How much does a Timbit cost?

These days, a whole lot more than 16 cents.

Tim Hortons made headlines yesterday – in the worst way possible – when they fired an employee for giving away a Timbit. Apparently, after giving the Timbit to a young child, she neglected to put the required dime, nickel and penny into the register; once her manager found out, she was dismissed from her position at the restaurant. Tim Hortons often gives away Timbits to pets, but they’re usually a day old and recycled.

The articles about the incident can’t help but pull on your heartstrings – the one appearing in the Toronto Star describes the Timbit as a “16-cent blob of fried dough”, putting the ridiculousness of the whole incident into perspective. But you can’t help but think that the whole incident could have been avoided with better communication. I’m not sure whether head office has a policy regarding terminations with their franchises that wasn’t enforced, or whether tempers were flaring – there is speculation that there had previously been friction between the employee and her manager – but giving head office a heads up about this particular incident could have spared Tim Hortons a LOT of bad PR.

I wish I could say I wasn’t going to go there for coffee anymore…