Saint John — The current run of Roll Up the Rim at Tim Hortons may be coming to a close, but it seems many customers are having difficulty redeeming the rims they already have.
Coming just one day after a local man found he was unable to redeem a $50 gift card without the whole cup, another Saint John man found that he was unable to redeem his free coffee at the East Point Starbucks.
“I went in, ordered my coffee, then when it was time to pay, I handed them my rim,” he explained. “They didn’t even seem to consider it, they just flat-out refused.”
In response, Fenton made an angry post to Instagram, which promptly went viral. Saint John viral, anyway — nearly 30 likes!
After hearing of the incident, Tim Hortons released a statement that they would no longer be honouring Fenton’s rim. Out of spite, it seems.
“If Mr. Fenton would rather have one of those overpriced fruity mocha whatevers than drink one of our brewed coffees like a man,” the official statement read, “then, in the estimation of our board of directors, he can go fuck himself.”
Feeling slighted, Fenton announced a small press gathering on Facebook to air his grievances to the local media. The event was held at Second Cup in hopes that the added business would prompt the company to comp his coffee. They didn’t.
“I’ve tried to redeem the rim at every coffee joint in this city,” he told the reporters, bitterly.
He explained that McDonald’s sneered at the suggestion, Circle K threatened to send someone from Irving to break his legs and, obviously, Rogue was out.
“Sometimes, Rogue is too hip to even accept Canadian currency,” agreed a writer from Civilized, scratching underneath their plaid scarf and taking a hit off their vape pen. “On Wednesdays, they only accept the Malaysian ringgit. Try explaining that to your bank.”
Fenton ended the press gathering by saying he hoped the added attention would prompt Starbucks to reconsider their decision not to honour the free coffee. He brandished his rim to emphasize the point.
“I mean, look — it reads ‘Please Play Again,’” he said. “If that isn’t an invitation to have another free coffee on them, I don’t know what is.”
Afterwards, a representative from Java Moose approached Fenton to offer him a free coffee in a sign of good corporate faith, but Fenton spit at his feet and walked away, insulted.