Tim Hortons trouble brewing: customer scolded over food for homeless woman
By The Canadian Press
TORONTO - A brouhaha over breakfast for a homeless woman has put Tim Hortons on the defensive again, the latest in a series of public-relations black eyes for the Canadian coffee giant.
A woman in Toronto ran afoul of a downtown Tim Hortons outlet Wednesday morning after buying breakfast for a homeless woman. An employee was reportedly unhappy the homeless woman stayed in the coffee shop to eat, telling the Good Samaritan - investment manager Teresa Lee - that homeless people "make a mess."
Tim Hortons spokeswoman Rachel Douglas said in an e-mail Friday that the homeless woman had previously been disruptive in the store.
"Anyone who poses a risk to a safe customer environment is not welcome in the stores, especially if they have a history of making threatening disturbances," Douglas wrote.
"Staff was reacting to that history; of course the customer could not have known that."
Tim Hortons later apologized to Lee.
"We strive for 100 per cent customer satisfaction but we appreciate the need to do even better," Douglas wrote.
Two weeks ago, a single mother of four was fired from a Tim Hortons franchise in London, Ont., for giving away a 16-cent Timbit to a baby, although she was quickly rehired.
Nicole Lilliman, who had worked at the store for three years, said she thought little of the incident since Timbits are often doled out to dogs and children.
Lilliman said the baby girl was about 11 months old, and she gave her the treat to quiet her because her mom - a regular customer - had been "having a bad day."
She didn't think anything about the incident until she was summoned into the store's office by three managers two days later.
The managers told Lilliman she had been caught on video giving free food to a child, and she was fired for theft.
A lawsuit against a Toronto franchise owner over an allegedly pilfered toonie is also before the courts.
Charlene Walsh was fired from the Tim Hortons she worked at in June 1999, when she was seven months pregnant.
The franchise managers and owner alleged she stole the $2 coin, but Walsh has maintained she earned the money in tips.
I am happy to say I took on Tim Horton's in my little back water village here a few years ago and was quite successful. When my son was a teenager, our local Tim Horton's would allow the kids to come in and buy of course, but they were not allowed to sit down at the table's and eat.
ReplyDeleteI swear I am not kidding you. Their reasoning was, they did not want their store to become a teen hangout.
I personally thought it was an insane business move. These kids had more disposable income that you and I put together I swear, and here was a store telling them, they did not want their disposable income. Not to mention teenage boys eat like starving dock workers.
I didn't get my panties in a knot about it...I do like to choose my battles wisely...just telling my son, "don't ever give them your business. Take it to Burger King down the road". Which the kids did. Burger King was happy to have their money.
But I met a lady friend one day for coffee in this Tim Hortons' and when we got there we realized we couldn't get a table.Not a one to be found in the place. It was full of retired, elderly people. I said to the girl at the counter.."Gee I guess we hit you at a busy time of the day". She said, "No. It's like this all day long, until 5PM. These people have nothing else to do, so they come in here, have a cup of coffee and socialize with their friends all day. It's nice, they have a place to go"
I thought to myself.."Hmm. It's ok for adults but not ok for the kids? Two rules for two different sectors of society. In my books, I call that discrimination". I don't like discrimination of any form. Same rules for everyone I'm thinking.
So I came home and sent off an email to Tim Horton's corporate.
I didn't really expect any action out of it. It just made me feel better to have my say.
I received a phone call about 2 months later. A huge apology. A $50.00 gift certificate to Tim Hortons was on it's way in the mail, and children would no longer be banned from sitting in the store to eat their food.
Today? It's a teen hang out in the evening. A retiree hangout during the day.
That may not be a good thing. But at least it's equitable.