Canadian Tire is on the rebound — and its ‘True North’ strategy now includes a Canadian icon with its purchase of Hudson’s Bay-branded goods, David Olive writes.
Opinion | Canadian Tire has never been more Canadian — and it’s working
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shut up, eh you hoser.
( it’s all in good fun 😉 )
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.
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 is the LAST place you should trust customer review.
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.