this funny look on his face.
It wasn’t until I got home that I realized what the funny smell was: it was silicone glue. They’d hammered on the steering wheel cap hard enough to break the clips off, and then glued it back on, without mentioning what they’d done.
This was in the early 90s, and I’ve never been back.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Sounds about right
Went there for an oil change once. The mechanic asked me what kind of oil my car needed. I told him it was literally written on the cap.
I regretted it instantly.
Tools are pretty good bang for the buck
Don’t know what it is now, but for the longest time about ⅔ of the wrenches and rackets were rebranded Gearwrench, which is nothing to sneeze at. So OK, it’s not Grey Tools or Snap-On. But Gearwrench is solidly upper-end quality.
I am not 100% what they do now but when I moved 11 years ago I started getting some tools to fix my house, car, etc and most of them are still with me. I am not a handyman by trade to be sure, but I have done quite a bit of work around the house and tools lasting 10+ years are pretty acceptable for the price range IMO
I hate how much CT has stepped up their credit card sales tactics, I feel like their sales desk has creeped closer and closer to the entrance over the past few months.
I really hate it because getting assaulted with a sales pitch triggers an anxiety attack for me. Maxi is also guilty of this (PC Financial), but they put them at the exit so you can’t leave.
But I do have to admit what they have to sell is good, Canadian and decently priced. I end up there a lot regardless for car parts and tools.
I just say that Visa and Mastercard are American companies, and I won’t support them. No more anxiety and make the them feel bad for selling that shit.
At the local store here they stand 10ft past the turnstiles… My tactic is to just make no eye contact and veer away ASAP. If that fails, I tell them I already had one and learned my lesson. They don’t follow up with anything after that in my experience.
This too causes me anxiety, and I have considered avoiding that location because of it. The other stores in the area don’t do this thankfully.
Same, I avoid eye contact, walk fast and make a wide circle to go to the parts counter lmao
Staff the stores and increase the quality of items you carry, and you’d be doing well. Not sure if they’re doing that or whether this is just the Buy Canadian effect.
Remember to only buy items on sale, all the others ones are overinflated. For instance the ratchet kit at $699 will go on sale at 80% off every 2 months, etc.
I bought an air rifle last year from CT. The person I talked to scanned it with their hand scanner and told me it was going on sale in two weeks.
I came back two weeks later and got it before they even had their sales tags up and asked to get it out since it was on sale. They were a bit confused on how I knew. I just said I saw it online.
I’m an “analyst” as well. My opinion is that Canadian Tire went all in on flyer delivery and e-mails and that is what turned the tide.
They’ve become my top spot for housewares and appliances lately along with London Drugs. They also have a surprisingly decent hardware section which is becoming more and more important as Rona keeps scaling back their hardware. My local Rona removed an entire section from their pipe fittings wall and has no intention of bringing it back.
Rona in general has really gone down the shitter, but that’s another rant for another time.
I’ve noticed this at other places too. Pipe fittings disappeared at the local Kent stores (Irving owned) in the Maritimes. Home hardware scaled back a bit but not as drastically. We have to go to the industrial plumbing store for lots of stuff now. We’re lucky to have one fairly local.
Just avoid the lowest end Chinesium parts and you’ll be good.
The time products spend on the shelves of a ‘Canadian’ Tire is just a layover on the way to the landfill.
It’s never been “crappy”. People who say that are just smug.
It was called “crappy” because prices were so high and for awhile they rebranded some serious poor Chinese products. This was more in the 90’s and 2000’s, so if you are young you wouldn’t have experienced.
I’m 46 and never experienced the bullshit you’re spouting.
Then you lucked out.
I used to buy all sorts of stuff at Canadian Tire in the 90s, and while it was affordable, it almost all broke within 2 years, from CCM bicycles that had their frame welds crack to Hunter kitchen appliances that had power supplies that overheated and failed, to even bouncy balls that would harden and crack. Air pumps where the plastic would crack or the pump rod (which was held in by glue) would disconnect, foldable chairs where the stitching would unravel, knives where the blade would snap.
The list goes on and on. Never had that volume of problems with any other store I’ve ever shopped at.
Also, I had relatives that worked in CT in the 90s. They’ve got even worse stories to tell.
They did actually sue someone for the exclusive right to call themselves “crappy tire”:
IIRC someone was hosting a Canadian Tire complaint website “crappytire.com” and in trying to get it shut down Canadian Tire used the legal argument that this person was infringing Canadian Tire’s identity (“We are the legitimate Crappy Tire, and this person is an imposter”) and the domain should be surrendered to them.
They won.edit: They lost.As long as you stay away from their Mastercraft tools. They’re terrible, good thing they give refunds without a fight.
Mastercraft has stepped up their game too, especially the maximum. They are rebranding Wiha screwdrivers and gearwrench stuff for example, really nice quality for a good price.
I agree, there is some crap, but overall for most home use the tools are fine. If it’s something you use every day, I would buy a better brand, but for occasional use they are decent for the price in my opinion.
I use Mastercraft sockets ratchets and wrenches daily on heavy equipment and industrial. In the past 10 years I have broken one socket and zero wrenches. Couple of ratchets. But those were well abused with a 4ft pipe on em.
Allen keys and torx bits/ sockets I’d stay away from though.
I have had a similar experience with the sockets, ratchets and wrenches. I’ve got some of the T handle hex wrenches and I’ve broken the 6mm twice now. Thankfully they have honored the lifetime warranty for them.
Never had am issue, still have all my Mastercraft and Mastercraft Prodessional series tools, although I bought the majority of them in the 90s and early 2000s. Maybe quality was better back then?
Err, I bought a SuperCycle in 2005 which ended up unusable within two seasons worth of riding due to brake and rim deformations. I’ve also bought numerous spare bike parts, cables, tools prior to 2010. They were invariably of very poor quality. Cables rusted, tools ruined other parts due to poor tolerances and weak materials. Once you handle parts and tools made by the typical bike industry, the differences in quality and durability becomes obvious. I don’t know how they are today but this was a conscious choice to reduce costs and pad profits. It’s not like there were no better bikes on the low end of the spectrum. The first cheap non-CT bike I bought in 2011 second hand (Iron Horse made in 2006) and serviced with non-CT tools and parts is still in use today by a friend.
They racial profile first nations. My friends have experienced it in Alberta, by being banned from it. Here are some articles of them being crappy:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/first-nation-apology-store-accused-1.6620457
There racial profile everywhere in Alberta. It’s Canada shit stain. That has more to do with Alberta than Canadian Tire.
Try reading my post again. Those news articles are of first nations from B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba. It happens across Canada, not just Alberta.
Since I limited online shopping, I found CT and other Canadian shops to be useful.
Same day pick up, don’t have to wait two days + or missed deliveries.
Pricing might not be good, but how much you will buy?(generally/daily/monthly)Canadian Tire treats their employees like shit. You are shopping at Canadian Walmart, nothing more.
