Canadian Tire SCOP

[docbosh]

Heh, it's been eons since my last original customer service story. So lemme tell you kids I'm still at it, though I never know if the book will ever write itself at this point.

OK, so, there I was at a Canadian Tire in LaSalle, QC in January after a big snow fall and I was picking up new wipers and some fluid. They had a sale on the wiper fluid, $2.49 each (or something close to that). They had a pallet with the jugs in boxes of 2 where it was clearly marked the price, 3.85l for $2.49, so I grabbed a box. At the cash I was just about to swipe my debit card when I stopped to ask why the bill had come up a couple of dollars higher than I calculated in my head. It turned out the code on the box of 2 jugs was $6.98. I told the cashier the scanner error, and she said there was no error, and I told her the price, she said I must have grabbed the wrong box, that they have many different ones. I said no, and she opened the box and took one and scanned it and the prices was correct. At that point I pointed to the SCOP, which in Quebec isn't voluntary. She didn't catch my point that there was a scanner error. I told her according to the code of practice that the product was supposed to be free but she wouldn't relent. I asked to see a manager, and she called some one, it became clear quickly that the person who came over wasn't a manager. I asked again to see a manager, the cashier repeated my question back to me, "you want to speak to a manager?" as though she was surprised I wanted to actually speak to a manager. I thought that much was understandable, so this time she actually calls over a manager.

Enter manager deSoto. He wants to know what the trouble is and I explain it and point to the SCOP. He proceeds to tell me that they don't sell boxes of fluid, they only sell it by the jug. I point out the pallet. He tells me about how busy they are and how much he has sold, and that they just didn't have time to open boxes. I re-explain that if it can be scanned and a price come up then it is an error and the code should be corrected, as I nearly missed the difference in price, and had I said nothing, I would have ended up paying more for nothing... That is after all why they have the Scanner Code of Practice in the first place. This manager BTW was very rude, and kept interrupting me as I spoke even when I asked him politely to stop interrupting me. He even threatened to call the cops. I was about to leave when I decided to go back and write down his name. He shoved his name tag in my face, practically, and told me he didn't give a "sh*t" and a few other choice words.

When I got home I called Canadian Tire's head office, and explained the situation to the lady on the phone. I told her I was very disappointed with the service and that the manager had broken company policy according to a document available in PDF format on the web site. Nevertheless, I have learned that you need not beat around the bush, and say what it is that you want with companies. I said I wanted Canadian Tire to honour the SCOP, and give me the amount of the wiper fluid in compenation for wasting my time. She told me there was nothing she could do since I didn't actually buy the wiper fluid. She told me she would call the store's head manager and explain the situation (different guy BTW I checked the name she said), she told me that he would call me back at latest the next day. I never heard back.

I have since decided not to shop at Canadian Tire, there are enough other big box stores out there not to even notice the difference. I think it's kind of sad that it comes to that. I didn't go in looking for free wiper fluid, but I know and have used the SCOP many times. It is supposed to be the rap on the knuckles for the error they have made, surely there were others who paid and didn't even notice they were paying $2 more for their goods. As I said they were boxes of 2 jugs, not 4 or 6, these were intended to be sold in the box, which is why there was a pallet of them, and the code on the box was something readable at the cash, so it could have been easily adjusted in the computer to scan at $4.98 instead of $6.98. I certainly feel like I've gotten shabby service and don't think that it'll likely change