Post 89: Tim Horton's vs. Starbucks

I seriously considered putting this post on my reviews and views blog, but then I realized that it would probably be a bad idea. I am upset with Tim Horton's right now,  so my judgement and writing will be more than a little biased.

Why am I upset with Tim Horton's? Pretty crumby customer service. It is always pretty bad, but today was especially so.

Every Monday I carpool to campus with my mother. My mother only drinks decaf. On days we carpool, I get coffee for her at Tim Horton's. She always gets the same thing. Always. So, do I.

Our order is as follows:

Large Decaf Coffee
Turkey Sausage English Muffin
Medium French Vanilla
Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese

Now, it annoys me a little that even though every Monday I order the same thing. And every time they see me, recognize me, but never have decaf ready. Now this only annoys me because back when I went Starbucks all the time they knew my order and had it ready by the time I went to pay. Shirley's Bagels in California knew when my mom and I walked through the door what we wanted. They recognized us, knew we always ordered the same thing and so were prepared.

Tim Horton's doesn't do that. Which would be fine, if not for the other elements. It was just one more strand of hay on the pile.

Another thing that annoys me is how slow they are. And they walk away mid-order, which not only seems inefficient but also rude.  I will say, "decaf coffee" then they walk off. I get that they have to get it started, but it seems like it would be faster (or at least seem faster to the customer) if they took the complete order first.

That's how they do it at Starbucks, anyway.

Then she comes back and asks if I want anything else, I say, "Turkey Sausage English Muffin". She wanders off. She doesn't actually make the sandwich, but she still wanders off. Then she comes back and says, "okay that will be $0.00". She didn't let me finish ordering before walking off, so I say "and a medium french vanilla" and guess who wanders off, again! She comes back and once again she tells me the price and points to the debit machine and when I start to say bagel she gives me a nasty look, like why didn't I tell her before?

Anyway, that is the typical morning routine.

Today, was even worse. I got to the counter said decaf and she let out a huge HUFF, then she snapped at me! She said (in a very rude tone), "We don't have any decaf. We will have to make some (like I didn't know that would happen, like that doesn't happen EVERY morning). You should have checked to see if we had any and told us we were out before, now you have to wait (like it is my job to tell them their inventory)." And if she had calmly and POLITELY told me that next time it would be easier if I told them what I was going to order before I got in line, I wouldn't need to wait after- I would have taken that. But her attitude was so offensive.

And I actually have tried to talk to them before, after not receiving my coffee - it took several minutes to get anyone's attention and they brushed me off SEVERAL times before I could get someone's attention long enough to tell them. And the first thing they said was, "you need to wait in line". She was walking away when I managed to catch her to tell her I had gotten my coffee, she went to the cashier and the cashier just brushed her off and said "she didn't order that". But, I did between the turkey sausage breakfast sandwich and the bagel, and she heard both of those - she even wandered off after I ordered it, like she normally does. She then said, "well, I didn't charge you for it, so if you want it you'll have to get back in line".

So, you know, I don't know how telling them I'm going to order decaf would go, would it be faster or just more frustrating?

Anyway after she snapped at me that I should have told them before, what usually only took 5 minutes took almost 20 minutes! She didn't start the decaf coffee for 15 minutes after I ordered. If I hadn't been early or if I only had a 15 minute window to get to class, I would have been late for class. Or, more likely, I would have just had to leave and not gotten my mom's coffee.

And one of the main reason's I have been fetching my coffee is because she injured herself recently, and was even on crutches for awhile.

I have never had the same issue with Starbucks. They're always polite. They never give attitude.

Tim Horton's might be cheaper, but if I had a choice I think I would rather pay the dollar or so more to not deal with rudeness before I've had caffeine.