Markham Canadian Tire store rips off female motorists

Just got a call from my dear daughter. She's sitting in the waiting room at the Markham Canadian Tire. Her car overheated. They've already stung her for a $60 "diagnosis."

Now they want $275 to replace an $18 rad hose.

I'm not very mechanistically inclined, and I therefore like to leave my serious car repairs to professionals. It's disconcerting to have a handful of nuts and bolts left over after a brake job.

But replacing a rad hose?

That's something I've done before and will do again. You loosen up a clamp at this end, loosen up a clamp at the other end, slip the old rad hose off, wriggle the new one into place, and tighten those clamps.

Even a klutz like me can do that in under a half hour.

So how does Canadian Tire justify $275 for this half hour job?

Because this particular Canadian Tire store is obviously managed by folks who believe that all women are stupid when it comes to car repair.

The sad thing is they're probably right. They get away with this day after day and year after year, because women trust the guys who are fixing their cars.

They especially trust them when those guys are hiding behind a national brand name like Canadian Tire.