MEC Burlington — Local services in Burlington

On December 9th, I bought a pair of shoes at the North York location, receiving a price match after showing them lower prices from three Canadian websites. Pleased with the purchase, I ordered the same shoes in the same color and size for pickup at the Burlington location, which is closer to my home. Upon arrival, I experienced significant delays as an older employee struggled for about 20 minutes to log into multiple computers. Throughout this time, she repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the lower prices I cited, despite me showing her detailed proof on my phone, giving her the exact Canadian websites and even On Cloud's own Canadian website which showed everything in Canadian dollars yet she kept saying is it real? Is it canadian? I even showed her my previous receipt from their own store in North York and mentioned multiple times this is the exact same shoe in the exact same color and the exact same size!

Her persistent, accusatory tone was frustrating, especially as I patiently tried to accommodate her age and difficulty with technology, compounded by my own physical discomfort due to a leg disability. After nearly 25 minutes of unresolved issues and no intervention from other staff, a customer made a sarcastic comment to which i replied which led to the manager finally stepping in—only to yell at me to stop. For 25 minutes he was nowhere to be found to come and process my purchase or help the older lady. He was doing his own thing despite clearly seeing there is an issue in progress and taking a significantly long time and he only decided to join in to try and act like some kind of an authority! His approach was neither helpful nor professional, leading me to return the shoes and decide to escalate the matter with their head office. I went back and got his name which is Eric! I will be reporting him to MEC's head office and will be commuting this to the disability communities and forums.

This encounter was deeply disappointing, particularly because it’s hard for me to find shoes that accommodate my nerve-damaged legs due to a sever vehicular accident. I plan to purchase the shoes from another website that offers the same price but without the need to endure such...

My first bad review ever. After recently visiting MEC I was told that I have to wear a mask or leave. No exceptions! After asking if it was store policy or corporate, the employee brought me to the manager (Sarah) who told me it was a corporate decision and that I can shop online. Being physically unable and deemed medically exempt from masks I find this practice to be very discriminatory. Myself and my partner were both interested in items on the clearance "yard sale" rack that were significantly discounted only to learn that these items are not available online and in turn are only available to medically able bodied individuals. I'm not sure what MEC calls this, but I call this discrimination. How would someone who has mobility issues feel if you told them they can shop from home but not in store? (no exceptions!) Only offering some goods and services to medically abled bodied people is discrimination by definition! I informed the manager after using the bathroom that the sink was "out of order" she explained "it has been like that for a while". I then told her that even if the sink was working, to exit the bathroom, I have to pull on a dirty door handle effectively making it impossible to exit the washroom with clean hands. After dealing with this pandemic for more than 2 years now, I see no excuse as to why MEC cannot have a functioning sink and the ability to exit the bathroom (touch free) with clean hands. Other retail stores have navigated these trying times far more effectively and without discrimination why can't MEC do the same? Moving forward, I hope MEC will get back to their roots, The reason I became a customer in the first place over 20 years ago and actually promote inclusivity and a love for the outdoors instead of discrimination and divisiveness. Their website states "MEC values and deeply respects all individuals and supports accessibility, diversity and equitable treatment" however, that couldn't be further...

Relatively quick service. I was returning an item. It was very smooth. I think they extended their hours immediately after the ease up of the lockdown and updated their Google page right away. I was very pleased that I didn't need to make phone calls to ascertain the accuracy of the hours of operation! Addendum: I went recently to pickup item. Again very pleased (2023/05/02), always recommend the store 🏪 in Burlington Ontario. Lately (2023/12/28), I visited and it seems like for a while they have imposed new rules against their rock 🪨 solid guaranteed return and exchange policies. These rules restricted returns of specific electronic items to a period of 90 days from date of purchase. I had a front bicycle handlebar mounted light white is still functional but it has lost it's protective cover for the USB charging port. It's a poor design since I had many lights in the past and covers of USB ports were much sturdy. I feel this could pose a risk of damage if I bicycle in the rain ☔. They told since it was purchased in spring of 2023 it has passed the 90 day mark and therefore I'll have to contact the manufacturer for replacement of missing part. I had a bicycle bag that was purchased in 2014 and it has some wear on it, so I wanted to return because it was too small for my needs, it was refused because it has been used which is understandable but that was not an issue with their previous policy. The company is not a cooperative anymore and I know it would need to impress investors, but I think it is somehow losing it's appeal in being consumer-centric. I downgraded to 4 stars because I think 💬 their in-store pickup helps save on shipping and their prices are still reasonable but not really considered a discount especially if you factor in their return policy being equivalent to competitor and not...