Princess Auto

after a year and buying an electric power drill I had to return it as the chuck wasn’t spinning straight anymore. went into princess auto and got a brand new replacement one on the spot. seriously no sale is final is guaranteed!

This place sells lots of cheap things, but some of them are pretty handy. I particularly like their truck accessories section. The staff are okay, nothing to write home (or Unilocal) about. Follow the signs, no one was joking that this place is tricky to navigate to!

I called to make an inquiry if there was a left tail light for a Ford 2003 escape, however, the lady who picked up the phone answered, «who is this?» rudely and when she answered she didn’t even introduce who the company was. When I inquired:
Me: Is this Princess Auto?
Her: Yes you called us.
Me: You didn’t introduce yourself when you picked up the phone.
Her: Oh… so
Isn’t this the bare basics of customer service? especially for the front desk? Not a good start.
Her: We have the bulb it’s $ 2.99
Me: I asked for the tail light lamp, not the bulb.
Her: What model?
Me: Same model you asked me for 3 times?
Her: Oh right sorry? Yeah we don’t have that thanks. Go check out website.
Note: Their website is horribly designed and is just as much of help as her.
In all fairness I was recommended this place by the guy I am dating (his best friend). The fact that both the guy I am dating and his best friend were helping me with this issue speaks volumes, especially for something that was my fault. With that said beggers can’t be choosers.

Ive bought my share of junky tools here but when I use them once a year or once a lifetime I guess the price for quality is good enough for me. This place is like a garage sale or a yard sale. Im interested in the tools and as cheap as they are I still cant bring myself to buying them. Sometimes surplus items advertised in flyer are a good deal but the supply doesn t last by the time I get there on the w/​e. Around the corner in the neighbourhood is kms tools by the greyhound station. Between the 2 stores I can send my wife down to homesense & spend a good part of an afternoon this side of the loughheed.

Okay everyone now lets make a recipe.
1. Acquire 1 gallon lead based paint from china
2. Learn how to draw a cool fist
3. Find a connection to cheap low grade steel
Okay now that we have got everything paint your low grade steel with lead based paint from china (tastes great btw) and draw a cool fist on it. Now for the creative part. a cool name… how about … oh ummm I don’t know POWER FIST … oh man that’s cool.
Okay admittedly my tool box has a few power fist tools in it. tools that don’t really need to be quality to be good. There are a couple things that are good about this place, like the fact that they can sell anything power fist for about 6 cents and turn a profit. Also they will take back anything no questions asked. I mean I could probably grab a leaf from outside and say look what happened to my drill and they would do an exchange for me. Bad things exceed the good though, like the staff is comparable to a room full of Amy Winehouse’s … «uhh like whats a hammer, it’s probably over there I guess» * takes pull from meth pipe*. Also the quality products they do sell like vise grip brand for example are priced equally or more expensive than most places (when I go to a shoe store for a sale I’m hoping to find Nike on sale not Neke something I wish my Mom agreed with me on in high school… I wanted puma not cougar dammit…).
I wish I could like this place more and maybe I have just come on bad days, but even though this is a tool store not a make me happy factory I just cant get past the horrible and inept service I have received on my visits… I mean having to walk into the back room and break up a conversation between four employees about there conquests the other night … seriously get it together guys.

I have a love-​hate relationship with Princess.
Parking is available all over the front. However, the entrance is quite tricky to find, especially in light of all the new construction in the area. You have to look for a small alley to the W of the King Edward bridge. I found it on the 4^th attempt. They really need to put up a better sign.
Good — tons of selection.
Bad — what’s up with this Power Fist brand everywhere? They really should stock some other brands. I’m sure the tools are half-​decent, but until they’re proven in a professional setting, I think I’ll stick to other brands available elsewhere, such as Mastercraft or Snap-​on. Call me oldschool, but I’m always edgy about Taiwan-​made tools, after having several pieces fail on me in the past.
Their prices are hit or miss. Some things (simple tools especially) are quite cheap, but anything more complex (such as ratchets) are on the expensive end.
The good thing about this place is that they stand behind their tools with a nice lifetime guarantee, though I haven’t had any experience with this part.
Overall it’s a nice alternative to the Canadian Tires, Home Depots, and Sears out there.