While Canadian Tire stores across Canada remain open with social distancing measures in place, locations in Ontario were required to close their brick and mortar stores almost two weeks ago. 

This came as a result of the provincial government's update to the list of essential businesses, which required all hardware stores in the province to close. 

Instead, the new list stated that stores that possess home hardware must sell "only through an alternative method of sale such as curb side pickup or delivery, except in exceptional circumstances."

As a result, Canadian Tire stores in Ontario have solely been providing curbside pickup or delivery services ever since, but it seems they're having trouble keeping up with the increased demand.

Canadian Tire's curbside pickup: order online, drive to store, check-in, wait for order to be brought to your vehicle // #Toronto #PandemicShopping pic.twitter.com/nYyM8auAxH

— sikander // 시서방 🦖 (@sikander) April 8, 2020

Many Ontario residents have taken to social media in recent days to complain about their experiences with Canadian Tire's curbside pickup service.

For example, some residents have had trouble with the company's website due to an overload of customers.

If you're thinking of ordering anything from Canadian Tire for pickup, beware that their website from 1997 is overloaded, you will have a soft auth on your CC, but they won't be able to tell you whether or not your order has gone through for a few days. Will I get it? Won't I?" one resident wrote on Twitter several days ago.

"@CanadianTire I've been trying 4 times now to checkout with 4 tires for pickup. Every time I click Checkout the button just greys out and nothing goes thru!! Wanting to pay with our Canadian tire card and do the 24 month financing!!" another wrote.

And unfortunately, it's not just the website that's having trouble keeping up — Ontarians have also been complaining about their experience while trying to pick up purchases. 

"Your curbside pick up service needs attention. There is no one answering the number posted for curbside pickup. Everyone is getting out of their car and going to the front door to see what the problem is. Trinity Commons store," one Brampton resident wrote on Twitter. 

"Having done both @CanadianTire and @HomeDepot curbside pickup, Home Depot is far better. They’ve made it seamless for the customer. It was a mess at Canadian Tire with little regard for physical distancing," another wrote.

Meanwhile, one customer complained that the entire experience was chaotic. 

@CanadianTire Is this what curbside pickup mean? The phone line doesn’t connect, person at the front doesn’t respond properly, need to wait in line for almost an hour after online ordering? Is this what serving community mean? @blogTO @fordnation @JohnTory #canadiantire pic.twitter.com/gysdIq4xwV

— VH's Creative Shutter (@vhcs007) April 18, 2020

Canadian Tire responded to this particular customer on their official Twitter account, citing a higher-than-usual volume of calls as the reason for the disorganization.

"Hi there, We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes at this time as our storefront is closed to in-store shopping. Please try your call again. Thank you for your patience during these unprecedented times," the company wrote.

Canadian Tire also posted an update online regarding issues with their website, asking everyone to bear with them as they do their best to navigate these issues during such difficult times.

"Right now, I know that many of you are experiencing significant challenges with the Canadian Tire website. We know that this is incredibly frustrating for you – it’s frustrating for us too," they wrote. 

"With so many Canadians turning to eCommerce and our Curbside Pick Up service to get their essentials, our website has seen incredible increases in demand and is frankly, over capacity. We have the best team possible working around the clock and as quickly as possible to expand capacity and reinforce stability so that you can continue shopping with us. We are grateful for your understanding as we work through this challenge."