Crazy!

Sue Walsh — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:37:07 -0500

I am glad she got her job back. If I knew which Tim's she worked at I'd be a regular there. What a gem of an employee she is!

Wedding Tips

i would think the customers would be happy

laurie — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:35:37 -0500

I think if I were sitting and trying to have a coffee and a child were screaming, I would be grateful to an employee who figured out how to bring the screaming to and end....

So short-sighted on Timmy's part.

laurie

www.notjustaboutcancer.blogspot.com

Single Mom Fired, Then Rehired, Over A Timbit

sassymonkey — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:14:06 -0500

If you are a Canadian there are certain terms you've likely known since infancy and no I'm not talking about "eh". I'm talking about "double double" and "timbit". For the uninitiated a "double double" is a coffee (two cream, two sugar) and a "timbit" is a doughnut hole that is sold at that Canadian institution Tim Horton's (aka Tim's, Timmy's, Timmy Ho's, etc). A teeny-tiny $0.16 doughnut hole. And giving away a single timbit got one single mom fired.

As the CBC is reporting, it certainly is a tempest over a timbit. Nicole Lilliman is a 27 year old single mother who was fired from her position after giving a $0.16 timbit to a the crying daughter of a regular customer. Yes, Tim Horton's does have a "no freebies" policy...although it is one that is broken across the country for dogs in the drive-thru. I grew up in small town and the local Tim Horton's gave plenty of free timbits (usually "expired" ones I suspect) to pooches travelling with their humans and from the comments in the CBC article, and the one at the Globe and Mail it's not a unique phenomena. The comments in both articles also indicate that RCMP (yes, our beloved Royal Canadian Mounted Police) also frequently get free coffee at their local Timmy's.

Lilliman freely admits to giving the timbit away, and she was caught on video doing so, but was stunned that she was fired over it. You can look at the situation two ways. There is the "theft is theft" argument. Yes, giving away your employer's food is stealing, even when it's a $0.16. And then there's the "building customer relations" argument. She didn't give it to her own kid nor did she give it to a friend. It was a regular customer who regularly buys things who was having "a day" as we all do. Lilliman was performing a small act of kindness both to the mother and the crying child. Should she have paid for her it herself? Yes, she probably should have. Should she have been fired? The public consensus is a resounding, "No!"

Spitfire who is currently working on her Masters in Public Administration , blogs at A Step in the Right Direction and had this to say:

I'm sure there are people out there who will say, "well if that's the company policy, then that's the policy"

Sorry! Not good enough and just a poor demonstration of lack of leadership and management ability. It doesn't matter if this is what critics speculate as a "problem employee" and this was perhaps the last straw trying to find a reason to get her fired. It's not good business practice.

From The Employee Factor:

Well, according to the District Manager, Nicole Mitchell, giving food away is against the rules. Huh? Doesn’t the District Manager know that this is the experience economy? Any great company would have killed that “stupid rule” a long time ago. And frankly most companies would have rewarded an employee that used common sense to help a mother with a crying child.

From Robin's Place.

I understand a policy of no free food but come on guys one friggin timbit. Retail value 16 cents, actual cost far more because Tim Horton looks like a cheap money grubbing company. Sick, sick, sick. Instead of firing the employee who took the initiative to build client loyalty, costing Tim's a measly 16 cents, they should fire the Manager for the cost of the bad PR.

Sandra Ruttan from On Life and Other Inconveniences.

I'm not going to get on a soap box about life being fair, because it isn't, but this incident smells bad. Okay, maybe the woman who was fired wasn't a stellar employee - I really don't know - but I do know this is no reason to fire someone. Even a warning would seem harsh to me.

It was an act of generosity, an act that inspires good will and loyalty on the part of a regular customer. And I'm willing to bet that the firing of this employee may just inspire that regular customer to reconsider at least which Tim Hortons she gets her coffee from in the future.

Kristin from On The Rocks compared the bad publicity of the Tim Horton's story with an encounter that she witnessed at a local fair between a doughut seller and a little girl.

Last night, I was at a local street festival where there was a stand selling mini donuts. I try to eat well, but a mini donut will win me over every time, so we stood in line to get a few to snack on while we wandered through the stalls and watched the entertainment. In front of us in line was a little girl, probably no more than 4 or 5 years old. I'd actually assumed that she had been with the woman ahead of her because she was so tiny, but that woman got her donuts and left and the little one was still standing there. The guy selling the donuts asked her what she wanted and she said that she wanted some donuts, please.

Click through to read the rest of the sweet encounter and a reflection on customer service.

Reading through the comments on CBC, the Globe and Mail, and blogs many are saying they will be taking their business elsewhere. It's a big mess and one that the head office seems to be paying attention to at least. Lilliman was rehired although she has chosen to work in a different location.

A statement issued by the company's head office Thursday said the person who fired Nicole Lilliman, 27, went too far and that the single mother of four has been reinstated.

"Unfortunately the action of the manager of this location was not appropriate," the statement read. "With an apology from management Ms. Lilliman has been rehired by the franchisee. We sincerely apologize to our customers for this unfortunate incident.

From CTV.ca

Whether you believing that stealing is stealing or that is was a massive overreaction on the part of the local managers one this is for certain - this has been a huge public relations mess for Tim Horton's.

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

BlogHer - Single Mom Fired, Then Rehired, Over A Timbit - Comments

Crazy!

i would think the customers would be happy

Single Mom Fired, Then Rehired, Over A Timbit