So I went to Tim Hortons today

[Gheld]

Go into a starbucks and ask for a large coffee and watch their head spin. Horton's only confused me once when they said " you want a double double or a triple double?" i said no i want 1 coffee.

The doubles refer to cream and sugar.
Double double is a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars. And they use an automatic dispenser that adjusts the portion based on the size of the cup that is ordered, so the end result is that a double double always tastes like a double double, whether you get a large or a small.

[Duronos]

The doubles refer to cream and sugar.
Double double is a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars. And they use an automatic dispenser that adjusts the portion based on the size of the cup that is ordered, so the end result is that a double double always tastes like a double double, whether you get a large or a small.

That confused me thoroughly... That and I waited for my coffee never to come, don't know if they forgot but it was already to awkward so I just walked out.

[jugzilla]

In West Virginia, Timmy Ho's is how we refer it. I understand most Canadians refer to it as Tim's. They are open 24/7 and no local establishment can stand up to their coffee, iced capucino, and donut holes. It's all local labor, its not like they recruit Canadians to serve in in the American midwest.

In closing, their iced cap would be the best drink in the world if it was alcoholic.

[Gheld]

In West Virginia, Timmy Ho's is how we refer it. I understand most Canadians refer to it as Tim's. They are open 24/7 and no local establishment can stand up to their coffee, iced capucino, and donut holes. It's all local labor, its not like they recruit Canadians to serve in in the American midwest.

In closing, their iced cap would be the best drink in the world if it was alcoholic.

They also win out by providing a very consistent customer experience from store-to-store. Maybe it's just because it's impossible to screw up coffee and donuts, but the product is spot-on every time. Plus wtf is that sauce they put on the ham and swiss sandwich. I'm trying to figure that shit out because I want to get that sauce for myself.

That's also another manner in which they bootfuck other coffee franchises... a (freshly prepared) lunch menu.

[jugzilla]

Yeah I think you are right, about the spot on customer experience. A few years ago, we had the Canadian contingent of the family come into town. They had barely unpacked their bags and they started complaining about how they couldn't find a good cup of coffee on the drive, and all the cheese sucked in the states, which struck me as odd, i figured it would take at least a meal before you realized that there is no such thing as American Cheese, but there is good cheese made in America. We told them we had a Tim's, sent someone to bring some tidbits, and they were happy. After that, we managed to operate the family as a family, and not some disjointed unit unsatisfied by subpar cheese and coffee.

Oh i didn't even complete my thoughts, and I have an excuse because it was 7/4. The Canadian side of the family loved our local franchise.

[Tradewind]

Tim Horton's is worlds ahead of everything else in terms of the whole "Coffee and Donuts" chains. Dunkin' Donuts is fuckin rookie shit by comparison!

/shotsfired.

[gaymer77]

Never even heard of that place and have to say that's an odd way of buying donuts. Then again I'm used to you pick out your dozen then pay for them.

[Tradewind]

The advantage is that the actual cashier line keeps on moving. Since usually there's a cashier and then a "runner" and then there's a sandwich/food team sort of. So you don't have to stand there in line waiting for a coffee while John Q Fuckabout picks their dozen donuts. They pay and go to the side where they get their stuff sorted, meanwhile you can step in and get your coffee and get out the door.

[PizzaSHARK]

Where in the US do you get donuts before paying for them?

Pretty much everywhere. Donut shops, you tell em what you want and they grab em for ya and box em up and you're on your way. QuikTrip you grab em outta the case and take em to the register. Supermarkets are the same.

[hellosaltygoodness]

well every tim horton's store i've ever been to has their doughnuts sitting in shelves behind the counter, behind the employees at the cash register even. unless you attempted to climb over the counter into an employees-only area and snatch a doughnut before jumping back over, i'm not quite sure how you made a fool of yourself.

[Blockygame]

Having to pay before you choose is bullshit, makes the company look paranoid about lo$$e$.

[Endus]

The advantage is that the actual cashier line keeps on moving. Since usually there's a cashier and then a "runner" and then there's a sandwich/food team sort of. So you don't have to stand there in line waiting for a coffee while John Q Fuckabout picks their dozen donuts. They pay and go to the side where they get their stuff sorted, meanwhile you can step in and get your coffee and get out the door.

Yep.

It's a volume/efficiency thing. If you're ordering a medium double/double and a cruller, they'll probably have it up for you before you finish paying, anyway, but if you're ordering two dozen donuts and picking them yourself (not that odd if you're buying for the office), then you pay, then move to the side so the cashier can deal with the next guy in line while the other staff gets your donuts. Chances are that next guy just wants his coffee anyway, and they may get 2-3 people processed through by the time your donuts are ready.

And they need that efficiency, during rush hour, believe you me.

[Tradewind]

Having to pay before you choose is bullshit, makes the company look paranoid about lo$$e$.

....

It's not they're sitting out on a fuckin table that you can just run away with a tray full.

- - - Updated - - -

Yep.

It's a volume/efficiency thing. If you're ordering a medium double/double and a cruller, they'll probably have it up for you before you finish paying, anyway, but if you're ordering two dozen donuts and picking them yourself (not that odd if you're buying for the office), then you pay, then move to the side so the cashier can deal with the next guy in line while the other staff gets your donuts. Chances are that next guy just wants his coffee anyway, and they may get 2-3 people processed through by the time your donuts are ready.

And they need that efficiency, during rush hour, believe you me.

Seriously, the Tim's I go to at the office is packed solid from like 7am 'til 10am, the line will go out the door. But you can still fly through there in no time. They've slowed down a bit since adding all of that Vanilla Bullshit Latte nonsense, but now they just have those people step aside too and wait at the service counter.

It's even better in the summer cuz they seem to get extra student staff, yesterday there had to be like 10 of them behind the counter. All Filipinos too lol, was like that Star Trek: TNG episode with the Binars, constant string of incomprehensible noise but goddamn if they don't make the coffee fly out the door.

[hellosaltygoodness]

Eh things are different, my first time in the US I thought the gas station was retarded because I had to pay first then get the gas. Here it has always been get my gas then go in and pay, you may think there are a lot of incidents where people take gas and leave but that isn't the case either. When I first got gas in the US I must have been standing at the pump for about a 1 minute thinking "wtf" before I went in and gave cash and even then I was still thinking "wtf" ~_~.

omg i know right, i had this same moment the first time i bought gas in the US. they probably were used to canadian cross border travelers not knowing americans do it backwards, because it only took ten seconds of me standing there for them to turn on the mic and tell me i had to pay first. terribly inconvenient system.

[Tradewind]

omg i know right, i had this same moment the first time i bought gas in the US. they probably were used to canadian cross border travelers not knowing americans do it backwards, because it only took ten seconds of me standing there for them to turn on the mic and tell me i had to pay first. terribly inconvenient system.

and having to sign for credit cards still...wtf is that?!

I tap that shit and I'm gone!

[Sills]

They use a "custom" blend they then contract a coffee manufacturer to manufacture in large quantities for them. At no point throughout the process do they have any opportunity to put nicotine in it.

People are "Addicted" to it, because they aren't. Tims has a decent amount of menu options, a lot of locations, a "distinctly Canadian" image (and thus a cult of personality), heavy and well researched marketing. So the end result is that if somebody is too lazy to make their own coffee, it's the first place on somebodies mind when they go for coffee.

They use 18% cream that is manufactured by local dairies. Most people put milk and extreme cases half-and-half in coffee at home and into office coffee, most sit down restaurants give you half-and-half if you ask for cream. A lot of coffee shops use half-and-half and at best light cream for cream.

The end result is that the fat from the cream in Tim Hortons coffee (and the sugar) triggers the release of dopamine, causing you to feel pleasure. If there was nicotine in the coffee, given that the metabolic half-life of nicotine is 30 minutes you would need a cup every hour or two in order to service the addiction, and given that caffeine has a metabolic half-life of 3 hours the end result would be that caffeine would accumulate in your system and reach lethal levels in very short order.

So the "nicotine in the coffee, lulz" thing is just ridiculous.

Restaurants, especially fast food ones, and especially franchised ones, do not manufacture their own products. The amount of throughput that a factory would require to be profitable in this day and age would boggle most people's minds... A coffee factory doesn't manufacture one brand of coffee... It manufactures all of the brands.

Am I the only one who thinks it's strange to see a thread regarding a Canadian coffee and doughnut shop? Anyway...thank you for bringing information and a little logic to counter act all of the "lulz" in the OP.

I understand that most of you do not understand the whole "order, pay and then receive" thing. As others have stated it's all about efficiency. Most Tim's are packed during most hours of the day. On top of that there is usually a half decent sized queue in the drive-thru. Forcing everyone to wait for their coffee while you lolly-gag around picking out whatever doughnut you want will only create chaos. For example, if I stop in to grab a medium double double while on my way to work, I would hate to get stuck behind someone trying to pick out 12 donuts. If you have a larger order of donuts (say a dozen or so) someone behind the counter can help you out while other staff continue to get orders for other people. It's all about getting you what you want without inconveniencing the other people behind you.

Also, it's quite nice to know that the doughnuts that I buy will not have been breathed on or touched by random strangers. God only knows what some people would do, never mind the loss prevention upside.

[jugzilla]

well, if you get a cup of coffee you should pay for it at one point another. It might be more efficient to have all their customers mail in their tabs.

I think Red Green handled this theory long ago though

[Gumboy]

The doubles refer to cream and sugar.
Double double is a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars. And they use an automatic dispenser that adjusts the portion based on the size of the cup that is ordered, so the end result is that a double double always tastes like a double double, whether you get a large or a small.

What do you ask for if you just want to take your coffee how it is meant to be drank, with no cream or sugar? :P

[prwraith]

Krispy Kreme > All

for donuts anyway

[BeauFox]

That's odd, it must have been the way that specific store does things. I've never had to pay before I choose which donuts I want. Maybe they've had problems with customers running off with them in that store or something who knows xD
Either way I've been to many different Tim Horton stores across Canada and I've never once paid before choosing :3