I had pretty much given up on my local store at Keele/St.Claire Ave.
I actually drove right by it today, to shop at a different Canadian Tire on Eglinton Ave.
I wanted to buy a catalogue-featured item, an inexpensive video camera #199-0336-0 but past experience told me that when I finally did find one of their disinterested, surly staff at the St.Claire store, he/she’d tell me that, “Sorry, we had had four originally, but they're all sold.”
Were I ever to get the staffer to check the computer, he’d inevitably say something along the lines of “The Lakeshore Ave store has sixteen left…”
Apart from ordering what I assume is the minimum amount of these “loss leader” items, of which there is probably almost no profit, and suggesting another (more expensive) brand, an illegal marketing practice called “bait and switch” the management of this particular store distinguishes itself by its seeming non-existence.
It used to be that I’d walk around what seemed like the entire store trying to find something, without seeing a single redshirt to ask, only to find a gaggle four or five of them, chatting somewhere as a group.
What kind of manager allows that?
Not that the Crappy Tire redshirts at this store were ever particularly useful, regardless. Ask three of them the same, “Where can I find…“ question, and you’d get three different, sulky answers. All wrong, and all seemingly guesses. But it would sort of narrow it down. Somewhere between aisle 48 and 55.
The little elves at a Walmart, by contrast, not only know their store, but will drop what their doing in a heartbeat, and DRAG you over to the item you want and point right at it.
Well, the trip to the Eglinton store was a waste of time too. I showed the redshirt a picture, and he says, Oh, we didn’t get any of those. The ‘such and such’ store has them…”
What a place.
To hell with them.
I think I’ll be doing a consumer boycott.
Certainly, if I had any stock in the damn company, I’d sell it.
I actually drove right by it today, to shop at a different Canadian Tire on Eglinton Ave.
I wanted to buy a catalogue-featured item, an inexpensive video camera #199-0336-0 but past experience told me that when I finally did find one of their disinterested, surly staff at the St.Claire store, he/she’d tell me that, “Sorry, we had had four originally, but they're all sold.”
Were I ever to get the staffer to check the computer, he’d inevitably say something along the lines of “The Lakeshore Ave store has sixteen left…”
Apart from ordering what I assume is the minimum amount of these “loss leader” items, of which there is probably almost no profit, and suggesting another (more expensive) brand, an illegal marketing practice called “bait and switch” the management of this particular store distinguishes itself by its seeming non-existence.
It used to be that I’d walk around what seemed like the entire store trying to find something, without seeing a single redshirt to ask, only to find a gaggle four or five of them, chatting somewhere as a group.
What kind of manager allows that?
Not that the Crappy Tire redshirts at this store were ever particularly useful, regardless. Ask three of them the same, “Where can I find…“ question, and you’d get three different, sulky answers. All wrong, and all seemingly guesses. But it would sort of narrow it down. Somewhere between aisle 48 and 55.
The little elves at a Walmart, by contrast, not only know their store, but will drop what their doing in a heartbeat, and DRAG you over to the item you want and point right at it.
Well, the trip to the Eglinton store was a waste of time too. I showed the redshirt a picture, and he says, Oh, we didn’t get any of those. The ‘such and such’ store has them…”
What a place.
To hell with them.
I think I’ll be doing a consumer boycott.
Certainly, if I had any stock in the damn company, I’d sell it.
