This week in "How Do I E-Commerce?", it's Princess Auto again.

I placed an order.

Over the next 2 days, they sent me many emails:

2 order confirmations, different timestamps.

2 payment confirmations, different timestamps.

6 shipping notifications, different timestamps, containing a total of 5 different FedEx tracking numbers.

I had ordered 3 items.

#PrincessAuto #ECommerce #wat #AndAPartridgeInAPearTree #APartridgeInAPearTree #OnlineShopping

So, Crappy Tire [1] changed their mind and pleaded guilty to a bunch of violations of Quebec's consumer protection law. Surprising absolutely no one, the charges are largely about advertising items at huge discounts from "regular" prices that the products were never or rarely actually sold at.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11657561/que-canadian-tire-fines/

This is why there's a saying that "If you bought it at Canadian Tire and it wasn't at least 40% off, you got ripped off". The Bay / Hudson Bay is also famous for this kind of BS. Other provinces should also forbid this kind of dishonest manipulation, but they don't.

I wish Canadians wouldn't fall for this kind of marketing crap.

Can I tell you a secret that will save you money?

Crappy Tire sells two types of merchandise:

(1) name-brand stuff like Tupperware or Corning or whatever else
(2) crappy imported Chinesium products [2]

You can always get the first category cheaper at Walmart or other places.

And you can always get the latter cheaper from Princess Auto, or even cheaper than that from various online places. It all comes out of the same factories.

There is never a reason to shop at Crappy Tire.

[1] Widely-used nickname for "Canadian Tire".
[2] The sheer amount of imported junk gives rise to the alternate nickname "Cambodian Tire".

#CrappyTire #CanadianTire #CambodianTire #Chinesium #ripoff #discount #ConsumerProtection
#manipulation #consumer #dishonest #secret #tip #PrincessAuto #AliExpress

> You're receiving this email because you've indicated in the past that you'd like
> to receive marketing emails from Princess Auto.

Oh, no I f*cking well haven't!

Shame on you, Princess Auto!

#PrincessAuto #spam #UCE #Canada

Btw, princess auto (the Markham one, at least) has very basic but not terrible soprano ukuleles for $35.

They're Hola ones that sell on Amazon for $50+. These have Amazon ASIN numbers on the box, so they're probably overstock/returns

#ukulele #toronto #PrincessAuto #surplus

A Tale of Two Shitties... [1]

I've always done my own seasonal tire changes on my vehicle and my partner's as well. When I first started many years ago, I bought a cheapie 2-ton trolley #jack from Princess Auto - USAnians can substitute "Harbor Freight" and the story will be essentially the same.

But I replaced my vehicle a year and a half ago. The new one rides a little higher off the ground, and has the massive #wheels and #tires that have become the de facto standard, and my old jack didn't lift high enough to change the wheels on the new vehicle. Being the better part of 20 years newer, the new vehicle is also a lot heavier.

So I bought a larger 3-ton trolley jack, with a higher lift height. It's even a real name brand, #Torin. [2]

So anyways... I went to take the snow tires off on the weekend, and the new jack had #leaked, and won't lift properly. So it's sprung an o-ring or other #seal, after only using it 3 times (I think). The 20-year-old Princess Auto special is still fine. They sit next to each other in the garage, so it's not storage conditions.

Winner: Princess Auto.

Then, while changing tires, one lug #nut was #seized. Got out a decent sized breaker bar, and a 1/2" to 3/8" socket drive adapter from Princess Auto - their "pro" "Pro Point" line, yet - put my back into it, and #sheared the damn adapter off.

#Craptastic!

[1] Couldn't resist, sorry. [3]
[2] I didn't say it was a great name brand.
[3] Not sorry.

#PrincessAuto #Canada #cheap #Chinesium

@wohali

No, Harbor Freight is the USA's version of Princess Auto, which has been around since 1933. Harbor freight wasn't founded for another forty-odd years, in 1977. 😜

#PrincessAuto #HarborFreight #history #Canada