I have fond memories of visiting Tim Hortons, Canada's largest donut chain, whenever I travelled north in the mid-1990s. I remember excellent coffee and tasty donuts.
Today, when visiting a Tim Horton's location in Calgary near the Airport, I had high hopes. A large line of customers snaked out the front door, and there were fifteen cars lined up in the drive through. The store was clean and the use of a flat screen TV over the counter to tell the company's story was interesting.
However, the customer service was the worst I've received in a long time. Rather than a friendly smile and greeting, the counter person barked, "What do you want?" When I gave her my Visa to pay for the donuts, she said, "We only take MasterCard." I gave her my MasterCard, and she said, "We only take debit cards." When I gave her my debit card, she huffed, "We don't take this type of debit card." I relented and paid in cash since the people behind me were grumbling (a real inconvenience since I was about to return to the United States and didn't want to take Canadian money with me).
As soon as I walked away from the counter, I noticed that I needed milk for my coffee. I returned to the food preparation area and asked where I could find milk. Two counter people gave me blank stares and said nothing. In retrospect, I'm not sure that they understood English. Only after going back into the line and asking the woman who sold me the coffee for some milk did I get what I wanted accompanied with an ugly glare.
The donuts - stale and greasy - were much worse than I remembered. But the poor customer service is what will stick with me. I will never be back to a Tim Hortons, and I'm guessing that others who were in that location will never return as well.
American fast food giant Wendy's International, which bought Tim Hortons in 1995, is spending millions of dollars every year sponsoring NHL hockey gamees and buying ads. Rather than bringing people into their donut stores only to disappoint them with horrible customer service, I suggest that Wendy's International spend its money and energy on improving customer service and the quality of their products, and business will grow through positive word of mouth.
