So I bought the TimCard more than a month ago. For those of you living under a rock (or outside Canada), the TimCard is the latest scheme by an already wealthy business (aka Tim Hortons) to suck more money out of you.
and it works...
I've spent at least $50 on this thing so far. That's a lot of coffee. It's a wonder I get any sleep at all.
So I obviously use it a fair bit. It's much easier than cash, as cash can be quite the hassle. Let me take you through a bit of a typical Tim Hortons experience using cash:
You're waiting in line, you got your cash ready, you know what you want - a large double-double (if you're living under that rock I talked about earlier, a double-double is a coffee with two sugar and two cream). It's your turn, you get called over, hooray!! You tell the person behind the wall of doughnuts - that's the real spelling, by the way - what you want. "Large double-double." Just rolls off the tounge. If you're lucky enough to get a person who can handle the complex task of filling a cup with addictive black liquid, this doesn't take too long. I never get that person.
But anyway. So, you give him/her the twenty (you only ever have twenties because banks refuse to dispense any other bills except green ones, but that's a rant for another blog), and get the change back. This change then disappears the way change does. Just vanishes. Lose it, spend it trying to get a stuffed SpongeBob out of one of those machines... whatever, as soon as that twenty is broken, say goodbye to the rest of it, you won't see it anymore. You can't even remember what you end up spending it on, but it's gone either way. Now you leave the Tim Hortons with your $20 coffee to feed your addiction until your next hit.
Pretty typical Timmies run. Now, with a TimCard, things change. Granted, things like the extreme length of time it takes to get your liquid cocaine stays the same, but there are some pluses. Namely, no more change. Which is nice. Coats are lighter. Pants have less jingle. You aren't losing $18 for every cup of coffee you buy... which is nice. Unfortunately, the biggest problem I have (besides the fact that I now spend more money on coffee in a week than I normally would) is the employees. Now, no offence to any Tim Hortons employees out there, but you don't all have the greatest reputation as being speedy, nor for remembering multiple items. Throw in a newfangled thing like the TimCard, and they're a lost cause.
What I can't understand is, with a company as huge as Tim Hortons spending tons of money to start something like the TimCard and putting tons more money into promoting it, why, WHY have they not taught their employees how to use it?!? I don't get it. Now, it has gotten better, but even now I still get a look of terror when I pull out the brown card. "oh no! Not that thing!" is in the minds of each cashier. I can see it in their eyes. Now they have to figure out how to get the machine to work, print off a receipt AND get a coffee. woah.
I once tried to add money to my card. It took no less than 5 employees (one being the supervisor), me offering my input, as I pretty much could do it myself by now, plus a map/description sheet of how to use the machine - just to put $10 onto my card. And then I had the nerve of wanting a coffee after that.
Tim Hortons employees have nightmares about me.
I daydream about Tim Hortons coffee.
Would I recommend the TimCard? Yeah, I love it while I hate it. Maybe I just love to hate it... hmm.
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