When Home Depot, Canadian Tire, and Rona doesn't make the cut. You come here. I had plumbing issues. The nut surrounding a faucet cartridge was too big for any of my wrenches and sockets. Online searches for a larger socket/wrench lead me to sets of sockets and wrenches in the hundreds of $$'s. I didn't need that. All I needed was one size, since I have the ratchet. Princess Auto popped up on my search. Lo and behold, they sell the individual sockets from ~$10 - $15 each! Exactly what I was looking for! A far cry from the 100's of $$'s. Problem solved. I also had to get a driver adapter for the 1/4 in to 1/2 in size for the socket. I ended up getting 5 sockets in total, because I didn't know the size of that nut. I did this over two visits. Returns and exchanges were a breeze. No questions asked. I only needed the one socket an they happily delivered for my needs. It's out of the way for me, but it meant that I didn't have to buy an entire set of tools that would end up sitting around. In search of an odd tool? Recommend you do a search here. They just might have it. read more

Good old Princess Auto. I haven't shopped here in ages. I work nearby and was asked a friend to drop by to pick up some hex screws. Wow nothing has changed since last time I was here which was like at least 7 years ago. Princess Auto can be compared to Harbour Tools in the USA. Their prices are at the low end but there is a reason for that. You are sacrificing quality too for the price you pay. Overall, it is not bad. There are plenty of parking here. But to get to the store is quite tricky. It is not easy to find the entrance. They do have a giant sign that say Princess Auto. The store is big. read more

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Online inventory and instore computer listing of inventory was way ofg in three stores ottawa east/west and kingston. Each said had 8-1] trailer tires in stock but actually had zero stock. Wasted my day read more

Ordered online. Was an on sale item. By the time they filled it two days later, everything on sale was out of stock. Why both offering online ordering it takes so long to pull the item off the shelf. Since they have so many bad reviews my thought is they couldn't care less. read more

Not happy with the service at all they changed the store around couldn't find what I needed ask for help I just talked to like I was stupid not going back there​​​​ read more

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 4th 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. read more

A fun store to hunt for tools and random gear. They have an excellent assortment of items. Call ahead for something specific and they are great about finding it for you. Customer service in store is not so friendly, which is why i docked the 1 star. Their website is great at finding what you want. Plenty of parking out front. Kinda hidden away so Google Map is a great tool to find the place for the first time out. Happy shopping! read more

très mauvais service clientèle au téléphone surtout de Cornilia qui est très bête et méprisante quand elle nous parle elle représente le magasin et ça donne pas une belle imagine pour la compagnie read more

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. read more

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 yelp) about. Follow the signs, no one was joking that this place is tricky to navigate to! read more

Went in on November 26th at ~2 pm to get an item for a Christmas gift. It was on the pricey side so I wanted to make sure it was a certain model so needed one simple question confirmed. The gal helping me didn't know the answer so took me to a guy working at a bench in the hydraulic section of the store and man was he rude. He grumped at the person helping me that he wouldn't know any more than what the description had on the item. When I told him what information I was looking to confirm his response was condescending and his attitude was horrible. I let him and the gal helping me know that I wasn't impressed with him and walked away and as I was the staff member got sarcastic and yelled after me "you're welcome ma'am" knowing full well I was furious at how badly he handled the situation. This fellow should not EVER be allowed to deal with other humans. He is the only reason the store lost a quick, easy $500 sale. I called the manager as I left the store to let her know what happened and she was apologetic, but the damage has been done. I will never shop Princess Auto again and neither will my husband who has shopped there a lot in the past. read more

I cannot say enough good things about Princess Auto when it comes to service. If a purchased article fails to perform they are more than happy to replace it, give a credit, or give you your money back. read more

My grandpa was in the store with my nephew and bought my brother a welder, when we gave the welder to him for his birthday he pointed out it was missing a lot of the key components. We contacted the store about a week ago, they said no problem just come in and we will "fix you up". Not realizing we forgot the receipt but the young man we dealt with got the acting manager (Kristie Saunders) to get involved, she soon located the necessary parts and went above and beyond to make sure we were 100% satisfied with our purchase. read more

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. read more

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. read more

Princess auto is for the average DIY or Small contractors. Their products are getting better and better; as long as you stay away from Made in China or PRC (stands for People's Republic of China, Chinese Deceit). Stick with purchasing Made in Taiwan (as we no longer see Canadian, Japanese, German or USA) much as possible, Taiwanese been picking up popularity as they've been proven over and over w/ high quality tools, comparable or exceeds to North American standards. read more

I thought it a good idea to read others' reviews before writing mine. One review stood out as lacking in basic geographic knowledge, which I wished to correct. When I finished reading the reviews one more review was available but hidden by Yelp censors. It concerned the post which lacked geographical knowledge - the censored poster had felt the same as I did, corrected the initial poster, and was then refused open publication. The initial poster's comment was ignorant - it may merit censorship but the poster who corrected the ignorant should not be censored. Thus, we're both off to a poor Yelp start. There is one word in the censored comment that could be considered impolite but his basic point is sound: you criticized the wrong country. You have confused shoppers. The typical PA client may not know Nation A from Nation B as he does not read the Economist frequently. Someone has to tell him. Telling him should not be censored, particularly by a firm, Yelp, that preaches transparency. So, having already written a critique, & aware of Yelp's censorship, I'll leave it at that for today. My opinion of PA will be in another post. read more

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! read more