Returns and Refunds Policy

This returns policy sets out exactly what happens when a machine or a part is not right: how long you have, what condition it needs to be in, who pays the freight, and how quickly the money reaches you. Snow blowers are heavy, awkward and expensive to move, so an honest returns policy for this category is more detailed than a clothing shop’s, and we would rather you read it before you order than after.

The returns policy window, and when the clock starts

You have thirty days from the day the item is delivered, not the day you ordered it. For a freight machine that distinction can be a fortnight, so we date the window from the carrier’s proof of delivery.

Thirty days is deliberately longer than the fourteen many retailers offer, for a specific reason. Snow equipment is often bought in October and not genuinely tested until the first real storm. A window that expires before the snow arrives is a window designed to be useless. Thirty days will not always cover the first snowfall either, which is why the warranty policy matters more than this returns policy for anything that is a fault rather than a change of mind.

Two things to separate in your head from the start. A return is you deciding you do not want the item. A warranty claim is the item failing to do what it was sold to do. They run on different timelines, different rules and different people pay the shipping. This page is about the first. If the machine is faulty, go to the warranty page instead and you will be better off.

What condition our returns policy requires

Unused and in resalable condition, in its original packaging, with all manuals, tools, shear pins, chute cranks and any bundled accessories present.

Resalable is the operative word and it is not a trap. It means the next customer would accept it as new. A machine that has been assembled and looked at is fine. A machine that has been fuelled, started and run through wet snow is not, because there is now oil and fuel in it, the paddles are scuffed, and we cannot legally or honestly sell it as new.

Parts have a simpler test. An unopened belt, shear pin kit, paddle set or cable in its original bag comes back without argument. A belt that has been fitted and run for ten minutes has glazing on the contact faces and cannot go back on the shelf. If you are unsure whether a part will fit, ask us through the contact page with the stock number before you install it. Our snow blower parts listings print the manufacturer stock number on every page precisely so this conversation is short.

Keep the box. This is the single most common reason a return becomes complicated. A two stage snow blower ships in a purpose built carton with internal bracing, and no general purpose packaging will get it back to us undamaged. If the carton is gone we can usually still help, but we will need to charge for repackaging.

Who pays the freight under this returns policy

This is where most policies get vague. Our returns policy does not.

When the fault is ours, we pay every cent of moving the item both ways. We will email you a prepaid label for a parcel, or book a pallet collection for a machine. You should never be out of pocket because we shipped the wrong thing.

When it is a change of mind, you pay the return freight. On a belt that is a few dollars. On a 34 inch two stage machine it can be well over two hundred, because a pallet moves on a truck with a tail lift and that is what it costs. We are not making money on it and we will tell you the number before you commit.

The fifteen percent restocking fee applies only to a machine that has come out of its carton and is being returned purely because you changed your mind. It covers inspection, repackaging and the fact that the unit can no longer be sold as new. It never applies to a fault, a damaged delivery or our mistake.

If it arrives damaged

Inspect the shipment before you sign for it. That is the single most valuable sentence in this returns policy.

If the carton is crushed, punctured, water stained or the pallet is leaning, write damaged on the carrier’s paperwork before you sign. A signature without a notation is treated by every freight carrier in Canada as confirmation that the goods arrived in good order, and it makes a claim far harder for everyone.

If you have already signed and then discovered damage, tell us within forty eight hours through the contact page. Send photographs of the outer packaging, the damage itself and the shipping label. We will file the carrier claim, which is our job and not yours, and we will send a replacement or refund without waiting for the carrier to finish their process.

Under this returns policy you are never asked to fight a freight carrier on our behalf. We chose the carrier and we hold the contract with them. Details of how shipments are booked and what the delivery windows look like are on the shipping and delivery policy.

How to start a return

Starting a claim under this returns policy takes four steps, and none of them involve a phone tree.

1. Write to us through the contact page with your order number and what is wrong. A photograph helps for anything physical.
2. We reply with a return authorisation and, where we are paying, a prepaid label or a booked collection. Do not ship anything back before you have this. Unannounced returns arrive at a warehouse with no paperwork and take far longer to refund.
3. Pack the item in its original carton with the authorisation number visible on the outside.
4. Send it, or wait in for the collection if it is a machine.

We inspect within two business days of arrival. If everything is as described, the refund is issued the same day. If there is a discrepancy, for instance a missing chute crank or a machine that has clearly been run, we photograph it and email you before doing anything, rather than quietly deducting an amount and hoping you do not notice.

How the money comes back, and how long it takes

Refunds under this returns policy go back to the original payment method. We cannot send a card refund to a different card, and we cannot convert a card payment into an Interac transfer, because the reversal has to follow the same path the money took. That is a card network rule, not our preference, and the reasoning is explained further on the payment and security page.

Once we issue the refund it is out of our hands and into the banking system. Our side takes minutes. Your side depends on your issuer.

If more than ten business days have passed since we told you the refund was issued and you still cannot see it, contact your card issuer first. Ask them specifically about pending credits, which frequently exist on their system before they appear on your statement. If they have nothing, come back to us with the date and we will supply the transaction reference.

Original outbound shipping is refunded when the return is our fault and is not refunded on a change of mind. If free shipping was applied because the order passed a threshold, and the return drops it below that threshold, the actual shipping cost we absorbed is deducted. We show that number rather than a made up figure.

The five exceptions to this returns policy

Every returns policy has exceptions and most bury them. Here are the five in ours, in full.

• Fuelled or run machines. Once fuel or oil has been through an engine we cannot ship it as new, and in most cases we cannot legally ship it by road at all without draining and declaring it.
• Installed wear parts. A fitted belt, a used paddle set, a bent shear pin. These are consumables and installation is the point of no return.
• Special order attachments. A three point hitch unit configured to your tractor’s category, or a skid steer head matched to your hydraulic flow, is built or sourced for you specifically. We will tell you clearly at the point of sale that an item is special order.
• Items returned after thirty days where the issue is not a fault. A fault after thirty days is a warranty matter and is still covered.
• Items with no proof of purchase that we cannot match to an order in our system.

Nothing on this list overrides your statutory rights. Provincial consumer protection legislation gives you remedies that a policy cannot remove, and the federal Competition Bureau Canada enforces rules against misleading representations about what those remedies are. If our policy and the law disagree, the law wins and we will apply it.

Your statutory rights sit above this returns policy

No returns policy can shrink your statutory rights. Consumer protection in Canada is largely provincial. The details differ between Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and the rest, but the core is consistent: goods must match their description, be of acceptable quality, and be fit for the purpose they were sold for.

A snow blower advertised as a two stage machine that arrives as a single stage is not a change of mind situation, it is a misdescription, and no restocking fee applies. A machine that will not throw snow further than its own housing on its first outing is not fit for purpose, whatever the thirty day window says.

If you are in Ontario, Consumer Protection Ontario publishes a plain language summary of what you are entitled to and how to escalate. Other provinces run equivalent offices. We would much rather resolve a problem directly, but we are not going to pretend those routes do not exist.

Sizing disputes are worth a separate mention because they are common and they are usually avoidable. If a machine is too small for your driveway, that is a sizing mistake rather than a defect, and it falls under change of mind. Read the best snow blowers in Canada and use the snow depth finder on our home page before ordering, or ask us. A five minute conversation is cheaper than return freight on a pallet.

Cancelling before it ships

Cancelling is not the same as invoking the returns policy. If the order has not yet been picked, cancellation is free and immediate. Write through the contact page with the order number and we will stop it.

Parts ship quickly, often the same day, so the window there can be a matter of hours. Machines take longer to prepare because they move by freight, which gives you more room. Once a pallet has been collected by the carrier we cannot recall it in transit, and at that point it becomes a return under the rules above rather than a cancellation.

If you want to change an order rather than cancel it, say so. Swapping a 24 inch for a 28 inch before dispatch costs nobody anything. Doing it after delivery costs two freight movements and a restocking fee. We will always tell you which side of that line you are on.

Exchanges and how they differ

Our returns policy treats an exchange as a refund and a new order rather than a swap, because it is cleaner for both sides. You get the money back on the original payment method and you place a fresh order for the item you actually want.

This matters for a practical reason: the replacement is not held for you while the original is in transit back to us. Stock in this category is seasonal and the popular widths disappear in January. If the replacement is something you need in stock, order it now and let the refund catch up rather than waiting.

Where the exchange is caused by our error, we ship the correct item immediately and collect the wrong one at the same time, so you are not left without a machine before a storm. That is the one case where we do hold stock for you.

Parts, wear items and the fit question

The most frequent claim under this returns policy is a part that does not fit, and almost every one of them could have been avoided at the ordering stage. Auger belts in particular look identical across a dozen machines and differ by a few millimetres of length or a different profile.

Every part listing on this site prints the manufacturer stock number, the profile and the length. Match the stock number stamped on your old part, not the appearance. If the old part is destroyed and unreadable, tell us the machine model and we will look it up. Our snow blower repair guide explains where the stock number is stamped on each common component.

An unopened part comes back for a full refund inside thirty days, no fee, no argument. That is a deliberately generous position on low value items, because the alternative is customers guessing and then not bothering to return, which helps nobody. Related reading before you order: the terms and conditions for the contract itself, the privacy policy for what we do with the order record, and the shipping and delivery policy for how long a part takes to reach your province.

Common questions