IamA long time Tim Horton's Supervisor, AMA!

What's the worst thing about your job?

Where do I begin? haha... Lately, it has just been dealing with new minors. Now that I'm a tad older and finishing up my degree it is very hard to teach the 16 year olds the job. They are insufferable! Bitching about how hard working 3 hour shifts are, or how rough going to school and then work is and you just want to tell them to get ready for real life because it is going to hit them like a wall. However, over my almost 8 years the hardest thing has been the inconsistencies. Changes in policies or management styles are the worst. You will have one manager who doesn't care about a certain Tim Horton's standard but then her manager will so you are constantly trying to make 3 or 4 people happy. Also, changes in policy or policies that are damn near unachievable are infuriating.

Stupid checklist by district managers. I tried got 80%, cut corners got 96%

Hahaha exactly you know what I'm talking about... as for the post of yours that got deleted here is my reply: As long as you didn't call off too often we'd be friends. My back of the house is usually spotless and my freezer is always free of empty boxes. And my dip pans are always filled. I've never had any problems with my overnighters in the past. Now we close at 11 so they eliminated the shift.

Hahaha yeah man. We always got shit done but grouchy as fuck by 8am

Yeah I always felt for you guys always getting shit and working the shift 98% of people don't want.

To be honest it was a pretty good shift if you're a single guy and a student. Fridays and Saturdays we would have drunken club girls craving donuts and our friends drop by. Also all the local Tim Horton's night staff were friends so we would finish duties and hangout.

Yeah that's what I always got from my overnights too. I'm just saying that all the morning people and most of the afternoon people wouldn't be able to handle. I've worked my fair share overnight bakes covering for people and I always enjoyed it. Especially when I used to be a pot smoker!

The Sunday morning dt times can suck most times too.

Ugh DT times don't get me started

I like getting bagels toasted with butter, but why on earth is there such inconsistency with this? Sometimes the bagels will be very toasted, other times not at all, sometimes a tonne of butter, other times very little, and everything in between.

It really has to do with the toaster. If there is a bulb out in the toaster it makes a huge difference. Same goes for the belt if that belt is older it moves slower and causes things to get a tad toastier. The standard is a toaster set on 6 but that is so different from location to location. As for the butter it really depends on who is making it. Cream cheese is supposed to be scooped using a scooper but butter really is freehand. I am known to over butter, it will tell you pretty much exactly how the person making a bagel likes their bagels buttered haha.

Inconsistent toasting is usually a result of the quartz heater tubes getting dirty and less heat reaching the bagels. Managers are also quite adept at ignoring equipment issues until catastrophic failure.

The age of the belt has no bearing on the belt speed, if the potentiometer on the toaster is wearing out, the belt speed can be different at any given setting than a brand new unit. If the sprocket on the gearmotor or the gearmotor itself are wearing out, this can also cause speed issues, though usually manifesting as random stop/starts on the conveyor.

Also at play is the fact Tim's uses a few different brands and models of toasters currently, usually Holman QCS2 or QCS3, and as more stores undergo their mandated renovations, the Nieco solid state control Toasters.

Thank you repair man! Yeah by bulbs I mean quartz heater tubes and by belt speed I meant potentiometer... I just didn't know it hahaha

Timmies calls are the highlight of my day, they're usually a pretty clean location to work in, and then someone like you tries very hard to give me free coffee on my way out.

Yeah no frier means no grease and yeah I usually always give the repair guys some donuts and coffee on the way out. Also, its nice having someone to bitch about the local sports teams with haha

Of all the baked goods that you are suppose to throw out, how many make it to the dumpster?

Sadly, a lot! I am a night shift supervisor, mostly, and my location closes so we throw out around 5 or 6 dozen a night. It is really sickening knowing we throw out probably thousands of pounds of food a year. As for donuts that "expire" which the Tim Horton's standard is after 8 hours... we rarely throw those out and mostly it is just us supervisors saying "fuck that, I am not wasting stuff twice."

Ever considered donating it to say local shelters?

I've made the suggestion apparently it is against company policy. Liability reasons was the excuse I was given.

Also a Tim Hortons Supervisor here, I got the same excuse too. Liability if whoever we donate it to get's sick.

Yeah, its a bullshit excuse. Thanks for the confirmation that it isn't just my owner.

I worked for a different restaurant chain. I'm pretty sure this is common practice for any place that sells food.

Besides, why would you help people that are starving? /s

Had a friend who worked for Panera Bread in high school. He said that they donated all the left over bagels and bread every night. Don't know if they still do though (this was 9 years ago).

They do. It's usually posted right on the door... which is another reason I think this policy is bullshit.

Not sure, if it is at the corporate or store level. But I know one of the local ones still donates older product to the local blood center.

Back in the day, I used to work at Krispy Kreme and when I asked about doing something similar, it sounded like they had considered it, but that most of the shelters wanted it delivered, which the boss didn't want to do (as we were thin stretched worker wise).

Yeah, I assume its just about profits over people.

Yes wouldn't it be horrible if corporations cared about people!

I worked at McDonalds and it was the same.

They wouldn't even let us take stuff home for ourselves at closing (although some of the nicer managers would allow us).

I know it's a liability thing, but I don't understand why they can't sign a contract with a food bank that it is eat at your own risk, and we are not responsible if someone gets sick. I would be interested to see a lawyer weigh in on this.

Same. As I have said before I think this liability reasoning is pretty BS

I used to work overnights at a Tim Hortons back when we made the donuts/everything in house.......we were told we couldn't donate leftovers because no one would come get them and we couldn't drop them off.

Yeah I always thought it was just laziness etc.

When you say rarely throw those out, I assume you mean the staff eats them not you just keep selling them right?

I mean we keep selling them. We have to have a certain amount of product in the showcase and if something rarely sells we usually just keep older product there instead of having to bake an entire new batch and waste that too. More popular donuts usually get sold pretty quickly so this isn't a problem there but those old fashioned plain or glazed in the showcase at 9pm were probably made at 10am.

Since you have stated you work for an American location, I have to ask. Do your employee manuals really have a section explaining what a double double is?

Yes they do... plus they all have Canadian spelling which to us ignorant americans is always funny... Colour, Flavour, Centre, etc.

What IS a double double?

A coffee with two cream and two sugar

hmm, I didn't know this was a Canadian only thing.

Well I'm in the states and it's pretty common language outside of my work place too.

What do you think about the acquisition by Burger King?

Business as usual. I think Tim's is trying to make a move to expand globally and this is a pretty decent move if they are doing that, however, if not it will probably fail like the Wendy's merger a decade ago.

I happen to love my Baconator & 8' Long John combo.

8 Feet!? That's indeed a long John.

It's the party sub of long johns haha

Well I believe there are still combo locations around haha

What was the biggest doughnut flop you know of?

Great question! I've seen so many it's hard to remember haha. Recently the dark chocolate donut was a pretty big flop at my location. It was a chocolate fill donut filled with chocolate dipped in chocolate sprinkled with chocolate rice crispy things (which were actually amazing on their own) and had a triangle of dark chocolate as a garnish... really it was just toooooo much chocolate. Probably the biggest flop I've seen though is the halloween donut they put out every year. Essential it's just a boston or vanilla cream (its changed over the years) but they put this edible sticker on it that tastes like eating paper... no one ever buys them!

I grab coffee for people at work in the mornings daily, and I don't even remember that chocolate donut. It sounds horrific.

Was the Dark chocolate donut part of the whole "dark roast' campaign? Is the dark roast popular? I only ever see people order it when someone behind the counter specifically asks if they want it.

Thanks.

Yeah it was part of the dark marketing and it did horrible. I would throw out dozens a night. Dark roast is somewhat popular. I think over all it should get phased out but they have invested a TON of money on it. Ad campaigns, new brewers, new pots, and have been forcing most of us to suggestive sell like crazy. People don't seem to like it all that much.

yeah I learned when I was in Costa Rica over the break that the dark roast is so that you can purchase coffee beans from anywhere mix them together and dark roast them and the coffee will taste the same.

Yeah, honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it is a way to get rid of the beans that are rejected for regular roast.

This summer I was obsessed with the Oreo ice Capp. In September or so they were unavailable why would they discontinue it? Also why do you hate your job?

It will probably come back next summer tbh... usually when things are popular like that they have a way of coming back. As for why I hate my job there are a multitude of reasons some asked me that questions specifically before I'll just refer you to that answer haha.

How are you celebrating Tim Horton's birthday today?

Oh wow! What a coincidence didn't know it is his birthday. I'm celebrating with this AMA. You guys have all been great btw!

How often do employees of your establishment covertly deposit semen into food orders before serving them?

roughly twice an hour... excluding me :P Never honestly if one of my employees ever did that or spit or anything like that I would fire them on the spot. As much as I hate my job I do care about people regardless of how shitty those people treat us sometimes.

What's with the attitude I get every time I order an Iced Cap?

Probably comes from the fact that every teenage girl orders 10844963562 million during the summer and we get sick of making them but tbh I actually enjoy making iced capps

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Always ask for food first it means we can start it and will be faster. As for coffee, always order size and then cream sugar and always say dark roast or decaf before your cream and sugar if thats what you are getting.

How many people have you fired?

I've had to fire one. It really is the managers job but once my manager had me fire someone on the spot for stealing.

did they steal cash?

Yep right out of the registers... and Tim Horton's is covered in cameras sooooo stupid move

How big of a problem is theft from the register? I've noticed the cameras so I assume it happens pretty frequently.

No the cameras are a pretty solid deterrent, thats pretty much their purpose.

I was getting coffee with my fiancee getting ready to do the paper route we do when we got our coffee which was supposed to have caramel syrup or something like that. It ended up being the worst coffee we ever had it tasted like nothing with a hint of raspberry nastiness. We didn't complain abd ended up going to McDonald's instead. What's your worst complaint story and/or worse fuck up an employee of yours has ever done?

Haha where do I begin. Over the years I've compiled so many stories about customer complaints or employee fuck ups so I'll just tell a short one. I once had a lady order a decaf double double with a shot of espresso. This is surprisingly common and I can never understand why, it seems counterproductive. My employees and I thought nothing of it. About 4 hours later just before close a woman comes in and slams a coffee on the counter and asks for the supervisor. I come walking up front and she starts yelling that her coworker got her this coffee and she drank half of it and now she can't sleep. She goes on and on about how she orders decaf because she has trouble sleeping when she drinks caffeine late... I sympathize because I have the same problem if I drink any caffeine after 7 I'm up all night. I ask her what was in it just curiously and she say decaf double double with an espresso shot... I almost lose it. I explain what espresso is and she tells me I'm wrong that it is just coffee flavoring. This goes on for about 20 minutes I refund her money she goes on her way. Two days later I receive a complaint from corporate about how espresso should come in decaf. As for your coffee may I ask what you got in it? I assume someone put the wrong flavor shot in we have a raspberry flavor shot and I find it atrocious.

We ordered the coffee with a caramel shot it was bitter as hell with A faint taste off raspberry pretty much the opposite of what we wanted

If it was black I've noticed our shots don't blend well with the taste. Maybe the location used an older raspberry hopper to store caramel in those shots stain anything they touch, including the hoppers, with the color, flavor, and smell.

Why didn't the birthday cake timbit/donut stay around longer? Also why is it that it is carried at one location but not another?

Locations can pick what they carry to a certain extent. Usually promotional items must be carried for x amount of time and then become unavailable or optional. My location still has the birthday cake timbits stop by hahaha

Ahhh so is there anything I can do to bring that item back?

Like I said earlier to another commenter usually when stuff is popular it'll make a comeback at some point.

Thank you for the info

No problem glad I could help!

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I really do hate it after almost 8 years everyday is horrible and repetitive.

Is the crack hidden in the cups, the coffee or is it sprinkled on top like cocoa powder before you hand it over? I try to make it at home and it NEVER tastes as good as when I get it from the shop

We sprinkle it on top of the coffee in the brewer the temperature is perfect to release the cracky goodness haha. No, I feel like our cream is just really fatty and delicious.

I drink my coffee black, no cream. Seriously, though. Where do i buy wholesale TH crack?

Yeah I drink mine black to and have never had this crack like experience. I always assumed it was the cream. Maybe get commercial brewer, we use a BUNN brewer and buy our coffee.

Followup: Do you know what temperature water the brewers at Tim's uses? For example, when I worked at Coffee Chain ©, the brewers were set to around 195 degrees.

I do not know off hand I want to say it is around 210

Just out of curiosity, how much does the average Tim Horton's worker know about the actual Tim Horton?

Well I didn't know today was his birthday. They make you watch a video about him and I live in a place where hockey is pretty popular so around here quite a bit.

Do you ever just take a donut if you're hungry ?

I used to but I haven't eaten Tim Horton's in roughly two years. Everyone does this occasionally but it is company policy to pay 50%

That would be for corporate stores I think. Family owned TDL licensed stores can give their own discounts based on their labor costs/food price costs. My store is 30% off all food and drinks, coffee and donuts are free.

Yeah our owner just uses the corporate rate. I've heard of stores like yours though.

Which one is Canadian Maple? In some Tim Horton's Canadian Maple is the one with the filling. In others it's the one without the filling. Which one is it?

Canadian Maple is filled. Maple dip is a ring donut.

Why do the ads say always fresh when it's obvious that they freeze and reheat? Also why did they go about doing that instead of making fresh doughnuts in the back?

That's a joke we always talk about between employees like always fresh my ass everything is pre-baked or par-baked. When I started muffins were still batter but even that has changed I am assuming this is just a corporate model. Having massive factories allows uniform quality (even if it is subpar) while allowing for easier expansion.

what is 'par-baked'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parbaking

I read your title as Tim Hortons survivor. So, what is the most likely way you could get killed while on the job?

Probably a tweaking customer lol And yes I am a survivor!

Why is it the only times in my life I've heard of Tim Hortons is on reddit? I'm goin to have to travel to one just so I'm not left out.

Where are you from?

Is the coffee at least drinkable? or does that contain pubic hair like at mcdonalds

For cleanliness and freshness the coffee is usually good. Pots are used so quickly they don't have time to sit very long and usually all the equipment is clean. As for quality, imo our coffee taste like water that is coffee flavor but then again I'm usually a gourmet coffee drinker (I do pour over, vacuum, and french press at home) with beans from a local roaster.

Not sure if you've answered this already, but how do you like Tim's coffee? Will you continue to drink it after you leave?

I did answer it but I will again. I'm not a fan and oddly enough I don't drink it at work. I think it taste like coffee flavored water. I usually try to make my coffee at home with beans from a local roaster. I prefer pour over coffee or french press but for guests I usually use my vacuum pot because it's entertaining.

THIS JUST IN - TIM'S EMPLOYEE THINKS THEIR COFFEE TASTES BAD

... I have always been of this opinion, yet the Timmy's cult has always showered me with downvotes when I express it. I think the coffee at Tim's is just plain nasty.

Yeah it's pretty tough telling anyone it's nasty they usually get pretty defensive I've had a few comments that I'm not representing the brand but I think I've been pretty honest about MY experience there.

Have you tried the dark roast? I'm with you on coffee flavoured water for the regular stuff but the dark roast is better

I have and will admit that personally I like it better but still like my coffee at home.

As an avid coffee drinker... i agree with all of this.

Avid coffee drinker as well... Can you understand why I hate the job haha

Has the coffee got worse over the years or has everyone just got better taste in coffee?

I seem to remember Tim's was ok a long time ago, I don't know if it was just compared to the regular shit coffee but seems like everyone has upped the bar lately and Tim's is either stayed with the same thing or just got worse and worse..

even consistency wise its been bad, I held out for a long time still buying Timmies but after too many weak burnt shitty coffees I just gave up.

I think with the growth of Starbucks and independent brewers and roasters people have become more knowledgable about good coffee and Tim's has remained the same.

Why can I never get a bagel toasted correctly from the drive through?

Every time the edges are burn and the rest of the bagel is soft. Even when I asked for it double toasted is still pretty bad.

Again it really is how well kept the toaster is. If one bulb is out in that thing bagels will toast differently. Also, it depends on the freshness of the bagel fresher bagels will still be soft in the middle and always burn on the edges this happens often in the AM. Also, people on the AM usually cheat and toast the bagels through faster to help lower their service times.

Why do you hate your job? I've worked in the coffee business, as a barista, for years and I always loved it!

Because at Tim Horton's you are a fake barista. I'm pretty much just a fast food worker. No one at my work actually is that interested in coffee. I would probably like being a real barista, as I love coffee but Tim's is just really a fast food place.

Never heard of Tim Horton's. What makes it special, aside from coffee?

Timbits.

You can get better donut holes elsewhere

Nothing

I dunno, I kinda like the iced capps. Cheap, sweet coffee slush, yum!

I used to like them. If the machine is clean they are pretty good.

I saw in another comment that teenage girls order them a lot. I'm a bit older than that (32) but still female. Do you recall any other foods that had really obvious demographics?

Old people love apple fritters and are the only people that ever order OF plain (unless people are getting them for their dogs.) Also frozen hot chocolates are usually teens as well (or kids.) You can usually tell Boston Cream people from Vanilla Cream people... idk why, its a learned skill.

my dog LOVES the plain timbits. He gets upset if we come home with Tim Horton's and forgot to get him one.

That's a great part of the job too, getting to see the dogs beg in people's passenger seats.

Tim Bits: Greater or lesser than munchkins?

I have actually never had a dunkin donuts munchkin... although I like their coffee better for some reason... even though both kind of suck imo

What do you advise your friends / relatives to not order?

Everything usually tbh. I really don't think our food is all that great everything is pre-baked. Our soups are powdered mixes or frozen cream blocks. Our sandwich meats are loaded with preservatives. As hypocritical as it seems I am all about local foods. We have a great local donut shop about a block away from my store and I can never understand why people order our donuts. Same with coffee our local coffee shop is top notch and people over look it. I guess it all benefits me because those places are busy but not crazy busy which means on my days off you'll find me there haha.

Convenience.

Almost every single Tim Hortons has a drive thru, almost every one is open 24 hours and it's widely known. Local bakeries/coffee shops have much better products, but not the same, no drive thru and much shorter hours. Before Timmies jacked up their prices, it was cheaper to get goodies from there than a bakery. I've been getting my donuts from Zehrs for years now, twice as big, tastes better and cost half as much.

Exactly!

Hi. How long did it take you to become a supervisor? Good luck with school!

I was a supervisor after my first year. I'm a pretty hard worker and caught on quickly. I'm also the kind of guy who people like to follow and am generally nice... wow that's super egotistical haha... but it was pretty quick. Thanks I'm almost done!

Are there opportunities, as either a customer or employee, to come up with a product and have it evaluated to go big? (I'm referencing McDonald's Egg McMuffin introduction to the market.)

Nope... I made the suggestion of starting a veggie patty sandwich like subway a few years ago. We have a lot of vegetarians by my location and a pretty big Hindu community that strays away from our food for dietary reasons but my suggestion was shot down. I've never heard of anything a customer or employee creating ever going big... Oh, I've also invented a reese's ice capp but I got yelled at for that haha.

Surprised. A lot of Hindus and other vegetarians love the cream cheese bagels.

Yeah they do but for dinner time something more substantial would be nice

Has Deadmau5 ever been to your location?

He has not but if he did stop at my location I would be sure to snap a picture with him seen as that my roommate is obsessed with his music

How does Tim Horton's manage to make their coffee so gross? And why do they insist on serving everything lava hot?

Haha I've been asking myself that question from day one along with "why do people like this shit?" They say that the temp is "the perfect brewing temp for premium coffee." And I'm assuming their beans are just the cheapest they can get away with so thats why it taste like coffee flavored hot water.

What was the grossest drink you've had to make? I talked to one staff member and they've had people put in like 6 creams, 6 sugars, etc.

I have a regular who drinks a medium with 3 cream 10 splenda... I actually can taste the splenda just from the dust haha

Former Tim's employee here: 2 drinks I can remember are a regular who would a large with 5 cream and one honey. The second was an extra large with 12 sugar. That's about half the cup

Yep 11 and 11 is a full cup of cream and sugar so that sounds about right haha.

Who do you see as competition? What are some rival restaurants?

I don't... but the upper management sees Dunkin, Starbucks, McDs, and local coffee shops as rivals

What about Subway and Chipolte?

Subway in a sense but not chipotle

They don't do that roll up the lid contest in the US do they?

Of course they do roll up the rim it's their number one promotion and it is the bane of my existence for 2-3 months every year.

Why don't you guys come to America? And why is Canada obsessed with it?

We are in america! In fact, I work at an american Tim Horton's. It's just a regional thing. I don't know how much further south they will expand as Starbucks and Dunkin have pretty much cornered the market everywhere else. As for why Canada, and where I am in the states, is so obsessed with it I ask myself that everyday hahaha

Have you ever looked at a person's customized Tim card and said "what were you thinking"?

I usually do haha... Also I really don't understand people with cards that have a ton of money on them when I know they reload them for themselves. I just can't fathom having $100 tied up in a company when I could just have cash.

Yeah this baffles me too. Tim's accepts credit cards with the tap feature too (at least in Canada) so I don't know what the purpose of a Tim's card is. Not to mention if you lose it, your money is gone. Lose a credit card and at least you will be reimbursed.

Exactly it really just shows how popular of a place tim's is and the level of brand loyalty people have.

At a multi-lane drive-thru, how do you keep track of which car has which order?

I've never worked at a multi-lane DT so I have no clue... Magic???

They have cameras set up. Inside there are monitors that show which car enters the single pickup line first after they order.

The more you know!

Why do I always have to ask for a sleeve on my scalding hot cup of coffee? Are your employees trained to offer it without and only give one if asked???

Paper waste cost. Employees are trained to only put a sleeve or double cup on when it is requested.

Why did you get rid of white hot chocolate?

IMO it's gross... Also, it didn't sell well.

I've heard from more than one Tim's employee that iced capps are (or used to be) mixed in a giant, unwashed bucket that sits on the floor. Is that true? One of them seemed pretty serious/disgusted about it, and swore off iced capps after seeing it.

True! We do wash our buckets but they are usually stored unopened on the floor. However, as someone who has to clean the machine I won't drink Iced Capps because of the fermented film that begins to form in the machine tank after a week of use.

Blech!

Sorry for ruining your experience!

As a former Tim's overnight employee, I applaud you for your work term. I went mental after 2 months and had to leave.

Is the menu selection much broader where you're from, than here in NS?

Yeah, 8 years is a looooooonnnngggg time in the Tim's world. The menu selection is huge now. When I started half of the stuff on the menu now didn't exist. Really I think this takes away from what we used to do well.

Where did you get your liberal arts degree?

I'm close to getting a BA in History from a school in the US. I'd rather not say how much longer I have or where exactly just because I'm sure my managers wouldn't appreciate this AMA.