It is comforting to see that Canadian Tire seems to have the same service standard across the country!
That said, Canadian Tire's popularity in spite of it all comes from the fact that it has the most amazing variety of practical stuff that you just might need one day. If you need item X for your house, car, cottage, etc., they almost certainly have it. People from other countries I know just love Canadian Tire for this reason. They tell me: if you think of some obscure thigamajig that you need, betcha Canadian Tire will have it.
So although their customer service sucks, I'd say the purchasing division (or whatever you might call it) is top-notch.