Canadian Tire

My shopping experience at Canadian Tire is often, nay - usually! - fraught with frustration.

Today I went to purchase a pot, a cooking pot which was on sale at 70% off. On my way to the pot aisle, I passed by the silicone oven products, like baking sheets, muffin, cake and loaf pans, etc. There at half price - $4.99 instead of $9.99 - were two rose-shaped muffin trays (I keep wanting to call them tins, but, of course, they're silicone, so that doesn't make sense), the bottom of each cup molded into the shape of a top of a rose.

I put them in my cart, found my pot (and a small frying pan for my daughter) and proceeded to checkout. The rose-muffin pans rang up as $8.99 each. I pointed out that they were supposed to be $4.99. The cashier went to look, called me over, and indeed, they were $8.99, a clearance price.

Only, they had been placed above the $4.99 sign, which I (and probably others) assumed, without putting on our reading glasses to see the fine print describing the item, went with the rose-shaped pans. All the other silicone containers were on sale at half price.

So, all right. Did I want them? asked the cashier. No, I didn't. She had to call in a manager to process the refund and, after obtaining the printout, asked me if I wanted a copy. Well, sure, since she seemed to have a couple in her hand.

So, without telling me she had to go across the store to the copy machine in order to make one (!), off she trotted. She returned with a copy in print so small, no one but the eagle-eyed could read it, even with glasses. (Why was the copier set to print so tiny?)

I'm telling my tale only to illustrate the niggling little irritations which fall into each of our days. The cashier was lovely and efficient (except that she could have told me she was leaving to make a copy, not just handing one over, giving me the option to say not to bother). I have trouble standing up for long periods (like 5 minutes), so waiting became an ordeal for me. I had already put my cart back, so had nothing to lean on.

Canadian Tire and I have a love-hate relationship. I have bought so much stuff from them over the decades and much of it has broken, either right away or soon after purchase. It's a hassle to drive back, so I put it off until it's too late to get a  refund.

The products that I have purchased that have been really good are few. Still, I'm attracted to the store every time their weekly catalogue arrives with its sales items prominent on the front and back covers. There's always the urgency of getting there early the first day of a weekend sale, in order not to 'be disappointed'. They've got their marketing technique down pat.

I wish I weren't such a glutton. I still have the table saw I bought at Canadian Tire 6 years ago (at great savings) under my bed , unopened.