This is definitely a story for Friday Frustrations but it couldn’t wait till then.  I received last Friday night, the worse Customer Service that I’ve ever received.  The worse part is that it came from the manager at Canadian Tire.  Canadian Tire is a home hardware store similar to Home Depot in products but not customer service.

Here is a copy of the email I sent Canadian Tire’s Customer Relations department.

To the attention of the Customer Relations manager:

(This email is a bit long but I have a lot to share.  I will try to shorten it as best I can.)

I am hoping that this email makes it to the attention of someone who truly cares about their customers.  From the experience I received on Friday July 10th, I am made to believe that Canadian Tire does not care about it’s customers.  At least not the management team over at the Laval location on Corbusier.

My parents went to Canadian Tire on Blvd Corbusier in Laval, Quebec to buy a lawnmower on Thursday July 9.  My younger sister went with them to be able to bring the lawnmower home.  They looked around for service and could not find any.  I know in these difficult times, company’s have been cutting back on payroll and it’s been getting harder to find service in certain stores.  Without the help they needed, they settled for the Yardworks 8A / 14-in 2-in-1 Electric Lawn Mower.  The box was placed under the display for customers to serve themselves.

My younger brother tried to mow the lawn the next day only to find out quickly that this lawnmower would not be able to do it’s job.  It stopped working at one point and my brother could no longer start the lawnmower.  He had to borrow a lawnmower from a neighbour to finish the job.  I asked him to put it back in the box and went with my Mom and brother to the same Canadian Tire 300 in Laval to get an exchange.

I explained to the customer service representative the story and she called an associate to check the lawnmower.  He arrived, never looked me in the eye and turned to the customer service representative and said, “I don’t need to check it I could tell from the grass smell that it’s been used.”  I explained again that my brother did use it to cut the lawn but it was of such poor quality that he couldn’t finish cutting the lawn.  They informed me that they don’t take back merchandise that is used.

The manager came and I thought at least I’d now be dealing with someone who will try to listen to my needs.

Boy was I wrong.

Here are just some of his interactions with one of your customers.

I explained that it wouldn’t start.  He scoffed like I was lying.  It did start at the store but probably because the mower’s engine had time to cool down.  I did not appreciate being treated like a liar.

I explained how we were not asking for our money back but simply wanted to make an exchange for a more expensive gas powered mower to which he replied, “Do you know how much I make on a $250 Gas Mower? $5.”  I was a little taken aback by the rudeness in his voice.

I referred to the return/exchange policy which stated that returns would be accepted under the condition that the customer brings back the original receipt and packaging, both conditions of which I met.  He replied that they don’t take back products that were used.  When I asked it why it wasn’t written on the policy, he angrily replied, “If we had to write every one of our exceptions to our policy, we would be handing you a book with your purchase.”  By the way, I don’t consider a lawnmower that couldn’t even finish cutting the lawn, used.

I asked him what were we suppose to do with a lawnmower.  His answer, “Why should I lose money because of your mother’s purchasing mistakes?” I replied, “because of customer service”.

His reply and I underline this, “Do you know where customer service gets companies?  I worked for Eaton’s for 25 years and good customer service got me without a job and pension”.

He repeated again that he’s not going to lose money out of his pocket (like I believe that) because my Mom decided she wants something more powerful.

I don’t know why I was still trying to make him understand our situation since he clearly did not care.  I then told him, “I’ve been in customer service for almost 20 years and I understand that some days could be rough.  I’ve dealt with customers who yell and scream and call me names.  It can be very hard to remain polite and willing to help those customers.  But, throughout our whole conversation, I’ve been nothing but polite and professional because I understand your position (he did agree that I was polite and calm).  What I don’t understand is why from the moment you arrived, you were already angry with me?”

His reply, “because I already knew what you were going to ask for.  They told me on the phone”.  So without even talking to me, he decides already that I pissed him off.  He also said that I was too persistent and didn’t want to leave.  I didn’t want to leave because I wanted a solution to my problem.  At least an attempt at a solution.

When I asked him for his name and number of Head office, I also asked if he could write down that he doesn’t want to lose money for my mother’s mistakes.  He got extremely angry and threatened to kick me out.

He did mention that each Canadian Tire is independently owned and can make their own decisions.  I’m hoping that the company does still back their name even if independent companies decide that customer service is not important.

I left the store, confused and shocked at his unwillingness to even try to help.  In a time with so much competition and price wars, customer service is THE difference maker.  My parents were punished with no service during their selection and punished again when they realized that clearly the product they bought would not meet their needs.

Customer service 101 use to teach that a happy customer tells 4 people while an unhappy one tells 10.  Clearly, this is not the case anymore with the information age.  A unhappy customer can now easily post a complaint online that will reach thousands if not millions of readers.  All for a $149 lawnmower that did not do it’s job.  Actually, all because a manager was having a bad day and decided that me as the customer would not get my way.

What’s ironic is that my husband went on Sunday to the same Canadian Tire to try to exchange it himself.  He told the manager (same guy) that my brother tried to cut the grass but it only cut halfway (same story).  Do you know what he said? “it’s within the policy so it’s o.k”.  He put it back in the box and put it back on the selling floor. My husband exchanged it no problem.

My question, does your policy depend on the mood of the manager?