May 08, 2008

So, you want to be a franchisor? You have a proud history. A reputation for extensive community involvement. And all it takes is one boneheaded decision by one franchisee to blow it all up, and create one massive controversy.
posted by Northern Exposed 16 years ago
  • Assholes. Managers in these places are such jerks. There must be a school for it. Little power-wankers. 16 frickin' cents for something that probably costs 2. Damn all to customer relations. This is why I will NOT eat at franchises if I can help it. Too bad they didn't interview the mom of the toddler. Bet SHE had a word for their ears. The Timbits given to pets, Ms. Mitchell added, are usually "day-old and recycled." Oh, yeah, right. Like they don't recycle their old ones right back into the box. Oh, and Ms. Mitchell? You are a biatch.
  • Astonishing how much adverse publicity -16ยข can buy you. This story is #3 on Reuters now.
  • I worked in HR long enough to know that if management wants to get rid of you badly enough, they'll find a way. Since they know that the Timbits are given away all the time, but they chose this one incident to fire over instead of cracking down on everybody, is a big red flag that they just didn't like this employee and seized the opportunity. Which, to my mind, is even worse than having an arbitrary Timbit-firing policy.
  • So much for that "Canadians are SO nice!" meme, eh?
  • Hey Hey! The "massive controversy" link indicates she was rehired, so thats cool! I'd suspect it was much more a matter that the manager just didn't lik her and played out a scenario like what TUM described. This bugged me, though: She'd forgotten about the Monday-morning incident when she was called into the office yesterday. Three managers greeted her, saying she had been caught on video, giving free food to a child. "They said, 'Remember, Monday you gave out a free Timbit,' " she said. "I had to think, then I was like, 'Oh yeah,' and I smiled because I thought I'd get a warning." Instead, she was fired for theft and told to sign the accusation before leaving. "I was crying. I was like, 'I'm a single mom with four kids and you are going to put this on my record?' You should bring all the staff in here and fire them all and yourselves, too. People give out Timbits to dogs in the drive-through all the time." Giving food away free is against the rules, said Tim Hortons district manager Nicole Mitchell. "Employees aren't allowed to give out free products and that's the bottom line," she said. "She gave out free product and it doesn't matter if it is a Timbit or a coffee or a doughnut or 10 sandwiches or what." The Timbits given to pets, Mitchell added, are usually "day-old and recycled." "(Lilliman) admitted it. She signed the accusation and completely admitted it and everything has been documented," said Mitchell. Mitchell said there have been other problems with the employee, but Lilliman said nothing has been brought to her attention and she doesn't know of any writeups. People! NEVER SIGN CRAP! Just don't do it. Unless its a police officer threatening to arrest you for refusing to sign a ticket, don't sign anything you object to, even if you think its "true". If you object to it, if you think it doesn't tell the whole story, if you think its unfair, DON'T SIGN IT, BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL FUCK WITH YOU!
  • TUM wrote: an arbitrary Timbit-firing policy. I really would have liked to work at the company where yo was the HR head.
  • (Sounds like a subsidiary of Scrooge, Marley, & Co.)
  • ...and ol' Tim Horton is probably rolling in his grave.
  • (Sounds like a subsidiary of Scrooge, Marley, & Co.) Huge, Barley & Co? Barley Davidson? Kluge, Farley? I'm getting close, eh?
  • Huge barley is hard to get to market.
  • Aha! So you worked at Small Barley. Busted!
  • What did you think they make small beer out of? ;-)
  • I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure normal beer is made from water and bubbles. Small beer is made from small water and tinier bubbles. Then it turns brown and they put it in a bottle. Yours Sincerely, Mr. How Stuff Really Works. Next question!