Canadian Tire — Local services in Oshawa

Auto Centre is a scam Read Below

Tread lightly when dealing with the auto centre at this location. (Long story)

A few weeks ago I bought a set of winter tires from them on sale. The website and their staff told me they were compatible with my car. Everything seemed fine so I booked an appointment for installation and they convinced me to let them hold my tires with them until the appointment (big mistake). Overall the new tires plus installation with warranty it was gonna be approx $1300. That's fine.

I go to my appointment, guy at the front is trying to check me in while confirming his hours for next week with his boss (bad service but whatever). 12 minutes into my appointment my car's not even in the garage (do not see why I booked an appointment time but again whatever). 40 minutes in they give me a call "yeah the tires you bought from us don't fit on your current rims do you have ones that fit?" I have the factory rims that came with the car and they never mentioned needing certain rims with these tires. They said that's the customer's responsibility. Not too sure why they're selling tires without confirming rim size. That's bad service and there's a BIG CATCH to this which I'll explain at the end.

They tried to sell me rims that would fit those tires but didn't have them in stock... nice. So they tell me they have another set of tires that would work. Tires plus installation with warranty I'm now looking at approx $1600. I agree to it (I'm a little annoyed).

An hour and nearly 40 minutes in they give me another call "yeah we don't have those tires in stock we can get you Continentals tires plus installation and warranty I'm now looking at approx $1800" I asked them if anything has been done to my car and they said no. I've been in there for nearly 2 hours nothing done, no tires, I got a refund (only thing they did right) and left.

I went to Taunton Tires (10/10 recommend) and got winter tires installed there. If you remember earlier the first set of tires Canadian Tire sold me they said would not fit my car because of the rim size, I bought the EXACT same ones at Taunton Tires and got them installed without changing my rims hmmmmmmm.

Either 2 things happened

They sold my tires to someone else that I bought which they held and then had to scramble to fix the mess they made

The auto scam centre has unqualified individuals working there and their plan is to up sell you on their products.

What was supposed to be a $1300 job somehow increased to $1800. If anyone reading this wants to see if I'm lying, I have a 2019 mazda cx5 gt and originally bought Michelin x ice snow tires from them which "would not fit" even though their site and salesperson said they would and Taunton Tires said they would fit and they did WITH THE BASIC RIMS.

Avoid the auto centre, rest of the store...

I've had decent experiences with Canadian tire in the past but recently had a really bad experience, and not sure if I'd want to go back there in the future. I don't usually give out bad reviews, but this I need to make.

My vehicle was having issues with the brakes so my partner called in last Thursday to make an appointment for earliest time they had. They gave us a day the following week in the morning. My partner took off time that morning from work to ensure we could get the car in that morning as we only have one vehicle. A representative from Canadian tire called my partner the day before the appointment and told him the time was moved to 4pm as their mechanic called in sick. No worries, we understand that people have lives and people get sick.

So my partner went in around 4pm to the appointment. When he arrived, he gave the person my phone number, and then his phone number and they told them that they don't have any appointment that day. Keep in mind, my partner called everyday since Thursday to see if we can get an earlier time but still confirmed the original appt date.

After they "found" the account, they brought the vehicle in. They told us that they're going to charge a brake inspection for $65. When they pulled the car in, it took TWO hours to just take off the tires to look at the car. They told my partner that the caliper, rotors and brakes need to be changed, and quoted almost $900 total for parts and labor.

So my partner left the car there and walked to the nearest restaurant to eat. He was called and told that we would have to leave the car overnight due to parts not available. He told them that's why we wanted the morning appointment so all parts can be bought that same day but they told him that they can do the car the next day in the morning.

So he walked back 20 minutes later to speak to the manager and found out they actually did receive the parts and sounds like they lied to him so they can keep the car overnight. After 2 hours, they finally started working in the car and then the technician came and said there was a problem with the brake line and they have to keep the car overnight.

After all of this, I told my partner to just ask then to put everything back on and just buy the parts and I'll get it done at my mechanic. The parts came up to roughly $370; $500 for just labour is crazy.

I brought it my mechanic in Etobicoke (I was hoping to get it done at Canadian tire as its closer lol) and he charged me extremely less than what they did, and I was out of there within a couple hours with no headaches.

The organization and professionalism needs to be looked at here. As someone who works in customer service, this was a poorly...

I’ve been shopping at this store for the past 3 years and always had positive experiences with respectful and helpful staff. That’s why this visit was especially disappointing and honestly disheartening.

I came in looking for grass seed, and when I couldn’t find it in the usual seasonal section, I asked a staff member named Adriana. She checked on her handheld device and told me that it's at aisle 78 or end of it. So I went there and turns out to be completely unrelated (kitchenware). The correct aisle was actually 91, and another staff member—who was kind and professional—walked me back, confirmed it wasn’t out on the floor, and had it brought in from the warehouse. She also mentioned that if it’s not in aisle 91, it would only be in the warehouse—not aisle 78. That made it clear Adriana simply gave me false information, likely just to dismiss me. I don’t understand why someone would do that when a customer is asking for help. If Adriana had simply said she didn’t know, I would have thanked her and walked off to ask someone else. No one would’ve questioned why she didn’t know. But instead, she acted like this was funny or as if I was a fool, and that’s what really bothered me.

What upset me further was seeing Adriana laughing and ducking behind an aisle as we returned—clearly avoiding any accountability. When I asked her why she misdirected me, she rambled without giving any explanation.

To top it off, another customer—who had no reason to be involved—stepped in, told me to “piss off,” and the staff members seemed to fall in line behind him instead of addressing my concern. It felt like I was being dismissed and silenced, rather than helped.

On top of everything, I’m recovering from a meniscus tear in my knee and currently going through physio. The fact that I had to walk around the store and deal with this on top of that really made the situation even more frustrating.

I’ve encountered so many co-op students and younger staff here who have always been kind, eager to help, and genuinely positive. This experience, however, was extremely disappointing and completely out of line.

This happened in the seasonal section, during a busy time when customers genuinely need guidance. I’ve had great respect for this store until now, but this experience really changed how I feel. I hope management reviews the way customer interactions are handled and ensures every shopper is treated with respect—regardless of...