It’s you. It’s not me.
I’m sure I can speak on behalf of the hundreds of students who line up in ridiculous Timmies lines on campus and wait for way too long. It’s about time someone addresses this and takes it straight to the point. I have observed the Tims line and the employees on their peak times, where a wait has lasted me 40 minutes. I’m sorry Tims UCC. It’s you; it’s not me.
As a former two year Tim Hortons employee, I’ve literally had the itching desire to jump over the counter and make the process more efficient. Tim Hortons is not The Wave; we shouldn’t be waiting 20-40 minutes for our food, especially when it’s not even a sit down restaurant. I’d like my desire to jump over the counter to disappear. So here are some tips and advice for the Tim Hortons franchise and the UCC employees.
NEW EMPLOYEES
If Western is hiring new employees who are in training, this should be noted on their work uniforms. Therefore, there will be an actual excuse for the slow service and confusion. This will reduce angry and annoyed customers because we can empathize with a new worker on the job.
UNDERSTAFFED
I understand that Western can be cheap and understaff their Timmies employees. However, I genuinely do not understand why they are understaffed when Timmies is always in service, making a lot of revenue, and NEEDS more employees on shift.
If you are understaffed, please just please be logical and use a team based approach to get things done and move efficiently, which directs me to my next point…
TWO CASH REGISTERS FOR A REASON
Whether you are understaffed or not there should always be two people on the cash register. This will make the line move quicker—instead of having to wait a year to order and than another year to receive your order.
FIVE EMPLOYEES IS ENOUGH so whyyyy are you slow?
Okay. I don’t know if it’s because this Tims is owned by hospitality services at Western that it does not function properly or effectively, or because employees are not being trained properly; but, if there are five employees on duty, no matter how big the line, things should move smoothly and efficiently. Let me explain:
One person on sandwiches
Two people on cash (who remain on cash) and only get the baked goods for the customer
Two people as the drink makers
This will be explained further in the next point.
STATION/MACHINE METHOD
Each cash register acts like a station: one person on the cash register getting people’s orders and any baked goods and another person is beside them making the drinks that come up on the screen.
This might sound simple, but I’ve seen countless times the Tims in the UCC have five employees and the line still moves way too slow.
WHEN IT’S PEAK TIME
I’ve seen this happen a couple of times and it IRKS me: if you are dishwashing or doing back duty work when it’s busy: STOP PLEASE AND HELP YOUR FELLOW EMPLOYEES. You can get back to that duty when the peak time settles down.
PREPARE FOR PEAK TIMES
Whether you are a customer or an employee we all aren’t oblivious to when the peak times are: usually 12:30/2:30/5:30 and right before it closes. Before each peak time everything should be stocked and there should be four coffees and two steeped teas ready to be poured. This will make everyone’s life much easier, you will be ready to take on the flood of hungry restless students and not be judged for your lack of expertise.
EMPLOYEES NEED TO BE BETTER INFORMED
I’ve been served watered down coffee and cream that is going bad. How do I know this? From past experience, if cream is floating in your coffee it means it’s going bad or is bad. Managers should be informing their employees of this so they avoid giving someone food poisoning. I once came back to the cashier with my drink and told her the cream has gone bad and showed her, she agreed to make me a new one from a different cream machine. The difference was stark that she even noticed. She told me that she never knew that before. Mind you, she was not a trainee and had been working there for a long time.
IT’S CALLED FAST FOOD FOR A REASON
Tims is considered fast food because your wait times should not be long. However, the wait times have always been ridiculous and, in my opinion, getting worse. To put it simple, if it’s called FAST food: you should be moving quickly. It genuinely bothers me when I see some employees taking their sweet time to make people’s drinks or food when there’s a huge line up. As an employee in any fast food industry, one must move urgently and effectively.
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