This last Tuesday was special. Not only was my first-ever University essay due, it also happened to be my prof.'s birthday.
Seeing as receiving 30-odd first-year essays to mark didn't seem to be much of a "birthday present", we needed something else.
How about snacks?
We regularly have a 15 minute break in the almost-three-hour class, so what better than to have something to munch on?
On my way to class then, I detoured via Tim Horton’s located in the food court on Campus.
The time: approaching 5:00 PM
Upon reaching the order counter I asked if I could please have 4-dozen doughnuts. The poor girl on the till (not more than 17, I'm sure...) paused, looked at me in disbelief and said,
"Um... just a sec... I have to check with my manager."
HUH?
If it were "I'd like a doughnut, please." would you in fact have to check with the manager? It's the same thing, really - I just want one doughnut... 48 times.
Can you believe, the reply to my request was "No."???
HUH?
"Sorry, the bakery counter is closed. The stock we have has to last us until we close the service counter."
OK, let me get this straight. You sell doughnuts. It's what you do. I came to you wanting to BUY doughnuts. Now you tell me you won't sell me doughnuts? You're just going to hoard them until close? What time is "close"?
"We close at 8:00."
OK. There are TONS of doughnuts here... in fact, there's cookies, pastries, muffins and so forth... I'm dumbfounded. I don't get it.
So, I asked if she could do a combination of cookies, muffins, doughnuts... so as not to deplete the stock of any one given product.
"No."
"Three dozen?"
"Sorry."
*sigh*
"OK, thank you." (not really, but...)
I decided to wander the food court to see if there were any other options. Low and behold, here we have another bakery stand! Their counter had far less product than Tim's. So, I began by asking if I could get THREE DOZEN of any combination. With a look of sheer delight, the lady behind the till set about loading me up. We started with cookies and moved to muffins. They had no doughnuts, but who cares??
I paid for the items and proceeded to load myself up, backpack, bags of muffins and cookies...
"Here... Have some of these too...", she says, handing me a bag of mini-cookies and a lemon pastry... free. "Thank you, very much!"
Well... I was impressed. Sadly, I’ve forgotten the name of the snack stand! I will confirm and post later! I may just write them a letter, too.
One girl brought a birthday candle. So, after M. chose her muffin, we stuffed the candle in it and lit it.
So... what's with Tim Horton’s? I have to admit, I’m going to think twice before patronising them… seems they don’t really need our business.
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About Me
- Turtle Guy
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- English student, Pottery enthusiast, Yoga novice and lover of all people. I make friends over a warm handshake and a beverage. I discover, every day, someone willing to help me along my path.
9 comments:
Remember that particular Tim Hortons is a franchise owned by the evil Chartwell's (campus monopoly). They are embarrassingly under-staffed, have a horrible turn-over and generally don't give a rat's behind about much (says she who patronizes the place several times a week.)
And you found lemon pastries somewhere else??? I was looking for lemon-something-sweet last week after my cleanse ended and found nary a one!
Sounds like we are trying to curry favor with the teach. ;)
That's pretty ridiculous. I think it might be worth taking to time to write to local hq. When I did it a few years ago, I couldn't find an email addy so I had to do the old fashioned way.
There were a few times when I tried to pre-order several boxes for early morning to take to school. Somehow, the message never got through and they were never ready, but they always found the donuts for me, regardless.
Bizaaro. Well, let's just say it was the cosmic forces not so gently getting you to take your business to the other vendor.
This reminded me of something that happened to me last week in a local butcher shop. It's basically a hole in the wall kind of place and all he had was ONE little lamb hanging behind the counter. That was ALL. And he refused to sell me one leg of the lamb. NO WAY would he do it. He insisted I had to buy a half of the lamb including the HEAD or no lamb at all. I guess if I took only the leg he'd have a hard time selling the rest of the lamb? But of course Albania's a different place from Canada.
First, I'd like to give you kudos for being very thoughtful towards your professor's birthday!
Second, I can't believe they sell you doughnuts!!! I've never heard of a Tim Horton's before, but I sure wouldn't do business with them if we had one! I'm glad you found someplace elese that was so helpful :0)
Hi Dave,
It dosn't sound like that place really wanted your kind of business, they just wanted to be able to sell one item at a time.
I like the store where "the lady got a look sheer delight," that's great! That's a person who loves to do her job, especially with the free treats she gave you!
I hope your teach appreciates the trouble you went through for her B-day.
Janice~
Ahhhhhhhh Timmy's - I shake my fist at you! Ya they really don't need your money - damn coffee/donut monoplolizers.
I always much prefer to give money to smaller or independent businesses BUT, though I hate to admit it, I'll prob have a Tim's on the way to work tomorrow - just so damn convenient.
I love places who take customer service seriously and actually care about their customers. Some places just foster that kind of atmosphere and I think they are worth frequenting even if they are a little more pricey than another place that doesn't care about what they're doing.
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