Canadian Tire

I HATE coming to this Canadian Tire. I feel like I’m going to get trapped in their squeaky, shaky, ancient elevator every time I need to go upstairs to their main floor. There is no escalator or stairs — your stuck taking it. Your a huge company UPDATE YOUR ELEVATORS!
And on another note — I feel like a criminal every time I come to shop at this location and ONLY this location. An employee made a scene and ran after me in the store to frantically tell me I’m not allowed to have my bag in the store. I have a larger purse that rolls (I work at the airport) Never have I ever been told I cannot enter a store with my bag. It’s ridiculous
I’ll shop elsewhere, thank you

Nice and convenient CT location in this part of town. This is an obvious improvement over their older location near Oak.
Parking is plentiful in the nice large plaza parking lot.
The store is quite similar in layout to the one at Grandview and Bentall. Automotive stuff downstairs, and everything else upstairs. Selection is similar to the other locations.
What is interesting is that the discounts for CT don’t apply across all of their locations. Learned something new. Something to keep in mind. When there’s a discount, it might be for this store only.

After my experience here I don’t think I will shop at Canadian Tire (at least not this one) again. Its apparently the newest one but the large institution Canadian Tire has dropped the ball, they are behind in e-​commerce and really the experience of entering a store that actually smells like Tires doesn’t really appeal to me. So why the hate on a Canadian iconic store? Here is my letter I sent to the head office I will post here too:
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RE: Security policy of customers’ backpacks in stores
I am writing to you in regards to my recent visit and the policy of backpacks at your store. I was browsing the store at the Canadian Tire — Marine Drive (Vancouver) store at March 28^th at 5pm.
I was shopping with my backpack and was approached by a sales representative who explained about the no backpack policy in the store. He further explained the options is either to have my bag checked at the front of the store or have my bag searched upon exit.
Frankly, I am appalled by this policy I understand retailers confront numerous shoplifting incidents however should not assume all customers are shoplifters. Ironically I was looking to purchase a bike lock at your store.
From a customer’s perspective, this kind of policy is disturbing to the overall shopping experience, not to feel as if I am a shoplifting suspect. You should have the trust in your customers, rather than treat them like a suspect.
Please note there are already security cameras, and security gates at the exits which should be sufficient for the average customer.
Needless to say the neighbouring retailers at SportsChek and Best Buy did not bother me whatsoever about my backpack. I am sure these retailers experience shoplifters and do not implement this ridiculous policy.
I do hope you can prevent actual shoplifting in an effective manner rather than disturbing prospective customers.
As a kid I used to buy my hockey gear at Canadian Tire, a long time ago. Now I question whether I can be supporter of Canadian Tire.
I do hope this policy can be rectified and hope to share a more positive experience with Canadian Tire.
Regards,
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So Customer service did reply to me, and told me I should contact the General Manager directly. I called the Marine drive store last Friday, but he was not there, and had a talk with the Assistant about this complaint. She explained we don’t discriminate and check all customer’s bag. However trivial this may sound, they don’t put the customer first here, which upsets me greatly. By the way, I happily bought my U-​Lock at a store not named Canadian Tire.

Our car wouldn’t start — they said there was nothing wrong with it. 2 weeks later it wouldn’t start again. We pointed this out and Pat huffed at us. We tried dropping the car off after-​hours but they were all out of envelopes — when we pointed this out to the Manager and he admitted they go days without checking the supply.
And don’t fall for the trick of a Manager offerring to help you out — it will take twice as long and he’ll be on his mobile phone the whole time — better to speak to regular staff that don’t make you wait as long and give you something closer to undivided attention.
Once things go sideways you have to go above the Manager on Duty to get anything done. Once you finally get to a General or District Manager suddenly they start taking responsibility such as actually diagnosing the problem, and apologizing instead of dismissing you. However they still don’t fully honour their warranties. For example they’ll only charge a defective battery, they won’t replace it.
They actually recommend people go to other locations or a local mechanic to diagnose problems — they don’t have any confidence in their own ability to diagnose a problem so why should you?

TL;DR — Waste of time /​Useless Manager
I called in asking about a boat trailer that was listed «in stock» online. At first, they couldn’t seem to find it and eventually they located it and put it on hold. I drove 30 km to the store because it was the only location with the trailer in stock. When I arrived, I was helped at the auto desk. The door to the manager’s office was open, but the manager, Joe Young, couldn’t be bothered to come out and speak with me. It turns out, the trailer was broken; bent frame, missing an end cap, and the 4-​pin connector was bent. The sales associate politely explained that this isn’t the first time people have driven to the store only to find the merchandise on hold is broken, but Young doesn’t care about actually marking these things down.
So I wasted a 40 minute drive just to find out that the manager is too lazy to mark items broken. What makes it worse was that I had to personally ask for him to leave his office to explain it to me. Where’s the accountability? Where’s the leadership? When people come away from Canadian Tire with poor customer service experiences and wasted time, it’s because of people like Joe Young who would rather sit in his office than own up to slacking off.
Tip: Double check your purchases from this location, since the management openly does not.

For this type of service and attitude, I’m surprised anyone would bring in their cars for repairs lol ok I get it, for the convenience but I digress.
came in to check out windshield wipers, and though he listed off 3 different types, he couldnt and didnt want to explain the advantages: ‘just depends what you want’. Yup, thats the first guy im calling to be my sales trainer lol
the rest of the retail for auto is pretty good selection and always some good knick knacks to get for improving car organization, for on the road types :)

I find it’s always a headache to return anything to this Canadian Tire. Three different returns over the course of a year, three different problems. I always take it a level higher, and twice the manager did resolve the problem in my favour. For my third return, the manger chewed out the clerk for calling him down; very unprofessional. I cringe when I need something from this store. Darn their convenient location!

Customer service at this Canadian Tire is by far the worst I have ever experienced. The Customer Service Reps are not friendly and have no idea what they are doing. Line up took over 30 minutes and there were a few CSR people on their phones texting or something in between customers. The secuity person also made me drop everything I bought to show a receipt despite the fact that I came to the exit straight from the cashier 5 meters away and all I purchased was paper towels, tissues, and a 20 dollar toy and everything was in a Canadian tire bag minus the paper towels. Why would anyone steal $ 5 in paper towels and pay for everything else right in fornt of you. Many other customers were not checked. Use some common sense? Avoid this location at all costs, never had a bad experience elsewhere.

Note: This review is specifically centered around their gardening section. So if you’re not looking for insight into things you put in the dirt, move along.
I kill plants.
I know a lot of people say this, but I truly have a gift. If you can kill a plant in a month, i’ll kill it in 8 days. Last gardening season, I even managed to send a plastic plant to its grave… granted, it got tipped over by a raccoon, but who put it on that table? Me.
So when I say, i’m a gardening newbie, you know exactly where i’m coming from.
To be honest, i’m not usually a huge Canadian Tire fan… I mean, is it a hardware store? A furniture store? A sports supply store? PICK A GENRE! BUT, this week I found out that this is the BEST place for those venturing into Gardening 101.
Unlike it’s competition and their rather haphazard/​unlabeled garden section (if you’re that curious, see my last review), this place is an information goal mine. All the plants are clearly labelled… so when you’re looking for a hosta and have no idea what a hosta IS? CT saves the day.
Soil… honestly, how can there be THAT many types of dirt?! But fear not newbie, CT will stack them neatly and give you a handy dandy sign tutorial, complete with what is best for containers vs. in ground gardens… apparently, they need different dirt. Who knew?!
The prices are reasonable and though I didn’t actually see a staff member while I was there, the place was so impeccably organized, I didn’t need one. It’s not as picked over as some of the other spots (as of yesterday), and they had «Whimsical Watering Cans» (actual name), which I gleefully bought three of.
So I will enter into another season of plant killing with a good arsenal of supplies and a little bit of whimsicality. And for gardening needs in a month when i’ve killed the first lot? This place is the go-​to.

Free parking and Canadian tire money… what more can a girl ask for. I collect Canadian tire money, therefore, when I need something I make a point to come here first. 7 out of 10 times the prices are fair and competitive, otherwise I get it stateside and my friends later give me their Canadian Tire money. Service is hit and or miss… when you can actually find someone. I’ve been here a few times this year with my step dad to get some stuff for my car sorted out.

Love this new location!
I used the auto services today and very impress with the service and efficiency. I normally use the Market crossing location but when I went there when it opened today I was told they were all full and could not guarantee getting my car till end of the day, so I left and called this location gave me an appointment. I was out within 45 minutes. I love the two levels. Top level was the regular Canadian tire store and second floor dedicated just for auto services. I will be back.

It was my first time visiting this newly built Canadian Tire, and I was in need of an simple oil change.
I was impressed by how there was free parking, like what others have said. I walk in the Auto Centre and approach the desk. Within about twenty seconds, the service rep approached me and was really nice in answering my questions about the cost of an oil change, etc. He was very knowledgeable in knowing what type of oil I would need for me car, and gave me an estimate of how long it would take. He even directed to me which stores were open, where I could grab a coffee. (there’s actually a customer lounge area where there is free coffee and water).
The oil change took about an hour, even though the service rep quoted 45 minutes. It went by quite quickly as I walked around Canadian Tire, and grabbed a coffee at Starbucks.
After the oil change was done, I was handed the invoice which was exactly what was quoted to me, and I proceeded to pay the cashier.
Overall, I really appreciated the customer service, and I will definitely come again.

There is 2 schools of thought on tools: Expensive and dependable or cheap and replaceable. Canadian tire is the cheap and replaceable option. One perk to keep in mind is that mastercraft tools have a lifetime waranty (I think) so if they break you can get them replaced. I’ve only done this with a 3 year old drill bit and a ratchet, got them replaced right away.

Canadian Tire is a Canadian icon… been shopping at Canadian Tire stores for over 4 decades… this store is clean, fully stocked, and quite good. Service in this store could be much better

Brand spanking new Canadian Tire store with a silly layout.
If you’re driving into this Canadian Tire, you won’t have any issues. Easy to navigate and plent of parking. If you’re walking, then you’ll notice the store is quite sunken in from the side walk. There’s a lot of wasted space on the side that’s facing Marine Drive. The grassy space is enough to allow set up of 6 volleyball nets and have a little tournament going.
Inside, the store has 2 levels. The bottom is for your automotive needs and the 2^nd floor is for everything else. There’s no escalator and they only had 2 elevators, which I found a little strange. I guess they are trying to conserve space? Maybe the lawn out in front took up too much room!
Since this location is quite new, the store was very organized. I was even able to find a few deals.

This store has been a long time coming. The old location at Heather St and SW Marine was always understaffed, under stocked and very disorganized. This new location is what Canadian Tire should be. It is large, spacious well it with ample parking. There is an opening sale during the first 4 days with great deals. A must see.