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5 Reasons Tim Hortons Sucks

For those of you unaware, Tim Hortons is an international1 coffee & donut shop co-founded by Tim Horton, a Canadian Hockey player (who died when he lost control of his 1974 Pantera at 100mph, while under the influence of alcohol and pain killers). By feeding off it’s inherently Canadian origins, combined with massive expansion, clever marketing and sponsorships Tim Hortons has managed to inject itself as key part of Canadiana – up there with Hockey Night In Canada, curling, cheap beer and The CBC.

Tim Hortons has done such an excellent job marketing their “Canadian-ness,” that many Canadians literally feel that it’s their patriotic duty to patronize the restaurant.

I am not one of those Canadians. Tim Hortons sucks!

1. Tim Hortons coffee is terrible!

A lot of Canadians hold Tim Hortons coffee in high esteem, “it’s great, like Canadian beer”. Most Canadians are probably only familiar with the “double-double” (2 shots of cream and 2 sugars). But really, almost any black coloured beverage would taste pretty OK with that much cream and sugar. I prefer my coffee black. I’ve tried to drink Tim Hortons coffee without cream or sugar, it’s completely unbearable. It actually tastes like the unbrewed grounds are just suspended in hot water.

As far as I understand, when a coffee actually tastes better with cream and sugar it indicates a cheaper bean. But, the Tim Hortons double-double has such a distinct taste, I think they’re actually trying to achieve a specific flavour profile that only works with cream and sugar. It does not taste like your standard cheap coffee bean + cream + sugar. It doesn’t exactly taste any better or worse really, just different, almost unnatural. I think this is how they convince the masses that such a poor quality product is actually “good.”

Tim Hortons’ recent foray into espresso based beverages has had even more terrifying results. My advice: just stay away.

2. Their food is hardly “always fresh”

For at least the past 15 – 20 years, Tim Hortons has used the slogan “Always Fresh.” Originally – back in the days when they were competing with mom & pop’s and truck stops – it was a guarantee that their coffee was never allowed to sit for more than 20 minutes. I’ve personally witnessed customers being served coffee older than 20 minutes, but that’s beside the point. The only thing worse than Tim Hortons coffee is Tim Hortons coffee that’s been sitting around for 30 minutes, no amount of cream and sugar can fix that.

Lately, the slogan is also being used to imply that their baked goods and food products are also always fresh. Nothing could be future from the truth. Fact is, as of 2001, Tim Hortons actually par-bakes their product in a central location in Brantford, Ontario2. Where they are then frozen and shipped to Tim Hortons stores across the world. Once they reach the store, the final touches – like fillings, sprinkles, etc – are added and the goods are baked in a highly visible oven, giving customers the impression that they’ve been make from scratch in store.

By Tim Hortons’ definition the frozen pizza I had for supper was also fresh!

The small stand-alone locations in airports, hospitals, etc are even worse. They don’t even usually contain the equipment to do the finish baking, so they have to import the products from other Tim Hortons stores.

As for their actual food – soups, sandwiches, etc – these are no more fresh than anything you would expect at any other fast food restaurant.

3. Tim Hortons is not Canadian owned

As of August 8th, 1995, Tim Hortons has been owned by the US-based Wendy’s3.

That means, buying Tim Hortons is no more Canadian than any other franchised restaurant.

As an interesting aside, the company that does the par-baking for Tim Hortons is a Irish subsidiary of a Swiss multinational4.

4. Inefficient Service

Tim Hortons seems to have a complete and utter lack of knowledge when it comes to food service efficiency. The main problem would seem to be the lack of a standard fast food assembly-line type process, combined with poor/non-standarized store layout.

Never having been an employee of Tim Hortons, I don’t know what their manul dictates. But, these observations appear to be standard partices:

  • When you place an order, the same employee (“Cashier”) that enters your order and takes your money, is also responsable for preparing your order and handing it to you.
  • If you’re only ordering a coffee and a donut this generally works fine – donuts and coffee makers are generally within arms reach of the cash register. Service is fairly quick.
  • If the coffee maker runs out, the Cashier is responsible for refilling the beans – before bringing you your order! This obviously slows down the entire queue.
  • If your order includes anything other than a coffee and a donut – like a soft drink, specialty coffee beverage, bagel, “meal,” etc, the system completely breaks down! These items are generally not within arms reach of the front counter. While the bagels and sandwiches do have dedicated crew members, the preparation stations are often in inefficient locations (depending on store layout) causing the receiving process to be somewhat awkward. Either the cashier will bring these items to you, or you are expected to wait in a cafeteria style line, or you simply wait off to the side. It’s near chaos.
  • The specialty coffee beverages (iced caps, iced mochas, lattes, etc) are made by the cashier. Depending on the drink, this involves 3 to 5 steps, including stiring by hand! These stations are typically not located near the front counter. It’s not uncommon for a Cashier to take a minute or two to make these drinks.
  • During peak times, when a cashier is busy compiling a customer’s order, another employee will take the cashier’s place and begin on the next customer’s order. Depending on the layout of the store and the number of employees, this can sometimes delay the simpler coffee & donut orders by causing bottlenecks around the coffee stations.

I’m not an expert on fast food restaurant efficiency. It just seems to me that Tim Hortons is one of the most inefficient fast food operations. They need to re-organize the way they handle and deliver orders.

5. Cups Are Not Recyclable5

Tim Hortons uses a wax lined cup that is only recyclable in 3 small Canadian Cities: Moncton, NB; Windsor, ON; and Owen Sound, ON6. Also, Tim Hortons cups do not contain any recycled materials.

Tim Hortons may or may not be the only chain in Canada that uses this type of cup. But they are particularly bad for 2 reasons. 1) Their annual RRRRRoll Up The Rim contest. For those of you non-Canadians, this contest involves a prize being printed on the inside of the paper cup’s rolled up rim. While the contest is running, customer “eating-in” who would normally have their coffee poured into a reusable ceramic mug are given an additional contest cup. 2) “Double-cupping” seems to be a fairly common practice at Tim Hortons across the country. This is when the Tim Hortons employee will put an additional paper cup around the first cup to insulate your hand from the hot beverage. Apparently the concept of a paper sleeve has not caught on with the Tim Hortons Brass.

Recycling and environmentalism is a way of life for many Canadians. It’s completely unacceptable for such a “Canadian” company to have such irresonsable practices.

In conclusion, Tim Hortons is anti-Canadian!!7


Footnotes:

  1. It’s not common knowledge that they have locations in US, Ireland and UK. Check the Wikipedia entry.
  2. See this press release: www.timhortons.com/en/about/news_archive_2001f.html
  3. CBC Archive: archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/08/08/
  4. The bakery is called Maidstone Bakery. I had to dig through the internet archive to find the page: web.archive.org/web/20080115134215/http://www.wendys-invest.com/timhortons.php The parent company can be found here: www.iaws.ie I’m pretty sure this company is the subject of an AIM Trimark commercial, but that’s another blog post.
  5. This blog post goes into great detail: www.buzzbishop.com/blog/2008/02/25/rrroll-up-the-un-recyclable-rim/, Tim Hortons own FAQ also concedes the fact, but tries to put a positive spin on it, stating that they are working to get more recyling plants built – rather than actually doing something on their end! www.timhortons.com/en/about/faq.html
  6. Tim Hortons helped build this recycling plant!!! (see their FAQ linked above)
  7. That said, I don’t really feel that any of these points are reasons NOT to visit Tim Hortons. I just feel like Canadians need to understand that Tim Hortons is not all that great and there’s definitely nothing Canadian about it. A lot of people I know enjoy going to Tim Horton and I will continue to join them, I just choose not to visit when the choice is mine.

440 replies on “5 Reasons Tim Hortons Sucks”

I just started working there and have barely survived 5 shifts. I was trained for one day by a 3 day old trainee and then my second day expected to know what i was doing alone. Then I get yelled at by the supervisor so loudly when i accidentally let a miniscule amount of cream drip on the counter that a few customers got up and left. My schedule is irratic and i cant just get up and leave my classes to go to work like they demand. It is so horrible, it may not be so bad if any of the coworkers were somewhat civil, if there is a mistake made, they are always quick to pass the buck whether or not you were even there that day and you still get in trouble. The coffee making system is messed up and to expect someone to be able to do cashier, get sandwiches and donuts, make coffee and ice caps, within 30 seconds then hop up and help the next person for 9 hours a day for minimum wage? Its far to abusive for such little money.

I just started working there and have barely survived 5 shifts. I was trained for one day by a 3 day old trainee and then my second day expected to know what i was doing alone. Then I get yelled at by the supervisor so loudly when i accidentally let a miniscule amount of cream drip on the counter that a few customers got up and left. My schedule is irratic and i cant just get up and leave my classes to go to work like they demand. It is so horrible, it may not be so bad if any of the coworkers were somewhat civil, if there is a mistake made, they are always quick to pass the buck whether or not you were even there that day and you still get in trouble. The coffee making system is messed up and to expect someone to be able to do cashier, get sandwiches and donuts, make coffee and ice caps, within 30 seconds then hop up and help the next person for 9 hours a day for minimum wage? Its far to abusive for such little money.

I have work at Tim Hortons for a little under a year now.
And I must say, i COMPLETELY disagree. Our location is one of the busiest in our district (still the best, service/quality wise). But even our DECAF coffee wont sit on a burner for 20 minutes. Everything gets used up as fast as we can make it (kind of annoying, really :o) ). As for donuts and baked goods (with the exception of breakfast items), our production book states that as soon as you pull it out of the oven, it is “fresh” for 8 hours. Some for 12 hours, some for 24. And again, they dont even last that long (Even the plain donuts sell out faster than we can deal with a seemingly never ending line of customers). Yes, the layout and method of service IS kind of messed up, but thats how its set by the “big man” at TDL. Especially when we are serverly under staffed…I’m the only teenage guy there who wasn’t scared off 🙂

I have work at Tim Hortons for a little under a year now.
And I must say, i COMPLETELY disagree. Our location is one of the busiest in our district (still the best, service/quality wise). But even our DECAF coffee wont sit on a burner for 20 minutes. Everything gets used up as fast as we can make it (kind of annoying, really :o) ). As for donuts and baked goods (with the exception of breakfast items), our production book states that as soon as you pull it out of the oven, it is “fresh” for 8 hours. Some for 12 hours, some for 24. And again, they dont even last that long (Even the plain donuts sell out faster than we can deal with a seemingly never ending line of customers). Yes, the layout and method of service IS kind of messed up, but thats how its set by the “big man” at TDL. Especially when we are serverly under staffed…I’m the only teenage guy there who wasn’t scared off 🙂

Hey Ryan, as an employee of Tim Horton’s I agree with most of your points. I find our coffee to be very weak tasting. I personally will not touch it, it tastes like brown water to me. Same thing for country style, and on the other end of the scale I find Starbucks coffee too strong. So I brew my own coffee at home.

I really really wish we had a “coffee only” line. However, people who were ordering more than coffee would just end up lining there, and it would probably get even more complicated.

When we have enough staff there will be one coffee maker and one cashier on storefront, but often the owners are VERY cheap and routinely understaff stores. Then we get in shit when our line doesn’t move fast 🙁 Especially when people get $20 or $30 orders on a regular basis. I don’t mind doing big orders at all, I just don’t like customers who are rude to me about it. What am I supposed to do if someone orders ten ice capps and some sandwiches? I have to get them, then often I will have to withhold my anger when the next customer complains. Sigh. I don’t even mix ice capps for very long- about 8 seconds or so on the highest speed, so that it’s fairly well mixed but doesn’t take forever. Head office says we have to mix them for 17 seconds. The afternoon shift manager actually makes you set a 17-second timer each time you make an iced capp.

What’s most annoying is drive-thru. Head office tells us we need to a 20 second average for cars. However, people often order three or four sandwiches and a bunch of specialty drinks. Even if there’s 6 people doing everything it is simply impossible to make it all in 20 seconds. But guess what? Our drive thru average is 28 seconds, which TO ME sounds pretty damn good when you factor in all the time consuming goods, but the owner will yell at our manager because it’s too long. Then the manager yells at us, because she’s stressed out and doesn’t want to get in trouble. The truth is we all do our very best. My manager has actually told me that she’s had nightmares about work.

Oh, and customers often add sandwiches AT THE WINDOW, even if we asked them “is that everything?” This is long after we’ve already made the next 3-4 orders! This is a big pain in the ass, but we’re not allowed to refuse any additions to orders, so we have to 🙁

@ whoever said our coffee has nicotine: That’s an urban legend, it’s just coffee that comes ground up in a packet. It USED to have chicory (sp?) which can make the coffee more addictive but it’s nothing like nicotine! And it doesn’t contain it any more. McDonalds coffee has chicory now, though.

@ those who say the coffee isn’t fresh- if you go to a busy Tim Horton’s, or a Tim Horton’s during peak hours, I can GUARANTEE that a pot of coffee doesn’t sit on the burner for more than ten minutes before it’s used up. When it’s really busy in the morning we don’t have time to write down the times on our pots, so it might look like we’re trying to cheat you but we’re not. Now, if you go to a quiet location at night, depending on the staff the coffee might be really old. That’s unacceptable.

I used to work a third shift at a country style and I would ALWAYS dump out a pot after 30 minutes. I dumped out a lot of pots 😛 However many employees are not so religious about it.

@ Mia: We DO base our price on the cup size. The only reason we don’t charge a customer for getting a tea double-cupped is because it’s kind of ridiculous to charge someone for not wanting to burn their hands! The cup is the bulk of the cost; the tea is only hot water and… tea, which is very cheap in bulk amounts. The cups cost about 20-50 cents each when we order them, though. Then we also have to pay for utilities/operation of the store and our employees. I do not know why we don’t use sleeves.

I agree that Tim Hortons cups should be made recyclable, or that we should open up more recycling plants. However, the amount of litter produced by Tim Horton’s customers is astounding, and it is absolutely unfair to blame the company for it. There’s four garbage cans outside our building, two on drive thru and two by the doors, and two garbage cans in the dining area. If someone tosses their coffee cup on the ground it’s because they’re lazy! There’s also a gigantic sign on our drive thru that says “Please do not litter” or something like that (I don’t remember the exact phrasing).

@ Mike in Vancouver:

“The people who work there should not be legally allowed to breed. Most of the Vancouver Tim Hortons employ illegal aliens who couldn’t pronounce or spell Coffee let alone make a decent cup.”

Wow, you’re totally not bigoted! Yes, let’s admonish some fast food workers because english isn’t their first language. Obviously if someone doesn’t speak or write english well they must be stupid! (That’s sarcasm, in case someone doesn’t get it.) And heaven forbid that someone tries to start a life in a country that’s better off than their home. Canada is by no means perfect or free of corruption, but it’s a lot better than a lot of places, and if someone is willing to bring their skills and their work ethic to a foreign country, and provide a valuable service to its citizens, then they should be able to! No one wants to work at Tim Hortons, but often, especially now, people run out of options and they have to resort to minimum wage work. It’s shitty but it’s HONEST WORK that PAYS HONESTLY- it doesn’t pay much, but for many people (including me) it’ll pay for your rent, or your groceries. Now of course we don’t live in condos; I used to live in a shitty basement apartment but I was DAMN proud that I had managed to move out on my own and pay for all my expenses by myself by working a full-time and a part-time job in the food services industry. I know a lot of people who work at tim hortons while they go to school, because they are UNABLE to get a better job UNTIL they get an education!

I used to work for some people who were extremely intelligent and university-educated. However, when they immigrated to Canada- from Baghdad, which used to be a nice place but is obviously inhospitable now- they couldn’t find work that used their education and had to resort to owning a coffee shop. They were the best people I’ve worked for.

Hey Ryan, as an employee of Tim Horton’s I agree with most of your points. I find our coffee to be very weak tasting. I personally will not touch it, it tastes like brown water to me. Same thing for country style, and on the other end of the scale I find Starbucks coffee too strong. So I brew my own coffee at home.

I really really wish we had a “coffee only” line. However, people who were ordering more than coffee would just end up lining there, and it would probably get even more complicated.

When we have enough staff there will be one coffee maker and one cashier on storefront, but often the owners are VERY cheap and routinely understaff stores. Then we get in shit when our line doesn’t move fast 🙁 Especially when people get $20 or $30 orders on a regular basis. I don’t mind doing big orders at all, I just don’t like customers who are rude to me about it. What am I supposed to do if someone orders ten ice capps and some sandwiches? I have to get them, then often I will have to withhold my anger when the next customer complains. Sigh. I don’t even mix ice capps for very long- about 8 seconds or so on the highest speed, so that it’s fairly well mixed but doesn’t take forever. Head office says we have to mix them for 17 seconds. The afternoon shift manager actually makes you set a 17-second timer each time you make an iced capp.

What’s most annoying is drive-thru. Head office tells us we need to a 20 second average for cars. However, people often order three or four sandwiches and a bunch of specialty drinks. Even if there’s 6 people doing everything it is simply impossible to make it all in 20 seconds. But guess what? Our drive thru average is 28 seconds, which TO ME sounds pretty damn good when you factor in all the time consuming goods, but the owner will yell at our manager because it’s too long. Then the manager yells at us, because she’s stressed out and doesn’t want to get in trouble. The truth is we all do our very best. My manager has actually told me that she’s had nightmares about work.

Oh, and customers often add sandwiches AT THE WINDOW, even if we asked them “is that everything?” This is long after we’ve already made the next 3-4 orders! This is a big pain in the ass, but we’re not allowed to refuse any additions to orders, so we have to 🙁

@ whoever said our coffee has nicotine: That’s an urban legend, it’s just coffee that comes ground up in a packet. It USED to have chicory (sp?) which can make the coffee more addictive but it’s nothing like nicotine! And it doesn’t contain it any more. McDonalds coffee has chicory now, though.

@ those who say the coffee isn’t fresh- if you go to a busy Tim Horton’s, or a Tim Horton’s during peak hours, I can GUARANTEE that a pot of coffee doesn’t sit on the burner for more than ten minutes before it’s used up. When it’s really busy in the morning we don’t have time to write down the times on our pots, so it might look like we’re trying to cheat you but we’re not. Now, if you go to a quiet location at night, depending on the staff the coffee might be really old. That’s unacceptable.

I used to work a third shift at a country style and I would ALWAYS dump out a pot after 30 minutes. I dumped out a lot of pots 😛 However many employees are not so religious about it.

@ Mia: We DO base our price on the cup size. The only reason we don’t charge a customer for getting a tea double-cupped is because it’s kind of ridiculous to charge someone for not wanting to burn their hands! The cup is the bulk of the cost; the tea is only hot water and… tea, which is very cheap in bulk amounts. The cups cost about 20-50 cents each when we order them, though. Then we also have to pay for utilities/operation of the store and our employees. I do not know why we don’t use sleeves.

I agree that Tim Hortons cups should be made recyclable, or that we should open up more recycling plants. However, the amount of litter produced by Tim Horton’s customers is astounding, and it is absolutely unfair to blame the company for it. There’s four garbage cans outside our building, two on drive thru and two by the doors, and two garbage cans in the dining area. If someone tosses their coffee cup on the ground it’s because they’re lazy! There’s also a gigantic sign on our drive thru that says “Please do not litter” or something like that (I don’t remember the exact phrasing).

@ Mike in Vancouver:

“The people who work there should not be legally allowed to breed. Most of the Vancouver Tim Hortons employ illegal aliens who couldn’t pronounce or spell Coffee let alone make a decent cup.”

Wow, you’re totally not bigoted! Yes, let’s admonish some fast food workers because english isn’t their first language. Obviously if someone doesn’t speak or write english well they must be stupid! (That’s sarcasm, in case someone doesn’t get it.) And heaven forbid that someone tries to start a life in a country that’s better off than their home. Canada is by no means perfect or free of corruption, but it’s a lot better than a lot of places, and if someone is willing to bring their skills and their work ethic to a foreign country, and provide a valuable service to its citizens, then they should be able to! No one wants to work at Tim Hortons, but often, especially now, people run out of options and they have to resort to minimum wage work. It’s shitty but it’s HONEST WORK that PAYS HONESTLY- it doesn’t pay much, but for many people (including me) it’ll pay for your rent, or your groceries. Now of course we don’t live in condos; I used to live in a shitty basement apartment but I was DAMN proud that I had managed to move out on my own and pay for all my expenses by myself by working a full-time and a part-time job in the food services industry. I know a lot of people who work at tim hortons while they go to school, because they are UNABLE to get a better job UNTIL they get an education!

I used to work for some people who were extremely intelligent and university-educated. However, when they immigrated to Canada- from Baghdad, which used to be a nice place but is obviously inhospitable now- they couldn’t find work that used their education and had to resort to owning a coffee shop. They were the best people I’ve worked for.

I used to think that Timmoes was great. Then I got a job there. I have been there four days and am already considering leaving. It was only my second day when they had started switching my shifts without telling me. I can honestly say that I fear for the health of the people who eat there. Today I had an eight hour shift and I only made two pots of decaf and one pot of steeped tea. I suggested getting rid of it but the manager told me not to worry. Nothing there is ever fresh. You may not be able to see it but behind the counter is safety hazard after safety hazard.
Our location is really bad at keeping workers. The person who trained me has been working there for three weeks. We have so little space behind the counters that we are constantly running into each other.
I personally find it incredibly hard to cash, get donuts, brew coffee, make coffee, and smile at the same time. One group came in today and ordered a sixty dollar meal, and that was after ten minutes if arguing about what to get. Thang god they were the only ones in the store. I have found that either the costomers don’t know what they want even if they have been in line for ten minutes or they rattle off their order so fast and they glare at you when you ask them to slow down and repeat what they said. I do have to admit, as long as it isn’t in the rush periods, most people are fine with you being slow on cash because you are new.
One thing I do find annoying is that almost everyone on my shift is Korean and so communicate to each other in Korean. I don’t speak Korean and the older women get annoyed when I don’t jump to follow orders I have no hope of understanding. Though I did just start taking orders from customers in French and even talking to the rest of the staff in French (only one other person speaks French according to the manager and she is on vacation).

I used to think that Timmoes was great. Then I got a job there. I have been there four days and am already considering leaving. It was only my second day when they had started switching my shifts without telling me. I can honestly say that I fear for the health of the people who eat there. Today I had an eight hour shift and I only made two pots of decaf and one pot of steeped tea. I suggested getting rid of it but the manager told me not to worry. Nothing there is ever fresh. You may not be able to see it but behind the counter is safety hazard after safety hazard.
Our location is really bad at keeping workers. The person who trained me has been working there for three weeks. We have so little space behind the counters that we are constantly running into each other.
I personally find it incredibly hard to cash, get donuts, brew coffee, make coffee, and smile at the same time. One group came in today and ordered a sixty dollar meal, and that was after ten minutes if arguing about what to get. Thang god they were the only ones in the store. I have found that either the costomers don’t know what they want even if they have been in line for ten minutes or they rattle off their order so fast and they glare at you when you ask them to slow down and repeat what they said. I do have to admit, as long as it isn’t in the rush periods, most people are fine with you being slow on cash because you are new.
One thing I do find annoying is that almost everyone on my shift is Korean and so communicate to each other in Korean. I don’t speak Korean and the older women get annoyed when I don’t jump to follow orders I have no hope of understanding. Though I did just start taking orders from customers in French and even talking to the rest of the staff in French (only one other person speaks French according to the manager and she is on vacation).

Timmy’s is the best coffee in the world. I am a total addict of Tim’s yes, DD. I spend 100.00 a month easily on their coffee. And now they are down in the States also. Too bad can’t get shares with Tim’s we would all be ritch-lol.

Woot, woot Timmy’s rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Timmy’s is the best coffee in the world. I am a total addict of Tim’s yes, DD. I spend 100.00 a month easily on their coffee. And now they are down in the States also. Too bad can’t get shares with Tim’s we would all be ritch-lol.

Woot, woot Timmy’s rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“It actually tastes like the unbrewed grounds are just suspended in hot water.”
—this is how I’ve been trying to describe it all along

But the best I could ever come up with was that to me, it tastes like chicken leftovers brewed into milk that’s been flavoured with coffee sprinkles.

“It actually tastes like the unbrewed grounds are just suspended in hot water.”
—this is how I’ve been trying to describe it all along

But the best I could ever come up with was that to me, it tastes like chicken leftovers brewed into milk that’s been flavoured with coffee sprinkles.

anyone who eats or drinks tim hortons crap , there taste buds are shot or there mommy raised them on mcdonalds food, tim horton is the waste , people are like sheep to buy that overprised frozen crap

anyone who eats or drinks tim hortons crap , there taste buds are shot or there mommy raised them on mcdonalds food, tim horton is the waste , people are like sheep to buy that overprised frozen crap

I’m from the UK and I always look forward to a cup of hot double double when I land at Pearson. I accept that its not fine stuff that I might have in Milan or Hanoi (yes Vietnam) but it has a homely, winter, feel that does wonders in the cold months.

I wish we had Tim Horton’s stores over here rather than the crappy Timmy’s machines we get in some convenience stores.

As for the other points mentioned about Timmy’s, I’ve not done any research but even if they are correct it wont stop me buying Timmy’s.

1) I like their coffee.

2) I dont eat their food – well sometimes the breakfast sandwiches which are expected to be crap.

3) I don’t care if its owned by Aliens from Mars – Canada is the only place I can regularly find it so in my mind its Canadian.

4) I always get served within 3 minutes (and I’m usually in the financial district of Downtown Toronto)

5) I guess I would prefer that their cups were recycleable but does it even if they were made from plutonium coated lead I would still drink it.

In conclusion, Timmy’s is awesome. I hope they export it and embrace globalization.

I’m from the UK and I always look forward to a cup of hot double double when I land at Pearson. I accept that its not fine stuff that I might have in Milan or Hanoi (yes Vietnam) but it has a homely, winter, feel that does wonders in the cold months.

I wish we had Tim Horton’s stores over here rather than the crappy Timmy’s machines we get in some convenience stores.

As for the other points mentioned about Timmy’s, I’ve not done any research but even if they are correct it wont stop me buying Timmy’s.

1) I like their coffee.

2) I dont eat their food – well sometimes the breakfast sandwiches which are expected to be crap.

3) I don’t care if its owned by Aliens from Mars – Canada is the only place I can regularly find it so in my mind its Canadian.

4) I always get served within 3 minutes (and I’m usually in the financial district of Downtown Toronto)

5) I guess I would prefer that their cups were recycleable but does it even if they were made from plutonium coated lead I would still drink it.

In conclusion, Timmy’s is awesome. I hope they export it and embrace globalization.

timmies sucks, i wont give them a dime, DO PEOPLE REALLY NEED A HORTONS ON EVERY FRICKIN CORNER, SOME CORNERS HAVE 2 FOR GOD SAKES, AND I REALLY LIKE SEEING PEOPPLE LINED UP ON A MAJOR ROAD WAITING TO GET THERE STUPID COFFEE, IF I WERE A COP ID FINE EVERYBODY PARKED ON THE ROAD, MCDONALDS COFFEE IS BETTER AND CHEAPER, IF COFFEE IS GOOD YUO DONT NEED A PAIL OF SUGAR AND MILK TO DRINK IT – BARF

timmies sucks, i wont give them a dime, DO PEOPLE REALLY NEED A HORTONS ON EVERY FRICKIN CORNER, SOME CORNERS HAVE 2 FOR GOD SAKES, AND I REALLY LIKE SEEING PEOPPLE LINED UP ON A MAJOR ROAD WAITING TO GET THERE STUPID COFFEE, IF I WERE A COP ID FINE EVERYBODY PARKED ON THE ROAD, MCDONALDS COFFEE IS BETTER AND CHEAPER, IF COFFEE IS GOOD YUO DONT NEED A PAIL OF SUGAR AND MILK TO DRINK IT – BARF

I am done with Tim Hortons…..they always overcharge for the beverage that you order and it is never…never made to order……milk means MILK….not CREAM……the last three times i’ve ordered everything bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese i got a plain bagel with plain cream cheese, three different locations. Also, the last four times I went there they always overcharged….$400 for 2 medium black coffees….come on….today i just let it go, never bothered to tell them the difference, I’m done with them…..I know you don’t need a very high level of education to work at Tim Hortons but come one…..a five year old could deliver better service.

I am done with Tim Hortons…..they always overcharge for the beverage that you order and it is never…never made to order……milk means MILK….not CREAM……the last three times i’ve ordered everything bagel with herb and garlic cream cheese i got a plain bagel with plain cream cheese, three different locations. Also, the last four times I went there they always overcharged….$400 for 2 medium black coffees….come on….today i just let it go, never bothered to tell them the difference, I’m done with them…..I know you don’t need a very high level of education to work at Tim Hortons but come one…..a five year old could deliver better service.

First of all I LOVE Tim Hortons. Today I drove 2 hours to reach the closest one to where I was going. There were 3 of us and we all wanted the breakfast sandwich combos. It was 10:50 and we were told that they were NOT doing breakfast anymore. The sign over my head said they served till 11:00am and the clock on the Tim Hortons wall said 1050. But he said HIS watch said 11:00 and we could NOT get the sandwiches!! I was upset because I was really looking forward to them. When we left the manager said something like “enjoy McDonalds” which I thought was unneeded. To say the least we were VERY disappointed and upset.. This Tim Hortons was in Newport, Maine. It happened today, 12/1/09 at 10:50. That should tell U just WHO the manager was that was NOT helpful or nice at all. Jon Holmes

First of all I LOVE Tim Hortons. Today I drove 2 hours to reach the closest one to where I was going. There were 3 of us and we all wanted the breakfast sandwich combos. It was 10:50 and we were told that they were NOT doing breakfast anymore. The sign over my head said they served till 11:00am and the clock on the Tim Hortons wall said 1050. But he said HIS watch said 11:00 and we could NOT get the sandwiches!! I was upset because I was really looking forward to them. When we left the manager said something like “enjoy McDonalds” which I thought was unneeded. To say the least we were VERY disappointed and upset.. This Tim Hortons was in Newport, Maine. It happened today, 12/1/09 at 10:50. That should tell U just WHO the manager was that was NOT helpful or nice at all. Jon Holmes

I feel exactly the same way about “Timmies” as you do. I know people who won’t even try coffee unless it’s from Tim’s. You mentioned the espresso based drinks, I challenge you to try and order an espresso at Tim’s. As I am sure you already know it’s all powdered “instant” junk.
Another point is people like to hang out there, why? The stores have zero appeal to me bright lighting, boring decor, uncomfortable seating. If I want to go out for coffee with friends I want a comfortable place to sit with some art on the walls, a place I can relax.

I feel exactly the same way about “Timmies” as you do. I know people who won’t even try coffee unless it’s from Tim’s. You mentioned the espresso based drinks, I challenge you to try and order an espresso at Tim’s. As I am sure you already know it’s all powdered “instant” junk.
Another point is people like to hang out there, why? The stores have zero appeal to me bright lighting, boring decor, uncomfortable seating. If I want to go out for coffee with friends I want a comfortable place to sit with some art on the walls, a place I can relax.

Tim’s is tripe,

i’ve got a percolator and grind my own beans (usually kicking horse or another certified organic / fair trade) it’s so far beyond tim’s that one cannot compare it fairly… it’d be like comparing Coor’s Light to Trappist Westvleteren 12 (if you know beers, you’ll know what i’m talking about) or… guess a simpler comparison, comparing the performance of a Geo to a Ferrari.

All the tea i brew is infused, loose leaf. It’s truly amazing, much better than “Tim’s Tea” which i’ll pick over their coffee if i’m forced to have a meeting there as they don’t allow you to bring a thermos into the establishment.

BTW, brewing your own is not only far better, it’s also way cheaper, but whatever, i’m not going to get through to the one whos vehicle idles for 15 minutes just to buy a $3.00 coffee and doughnut, clogging up traffic lanes.

Tim’s is tripe,

i’ve got a percolator and grind my own beans (usually kicking horse or another certified organic / fair trade) it’s so far beyond tim’s that one cannot compare it fairly… it’d be like comparing Coor’s Light to Trappist Westvleteren 12 (if you know beers, you’ll know what i’m talking about) or… guess a simpler comparison, comparing the performance of a Geo to a Ferrari.

All the tea i brew is infused, loose leaf. It’s truly amazing, much better than “Tim’s Tea” which i’ll pick over their coffee if i’m forced to have a meeting there as they don’t allow you to bring a thermos into the establishment.

BTW, brewing your own is not only far better, it’s also way cheaper, but whatever, i’m not going to get through to the one whos vehicle idles for 15 minutes just to buy a $3.00 coffee and doughnut, clogging up traffic lanes.

Well… I too used to believe that Tim’s was “as good as it gets”… after all for most of us it was a family tradition or was that in a commercial? my father had many Tim cups in the trashcan of his workshop. He also consumed large amounts of fatty foods… homemade gravy including every ounce of animal fat possible… no surprise that he died years before the national average. So I guess just because we’ve always done it doesn’t make it right or good for us.

Taking some notes from song sheets of others I discovered that I had options… at least when it comes to my coffee… I tried the higher end coffee brands… sort of like going from Canadian Rye to Scotch… a little taste shock… but hey people love it… they will tell you what your missing.

I decided to begin brewing and grinding my own until I found just that flavour I enjoyed… it is somewhat similar to Tim Horton’s… at a fraction of the cost and it cuts 20 minutes off my commute to work.. and less trips to the auto detailer to clean the coffee stains that leak,seep,spill and leap from the overflowing Tim’s cup as a bonus.

I’m not going to bash Tim’s for litter… or the car idling time… get a grip … I drove through the line up at Tim’s near my home last spring where a group had been petitioning the municipality to BAN drive through due to the air pollution concerns… I really had to laugh… as the 3 parents of the 3 kids where driving the largest SUV’s you can find… an Infinity Q, Lincoln and an Escalade. How much would you be willing to bet that each kid had a cell phone, debit card and their parents OK to supplement their lunch at the mall close to the school cause mom and dad don’t have time to pack lunch for them?

Yes Tim’s is pathetic in so many ways… the service is humorous… I know that they have been hard pressed in staffing as late… competing with social services in Canada is tough. For you Americans… you have your right to keep and bear arms… we have the right to live off the productive people in our country, get medical assistance, dentistry, eye wear… etc. etc. etc. at no cost to the user and it is unlawful to force them to work for this right. How can Tim’s compete with that? I give the staff credit for accepting a responsible role in the Canadian workplace to support the ever growing social expenses… I will leave the employee’s of Tim’s alone.. well… let me just say “you get what you pay for…” and for all you prodigies working at Tim’s asking is this as good as it gets? remember “access to the library is still free” try picking up a book… I recommend the one “Completing my GED…its never too late”

Although I must say that I am somewhat envious of the employees that are students and using Tim’s as a connector flight to life. Why am I envious? well those students have a rare chance to glimpse into the world of the chaotic cross sections of society… ripe with material for sitcoms such as “The office” or perhaps “Dexter” depending on what side of the tracks your Tim’s is located. 4 years from now while your in line sitting in your shinny BMW you will have some understanding for “Doug” affectionately called “Burnout” by co-workers as he hands you your coffee and looks at you with bovine eyes when you say how have you been? haven’t seen you in years…

So as you drive away… you remember that it was you that coined him “burnout” when you worked there years ago and as you sip your coffee… quickly discovering it hasn’t been stirred… you wonder why in the heck is this place still so busy? And made a resolution to go to the other Tim’s although a little out of the way from then on… and a CBC commentary chirps on the radio “stupid is as stupid does…” and you begin to reflect that people are truly stupid… and that corner across from your office would be an excellent place to open a Tim’s… a licences to print money… and best of all… no accountability… not to the staff and certainly not to the customer… just keep revenue at X and send the bank of Wendy’s their cut and all is good… who said only America is the land of opportunity? Now if you can just find a way to pay less taxes… perhaps the government could shift the capital tax into a sort of tea tax or coffee tax.. certainly this has never been attempted before…

Well… I too used to believe that Tim’s was “as good as it gets”… after all for most of us it was a family tradition or was that in a commercial? my father had many Tim cups in the trashcan of his workshop. He also consumed large amounts of fatty foods… homemade gravy including every ounce of animal fat possible… no surprise that he died years before the national average. So I guess just because we’ve always done it doesn’t make it right or good for us.

Taking some notes from song sheets of others I discovered that I had options… at least when it comes to my coffee… I tried the higher end coffee brands… sort of like going from Canadian Rye to Scotch… a little taste shock… but hey people love it… they will tell you what your missing.

I decided to begin brewing and grinding my own until I found just that flavour I enjoyed… it is somewhat similar to Tim Horton’s… at a fraction of the cost and it cuts 20 minutes off my commute to work.. and less trips to the auto detailer to clean the coffee stains that leak,seep,spill and leap from the overflowing Tim’s cup as a bonus.

I’m not going to bash Tim’s for litter… or the car idling time… get a grip … I drove through the line up at Tim’s near my home last spring where a group had been petitioning the municipality to BAN drive through due to the air pollution concerns… I really had to laugh… as the 3 parents of the 3 kids where driving the largest SUV’s you can find… an Infinity Q, Lincoln and an Escalade. How much would you be willing to bet that each kid had a cell phone, debit card and their parents OK to supplement their lunch at the mall close to the school cause mom and dad don’t have time to pack lunch for them?

Yes Tim’s is pathetic in so many ways… the service is humorous… I know that they have been hard pressed in staffing as late… competing with social services in Canada is tough. For you Americans… you have your right to keep and bear arms… we have the right to live off the productive people in our country, get medical assistance, dentistry, eye wear… etc. etc. etc. at no cost to the user and it is unlawful to force them to work for this right. How can Tim’s compete with that? I give the staff credit for accepting a responsible role in the Canadian workplace to support the ever growing social expenses… I will leave the employee’s of Tim’s alone.. well… let me just say “you get what you pay for…” and for all you prodigies working at Tim’s asking is this as good as it gets? remember “access to the library is still free” try picking up a book… I recommend the one “Completing my GED…its never too late”

Although I must say that I am somewhat envious of the employees that are students and using Tim’s as a connector flight to life. Why am I envious? well those students have a rare chance to glimpse into the world of the chaotic cross sections of society… ripe with material for sitcoms such as “The office” or perhaps “Dexter” depending on what side of the tracks your Tim’s is located. 4 years from now while your in line sitting in your shinny BMW you will have some understanding for “Doug” affectionately called “Burnout” by co-workers as he hands you your coffee and looks at you with bovine eyes when you say how have you been? haven’t seen you in years…

So as you drive away… you remember that it was you that coined him “burnout” when you worked there years ago and as you sip your coffee… quickly discovering it hasn’t been stirred… you wonder why in the heck is this place still so busy? And made a resolution to go to the other Tim’s although a little out of the way from then on… and a CBC commentary chirps on the radio “stupid is as stupid does…” and you begin to reflect that people are truly stupid… and that corner across from your office would be an excellent place to open a Tim’s… a licences to print money… and best of all… no accountability… not to the staff and certainly not to the customer… just keep revenue at X and send the bank of Wendy’s their cut and all is good… who said only America is the land of opportunity? Now if you can just find a way to pay less taxes… perhaps the government could shift the capital tax into a sort of tea tax or coffee tax.. certainly this has never been attempted before…

hahahaha you idiot.
just because someone works at a fast food restaurant does not make them stupid nor does it mean that they did not finish high school .. get a life

You’re an absolute idiot, I currently work at Tim Hortons and I hate to break it you, but working in a fast food establishment does not necessarily mean you didn’t complete high school or are a wash out! Give the students credit, for a lot of them it’s their first job and it’s funding their education. Not to mention, I work with people who have already had successful careers and are working there for semi-retirement. Also, to the people who may not have excelled in school and didn’t graduate at least them credit for not living off the country’s social services. As for me I am a young adult working at Tim Hortons to help fund my education, as I’m currently in medical school working on my phD, I guess I must be stupid?! Give the people some credit, because I hate to break it to you, but you’d be surprised how many people that work there that are or will be more successful than you!

Well… I too used to believe that Tim’s was “as good as it gets”… after all for most of us it was a family tradition or was that in a commercial? my father had many Tim cups in the trashcan of his workshop. He also consumed large amounts of fatty foods… homemade gravy including every ounce of animal fat possible… no surprise that he died years before the national average. So I guess just because we’ve always done it doesn’t make it right or good for us.

Taking some notes from song sheets of others I discovered that I had options… at least when it comes to my coffee… I tried the higher end coffee brands… sort of like going from Canadian Rye to Scotch… a little taste shock… but hey people love it… they will tell you what your missing.

I decided to begin brewing and grinding my own until I found just that flavour I enjoyed… it is somewhat similar to Tim Horton’s… at a fraction of the cost and it cuts 20 minutes off my commute to work.. and less trips to the auto detailer to clean the coffee stains that leak,seep,spill and leap from the overflowing Tim’s cup as a bonus.

I’m not going to bash Tim’s for litter… or the car idling time… get a grip … I drove through the line up at Tim’s near my home last spring where a group had been petitioning the municipality to BAN drive through due to the air pollution concerns… I really had to laugh… as the 3 parents of the 3 kids where driving the largest SUV’s you can find… an Infinity Q, Lincoln and an Escalade. How much would you be willing to bet that each kid had a cell phone, debit card and their parents OK to supplement their lunch at the mall close to the school cause mom and dad don’t have time to pack lunch for them?

Yes Tim’s is pathetic in so many ways… the service is humorous… I know that they have been hard pressed in staffing as late… competing with social services in Canada is tough. For you Americans… you have your right to keep and bear arms… we have the right to live off the productive people in our country, get medical assistance, dentistry, eye wear… etc. etc. etc. at no cost to the user and it is unlawful to force them to work for this right. How can Tim’s compete with that? I give the staff credit for accepting a responsible role in the Canadian workplace to support the ever growing social expenses… I will leave the employee’s of Tim’s alone.. well… let me just say “you get what you pay for…” and for all you prodigies working at Tim’s asking is this as good as it gets? remember “access to the library is still free” try picking up a book… I recommend the one “Completing my GED…its never too late”

Although I must say that I am somewhat envious of the employees that are students and using Tim’s as a connector flight to life. Why am I envious? well those students have a rare chance to glimpse into the world of the chaotic cross sections of society… ripe with material for sitcoms such as “The office” or perhaps “Dexter” depending on what side of the tracks your Tim’s is located. 4 years from now while your in line sitting in your shinny BMW you will have some understanding for “Doug” affectionately called “Burnout” by co-workers as he hands you your coffee and looks at you with bovine eyes when you say how have you been? haven’t seen you in years…

So as you drive away… you remember that it was you that coined him “burnout” when you worked there years ago and as you sip your coffee… quickly discovering it hasn’t been stirred… you wonder why in the heck is this place still so busy? And made a resolution to go to the other Tim’s although a little out of the way from then on… and a CBC commentary chirps on the radio “stupid is as stupid does…” and you begin to reflect that people are truly stupid… and that corner across from your office would be an excellent place to open a Tim’s… a licences to print money… and best of all… no accountability… not to the staff and certainly not to the customer… just keep revenue at X and send the bank of Wendy’s their cut and all is good… who said only America is the land of opportunity? Now if you can just find a way to pay less taxes… perhaps the government could shift the capital tax into a sort of tea tax or coffee tax.. certainly this has never been attempted before…

hey i want you to try and do what i do. please do. because you wont be able to. bet you cant. so before you open your rude mouth, close it. we open our coffee when we do because if we dont refil it, we hear you all complain about waiting so shut it 🙂

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What's wrong with you people! You are obviously not ordering correctly. I ALWAYS get exactly what I order. I have learned to order “Large coffee, burnt, in a leaky cup/lid, put anything you like into it, don't bother to stir, and give it to me without a smile”. And for this I always say “Thank You”. (Canadian eh?)

Not ordering correctly? I was at the Horton’s drive-thru during a blizzard last year and they took 45 fucking minutes to get me an extra large double double because the drive-thru girl was talking to some other bitch that was in the car ahead of me and all she ordered was a medium coffee (by the way, they were NOT busy either. I waited 45 minutes for a coffee while the TEENAGER on cash was talking to her TEENAGE friend in the car ahead of me, I know this because I told her off after I decided to go into the store itself after I FINALLY got my coffee, and there were ZERO people in the store aside from me and the staff. Unacceptable. You want to talk to your fucking friends, do it when you know: you are not fucking working

Seriously if you are going to lie make the lie believable. who would wait 45 min for a coffee. Probably 5 min and you exaggerated it up to 45 min. Fucking moron.

I’m not lying, you single digit IQ retard. If I wanted the opinion of someone worth less than the shit I took five minutes ago, I would have asked you for it. And only idiots thumbs up their OWN comments

Who says Tim was drunk and on pills when he died. He was obviously speeding but there is no mention of drugs or alcohol. Coffee is fresh every 20 minutes. I always found the doughnuts fresh. Maybe the Tim Hortons you go to should be checked out, maybe the management are short cutting to steel the extra buck.

I'll add my two-cents. I'm from the Greater Toronto Area.

Although I don't drink coffee or tea, I do agree with your points. But Tim Hortons is not all that bad as it seems and there are two reasons for this.

(1)The inconvient truth is that it's just conviently located in cities. Let's face it, cities, especially in sprawling neighbourhoods that are built around the automobile love fast-food restaurants and when it comes to “healthy” options, I'd rather have a Tim Horton's Chicken sandwich than anything at Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Pizza and so on! I know a person can go to other real restaurants but they aren't located around the city. So if someone is in a rush, usually in their cars, a Tim Hortons' is conviently found. And lets face it, humans LIKE convinent things!

(2)It generally has good bang-for-your-buck deals. Once again, an individual has the option of going to a 'proper restaurant' if they desire better cooked healthy food. However, the issue there is pricing, and the inability for people like me to shove over cash!

I drink coffee all over the country, Canada and the USA. Tim's is always the best. I make it at home with my Bunn and Tim's coffee. Again, my coffee appreciated by guests who comment on how good it tastes and smells. Yes, smell is important. Aroma. After reading your comments, I put my nose in a tin to see if I was missing something and my coffee wasn't fresh. Well, I smiled because I had a Tim's smell immediately. Just glad it wasn't a can of Nestle or Maxwell House (garbage). I add cream when I have it but also like milk. Usually l take one sugar as well. Enjoy!!

i was forced to quit coffee because i couldn’t find a coffee shop beside tims and starbucks in my new area. now i make my own coffee and don’t buy from anywhere else. i would have to disagree that maxwell house is garbage, because it is actually better than tim horton’s cigarette-tasting coffee

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