Tim Horton’s – Terminally Stupid?

Don’t get me wrong … Timmy’s makes acceptable coffee and pretty decent donuts … but their Neanderthal payment options should have put them out of business by now.

Twice in the last couple of weeks I had to leave a Timmy’s without satisfaction because I carry no cash with me and because my active credit card is a VISA. Timmy’s accepts only cash or Mastercard.

In fact, Timmy’s proudly talks about their wonderful quick pay cash card on their web site. So they’ve invested their resources to create their own cash card system with readers, presumably to keep their high speed lines running in the morning.

<peels of raucous laughter>

Ok … those who have been to a Timmy’s a few times in the morning (I used to go often but that was 10 years ago) know that the payment system is not the problem … it is the staff … they need more people who are better trained.

Anyway, people who defend them tend to focus on the speed of payment, but that does not explain why they can’t accept both VISA and Mastercard. Presumably, that is explained by some sort of back-room deal where Mastercard manages their cash card program for them in return for exclusivity.

Still … why in the world would I want yet another stupid piece of plastic that works in only one place … a place I only go into once in a while? The answer is that I would not, a feeling I suspect is shared by thousands of Starbucks customers :-).

So Timmy’s obviously lives off the proceeds of its rabid fans … those people who go there regardless of how arrogantly they treat this issue … those who carry “Tim-cash” in their ash-trays … that kind of thing.

As for the speed issue … at the local McDonald’s drive through, they take your credit card (I get Aeroplan miles so I use it religiously) and swipe it … 3 seconds later (or less) they hand you the card and wave you through. Much faster than any Timmy’s I’ve ever been in.

So … I submit that they should accept both major credit cards and they should consider squeezing the banks for someone who would give them a terrific rate on debit cards as well.

Maybe it’s just me, but Starbuck’s takes all forms of payment and I ***hate*** carrying cash. To ignore that type of person is terminally stupid in my opinion.