Canadian Tire rant

[bwackwabbit]

As mentioned above each CT is essentially a franchise and therefore will have wide variances in Management styles. They do indeed have corporate policies to which they must all adhere. How rigidly these are applied depends on the Manager/Owner as well as the situation and are affected by several factors.

Being a BIG BOX General Manager for the last 20 yrs I can tell you that generally the way those are applied depends greatly on the way a customer approaches the issue.

By that I mean I get paid to make decisions all day every day.
I have a set of rules that are in place to govern "most" situations that can arise as it pertains to customer service. Certain circumstances or customers require "management" outside of those rules. If a customer needs my assistance and conducts themselves in a professional manner I will invariably err in favour of the customer in situations like that of the OP. I ask myself...
"what would I expect if this were me?"

If the customer is not behaving professionally I ask myself...
"Did My team or I cause this behaviour?" If any of us have, the result for the customer is the same and then I "manage" this with the team to correct.

If any of us have not and the customer is behaving unprofessionally for no reason then I become very rigid around the rules. It is nothing other than I will show the amount of respect that is deserving based on how I am treated. Again I remain professional but the "Rules are the Rules".

Truth be told 99% of the time it's the first two scenarios, but increasingly and especially during busy holiday times the third scenario happens.

"More bees with Honey" and all that is a good way to start. The same goes for a customer if you are not treated professionally there is ALWAYS someone else to voice your concerns to in a calm professional manner.

Just my .02.

P.S The retailers of Red Deer Welcome your business

Cheers.

[flygirrl]

Originally Posted by bwackwabbit

As mentioned above each CT is essentially a franchise and therefore will have wide variances in Management styles. They do indeed have corporate policies to which they must all adhere. How rigidly these are applied depends on the Manager/Owner as well as the situation and are affected by several factors.

Being a BIG BOX General Manager for the last 20 yrs I can tell you that generally the way those are applied depends greatly on the way a customer approaches the issue.

By that I mean I get paid to make decisions all day every day.
I have a set of rules that are in place to govern "most" situations that can arise as it pertains to customer service. Certain circumstances or customers require "management" outside of those rules. If a customer needs my assistance and conducts themselves in a professional manner I will invariably err in favour of the customer in situations like that of the OP. I ask myself...
"what would I expect if this were me?"

If the customer is not behaving professionally I ask myself...
"Did My team or I cause this behaviour?" If any of us have the result for the customer is the same and then I "manage" this with the team to correct.

If any of us have not and the customer is behaving unprofessionally for no reason then I become very rigid around the rules. It is nothing other than I will show the amount of respect that is deserving based on how I am treated. Again I remain professional but the "Rules are the Rules".

Truth be told 99% of the time it's the first two scenarios, but increasingly and especially during busy holiday times the third scenario happens.

"More bees with Honey" and all that is a good way to start. The same goes for a customer if you are not treated professionally there is ALWAYS someone else to voice your concerns to in a calm professional manner.

Just my .02.

P.S The retailers of Red Deer Welcome your business

Cheers.

I in no way approached the clerk or the manager in a aggressive manner nor was I rude to either of them I have also been on the other side of the fence so I know what it is like. I thanked both of them for their time and informed the manager I would no longer darken their door if that's the kind of customer service they favor. As I've said, I managed customer service at Canadian Tire and customer service and satisfaction was our goal. I know the process so to speak, if I owned a store I would want my people to do everything in their power to bring that customer back. If that meant calling the manufacturer to get return authorization than that is what I have done and would do.
I don't know how many pressure washers that were repair only that I called the manufacturer and got an RA # for , and that was just to make sure they came back. There were certain people that wouldn't even come in the store unless I was there. Not trying to toot my own horn but they knew I was there and would help them and do everything in my power to rectify the situation. I understand each store is independently owned, each store owner bends corp rules, Rocky store has their policy, I disagree with it is I will no longer shop there.

[bwackwabbit]

Because they are franchised, voting with your wallet is your best bet. As you've done.

A customer's influence pertaining to a positive experience is usually 1-3 people, and a negative experience is 8-10. They know this as well as the rest of us so ignoring it is reckless business IMO.

I wasn't suggesting you were unprofessional in anyway, just helping others understand that when involving Managers/Supervisors to resolve a dispute that professionalism will win out more often than not.

Cheers.

[Kevwood]

Every scenario is different but for the most part I have been treated pretty well at CT with returns and price matching other stores...The price matched an out of stock auger at WSS no problem, gave me a great deal on a patio set that had a couple parts of it as display models, and just a couple days ago I bought an actifry...CT reg price was $249 and walmart had it on for $188.77, they matched and as I was about to pay with visa the customer service teller suggested I pay debit or cash as it is CT policy to give the customer 10% back in CT money when price matched items are purchased with debit or cash...Actifry ended up costing $169...the teller did not have to tell me this, could have just rung me thru...pretty nice of her I thought...

[sirmike68]

It should be called "Chinese Tire" because all of the crap they sell comes from there and the quality sucks. Thats why its cheap.

[ali#1]

There are certain C T I avoid, Some are good and some are bad.

[rugatika]

I avoid CT and Marks as much as possible. Both stores are bringing in more and more junk. They may as well be called Liquidation World. (no offence to Liquidation World).

[Arachnodisiac]

I'm sorry - I can't read this thread.
CT is my favourite store of all time, and some days, it's the brightest thing in my world.

Ok, that was dramatic, I know.

I've never had a problem with CT, ever. I'm quite sorry that you did though!

[marlin1]

I also like CT . Store on macleod always has good ammo selection and decent guns . I actually was able to return some used spark plugs at the NW store . I did call the parts manager first and when the girl at the customer service balked , I told her to call parts , no issue . I was kind of surprized actually