Canadian Tire — Attraction in Mill Woods

This CT store used to be my go-to store, since I live only 5 minutes away. But in 2018 I noticed that it was starting to go downhill. For CT in general, I like how the store is synced to the website - find what you want online, jot down the aisle number, head to the store - if all goes well, you're in-and-out in a matter of minutes.

However, in the past 15-18 months, they changed something here because it is now a chore to go here...

1. They re-arranged the store last year (2018). Normally not a problem, but when it takes MONTHS (about 3, from what I can figure) to accomplish, and you keep your stock on pallets in the aisles where no one can find anything (including the employees), it's a disaster. The website says there are 14 in stock in aisle 54 - the store shows empty shelves where aisle 54 used to be. Ask an employee and they shrug, while telling you "it says here that we have 14 in aisle 54".

Advice - if you're competing with a new, huge sister store (South Common - my new favorite CT), don't play with your store's layout. All you're doing is p'ing off your local customer base, who usually know where to find the stuff they're looking for. If I want to learn a store's layout, I'll invest my time in a bigger (and better) store.

2. They used to have staff that could tell you where things were. They were typically more mature and courteous too. Now they employ a lot of younger people who like to disappear in the back to check their messages as well as people who don't understand how competitive the current retail landscape is.

Also, if you're going to take months (seriously) to rearrange your store, you may want to close it for a week and do it right. That long, drawn out rearrangement did not do anyone any good.

3. I gave this store a second chance (and 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.) - I know everyone has a bad day once in a while. All my recent visits had me thinking "why on earth did I come back here?".

Even the people at the Customer Service counter are rude. These are supposed to be the seasoned employees that smooth out your experience, making sure that you come back. At this location, they roll their eyes when you have a legitimate complaint and won't even acknowledge that the store's mistakes can end up wasting a customer's time. I'm not a princess, but I'm used to a certain level of courtesy, especially at customer service. You won't get that here.

Bottom line - sub-par store with sub-par employees and abysmal customer service. I won't shed a tear if they close this one down and replace it with a Walmart.

In the meantime, there is a huge Canadian Tire - with decent staff and customer service - just down the road at South Common. I will gladly drive the extra 7 minutes to avoid the hassle of shopping at the Mill Woods location. I'm done with...

"Walk-ins not welcome, nearly arrested today. Don't bring bags, security is trigger happy and untrained."

As the holiday season approaches, shoplifting becomes a more prominent issue for retailers. As such, it is quite normal for store policies to change and for guards to be posted at entrances. However, private security companies vary greatly in their level of training.

I'm a student and was harassed by security guards at the entrance. I came in for xmas shopping wearing winter gear and my backpack from a walk in chilly -25C weather through 15cm snowdrifts and icy intersections. The guard did not ask for my bag, which they were apparently required to do because a bag check station was set up.

A second guard caught the error, and after handing my bag to the station, I began browsing. The second guard also yelled at and reprimanded the first guard in immediate earshot of customers. This approaches being a retail employee faux pas, notwithstanding the unprofessional yelling at a coworker instead of giving feedback.

Shortly afterwards, the second guard asked me to leave. You can imagine my confusion at that point, as I had given my bag to them already!

While I spoke with the second guard, a dept. or store manager realized the misunderstanding and had been proactively attempting damage control (and loss prevention) by offering to help me. I refused the too-little, too-late offer and left.

I could see a police SUV arriving as I left, apparently due to the second guard's escalations. A quick visit during exam week nearly turned into an xmas shopping nightmare!

I have worked with major specialty retailers in the city which also hire security. I was astounded at the lack of communication and bias training demonstrated by the guards in their LP role.

I decided not to make a purchase at this location, so I shopped elsewhere in Millwoods TC and WEM for over $200 of gifts, and even received free, bus-friendly gift wrapping. I returned home feeling schadenfreude at the Loss Incurrence caused by this incident.

Management:

Consider contracting a different security company. The current one does not seem to have retail-specific training necessary for de-escalation or greeting/bag-check procedure. They are a potential liability.

It seems by these reviews that am not the first (nor the second!!) customer this week to have a bad experience with the guards... This seems to be a...

Im writing to express my profound disappointment with the recent experiences my family and I have had at Canadian Tire, particularly the Millwoods location, concerning our attempts to purchase a water dispenser. On Saturday afternoon, we purchased our first dispenser, only to find it was defective. We promptly exchanged it for another one, but this, too, failed to meet expectations, as it failed to turn on and provide cold water after a two-day wait. Subsequent exchanges, including one for a more expensive model, proved equally frustrating, with issues ranging from leaks to broken styrofoam storage. The customer service we encountered during these exchanges was nothing short of abysmal. The process was slow, and despite two employees at the service counter, only one was available to assist, resulting in a significant wait time. When we questioned why all four dispensers we tried were faulty, the response was dishearteningly indifferent. Even the suggestion to refund our money and purchase another dispenser without assurance of its quality was not only unhelpful but also dismissive of the time and inconvenience we endured. The pinnacle of our dissatisfaction occurred on Monday night, December 5, 2023, at approximately 6:30 pm, when the customer service representative exhibited rudeness and impatience. I asked if we could try it before taking it home and the employee said “sure, but its easier to refund your money and you guys just buy a new one and take it home if there’s another problem with it, its just that easy to come back” well i said to my husband its not even the money anymore its the time that we wasted going back and forth. It was evident that the staff was overwhelmed, with a line of frustrated customers growing due to the inefficient handling of one individual. In addition to this disappointment, the manager's brief intervention only addressed the immediate concern without any effort to alleviate the ongoing service issues or assist other waiting customers. The lack of product quality, coupled with a complete absence of customer service empathy, has left us thoroughly dissatisfied with our Canadian Tire experience. The previous employees that we encountered within this exchange was great and was not rude to us. We expected better from a reputable retailer and hope that our feedback prompts a thorough review of product quality and customer service practices in...