Tim Hortons — Restaurant in Ajax

On Sunday, July 11, 2021 at approximately 10:15 am my husband and I visited the Tim Hortons located at 330 Rossland east, Ajax, Ontario. While I waited outside, my husband entered the location where he was the only patron at the time. There  were 6 employees working there including the store manager, Deborah. As my husband waited to order, the staff did not acknowledge him or attempt to assist him for over 5 minutes. At the 6 minute point, a white male entered the Tim Hortons location and an employee by the name of Ramandeep approached the male to take his order. The male completed his order and exited while my husband still waited to be served. My husband then stated "Hello, do you not see me standing here? How is it that I have been standing here for 5 minutes getting no service and a white man comes in and you quickly help him? You didn't even ask me what I wanted? This is an example of systematic racism! As a Black man I stood here waiting and got no help but a white man walked in and you ran to help him! All I wanted was a coffee!"

The manager responded by stating "Don’t play that black card with me, if you don't calm down, I'm not going to serve you."

My husband walked out furious! I then entered the facility and spoke to the manager and staff. I then requested Head Offices number, the manager's name and the staff member's name. The manager then told me to go look online where I requested the number again.

I explained to the manager and staff how unprofessional and racially insensitive that remark was. I asked why they didn't assist him with his order. They had no  response for me and only told me the other guy who entered was from Uber. Uber should not have priority service or have the ability to line bypass infront of waiting customers.  I explained to them Uber or not you have a paying customer in the store waiting for 5 minutes. How do you know he wasn't Uber? Although drive thru and Uber are timed orders, that does not mean in-store orders should be neglected. The Uber driver was not there when my husband entered. Even if it was an online order, customers in the location deserve more attention since their purchase is in person. Customer service should always be key and in-store patrons deserve service as much as online orders and drive thru orders.

After that ordeal we drove to another Tim Hortons location at Harwood and Rossland. We saw an Uber driver waiting in line with customers. We then asked an employee the guidelines for Uber pickup orders where we were then informed that Uber does not get line bypass or priority over other customers and they must wait in line like everyone else.

As a manager,  her remarks were absolutely appalling and should not be tolerated! Instead of apologizing for the wait and inconvenience, Deborah stood there undermining his concerns,  belittling him, threatening to refuse him service and making it seem as if he is the reason for the wait. This should not be tolerated in any workplace as this is a human rights issue and racial discrimination! The role of management is to lead staff and set expectations for them to model.

We no longer feel comfortable attending this Tim Hortons location.

If head office was to pull the video surveillance for the Tim Hortons location we attended between the time of 10:15 a.m. and 10:40 a.m, you would then see how long my husband waited, when the other male entered, how fast the other male was served, when my husband left and when I entered.

Something has to be done regarding this matter as it is beyond racially insensitive and...

I was at the drive thru at the Salem/Rossland location on July 6th, 2025. Ordered 2 large ice coffees & a croissant. Tried to redeem a survey but I was told that I couldn’t because the month of June was over. The date on the survey was June 25th, 2025. I informed them that the survey was good for 30 days from the time of the original purchased. The manager on duty came and said that it was their policy and will NOT take it. I informed them that they should go on their website and to read the policy because this is not the first time that this happened. The manager on duty then took my survey, threw it next to the cashier and said “give it to her if she wants it for free” which the cashier then replied “just because she wants it for free, it doesn’t mean we’re giving it to her”. First and foremost, those Tim surveys allows you to buy your ice coffees for $1, they are NOT FREE, secondly, what kind of persons who’s employed by Tim Hortons give these nasty remarks? The staff that was working in and around the drive thru window witnessed the altercation and ALL laughed at me. Do you know how appalling and traumatizing this was for me? I work in customer service and never, ever, ever in my working life have I treated a customer like they treated me. The owner should review the cameras if there’s any and fire them. They are not suited to work in this industry! Shame on them!! Hire better staff and educate them on how to work in this industry. Waiting on H.O. regarding this abysmal treatment of...

Incredibly understaffed - There were only 3-4 people working and I overheard that there was no manager/supervisor present at the time (around evening).

Slow - It’s not the staff’s fault for slow service since there are literally not enough people working and they are being over worked for a minimum wage job.

Not clean - The place had dirty tables and a bunch of ants around the table due to no one cleaning.

Low stock - they didn’t have chicken, wedges, ice coffee or lemonade!! It makes you question their management because they seem to not have many items.

Busy and only gets worse - People pile up, those waiting for mobile orders, food delivery services and the people who order in person.

Awful management - The people who are hired aren’t trained properly nor do they have enough people to even function/work efficiently. Management doesn’t care or they aren’t doing their job.

Overall, the few times I went there was terrible and ran into the same problems. So it’s not a one time thing unfortunately. I have worked in the fast food industry before and it was so upsetting to see and I felt dread for the staff because they were obviously being overworked for a minimum paying job due to trash management. I will definitely NOT be...