Jimmy Craig has been banned from the Tim Hortons restaurant in St. Andrews, N.B., for complaining about the decaffeinated coffee. (CBC)A coffee enthusiast in St. Andrews, N.B., has learned the customer may not always be right.
After complaining three times about "burnt" decaffeinated coffee at the local Tim Hortons, Jimmy Craig is now banned for life from that outlet and the one in nearby St. Stephen.
"It was like brown, burnt water," said Craig. "I almost, you know, got sick in the sink."
Craig said he voiced his concerns to the store manager and corporate office, then got a meeting with the owner, Edwin Dow.
That's when Dow served Craig with a letter banning him under the province's trespass act.
'I don't see this is a way to treat people. Whatever happened to the customer is always right?'—Jimmy Craig, banned customer
"I was baffled," said Craig. "It didn't make any sense at all. All I wanted to do was bring it to his attention that there was a problem with the consistency of his product.
"I don't see this is a way to treat people. Whatever happened to the customer is always right?"
Dow contends his staff went the extra mile to satisfy Craig, brewing fresh pots of decaf on request.
He said Craig was upsetting his staff and he was tired of his complaints, so he banned him.
Craig has contacted a lawyer to try to get the ban overturned.
Meanwhile, he can only return to the Tim Hortons if he's on the job as a paramedic, responding to a medical emergency.
So he's brewing his own coffee at home, which, he said, is cheaper and always fresh.
