Hence this story.

elmo3

[www.thestar.com]

Headline: "Tim Hortons in a new PR jam. Good Samaritan scolded after buying a homeless, pregnant woman food - then leaving her to eat it"

D-Bo

CarloNanget

Giving timbits to babys and dogs has been a common pratice in this town for a LONG time. It was a bit of a 'scandle' here in town and alot of people were pissed about it.

Glad to hear she got rehired!

Oroka

YashwantScorpion

blah,blah,blah

farmerjamesd

the_wiggle

the_wiggle

Would it have been any better to fire a "Married Mom" or a teenage boy? No.

bdgbill

Freebooter Fox

More facts give you a fuller picture of both the story and the impact of the situation on the players involved. It's up to you as the reader to decide whether or not the info is relevant. I'd rather have too much info as opposed to too little.

b-real

Yes they/we really do.

If you want to see outrage go to the CBC page discussing this story.

www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/05/08/timbit-lilliman.htm

We really, really do care about being human up here. Come up and visit sometime.

amiableCDN

Televiper

Rajio

You're really fishin ain't ya? They said she's been working there for 3 years. You'd think in that amount of time something would come up a little bit better than that.
Yeah, people get fired for stupid shit. My ex got fired from her job because she was in Hawaii and there was a major earthquake, knocking out power, water, etc to the entire island. Incredibly scared and alone, she called the people she was working with at the Hawaii office and they ignored her calls and never called to make sure that she was OK or needed anything. She called her boss back here in SD to see what was happening and he launched into a tirade about how they're not responsible for anything and then fired her. He had also not called her to make sure that she was OK, yet they all had her cell number (which wasn't working that well due to the massive amounts of calls) and her hotel # and room #. Pretty lame if you ask me.

trujunglist

some managers have no heart

edcrowle

brookeln

Comms

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.

Rajio

ceejeemcbeegee

Gstein

My doglet gets *really* frustrated if I take her through a drive-thru that doesn't result in a Timbit.

jenl1625

and no we don't have tim hortons in WA, at least not yet. supposedly soon, or so they tell us. i realize that much of Washington is completely indistinguishable from Canada other than the flags...and the lack of tim hortons. i wanna double-triple. :)

algormortis

Up yours, Tim Hortons!!

tinky XIII

Wharncliffe and Baseline (really its Wharncliffe and commisioners), then one in the plaza with No Frills and across the street from a Volkswagen dealership I think.

LordofthePing

LordofthePing

TPS Reporter

For the record when anyone on this planet says America they mean the USA and Canada is the only Douchebag country that seems to whine about it.

You are not part of America, you are part of North America.

trk182

The store stands to gain a lot more by giving away once in a great while an inconsequential item for the benefit of a customer - trust, loyalty, the likelihood of people (like those who read the Consumerist) to say "hey, that's a cool company, I'll do more business with them". There's no loss of consequence to the store, everyone is happier, they get repeat business, and some good word-of-mouth. Wins all around.

If it's a huge stinking deal, and your store will be BROKEN by SIXTEEN FUCKING CENTS, ask for the change for that one fucking donut hole back from the employee, you greedy fucking whores who can't see past a few nickels for the people you're serving. You can probably dump that much out of the "take a penny" tray, you fucking hosebag.

Asvetic: Policy is a 4-letter word.

glater

MotherFury

Also? I figured that she was probably a bad employee that they were having issues firing. However, she worked there for 3 years. I ask you, a donut hole?

I work for SBUX and we get in trouble if we don't give away the free occasional beverage to regulars.

baristabrawl

My personal take is the "Manager" was just on a power trip. It's pretty retarded, I have lived off of Tim Horton's on more than one road trip and in most cases the experience with the people was pleasurable and yeah, they do give extra bits and pieces here and there.

Snowrunner

I heard that Tim Horton died in a car accident shortly before Timbits came out, and, well, there was some discussion about what constituted the orginal Tim's Bits?

balthisar

yes they give free ones to dogs. If your dog is with you at the drive-thru they'll usually give you a plain timbit (not chocolate of course!) for the dog.

yet she's fired for giving it to a child.

kabes

rg

Uhh yes, b/c a SINGLE mother lost her only source (most likely) of income to, you know, support herself and her child.

b-real

I long for the day not that long ago that the US dollar bought lots of buying power on my trips to Toronto, even with the GST and PST.

And as a Western NY resident, I can confirm that yes, Timbits are really good. The day Tim Hortons came to the US was a happy day indeed.

glorpy

(Glad she got her job back)

ThunderRoad

carbonmade

It's the Wharncliffe/Baseline location. It's infamous for terrible owners and power tripping managers. I avoid it (and the grocery stores that owner also owns) at all costs.

banane

Yes, I know Timbits cost money. I just don't think this tempest fits well in the teapot (coffeepot).

mstevens

lightaugust

Asvetic

Rajio

frndlybnny

ChuckECheese

Ecks

Megatenist

itmustbeken

@t325: You don't even have to go to Canada. Some Tim Hortonses have slipped south into places like Maine, NH, WA, maybe even North Dakota.

ChuckECheese

Televiper

cronick

Televiper

So out of curiosity, are you at work now, while you use the web to surf?

drkkgt

Let's go get our free Timbits there! I'll cry until she does!

[www.thestar.com]

shaken_bake

AstroPig7

BuddyGuyMontag

I'm not your Buddy, Guy!

Oh wait, I am.

BuddyGuyMontag

camille_javal

tweaked

In addition to the fact that it wasn't her chowing down on Timbits, but her engaging in customer service, most people have an instinct as to where to draw the line. I'm pretty sure that line is somewhere above $.16.

@balthisar: As of today, CA$0.16 = US$0.157889, according to XE.

camille_javal

timmus

These timbits sound good, it makes me want to hop on a plane bound for somewhere in Canada.

t325

When I worked at wal-mart we had a new assistant manager transfer into our store. He decided we didn't work hard enough, so come the end of our shift he told us to clock out, then come back, because we were gonig to clean the store off the clock until it was spotless to teach us to work harder during our actual shifts.

Since I was a college student who didn't actually need the money I told him to go stuff himself and went home. The next day the actual store manager called me and apologized and let me know the new assistant had been severly reprimanded (I thought he should have been fired, but hey, who was I?).

I was kind of worried about working under him again, but he seemed more scared of me than I was of him (not used to being stood up to I guess?) so it all worked out okay.

Jmatthew

no.no.notorious

bbagdan

Corporate, then kicked his ass, and said that he had to re-hire her(or lose HIS/HER job).

Thankfully, Tim Hortons corporate seems knows a lot about good PR. Most of Tim Horton's profits are based on the affection Canadians have to this chain, and bad PR would be disastrous.

Meltdown

You don't have a company. If you did, you would run it into the ground.

rhesuspieces00

I wonder if it's coincidence that "Canadian Idiot" started playing while typing this.

macinjosh

weakdome

@queenlizzie: They called her within hours and hired her back at a different location the very next day and are paying her the lost wages for the time off. I'd say that's pretty awesome management.

hexychick

Hopefully the manager that pulled the trigger on her will be disciplined for jumping to such a harsh punishment.

Would you recommend firing an employee for dropping a 'timbit' on the floor, thus rendering it unsafe to consume? it's not theft, but it costs the company the sale of a 'timbit'.

stupidjerk

Oh, right, I forgot, no sarcasm. Yeah, this is pretty dumb.

ShirtGuyDom

balthisar

CharlieInSeattle

AlmaEquiette

mariospants

BrianU

diddy0071

2. There's obviously more to this story than one person giving a donut hole away. I feel bad for Horton's though, as this is a real black eye for their PR.

quagmire0

queenlizzie

bms

The Count of Monte Fisto

RookOmega

CharlieInSeattle

hi

[www.thestar.com]

chicagoandy

Claim unemployment? I don't know how they run things in Canada but in the US if you are fired for stealing from a company then you don't get unemployment, period.

shanecrow99

Kajj

LucyInTheSky

If someone's a really good employee and really needs the money, and they steal a CD from Best Buy where they work, should they be fired? Yeah. So where's the line?

InfiniTrent

Concerned_Citizen

It's great she got her job back, plus at a different location,no less.

Those Timbits must be pretty good if you can get fired for giving a baby one.

And I thought people getting worked about Krispy Kreme was bad...

Megatenist

@buzzybee: Guess I should have been fired long ago. I give clients post-its and paperclips and copies that don't belong to me ALL THE TIME. I'm pretty sure if I refused, that would be MORE grounds for me being fired. We'll be watching for when your business goes down in flames.

kallawm

juiceboxonfire

iliveinyoureyelid

picardia

[www.thestar.com]

she was given the Job back at another location with the same franchise owner as she didn;t feel comfortable working at the same location and they are paying her for any loss time.

armour

Tim Hortons rehires Timbit donor

[www.thestar.com]

Sheesh -- sounds like the manager that fired her was from the U.S.

heyimbobo

Roxie

They had justification to fire her and show other employees that employee theft is not tolerated.
@buzzybee: Wouldn't it make more sense to just fire those employees who also give away food if theft is not tolerated? Why make an example out of just her? If the penalty for giving away food is termination shouldn't that be the case for everyone who does it?

Rectilinear Propagation

bonzombiekitty

courtarro

It would be cheaper just to part time her out and let her sit on her ass. There is more to this story.

Bladefist

kylo4

btw the free timbits they give to dogs and kids are day olds that were destin for the dumpster

hey, is this a scam to flush out canadian commenters?

B1663R

But damn. Even if they had plenty of reasons to fire her, it seems so sneaky to call her out on 16 cents. There's just so much dishonesty surrounding this incident.

chrisjames

[www.thestar.com]

AlexTNOA

The point I'm trying to make is that being a hard-ass and always watching your bottom lines and cutting corners is not the way people should run their businesses.

It's not like she was eating them herself, which I would see as a much more serious offense. She's being a good employee and providing good customer service.

People like you are why half the stories on this blog come up, because business owners have all lost their souls.

AlexDitto

matt1978

strange that she would be fired in the first place for something timmy's does on a regular basis

chartrule

That won't really accomplish much. Tried emailing them once when they stopped doing "roll up the rim to win" on small coffees, still waiting for my response

drzombie

Yup, i'm still bitter.

Eilonwynn

rainmkr

If it ever makes it to a vote, I'll choose C: all of the above

MPHinPgh

VnlaThndr775

MadelineGauzer

buzzybee

laserjobs

Customer service can be emailed at:
customer_service@timhortons.com

in2insight

madrigal

nikkomorocco

katylostherart

drzombie

Then charge her sixteen cents and tell her not to do it again. She didn't give away an HDTV.

Daniels

nikkomorocco

In sort, she probably wasn't the best employee to keep around.

buzzybee

SkokieGuy

Fast forward a few months. He got to work and was pulled upstairs with the security officer and two managers who accused him of stealing somewhere along the lines of $2000 worth of cookies over the course of several months and said they had video evidence and were moving forward with prosecution unless he signed some forms, got fired, yadda yadda yadda.

My brother, who was 16, was obviously not prepared to handle this, was in tears, didn't know what he had done wrong, etc. My mom worked in the Prosecutor's Office for my county helping to track down deadbeat dads, and luckily, was good friends with the prosecutor/several other attorneys who offered to make up some legal documents challenging target's claim, threatening to sue, and all of that.

Eventually, everyone involved met together where the Target district manager accused my brother of being a pussy and a little rich boy (for knowing a lawyer - my mother and step father didn't make very much money and never went to college), amongst other things. My brother quit and is still banned from all Target stores.

I'm still trying to decide if the managers of these two establishments have no heart or no brain. I'll get back to you on it.

mgy

B

This story though is just silly. Why couldn't they just ask her to pay for it? Is firing someone over .16 cents that common? There must be something else going on with her performance. This doesn't make any sense otherwise.

Rupan

They had justification to fire her and show other employees that employee theft is not tolerated. Just as I would fire any of my employees caught stealing from my company.

buzzybee

Bladefist

I'm guessing there may have been some pin headed boss behavior in play and someone was just looking for a reason to fire her.

bohemian

farmerjoe

Bladefist

attheotherbeach

Daemon_of_Waffle

So, who's going to be the first to "blame the victim"?

MPHinPgh

attheotherbeach

statnut

AlteredBeast

homerjay- Smiling politely