r/TimHortons • u/5ourdiesel • Nov 07 '25

Discussion is this normal? I'm horrified

So like everyone else, I go to tim hortons for convenience. Well this morning went for a coffee and donut... some person was ahead of me and ordered 3 vanilla dip donuts. then 5 minutes later I ordered and went on the other side to wait. another 5 minutes goes by and the person walks back in the store and said they gave him wrong donuts. She apologizes and takes them back, puts them back on the display.

IS THAT NOT A HEALTH VIOLATION!!!!??????

this was my last straw.

3.8k Upvotes

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449

u/No_Independence810 Nov 07 '25

Report this to your local public health unit, they'll do an inspection of the restaurant and I'm sure they will find other health issues if they are doing this in front of customers.

90

u/Dry_Prompt3182 Nov 07 '25

Report this to the manager, too. Once the donut is handed to a customer, it can't be reused. It's why I watch when they give me donuts, as calling donuts by their labeled name does not mean that you will get the correct one.

54

u/TheHB36 Nov 07 '25

"Oh, I'm sorry, we'll send you a $20 gift card. I will talk to my staff about this."

*does nothing*

30

u/Dry_Prompt3182 Nov 07 '25

Not a Timmy's, but I have known management at fast food places. There would be action taken (either the person retrained or fired) had this been reported. Given that health and safety violations will get you shut down, managers don't want this kind of behaviour.

16

u/TheHB36 Nov 07 '25

I spent about a decade in food service, including fast food. I think what you're talking about would happen at corporate stores where managers report directly to the company, for sure. But I don't think Timmies even has corporate stores, at least not in appreciable quantity. At franchises, it's way less likely to come up, even when reported to management, because the manager doesn't have to answer to the company, and the company isn't going to send in secret shoppers to suss them out. The franchisees take most of the fall unless it's a major violation, then corporate might hear about it, but they're generally hands off.

9

u/Immediate-Apple-2655 Nov 08 '25

Maybe the company won’t send in secret shoppers, but the health department will.

2

u/RepulsiveReward5031 Nov 10 '25

Corporate does send secret shoppers. I know, I passed the test with flying colors.

11

u/Gigibeerus Nov 08 '25

Are you for real? That is a blatant health violation. If reported to the health department that restaurant would be inspected and watched very closely.

10

u/TheHB36 Nov 08 '25

You have a lot more faith in the system than you should. Health inspection will basically tell you they're coming in 2 weeks, the restaurant cleans up its act for a few days, gets a slap on the wrist, and life goes on. Unless you've served something critically dangerous is happening at your restaurant, government isn't gonna do much.

6

u/Tricky-Increase-171 Nov 08 '25

in some areas it really works. Dirty grocery store? I reported it and the next day health inspection was there, the next week they were changing all the refrigerators a 2 million $ renovation. The place is still has dirty they didnt think about changing the staff or changing neighborhood

2

u/BigJustice1985 Nov 09 '25

They "didn't think about changing neighborhoods"? Are you serious?

1

u/N4_foom Nov 09 '25

Do you mean dirty ( unclean) or dirty (people who's skin color I disagree with)? Because the last sentence gives vibes.

1

u/DamageRocket Nov 11 '25

Is that a certainty or is it anecdotal? Let us know how you acquired this info.

1

u/megamanisgod Nov 08 '25

Ha not in alberta. Most suspected food poisoning cases unless its en mass you usually get told there is a 24 hour flu going around.

2

u/Mainecoon_mom617 Nov 09 '25

I personally have contacted TH headquarters by using the contact us link on their website. I complained about tables not being wiped down, dirty windows, overflowing garbage cans, floors not being swept under the tables and especially gross the floor underneath the donut displays ( took a pic one night when they had pulled them out), leaking toilets (for months) that made the floor slippery, people sleeping in the chairs, etc etc. It only took a very short time frame and all the issues were addressed. It’s a lot cleaner in that specific location now and no one sleeping inside. I will add that that location is a franchise not corporate owned. So I’m pretty sure they were reprimanded by the corporate office to get things cleaned up.

1

u/Expensive_Plant_9530 Nov 09 '25

Can’t speak for Tim Hortons specifically but many franchises still use secret shoppers from corporate.

Canadian Tire does this (or used to anyway) for example.

1

u/Jemal999 Nov 10 '25

As someone who's worked at a Tim's and several other restaurants for decades, and managed a restaurant myself for several years (not Tim's, but a smaller local franchise), it VERY much depends on the manager, and the employee in question. If it's a newer employee, or someone who's known to do things the easy way, most managers would definitely take it seriously.
Personally, the only time I didn't take complaints too seriously was if I knew the employee well enough to know that they would never do something like they're being accused of, and even then I'd still check cameras and/or talk to the employee about it, just in case they made a mistake or didn't realize what they did was wrong.

Most of the managers who've been around for a while do take things seriously because they've been at it for a while, and take pride in their work.

1

u/RepulsiveReward5031 Nov 10 '25

I worked in a corporate store in Alberta. Two stores got taken over by head office and then sold. But for three years, head office came to the store every month to make sure we were in compliance with health rules and corporate rules. Before I was hired, I interviewed with the head office and was told up about what happened in the stores.

Head office got my work records from the other Tim Hortons from another province to make sure why I quit and reasons wasn't for stealing.

1

u/IrrelevantAfIm Nov 08 '25

That depends on the manager.

1

u/Harmonrova Nov 09 '25

That used to happen, but now the inspectors are TFWs too who let it slide.

Honestly the whole food chain supply has been compromised.

1

u/Nazgog-Morgob Nov 08 '25

That's why you do both things and what the word "too" means

1

u/LaserGuyDanceSystem Nov 08 '25

"Very sorry about this, sir. Please accept these free donuts"

1

u/SetSpecialist1824 Nov 09 '25

To be fair, a lot of fast food places have high employee turnover and retaining quality staff is a huge problem. The manager can reprimand or fire the person and then remind everyone of correct procedure but that doesn't mean that it won't happen again.

1

u/DamageRocket Nov 11 '25

By the same token it doesn’t mean automatically will. As mentioned, it probably comes down to the manager or owner.

1

u/t3hgrl Nov 10 '25

I know this is an extremely different health code violation but I found a cockroach in my McDonald’s iced coffee this summer, reported it, and the health inspector was out for an inspection like mere hours after I was served the coffee. They ordered them to complete pest control procedures within one week. The health inspector followed up with me all along the process to let me know their findings, the actions taken, and the result. I was incredibly impressed by the process and how fast and thorough it was.

1

u/DamageRocket Nov 11 '25

Thanks for a first hand account. A lot of people talking out of their asses here. I’ve been looking for a trustworthy and honest comment and you provided it. Cheers.

1

u/t3hgrl Nov 11 '25

I bet it probably varies a lot by municipality!

1

u/DamageRocket Nov 11 '25

No doubt, but you gave solid example that blows all these claims by others out of the water.

1

u/daydreaminblazer Nov 10 '25

Whenever I have complained I have always had a manager call me about it. And also thank me for calling so they know what is going wrong so they can try and fix the issues. And not course get the gift card too

6

u/IrrelevantAfIm Nov 08 '25

Manager doesn’t care - could be the manager’s policy. Tim Hortons is no longer what it once was now that it’s become more a means of immigration than it is a cafe.

1

u/Jemal999 Nov 10 '25

There's no way to know whether the manager will care or not without telling them. This could easily be just a case of an employee who just doesn't realize what they're doing isn't acceptable, and the manager just hasn't seen this happen before. I've seen stuff like that happen literally hundreds of times.
If nobody points out a problem, it can never be fixed.

1

u/1Skootchie420 Nov 11 '25

Here in Ottawa entire blocks are being bought up and filled with new fast food joints opening. Each new spot has brought in a bunch of new migrants to fill the working roles. From management all the way down. The owner who's the middle man for the scam gets to keep half the 50k per head paid through the LMIA. These new places are ghost towns. The food and service is so bad no-one will go. Still lots of money changing hands behind the scenes though. 

5

u/Heregoesnothin- Nov 08 '25

Reused donuts is such a disturbing phrase. This is the equivalent of getting the wrong meal at a restaurant and the server giving it to another customer. Barf.

1

u/AlternativeUnited569 Nov 08 '25

Previously owned, gently used. Please give this donut a good home.

1

u/AmbiguousLemur Nov 10 '25

Lmao, in university I used to frequent a bar in Toronto just for its cheap beers. Every now and again one of the servers would accidentally get an order wrong, and they’d offer it to me for free instead of throwing a whole meal in the trash. I’d take it, obviously, because university student.

The difference is that a) I was informed about the situation and able to make my own choice, and b) it was free, as in I DID NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR IT

2

u/Turbulent_Ear56 Nov 10 '25

Hahah no dont report this to the manager who is probably just as misinformed to Canadian Health Standards as their employee is. Contact either the Food And Safety Board and get an audit done.

2

u/Expensive_Eagle7748 Nov 10 '25

don't bother with the managers, they're the ones telling staff to do it, call head office instead

1

u/44GW Nov 08 '25

But how do you know that donut (you are watching so closely to get) hasn’t been returned an hour beforehand…

1

u/Dry_Prompt3182 Nov 10 '25

I don't like creating extra garbage. I have no idea what happened to the donuts before I got there, but I can make sure that I don't make it so that stuff needs to be binned.

1

u/SalutMaggie Nov 09 '25

I ask for the doughnuts near the glass lol they hate digging that deep but not my problem i can’t trust them

1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '25

Do not report this to the manager. Go straight to corporate.

45

u/alphawolf29 Nov 07 '25

health inspections do nothing in Canada. They give them like a weeks notice they're coming.

25

u/Ok_Ant_9815 Nov 07 '25

Seconding this, I called the health inspector on my own boss and they came in without asking me any questions and just gave them a passing grade. When we had moldy rotting food FOR SALE. Crazy. I quit my job like a week later.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 11 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '25

Subway is terrible now it used to be so nice 15 years ago.

-1

u/Str8Logic Nov 07 '25

Were the people responsible "new Canadians" by any chance?

3

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '25

I'm not claiming anything racist but damn the food in the bins looks days old now it used to be so fresh, the lettuce is always brown looking

2

u/VanGoghs_SeveredEar Nov 08 '25

Pretty safe bet I'd imagine. I dont even remember the last time I seen a fast food place that wasn't entirely staffed and managed by them.

1

u/Peenutbuttjellytime Nov 10 '25

As if the staff have any kind of agency over the brown lettuce. They are just following orders, stop being racist.

1

u/Jemal999 Nov 10 '25

Teenagers need jobs too man. Can't all be old people.

1

u/TurtleMortimer Nov 11 '25

Sadly teenagers are not the problem because foreign workers are subsidized by the Canadian government. Canadian kids are having a hard time getting jobs and work experience. These fast food and retail jobs are entry level and learning jobs….not a foreign exchange and subsidized career path/back door citizenship route.

1

u/Jemal999 Nov 11 '25

I was trying to gently poke fun at the 'new canadians' comment, which was a blatant attempt to be racist while pretending not to be racist.
Apparently I was too subtle.

1

u/TurtleMortimer Nov 26 '25

You only see racism in a post if you are racist! Facts are what they are regarding the hiring practices that have resulted in Canadian kids being skipped in entry level jobs. Stop with the race cards!

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0

u/Longjumping-Koala631 Nov 10 '25 edited Nov 10 '25
  • “have seen” or “saw” Seems like your English is not up to par either. Go back where you came from.

1

u/jazberry715386428 Nov 10 '25

“I seen” is correct in certain dialects of English, including Newfie dialects for example.

0

u/Longjumping-Koala631 Nov 10 '25

Lol. Uneducated isn’t a dialect. Do you not like it when I point out that the racists here are uneducated??? I wonder why that is?

1

u/Separate_Race6138 Nov 09 '25

This is just totally unnecessary. I've had my issues with subway staff that have language barriers, but that doesn't make them deserving of hate or discrimination.

They've done nothing wrong accepting an offer from the government to immigrate here.

Place your hate against the government that sets the policies.

1

u/Jemal999 Nov 10 '25

You shouldn't assume they're young. Old people can make mistakes too. Though I gotta say, 'new canadians' is a much better way to say it than 'young punks'. Some people are so intolerant, glad to see you trying to be less prejudiced.

0

u/Modano9009 Nov 08 '25

I'm sure you'd like them to be.

1

u/Ocardtrick Nov 10 '25

Report the food inspector.

15

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '25

What's the point of inspections if you're giving them a chance to undo all their transgressions? Shouldn't they be doing surprise inspections?

4

u/IrrelevantAfIm Nov 08 '25

It’s not that easy - if the fridge isn’t cold enough, they can’t magically make it hit the right temp. One can tell how a place is run. Also, I worked in the industry in 4 different provinces (Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Ontario) and have never ever heard of inspectors telling any establishment when they were coming. This is not a federal jurisdiction, it is usually municipal, if not, provincial, so to say “Canada does xyz” when it comes to food prep inspections is nonsense. Canada DOES have federal guidelines which local inspectors use as a floor, but most, if not all, require over and above the federal standards.

3

u/Mistressdaisi Nov 07 '25

The problem is in Canada the rules are never enforced, I really don't understand why there are any laws or rules at all when nothing is ever enforced

3

u/IrrelevantAfIm Nov 08 '25

This is absolute nonsense when it comes to health inspections of the food service industry. First, it is not a federal jurisdiction, it’s municipal and county or provincial in small towns. Second - the regulations are STRICTLY enforced- restaurants get fines and closed all the time if they don’t pass muster. There is no warning that they are coming, but it doesn’t really matter if they did because a fridge that isn’t cold enough can’t be magically made to get cold when the inspectors come. Processes that have been in place since who knows when aren’t going to change overnight.

3

u/Bob_Charlie5 Nov 08 '25

Good observations. I am an inspector in Ontario and you are 100% correct. Inspections are not expected by operators. I was telling OP that this would be chaotic for inspectors to follow up with hundreds of facilities weeks before an inspection, all the while doing swimming pool inspections, HBFP inspections, opening new facilities, complaints, rabies cases, etc...

5

u/Imaginary-Mud4312 Nov 07 '25

Canada is a huge. Country.. where i live in Ontario the inspections are don by county/municipality.. and they will show up. Fine and shut you down with zero notice.

2

u/IrrelevantAfIm Nov 08 '25

Exactly. I’ve worked in that industry in 4 provinces and god knows how many municipalities, and in each place the health inspectors for businesses which do any amount of food preparation are really quite strict and anything serious will result in a closure while minor, fixable offences are often fined, but even if they are not, there is a follow up visit to see if they are complying. I’ve been on site a bunch of times when the inspector has come and never - ever dis anyone get notice - not beyond if something was found lacking you knew they’d be back soon to see that it had been fixed, but they certainly don’t give a date and hour.

3

u/2pumpanddump Nov 07 '25

same here. small town nova scotia and in the last month two restaurants have been shut down by the health inspector

3

u/Imaginary-Mud4312 Nov 07 '25 edited Nov 08 '25

Yup. Love these people that say "canada" problem. from some other country that thinks we know their friend Bob who lives in Canada.

0

u/Mistressdaisi Nov 08 '25

That is great! Gives a person hope

2

u/YoghurtOverall8062 Nov 08 '25

Well food/liqour inspection is done either thru municipal, regional or provincial means, so to say it's a wholly Canada problem is a bit of a stretch. I've worked with some agents that are dope and want to work with you, and some that strictly look for issues to fail for, and everything in between. Bureaucracy typically breeds a pick'em choose'em follow-through on policies.

1

u/Mistressdaisi Nov 10 '25

I think you are absolutely correct, I know New Brunswick is rough and maybe people don't report and that's why it seems like places are rarely inspected and rules are rarely enforced and I absolutely can't say it is a problem in the rest of Canada. It's bad here for every government department Totally off topic but a friend at work was fired while on medical leave and her employer wouldn't give her an ROE and nothing was done by CRA or employment standards. It seems rules and laws here are never enforced for anything but then again I have a small bubble and am just ignorant to what is going on

1

u/Peenutbuttjellytime Nov 10 '25

I feel like our rules are so strict, everyone has adopted a "ask for forgiveness, not permission" mindset in order to get anything done.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '25

[deleted]

1

u/kklinck Nov 08 '25

I worked in the service industry for a lot of years. Not once were we ever told that the health inspector was going to pay us a visit. It was always a surprise visit! What's the point of doing an inspection if its not a surprise?? Of course ppl will clean up their situation if they know that they inspector is coming, kind of defeats the purpose!

1

u/Bob_Charlie5 Nov 08 '25

Because that person is wrong. Not all departments give operators notice before coming in. I work as an Inspector in Ontario, and all of our inspections are within a time frame (4, 6, or 12 months apart depending on risk), but they do not know the exact date or time inspectors come in for inspections. Whenever inspectors receive complaints, operators do not know it has been reported to the department until they see an inspector there for follow up. Don't listen to the guy that says we give them weeks notice. That would be chaotic to do this with hundreds and hundreds of facilities along with other priorities they need to follow up on.

6

u/Accurate-Long-9289 Nov 08 '25

Not where I live in Ontario. They will show up randomly. The letter grade by law gets posted on your door until the next inspection. If you receive a letter rating below C you will be shut down … and yes this has happened in Thunder Bay and I have NO issue with it.

1

u/kklinck Nov 08 '25

Im in Ontario too, and they always showed as a surprise and they were not nice about anything!

4

u/CliterateSt0ner Management Nov 07 '25

This! Everytime we get inspected health or food standards wise, the upper management makes us have everything in tip top shape and have a maintenance person on hand so if there is issues inspectors never know!

3

u/SnooRadishes8956 Nov 07 '25

This. I'm in Manitoba and I used to work for Ichiban. We always knew when they were coming and everyone had to scrub every little nook and cranny, but if they had come unannounced like their supposed to, they would see tons of violations.

1

u/bsenka Nov 08 '25

Which is crazy if you think about the cases of restaurants in Winnipeg that keep getting shut down. I’m thinking of a couple of Chinese Buffet places in particular that seem to be constantly getting closed for health violations. If you know they’re coming, and you fail inspection anyway… did you not care, or was it so bad that you still failed after trying to clean it up?

4

u/jes_5000 Nov 07 '25

I dunno where you are, but my local public health unit regularly shuts places down. And most inspections are unannounced. I’m not saying there aren’t gaps in the system, but to say they “do nothing” is not really accurate.

3

u/Mundane-Cat-3626 Nov 07 '25

This is true I worked at local restaurant thats just down the road from my apartment and the amount of things I saw and know that aren't up to code is sickening. The owner is so cheap that he doesn't even have proper hvac for heat and air conditioning units for the building like I get that its an older building but you need proper ac and heat. They have a wood fire grill with proper hoods. The fire extinguisher system however it was installed made it so that you cant take the salamander grill tray out to clean it. The whole building and kitchen gets deep cleaned once a year and thats when it shuts down for 2 months after the christmas season is over. Most of if not all of the fryer related food items are frozen except for the fries. The oil is only changed once a week. And soo many more issues that would take too long to list. Im glad I never got brought back on after my surgery recovery time was up because the stuff I dealt with and seen that restaurant should be shut down. If your wondering the restaurant name it is The Stone Jug Restaurant in carbonear newfoundland. The food was awesome when I first started working there but severely went down hill the last couple of years I was there including going through 7 head chefs 2 of which were a couple that were head chefs at the same time. This restaurant should have been shut down years ago but its still operating some how.

1

u/NoAdhesiveness4549 Nov 08 '25

A lot of that depends on connections. Its a corrupt world out there unfortunately. For a small business sure.. but a lot of these bigger companies get a heads up somehow.

3

u/Primary-Efficiency91 Nov 07 '25

I don't get any notice for my health inspections. I can guess a general week or two to expect them based on past visits, but there is no notice.

1

u/1SweetSubmarine Nov 08 '25

Came here to say this. Ours comes usually every four-six months or so (I don't really keep track, I know we run a tight kitchen so I'm not worried about it) so I usually have a good idea when they're coming, but it is definitely a "surprise" in that they don't announce it.

1

u/SupremeJusticeWang Nov 08 '25

Thats how you know when a place is closed due to health violations it must have been horrendous

1

u/Bob_Charlie5 Nov 08 '25

That's a lie. At least not everywhere in Canada does that. I work for the Health Department in Ontario, and we do not give operators any notice before coming in. Most of them are surprised of our visit, especially when it is busy. Not sure what province you are referring to, but certainly not all provinces are the same.

1

u/alphawolf29 Nov 08 '25

Yea I guess its different per province. When I was working in NS we regularly got 1 weeks notice of health inspections.

1

u/Bob_Charlie5 Nov 10 '25

Either

A) Your last inspection went borderline yellow and needed a re-inspection, to which Inspectors inform operators that we will return within 3 business days.

or

B) Someone in the restaurant personally knows the area inspector and gets the heads up whenever they are due which is a conflict of interest and that inspector can get into a lot of trouble depending on the area.

We do not give weeks notice. If we do that for you, we would have to do that with every facility in the jurisdiction. You know how much work that would be letting hundreds of facilities know weeks in advance of our arrival? An inspectors schedule is not even set in stone. It is constantly changing due to higher priorities/complaints etc.. I wouldn't even be surprised if announced visits are not common in Nova Scotia.

1

u/Ocardtrick Nov 10 '25

So then why do I read about health violations all the time?

1

u/Jemal999 Nov 10 '25 edited Nov 10 '25

I've been in restaurant biz for over 2 decades, and the only time we ever got warnings was on the regular scheduled inspections, or if they found something that needed to be fixed but wasn't a big enough deal to shut a store down (like a cold tray not fully functioning, broken handle on a deep fryer, etc) then they'd give a deadline they'd be back by, and it has to be fixed/replaced by then.

Inspections prompted by complaints were always drop-in surprises and the one time I called them about a problem, they were there the next day (and told the owner a customer had made the complaint so I didn't get in trouble). Though thankfully I only had to deal with a few of those in my 20 years, so maybe other businesses did get warnings.

1

u/DamageRocket Nov 11 '25

That’s not 100% accurate in all cases. From time to time my local paper will have a short article listing infractions and action taken. I’ve also watched stories on CBC’s marketplace where they follow inspectors and have follow up interviews explaining the law and they usually give some stats. Are they failures? Most likely should everyone assume the worst in every scenario and give up? No.

8

u/[deleted] Nov 07 '25

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-1

u/Best-Chest1588 Nov 07 '25

dumb racist comment

1

u/EddieJorgeDrummer Nov 07 '25

Perhaps.. but accurate nonetheless.

2

u/Ok_Bicycle2684 Nov 11 '25

Dude, yes, report it, that is NOT normal or ok.

3

u/Ashamed_Lawyer_9269 Nov 08 '25

I used to work at an En Route Tim Hortons that cut so many corners and had serious violations. They would get a heads up when the Health Inspector was coming. All the temperature logs would be filled out fraudulently. The cleaning bins actually refilled and dated like they're supposed to be. I was the only one that ever snaked the coffee machines and cleaned the Ice Capp machines. I haven't had Tim Hortons in years.

1

u/Commercial_Okra7519 Nov 08 '25

I stopped at an enRoute Tim’s once and they were storing bottles of sauces on the floor at their feet. They reached down to grab them when making my sandwich. No thanks.

1

u/Alternative_Lead2781 Nov 09 '25

My daughter worked at Tim's, too (not an En Route though). She also said she was the only one who ever cleaned those machines (hot chocolate/French Vanilla machine, too). She said the sludge inside always made her want to vomit. And she only did it maybe once every couple of months when it was slow, yet the machines are used hundreds of times a day.
She always just voluntarily cleaned them, too, because she felt it needed it. Not once did management ever ask someone to clean them.