Oh Tim Hortons, when will you learn?

Only a few weeks after the Timbitgate scandal, Tim Hortons has again faced another PR crisis, thanks to its franchisees.

This time, the Toronto Star reported (Page 2 above the fold I might add) that a Tim Hortons customer was scolded by an employee for buying food for a pregnant homeless woman and allowing her to eat it inside the store. The nerve of the homeless woman, eating Tim Hortons food inside the Tim Hortons store. Who does she think she is? A customer?

As fate would have it, the chastised customer happened to be a Toronto investment manager, who registered her displeasure with Tim Hortons and later with the Toronto Star. Of course, Tim Hortons’ corporate body apologized (again), but were quick to try and deflect some of the blame by pointing out that the store in question was owned by a franchisee and that they, the corporate body could not mandate every single aspect of how a franchisee ran their store.

Herein lies the catch 22 for all entrepreneurs who choose to franchise their businesses.

Even with all the training, and brand use guides, that go to a franchisee, how much control can you really have over how individual owners choose to run their business?

Perry Maisoneuve, the principal at Northern Light Franchise Consultants in Mississauga says that Tim Hortons franchisees go through extensive training on customer service. In fact, he calls them a “Canadian icon of best practices from a franchising perspective”. But he also admits, that the company cannot create guidelines for every possible situation and many times, issues of customer service come down to the discretion of individual employees.

So then is it really fair to blame Tim Hortons the company for the actions of a small franchisee?

From a logical perspective the answer would be no, it isn’t fair. But from a PR perspective, I think the answer would be, it doesn’t matter. The fact is, whether or not the error is at a corporate level or a franchise level, the name in the newspaper will still be Tim Hortons, and therefore the company must do everything in their power to ensure that their franchisees reflect the overall values of the company.

Besides, when something good happens, Tim Hortons (not the individual Franchisee) is the the one to get the praise as well. In business as in life, you sometimes have to take the good with the bad.

And in the case of franchisers like Timmy, sometimes you just gotta take one for the team.