I purchased a bicycle from Canadian Tire which I rode once for less than 4 kilometres. After riding the bike, I was not happy with it because it really did not support my weight (200 pds), and was not great in terms of ergonomics and speed/comfort versus my existing bike I bought from them 10 years prior.
I brought the newly purchased bike back to the store the following morning for refund or exchange and was told that they did not take returns on bikes that were already used. I informed them that I did have all the original packaging (the instructions attached in a baggy to the bike and the cardboard that was put in the wheels) and the reason for my refund/exchange. The exchange rep at Cdn Tire then informed me that they are very clear on their no refund/exchange policy on the purchase of their bicycles because it has already been rode and there are signs in the store that state that. I brought up points that I thought were valid and fair and that was 1) I did not see any sign clearly in the bicycle dept. stating that 2) I spoke to a salesperson before buying the bike about my concern regarding my weight and he said bring it back to the store if there are problems 3) and the back of the receipt stating the item can be brought back to the store in 90 days, in its original condition and packaging with receipt.
She eventually took back the bike charging a 15% restocking fee which amounted to a loss of around $60 off the original price. I let her know that I understand what she was saying that because I rode the bike, it is technically not in its "original condition" as mentioned on the back of the receipt regarding the return policy. I let her know that there is no way to find out about the bike without not riding it and keeping it in "original condition". A customer cannot test the bikes out in the stores so it's very difficult to determine if the bike is a good fit or not. I also let the Cdn Tire return rep know that their staff should be better trained in their knowledge of the bikes and policies if they are to set special conditions on returns/exchanges. If I had known of this, I would not have even considered buying a bike at Canadian Tire.
Just posting this to let everyone know cause it cost me $60 to learn this. If someone were purchasing a larger ticket item from Canadian Tire, it may be a very expensive lesson.