[caption id="attachment_5041" align="alignright" width="260"]
An iconic image to Canadians.[/caption]
The Tim Hortons coffee-slash-doughnuts restaurant chain is a big deal in Canada. So when Bryan Hansen, a long-time customer in Calgary wrote a letter to Tim's head office complaining about all the coffee spills, and plastic cuts he'd experienced because of the "inferior design" of the lids on their take-away paper cups, a lot of Canadians felt his pain.
Titled, "Re: Your Dreadful Coffee Lids, and addressed to the "Lid Manager," or "Product Containment Engineer," or "Liquid Suppression Expert," the letter, sent to Tim Hortons' head office in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, lays out Bryan's credentials as a diehard Tims fan -- before he lays into the poorly designed lid, and all the ways it's made him suffer:
Bryan leavens his serious complaints with irreverent, and often self-deprecating humour. At one point, the self-described environmental consultant says of his first-world problem:
It's like Bryan Hansen finally said what all Canadians have been thinking, because the response has been huge, and completely in agreement -- a little too much so: One Canadian writing on Reddit dissed Tims' lid by saying of their main rival:
Personally, I wouldn't know. Naomi Campbell has never, in 20 years, responded to any of my online overtures. As for Tim Hortons' coffee... I've never liked it, which at least tells you they do have a signature taste. I am in a minority though. Tims is one of the things that has defined Canadian's Canadian-ness, until, that is, the chain began expanding into the United States.
[caption id="attachment_5040" align="alignnone" width="497"]
OMG, it's true! Get it off! Get it off![/caption]
But, back to Bryan Hansen, and his letter, which is now the most famous customer complaint letter in Canadian history. I think it's a very good letter, and I agree Tim Hortons' lids suck, but what struck a chord with me about Mr. Hansen's letter is, that he's been consuming Tim Hortons coffee for years -- out of disposable paper cups, and he's an environmental consultant. WTF? He didn't like the lids. he's supposed to be environmentally conscious. Why didn't he just get a travel mug, and kill two birds with one stone. I know "Calgary environmental consultant" sounds a bit like an oxymoron, but, he's an Albertan, isn't he? He wants to support the Alberta tar sands doesn't he?
Albertan bullheadedness is extracting petroleum from their tar sands. Long-chain polymers are extracted from that petroleum to make plastic. Travel mugs are made from that plastic. So by using one, Bryan would helping Alberta. The fact that a travel mug can replace hundreds of disposable paper cups is neither here nor there. But, you may say, plastic travel mugs, at the end of their life, aren't recyclable! True, but Tim Hortons paper cups apparently aren't recyclable either.
Tim Hortons has subsequently responded, that they do have a better lid, customers just have to request it. Really? So, maybe they have a better coffee also, and I just have to request it?
Tim Hortons spokesperson Michelle Robichaud said customers who are unsatisfied with the regular coffee lids could ask for better ones.
“We encourage any of our guests who might prefer a dome style lid to request it when they place their order,” she told the Financial Post in an email.
I don't know what kind of legs this "terrible Canadian problem" has in the international press, but the rest of the world -- many part of which are dealing with real problems like, drought, famine, civil war,and despotic regimes -- could be excused for telling Canada to "just put a lid on it!"
An iconic image to Canadians.[/caption]The Tim Hortons coffee-slash-doughnuts restaurant chain is a big deal in Canada. So when Bryan Hansen, a long-time customer in Calgary wrote a letter to Tim's head office complaining about all the coffee spills, and plastic cuts he'd experienced because of the "inferior design" of the lids on their take-away paper cups, a lot of Canadians felt his pain.
Titled, "Re: Your Dreadful Coffee Lids, and addressed to the "Lid Manager," or "Product Containment Engineer," or "Liquid Suppression Expert," the letter, sent to Tim Hortons' head office in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, lays out Bryan's credentials as a diehard Tims fan -- before he lays into the poorly designed lid, and all the ways it's made him suffer:
“I end up with scalding hot coffee on my face and on my shirt because your lids do not open in a consistent manner which thereby makes it impossible for one’s lips to create an adequate seal around the edge of the coffee cup,” he writes. “This results in hot leakage. Very Hot Leakage (*rights reserved for a future Adult Film title.) So there I am in pain; shaking, burnt and bleeding. It’s at this time I ask myself ”is this coffee, or is this Fight Club?”
Bryan leavens his serious complaints with irreverent, and often self-deprecating humour. At one point, the self-described environmental consultant says of his first-world problem:
“I’m not calling it BP Oil Spill Bad…but I’m also not saying it isn’t.”
It's like Bryan Hansen finally said what all Canadians have been thinking, because the response has been huge, and completely in agreement -- a little too much so: One Canadian writing on Reddit dissed Tims' lid by saying of their main rival:
“McDonald’s lids are awesome. Drinking their coffee is like making out with a supermodel.”
Personally, I wouldn't know. Naomi Campbell has never, in 20 years, responded to any of my online overtures. As for Tim Hortons' coffee... I've never liked it, which at least tells you they do have a signature taste. I am in a minority though. Tims is one of the things that has defined Canadian's Canadian-ness, until, that is, the chain began expanding into the United States.
[caption id="attachment_5040" align="alignnone" width="497"]
OMG, it's true! Get it off! Get it off![/caption]But, back to Bryan Hansen, and his letter, which is now the most famous customer complaint letter in Canadian history. I think it's a very good letter, and I agree Tim Hortons' lids suck, but what struck a chord with me about Mr. Hansen's letter is, that he's been consuming Tim Hortons coffee for years -- out of disposable paper cups, and he's an environmental consultant. WTF? He didn't like the lids. he's supposed to be environmentally conscious. Why didn't he just get a travel mug, and kill two birds with one stone. I know "Calgary environmental consultant" sounds a bit like an oxymoron, but, he's an Albertan, isn't he? He wants to support the Alberta tar sands doesn't he?
Albertan bullheadedness is extracting petroleum from their tar sands. Long-chain polymers are extracted from that petroleum to make plastic. Travel mugs are made from that plastic. So by using one, Bryan would helping Alberta. The fact that a travel mug can replace hundreds of disposable paper cups is neither here nor there. But, you may say, plastic travel mugs, at the end of their life, aren't recyclable! True, but Tim Hortons paper cups apparently aren't recyclable either.
Tim Hortons has subsequently responded, that they do have a better lid, customers just have to request it. Really? So, maybe they have a better coffee also, and I just have to request it?
Tim Hortons spokesperson Michelle Robichaud said customers who are unsatisfied with the regular coffee lids could ask for better ones.
“We encourage any of our guests who might prefer a dome style lid to request it when they place their order,” she told the Financial Post in an email.
I don't know what kind of legs this "terrible Canadian problem" has in the international press, but the rest of the world -- many part of which are dealing with real problems like, drought, famine, civil war,and despotic regimes -- could be excused for telling Canada to "just put a lid on it!"
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We have to ASK for better lids? Heck half the time they can't even get my order right when I ask for what I want...