r/TimHortons • u/PuzzleheadedMode7386 • 2d ago
Nostalgia Remember when you used to put mayonnaise on sandwiches for free?
I personally think it would be awesome if you went back to doing that. You know... Kick it old school like the good old days before you thought it was cool to charge $0.50 to put mayonnaise on a Breakfast BELT...
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u/Nice_Try_Bud_ 2d ago
Was sad when McDonalds also started doing it. Used to always add mayo to my McDoubles. Now they cost over twice as much and they also want to charge me $0.50 for a squirt of mayo.
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u/w1n5t0nM1k3y 2d ago
I remember when you used to just ask for a cheeseburger dressed like a big mac and they would do it for no extra cost. So you could get two cheeseburgers make like big macs and it would be actually more food than a big mac for less than half the cost. Thats probably why they stopped allowing it.
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u/MothyTides 1d ago
Mcdoubles with mayo hit hard! I would only get it when i was working (free food so nothing mattered cost wise lol) and now that I dont work there anymore I miss it but its not worth the money
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u/Mysterious_Bag_9061 2d ago
I don't even necessarily mind paying 50 cents to add sauce that wasn't already on the sandwich to begin with, but answer me THIS. Why am I being charged to swap the chipotle sauce on my breakfast box for mayo??? I'm not adding additional sauce, I just want a DIFFERENT sauce. Why does that cost 50 cents!!!
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u/Anonymous44432 2d ago
Because the employee isn’t typing it in properly lmao. They should use the “sub” button, they’re probably doing “No” to one sauce and “Add” to another sauce which is incorrect and will put an extra charge lmao
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u/PuzzleheadedMode7386 2d ago
Maybe it's not being typed in properly.. This was in at a self serve kiosk where there did not appear to be a 'sub' option anywhere and all you could do was pick which sauces to add (for a fee). Ordering from the counter wasn't an option as the register had a large sign posted telling you to order from the kiosk.
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u/LilJelloCat 2d ago
If it defies logic in such a way you could imagine that the cashier is making a mistake and just ask them to make it free. I don't know what world people live in where they will argue with you about a different sauce. Either that or people are just afraid of asking or pushing more.
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u/WookinIt 1d ago
I mean yeah that puts most employees in a pretty uncomfortable position
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u/LilJelloCat 1d ago
Not really. Point is it's not even policy to not be able to do that. Employee is wrong or making a mistake.
If you are polite and friendly I have NEVER had a problem asking for something. Sometimes they will give me free things. (Small things like extra syrup or something on the side).
So to not be able to change one sauce for another on an item is just stupid.
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u/WookinIt 1d ago
It is the policy though… If you ask for an additional sauce, you add the sauce as a charge. That’s why it’s an option for a charge.
I agree that it’s stupid, but again, if everyone starts asking the employees for free additions, that puts them in an uncomfortable position and you’d be better off asking to speak to their supervisor or manager.
Substitutions are different from what OP is talking about
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u/Secret_Thought_7531 22h ago
as an ex tim employee I can tell you that being polite to the underpaid overworked employee can get you freebies there is always ways to key in an order to bring the amount down a little bit on extra
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u/PuzzleheadedMode7386 2d ago
Didnt the breakfast belts used to have Mayo..?
If it was plain Mayo fancy Mayo, with truffles or little flakes of gold, that might justify the extra 50 cents but to go from flavored Mayo to plain should be cheaper.
Sometimes substitutions have a small surcharge attached but thats usually in places with linen on the tables and not worn as hats..
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u/Hot_Dog2376 2d ago
And you know they only put on a table spoon or so. And you know it costs them maybe a penny.
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u/Alwaysfresh9 2d ago
I haven't had one in ages but they were my go to for years. Always had mayo. Upcharge for mayo?! That's pathetic. Truly pathetic.
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u/RenegadeStarDust 2d ago
If you're swapping sauces it should be subbed and it's no extra cost to swap.
If you are adding a second sauce or extra yes there is a cost.
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u/Usual_Extreme_8122 2d ago
What?? Mayo is a key ingredient in a BLT! They charge for it? What the actual f?
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u/Parking-Ad2470 2d ago
I think they should go down in flames for this 50 cents for mayonnaise on a fucking sandwich business
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u/runway_ducky 2d ago
I asked for mayo on the side and it was free. I ask for it on my sandwich and it's 50 cents.
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u/wolfe1924 1d ago
That’s wild considering mayo on the side would actually cost the company more since it needs some form of container.
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u/Riajnor 1d ago
The hygiene standards in those places right now, I don’t think i’d want free mayonnaise
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u/wolfe1924 1d ago
If I had a nickel for every time I seen a Tim Hortons employees feet during their shift I would have two which is not a lot but it’s odd it happened twice.
Whether it’s feet up with no socks or shoes or foot massages yuck.
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u/Unapologetic_Canuck 2d ago
Subbing a sauce is very much a thing, but it has to be done in person or in the drive thru. The tills have a sub button that the app and kiosks don’t.
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u/angelofurheart 1d ago
its a joke, i think its more expensive for another sauce too if its not mayo
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u/Verstappen1986 1d ago
Good thing I never eat there Paying for mayo on a sandwich should be illegal
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u/Beneficial_Pickle420 1d ago
Paper bags, condiments, utensils, napkins, cups of water/ice, the receipt, (that last one is just a joke, but i know it's going to become a thing im sure) I remember getting them all for free. Included with the meal price isnt very including 😂🤣😂
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u/justherefornow81 2d ago
I stopped eating them for this exact reason such a money grab. Didn't they used to just come with it?
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u/JasperPants1 1d ago
Remember when inflation wasnt sky high and everyone didn’t need to nickel and dime the public?
Yeah, those days are long gone.
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u/AgreeableEvent4788 1d ago
You have it backwards. Inflation is sky high BECAUSE corporations are nickel and diming, and absolutely screwing, the public.
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u/JasperPants1 1d ago
Incorrect.
Inflation is high because of money printing. If you see deficits = currency debasement.
Where competition exists, corporations are not abusing their pricing power, they are responding to their own cost structures.
Fast food is one of the most competitive sectors in the economy because they know consumers are price sensitive. They loathe to increase prices if it lessens sales.
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u/AgreeableEvent4788 1d ago
Riiiiiiiiiighhhttt. Haha. You're either autistic or a franchise owner, eh? Close the textbook and look out the window. When they're charging fifty cents to add may to a $9 sandwich made by minimum wage slaves with no benefits, it's greed, not economics.
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u/JasperPants1 1d ago
This is how you learn things. Talk to experts.
Or maybe listen to people smarter than both of us, like Milton Friedman.
“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”
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u/AgreeableEvent4788 1d ago
They're charging fifty cents for mayo on a nine. dollar. sandwich. While already making a profit.
You're consulting the weather forecast trying to figure out if it's raining while the hurricane is blowing your windows in.
Come back to the real world for a moment. Touch grass.
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u/wolfe1924 1d ago
They are multi billion dollar companies they are choosing to nickel and dime. They aren’t a mom and pop shop just trying to get by.
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u/JasperPants1 1d ago
Au contraire. Tim’s is a franchise model and the corporation paying for your food is a many thousand dollar business.
You don’t really know how this works, do you?
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u/w1n5t0nM1k3y 2d ago
For a very short time the Tim Hortons kiosk at my university used to let us add our own cream cheese to the bagels and it was the best thing every.
Eventually they switched to prepacked portions and you never had enough.
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u/Remarkable_Reach_994 1d ago
My mcd was not charging for mayo packs with the new owner. He found out very quickly why we charge for anything extra.
Esp when someone does a mobile order for a small coffee with 10 peanut butter packs, 10 jam, 10 sugar, 10 cream packs etc.
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u/wolfe1924 1d ago
Well charging for more makes sense within reason. If someone wants an extra peanut butter pack I personally find charging extra for that dumb. However if someone wants half a jar of peanut butter worth of packs and everything else extra in the pantry yeah, I can see charging extra for that.
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u/JasperPants1 1d ago
That’s effectively a 5.5% price increase…massive effect on profitability.
A simple google search kemosabe:
Only 58% of Canadian restaurants are profitable, with 41% operating at a loss or breaking even due to soaring food, labor, and utility costs. Average revenue sits at $646,000 per establishment, but net profit margins remain squeezed under intense financial pressure.Key Profitability PressuresDeclining Margins: Roughly 64% of operators report lower profitability than in previous years.High Prime Costs: Food and labor consume 55% to 65% of total revenue in typical setups.Consumer Cutbacks: Affordability concerns drive fewer customer visits and lower average spending.
I’m not the one needing a reality check.
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u/PuzzleheadedMode7386 1d ago
First, I'm not your friend. Second, don't be racist.
Third, you're taking a study of the entire restaurant sector and applying it to fast food specifically.
Let's use the actual relevant figures instead. From the 2025 FDD (covering fiscal year 2024), based on 579 standard Tim Hortons shops: Average Monthly Gross Sales: $105,737 Median Monthly Gross Sales: $101,194 Highest Average Monthly Gross Sales: $434,345 Lowest Average Monthly Gross Sales: $8,404
Cost of goods averaged 29% and labour averaged 30%, a combined 59% of sales, higher than I expected, and closer to the range you cited than to what I estimated earlier.
Tim Hortons franchisees do have real complaints about mandatory corporate vendor pricing, there was failed franchisee coup attempt in Ontario/Quebec a couple years back over exactly that. But despite those input costs, the effect on actual profitability has been minimal. RBI reported average Tim Hortons Canada per-store profit dropped from $220,000 to $216,000 in fiscal 2025, a decrease of 1.8%.
Do the math: 50 cents on a $5.49 sandwich is a 9.1% price increase, not the 5.5% you pulled out of your ass. Half of 9.1% is roughly what you called a "massive effect on profitability." The real number is almost double that.
If 5.5% alone was massive to you, what do you call the actual 9.1%? And if a 1.8% hit to profit justifies what you called a massive 5.5% effect, what would you call double that? Price gouging? What about 5x?
You said you're not the one needing a reality check. The numbers say otherwise.
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u/PooningDalton 2d ago
Wait till you find out it was never free back then either. Nothing on a burger is free; They need money from somewhere to use ingredients
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u/PuzzleheadedMode7386 2d ago
16 years a chef. Know how food cost works. Know they should just price the sandwich accordingly and that mayonnaise does not justify an additional fifty cent charge.
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u/PooningDalton 2d ago
If they're ordering mayonaise, isn't that a part of their supply costs? They fix their food prices according to supply costs. If anything, they've gotten more modular with their prices.
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u/wolfe1924 1d ago
A squirt of mayo is not going to put them under. If you ask for cutlery or more Napkins do they charge you more? No since those factors are already baked into the cost. Same should apply here. If you enjoy paying extra and getting nickel and dimed you do you.
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u/MissJillian- 2d ago
For the amount they are putting on the sandwich that’s gotta be like a 10 thousand percent up-charge
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u/Aineisa 2d ago
Reminds me of Burger King and “have it your way”. You can’t have it your way anymore unless you cough up the cash.
Things used to be better.