Tim Hortons investigates Ontario man's defective coffee cups

Tim Hortons is investigating an issue with its supplier after an Ontario man was handed a defective cup that entirely spilled from the bottom. 

“Luckily I didn’t have a black coffee, but if somebody has a black coffee, you know how hot that can be, right? Especially if the bottom falls off when you’re driving,” Rob Kitchen told CTV News Toronto.

His friend bought two large coffees on Sunday from the Tim Hortons in Dunnville, Ont., and then drove approximately 15 minutes to Kitchen’s home.

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He arrived and handed the cup to Kitchen, who set it down on his toolbox. Suddenly, the entire coffee spilled out the bottom, he recalled. “It was like a pool – the whole cup was just empty.”

Kitchen said he looked over at his friend and saw the same thing had happened to his cup.

Images of the two cups show the bottom “split” from the rest of the cup, which appears heavily deteriorated.

“It just had time to soak through, I guess,” Kitchen said. “I don’t know what they line their cups with, but it would almost appear that maybe that didn’t happen in a portion with it that caused the cardboard to go soggy,” he said.

An Ontario man says his Tim Hortons cup "split" at the bottom when he set it down on March 3, 2024.

Kitchen said his wife called the Tim Hortons location to tell them what happened. “They indicated that we weren’t the first person to tell them,” Kitchen said, adding he was offered a free coffee for the inconvenience.

After CTV News Toronto reached out to the Tim Hortons head office, a spokesperson connected with Kitchen and confirmed they would be investigating with the supplier.

“We apologized for what was clearly an unacceptable experience and we’ll be following up with them soon to make it right,” the spokesperson said.