I had a winter tire on a rim which had been damaged by a pothole. I took it in to Canadian Tire in April, 2007, where I was told that while the rim could be hammered out, the tire had been damaged and should be replaced. It was a difficult-to-find tire (a Michelin) and the technician told me they would have to order one. I asked him to go ahead and do so as I would not need the tire until the following autumn. He said he would call me when the tire was ready, in 5 weeks or so.
Some 10 weeks later, having not heard from Canadian Tire, I stopped back in at the store. I talked to the same technician, who went in the back, rolled out my wheel and said he hadn't got the tire yet. He said that he expected it in 5 weeks or so. Again, I told him I was in no hurry. Again, he told me he would call when it was ready.
The fall arrived, and I went in to get my wheel. The counterman could not find any record of there having been a wheel. He asked whether the technicial had created a work order. I told him that I didn't know. The man then told me that there was nothing he could do, and that "if there was no work order, there was no tire". He did not check for the tire. I asked "what are my options then? ". His response was "your option is to step aside". That ended our conversation.
I took the issue to the service desk. A man there took my contact information and promised to look into it and call me back the next day. Three days later, having not received a call, I visited again. I talked to the same gentleman, who told me that he'd referred the problem back to the counterman to had told me to step aside. That was as much as he would do.
Another 4 or 5 days went by. No call. I should note that within that time, I was able to go to Frisby Tire, order a new rim and tire, and to have the tire delivered, mounted and balanced. I had given up on ever getting the original wheel back, but was quite angry and decided to contact head office. I sent an email to the head office. Within an hour or so I got an autoreply saying that they were experiencing "higher than normal volumes" and that they would get back to me "shortly". Four days later, I received a form letter assuring me that, while their success was based on listening to the voice of the customer, there was nothing they could do for me, but that they had referred the matter back to, you guessed it, the original counterman.
Clearly, no-one, not the auto service counter people, the customer service counter people, or the head office people, have any interest in even looking for the item. The worst part is, it was an old rim and the tire was damaged - the total value of the thing wouldn't have been higher than $25 or so. In light of this, a more stupid series of decisions is hard to imagine.
I have never been a big fan of Canadian Tire, but I won't shop there again.
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