RONA sells broken crap
My consumer advice for October: Don't Buy From RONA.
I should mention that RONA is the closest hardware store to my home, and for a while even though I disliked the store and their service was abhorrent, it was a quick place to get an odd bit of hardware when I needed it. And, they're open later than most places. Then I had a few incidents with RONA which I'll tell you about. I haven't been back since and never plan to. And now I'm evangelizing my RONA boycott.
Twice now, I've bought something from RONA in Kitchener, brought it home, and found something wrong with it. See, what RONA does is they take returns, stuff other people already bought and didn't want and brought back, tape them back up, and put them back on the shelf. Yes I know most other stores do that too, but at RONA they don't even check to see if the stuff is all there or still in sellable condition.
I picked a programmable thermostat off the shelf. There were only three left, and they had all been opened before. I brought all three up to the service counter, and pointed out that among the three packages, there were things missing from 2 of them which the third had, but the third one had no instruction booklet in the package that the other two did. I really wanted the thermostat, so they cracked two of them open and assembled a complete package for me using pieces from each. In that instance, a little caution and a lot of time invested prevented me from getting hosed by RONA.
I've returned a few things to RONA, and their return policy is pretty typical. Bring the receipt, give back the item, and you either get back your money or you can get a replacement. I brought back a B&D circular saw that had a problem with the axle (making a loud grinding noise and a funny smell), and they graciously took it as a trade-in for a Skilsaw. Now I wonder: did they tape up my old broken saw and sell it to someone else? I'll be watching the news for any suspicious stories of home carpentry amputations.
Then a while later I bought a ShopVac. Turns out that it was previously opened, and taped with that clear packing tape to look like it was still in its original packaging. Well a few weeks later when I wanted to try it out, I found that my new vaccuum cleaner had NO HOSE. No Hose! I mean, it's not like there was a little upholstery attachment or a cord caddy twist tie missing, it was the goddamn hose. Someone who needed a ShopVac hose bought a ShopVac from RONA, took out the hose, and returned it. Then RONA taped it all back up and sold it to me.
Now from all this I learned two lessons. One, never buy anything from RONA because they box up used broken shit and sell it to suckers like me. Two, if I ever need a spare part for something, I'll go to RONA, buy something, bring it out to my car and remove the parts I need, then bring it back in to return it. Given their policy on selling incomplete broken shit, I can always claim that the parts were already missing when I bought it. It's like shoplifting, but better because you don't have to be sneaky.
Don't Buy From RONA.
Filed under Uncategorized
May 11th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Try returning a deffective gas operated item and see what happens, they just won’t take it back because you put gas in it.
July 26th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I know this is an old blog post of yours, but it arrives as the first entry in Google when searching for “rona return policy”. Same story here in Montreal; the Rona is a 4 minute walk from my place, whereas Canadian Tire is about 20 minutes. Their hours are actually way shorter than CT at this location, but this is a small Rona in Plateau Mont Royal. Service is fairly good, however.
Anyway, a week and a half ago, I bought a undercabinet fluorescent light fixture. Normally these lights sell for $26 or so, but they were on sale for $14.50. That was the first warning. I just wanted a cheap light for a room—more utility than beauty, and not as expensive as a lamp. Plus, I thought about using a pair for some tabletop photography, or making a cheap light table for drawing. If this was a good light, I’d even buy a second one.
Three days after I brought it home, it just failed to light up. I tried removing and reinstalling the bulb, but wasn’t able to get more than a millisecond flicker out of it. I end up reading this blog entry when looking up their return policy online, and I begin to be a bit more wary.
I bring the light back to Rona the next day, and ask if I can exchange it. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I still want this type of light, but this particular one might simply be faulty. The guy working the counter plugs it in and fiddles with it for 5 minutes before he gets it to light up again. He declares the light functional, and asks if I want it back! I refuse, on the grounds of it seeming to be poorly made. He grudgingly agrees to this assertion. I make a swap for a box that seems relatively unmarred and previously unopened, and bring home light #2.
This second light is clearly a return; the plastic bag it comes in after you unbox it has been cut open. Of course, as expected, the same thing happened. Three days after bringing it home, the light flickers orange and makes a popping sound, and won’t light up again. I wasn’t in the room when the first one stopped functioning, but I suspect the tube is fine, it just has a really, really shoddy connection. I try to fix it the way the employee at Rona did—twisting the tube, squeezing the plastic housing, grunting—but to no avail.
So yeah, I am just confirming Ian’s observations… Rona does box up broken/subpar product and reshelve it. In fact, they might have put them on sale because there are suckers like me. Maybe everything left in the pile is a return, and the product is actually quality!
Now, if this happens to others, don’t take it out on the staff. They don’t make the policy, and getting mad at one of them won’t make your broken stuff work better. One of the Rona employees even advised me to just go to Canadian Tire, because they are cheaper, and have more selection.
Returning light #2 today…
November 18th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
for the iddiot who posted the 2nd comment about gas machines being returned. NOOO retailer will ever take back a gas powered machine b/c a vedor won’t take it back, and it ends up being a write-off. RONA does have a place where you could take ur machine to get it fixed. if its under warranty -no cost, if it not tough.
About taking back return merchandise, taping it up and putting it back on the shelf. that stuff does happen in store it gets taken back to a the appropriate vendor for repackaging and then return to the store for resale.
RONA is exactly the same as home depot canadian tire lowes wallmart, besides them being canadian.