Boo to Tim Horton's

[Andy]

I agree with pikehunter. They are not going to fire a valued employee over a Timbit.

I suspect that they were looking for a reason to fire her, and that we'll never know the history of her poor work performance or other issues that really led to her being let go. I'm not ready to feel sorry for her yet. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I find it very hard to believe that she was unaware of other issues re; her employment. Andy

[lazybum]

Tim Horton's as a company is loved by customers, shareholders and the community, and our troops overseas. I'm sure head office would have liked this to be handled differently at the local level. There are policies and there must be compliance otherwise what good are they. But equally important are common sense and good judgment in dealing with the enforcement and the expected impacts.

 

The newspapers conveyed one side of the story and we really don't know if there were other issues with this employee. The employer cannot go out there and say things that are confidential about this employee . Before we judge Timmy too harshly let's remember that we may not have all the facts and may never know all of them.

 

Now, how about firing that employee who made my watered-down brew by not adding new coffee and filter before adding water. That is incompetence that damages the company reputation.

 

Time to make second cup of coffee.

[bigfish1965]

One might call it theft. But in reality such a violation calls for a reprimand, not a dismissal unless the employee had previous problems. I'm a manager and know that in order to fire someone without getting your butt sued off it takes more than something like this.

I have a feeling corporate will intervene...bad publicity is not worth the $0.16

[cthewrld]

She will be back at work before you know it. Probably with a raise and a promotion that she deserves. Nothing like a little publicity!

[bow slayer]

find out what store in London and boycott it. This 10 cent timbit and nice gesture will cost the franchisee and the company alot more than that, just in public relations.

[Billy - Curtiss]

Pretty easy if you are found stealing, that is why they used this as an excuse to fire her. There very well could be a whole list of issues as long as your arm in regards to this employee. The "theft of a donut hole" is the icing on the cake for management. With this they have a legitimate reason to can her.

 

Another point is that perhaps this is an ongoing problem with her or with many cashiers at this location, maybe they are giving away too many freebies?

 

As said, we only are reading the paper's view point on this and it is one sided.

 

So many if's and maybe's to draw a conclusion. One thing for sure is that Horton's isn't going to be hurt by a small boycott over this.

 

I respectfully disagree. This story is already all over the radio. CBC is running it which means it is Canada wide. I'm willing to wager they receive hundreds if not well over a thousand boycott letters. How can that NOT hurt the bottom line? And all over $0.16? Hardly seems worthwhile. If this woman was such a wretched employee, how did she last 3 years? Lastly, until this morning, I had no idea that Wendy's bought out Tim Horton's. It isn't even a Canadian company anymore. So regardless of this story, I would hereby be taking my business elsewhere anyhow.

[brooks999]

There is obviously way more to it than is on the surface...

 

just my $0.02

[Hookset]

Not what happened at all.

 

She rolled up the rim and it said "please try again" and she misread it as "give baby a timbit".

It happens...

 

I'm with others on this one that there's more to the story than we know, but it is curious that she's been an employee for 3 years and this is the issue she was fired for

 

 

Hookset.

[lew]

Granted it was only a Timbit......which I luv BTW.......but at what point does it go from giving away freebees and become employee theft ?? Do you get fired after giving away a single Boston Cream, or does it take a box full, or maybe grabbing a toonie from the till to give to the homeless dude in the parking lot ??

 

This is a great discussion but I'd like to ask my question one more time if I may.

 

Most seem to think she did nothing wrong by giving away ONE small item, but when would you draw the line and fire an employee for taking something that belongs to whatever company you work for ??

 

Is $10 too much, or is it $100, or would you wait till the employee steals $1000

 

If you work for BPS and a kid sees a small $5 fishing lure that he likes, is it OK for you to just give it to him ?? What about working in Sears and someone sees a nice $30 shirt but says they can't really afford it, would that be OK to give away too ??

 

Crazy examples I know, but somewhere along the way a line has to be drawn in the sand as to what an employee is allowed to help himself to and in this case the line seems to have been drawn at ZERO tolerance.

 

[pikehunter]

Wendy's bought out Tim Horton's.

 

Yep! Wendy's bought it quite awhile ago amongst plenty of media publicity. Some locations even have a picture of Dave Thomas, Wendy's founder, shaking hands with Ron Joyce over the deal.

 

As a side note, Wendy's has been recently purchased by Arby's so I wonder if Horton's was included in the deal? Or was that only Wendy's in the States?

[nuke]

Seems to me that this is the straw that broke the camel's back. Perhaps this was strike three for the employee ? Maybe I'm wrong, but there may be more to the story.

What if the child had an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the bit ? I know the child's mother decided to accept the free offering, but the blame would probably shift to the person's hand behind the counter wearing the uniform.

If it was her first no-no, then the firing is a bit harsh. Let her just pay the $ 0.16 and get on with their lives.

 

Peace,

Nuke

[Billy - Curtiss]

This is a great discussion but I'd like to ask my question one more time if I may.

 

Most seem to think she did nothing wrong by giving away ONE small item, but when would you draw the line and fire an employee for taking something that belongs to whatever company you work for ??

 

Is $10 too much, or is it $100, or would you wait till the employee steals $1000

 

If you work for BPS and a kid sees a small $5 fishing lure that he likes, is it OK for you to just give it to him ?? What about working in Sears and someone sees a nice $30 shirt but says they can't really afford it, would that be OK to give away too ??

 

Crazy examples I know, but somewhere along the way a line has to be drawn in the sand as to what an employee is allowed to help himself to and in this case the line seems to have been drawn at ZERO tolerance.

 

 

This is the problem with globalization and corporate oligopolies in general. In spite of many years of servitude, this woman is afforded no right to exercise her discretion by giving back a minuscule portion of what the company has received from its loyal customers. Instead, she is just another faceless, interchangeable drone. Life is and should always be reciprocal. This is why I will always try to support the small independent stores. Small business owners take way less for granted and are far more appreciative of those that keep their business afloat.

[lazybum]

Yep! Wendy's bought it quite awhile ago amongst plenty of media publicity. Some locations even have a picture of Dave Thomas, Wendy's founder, shaking hands with Ron Joyce over the deal.

 

As a side note, Wendy's has been recently purchased by Arby's so I wonder if Horton's was included in the deal? Or was that only Wendy's in the States?

 

Wendy's sold off Tim Horton's in a public offering some time ago and the stock price for each went in opposite directions. Wendy's continued to go downhill and was eventually bought out be Arby's this year.

[irishfield]

There is obviously way more to it than is on the surface...

 

just my $0.02

 

Yes there obviously is. As an employer for over 23 years, that has seen it all, I'd suggest they had continuing/past issues with this women and this was the first clear cut and dry reason to get rid of her that couldn't be debated. Breach of their employment contract.

 

As for boycotting them... easy for me.. I don't do coffee !

[Roy]

As for boycotting them... easy for me.. I don't do coffee !

 

If you did, your post count would double. Maybe even double double.

[irishfield]

[John]

If you did, your post count would double. Maybe even double double.

 

:clapping:

[bigbuck]

There's got to be more to this story than that. Tim Horton's is a great organization, I know, my best friend and his family own 9 of them. What they do in the community is unparalleled compared to other corporate citizens. I've noticed that the news these days tends to omit facts and information to twist things to become newsworthy. Take this story with a grain of salt.

[Deano]

Lew: Something to think about, were not talking about stealing big items. I go to Macdonald's, they offer my dog a free treat. Take the kids to stores, many offer them a sucker or candy, and Tim's used to give my 2 dogs 2 timbits (one each) before people complained, every time I went through the drive through. So it's not really a big issue, every time someone gets something free, doesn't mean their gonna be soon running away with the loot bag.

 

Like other's have mentioned, there might be more to the story, but it's possible they just fired her over a Timbit. There are just some real jerks out there.

[Beans]

They are a horrible company. I rarely buy anything there unless there's nothing else around.

 

I'm with you RICH...Don't really care much for their coffee...

 

Was getting fond of their new slow roast beef sangweech until I got one with no mushrooms yesterday...That's it !!!...No more !

[Kirk]

Ain't it nice when people are generous with other people's money and inventory.

 

TH franchises are expensive to own and operate.

 

I would support termination if this was a clear policy, and after a warning for the first incident.

 

Capitalism works, dishonesty doesn't.

 

I'm sure there are many more coffee joints nearby for that employee to work at.

 

And F unions. LOL

 

PLUS : Timmys supports our local soccer club, and I doubt the TH share price on the TSE will drop as a result of a timbit. I will buy extra to make up for any lost business, sorry Cliff.

Edited May 8, 2008 by Kirk

[KyleM]

Some of you guys think TH owes you free stuff?

My brother works for the management aspect of TH and I can

tell you that they do tons of stuff for local charities.

 

16 cent timbit or not, they dont have to give anything away.

 

This is the problem with globalization and corporate oligopolies in general. In spite of many years of servitude, this woman is afforded no right to exercise her discretion by giving back a minuscule portion of what the company has received from its loyal customers. Instead, she is just another faceless, interchangeable drone. Life is and should always be reciprocal. This is why I will always try to support the small independent stores. Small business owners take way less for granted and are far more appreciative of those that keep their business afloat.

 

Or you could view it as Tim Hortons did her a favour and gave her a job to maybe try and support her kids.

More then likely if shes working at Tims, she couldnt go anywhere else.

 

People out here get paid 17.50 an hour at Tims, they dont complain.

[shane]

This is a great discussion but I'd like to ask my question one more time if I may.

 

Most seem to think she did nothing wrong by giving away ONE small item, but when would you draw the line and fire an employee for taking something that belongs to whatever company you work for ??

 

Is $10 too much, or is it $100, or would you wait till the employee steals $1000

 

If you work for BPS and a kid sees a small $5 fishing lure that he likes, is it OK for you to just give it to him ?? What about working in Sears and someone sees a nice $30 shirt but says they can't really afford it, would that be OK to give away too ??

 

Crazy examples I know, but somewhere along the way a line has to be drawn in the sand as to what an employee is allowed to help himself to and in this case the line seems to have been drawn at ZERO tolerance.

 

 

 

Where would I draw the line? If I was a manager, I would give employees the right to give one timbit at a time to anyone they thought would appreciate one (with parents approval of course).

 

And...I would have a big bag of dog cookies at the drive-thru window for the dogs.

 

And...I would contribute to the local community's clean-up day instead of 'declining' like the did here.

 

[Zubris21]

I don't believe that giving away a free tim-bit is an offense worth terminating someone over, but as many of you have mentioned there may have been many underlying stories.

 

As some of you mentioned employee theft is an ever growing concern for all companies big and small. I once worked at a mass-production bakery where a similar incident occurred. As employees we were given an opportunity to purchase the goods at a very discounted price (say $0.25 for a loaf of bread vs. $1.59 at your local loblaws) but we were not permitted to simply take the product without paying. Now management was aware of this and since it was a fairly demanding job, they kinda turned a blind eye when products were taken without paying. After all the profit margins were so high, and there was so much waste that it was impossible to track. However one time, one of the better employees, was seen removing a single loaf of bread after his shift, while in street clothes. The people who saw him were new hires, first day on the job (I think there were 3 of them) and reported this to their supervisor. Unfortunately since the rules were in place, and consequences were strictly outlined, the supervisor was handcuffed, he had to terminate the employee who was stealing, even though there was a union in place there was nothing they could do. The employee had broken the rules, and had to face the consequences. I know for a fact the supervisor would not have come to that punishment had it not been 3 brand new employees as witnesses, but he had to set a precedent that employee theft was not tolerated.

 

My point being, perhaps there was a new class of trainees at the Tim's and the manager was trying to set an example, perhaps the rules and consequences were already outlined.

 

or another scenario, perhaps the previous customers child was not given a tim-bit and there was a complaint filed....

 

or maybe the employee was smelly....

 

there are tons of possible scenarios, and I doubt very much we will ever get to the bottom of it. Personally I don't go to Tims very often, I brew my own coffee at home, but I certainly wouldn't boycott them, even if I think it is somewhat appalling that this employee was fired.

[pikehunter]

Thanks for the ownership update Lazybum.