Okay, today’s Timmy’s experiences need commentary. Morning routine was fine, regular ladies who know me and most of my preferences. Mid-afternoon I decided to cash some precious points to get some lunch/dinner item. I troll through the offers to see what might be there and would love to grab an Offer as well as a Rewards redemption, but I seem to recall they have a one claim limit – ‘don’t be silly, you cant use points and then expect a discount on a coffee and muffin combo!’ (Why not? Points are mine, I earned them and can spend them. Why penalize me for wanting a combo offer as well?) Pretty sure there is still a 15 minute limit on consecutive orders, so can’t beat the system that way.

Soo.. I change my rewards to the 1300 point level which should get me a ‘Grilled Wrap’ (or Craveables, Artisan Sandwiches and Chili). This not being my first rodeo with this process, I try and load items into my cart and see if the elusive little red ‘Reward’ notation will appear along with the all important zeroing out of the cost. Hmmm, that Chipotle Steak Loaded Wrap looks good, I’ll have that. WRONG! Apparently it’s not considered a Grilled Wrap. Let’s try the Habanero Chicken Loaded Wrap…. Bingo! We have a winner! (Did you notice that apart from the protein and sauce difference, they are both Loaded Wraps with no mention of Grilled – which is really just a quick striping in the Panini press)

‘You may have your reward for this more modest item, lowly customer. Don’t try and get the most bang for your buck, only the cheaper items are eligible. After all, you only spent $130 (!!!) to get the 1300 points you just blew to get our chicken.’ Am I being unreasonable to expect that the $1.00 difference between these two items should not be a problem? I went looking in the rewards section for additional detail that may have informed me about this and came up short. The whole above process took several minutes and could have been much longer with more items which are likely not eligible as well (I knew the chicken would work as I have ‘pointed’ for it before). I will now have to dive deeper into the land of fine print to see if I can ferret out how Tim’s decides what qualifies and what doesn’t. I have plowed this path before, and as a cheapskate of the first order I usually want the biggest bang for my buck. Yes, I consider price when I am spending my hard earned points. I only use them on items I consider too expensive to actually pay money for and want to max out my cost benefit.

I have been burned before by choosing a “Special” muffin (probably made to soothing music with ultra premium ingredients, the dough mixed with Gold implements and sprinkled with Fairy Dust) as a combo item with my coffee and missed out on the combo deal. Fair Game, Sir Tim – your description specifies ‘Classic’ muffin - my bad. For Rewards, is it too much to ask you to clearly state what qualifies and what doesn’t so I don’t have to spend extra time messing with your Cr’App?? I bet there have been some choice discussions by customers who thought they used points and then had to pay… Call items ‘ Classic’, ‘Ordinary’, ‘Regular’…. vs ‘Special’, ‘Premium’, ‘Limited Edition’ or just ‘INELIGIBLE FOR REWARDS’ items, but make it clear please.

By the way, I’m sure you’re burning to know.. the wrap was actually not bad – till the end. The last 4-5 bites were like glue as the sauce and other moist ingredients took over and bullied the chicken coating into pasty submission.

COMING SOON – Tim’s Financial, and Have they really started putting games on the App?