What happened after coffee chain Tims sent 500,000 error emails?
During its Roll up to Win promotion, Tim Hortons mistakenly sent grand prize notifications to roughly 500,000 subscribers, then emailed a correction and apology. Some recipients rejected the explanation. On April 19, Montreal firm LPC Avocats filed a class action application with the Quebec Superior Court seeking CAD 10,000 in punitive damages per affected customer.
The lawsuit is not yet certified and still needs an authorization hearing. Tim Hortons says it will resolve the matter in court and argues the claim lacks legal basis. Legal experts note the game rules' exemption clauses may complicate the case, though customers can still pursue punitive damages. The episode is a reminder for after coffee promotions that trust is hard to rebuild.
Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons, during its "Roll up to Win" promotion, mistakenly sent grand prize winning notifications to approximately 500,000 subscribers due to a technical glitch, then sent follow-up emails to correct the error and apologize. Some consumers did not accept this, and on April 19, a Montreal law firm filed a class action application with the Quebec Superior Court, seeking $10,000 in punitive damages for each customer who received the erroneous email. Tim Hortons responded that it would resolve the matter in court and believes the lawsuit lacks legal basis. Legal experts point out that the exemption clauses in the game rules may increase the difficulty of the lawsuit, but customers can still seek punitive damages. This incident also serves as a wake-up call for marketing activities and consumer trust maintenance in the coffee industry.
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Recently, Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons launched its usual "Roll up to Win" promotion, but due to an operational error, it sent winning notification emails to as many as 500,000 customers, which quickly attracted widespread attention and discussion.
Although the company subsequently sent new emails explaining that it was a "technical glitch" and made corrections and apologies, customers who received the erroneous notifications did not accept this explanation and planned to unite to sue the coffee giant.
According to CTV News, on April 17, more than 2,000 social media users formed a group on Facebook to share their "grand prize winning" news, with prizes being the top awards of that year's Roll Up the Rim campaign, including a boat worth over CAD 68,000 (approximately RMB 350,000) and a trailer.
After the incident, Tim Hortons apologized for the error and asked customers to disregard the content in the emails. On the same afternoon, Tim Hortons sent another email to all customers subscribed to its promotion, stating that the previously sent "winning notifications" were incorrect and asking recipients to ignore them.
On April 19, a Montreal law firm, LPC Avocats, filed a class action application with the Quebec Superior Court. The lawsuit has not yet been certified, as it still requires an authorization hearing to proceed with further procedures.
The lawyer pointed out that Tim Hortons violated the Consumer Protection Act. Under the regulations, businesses must be responsible for their service statements or advertisements, including the "Roll up to Win" promotion. This class action requests the court to order Tim Hortons to pay CAD 10,000 in punitive damages to each customer who received the email, as well as other possible damages, with the specific amount to be determined by the judge.
In response to the lawsuit, Tim Hortons said in a statement to CTV News that it would handle the matter in court. "After the 'Roll up to Win' campaign ended, we sent a summary email intended to give everyone an overview of their experience participating in the game. But an unexpected human error caused some users to receive incorrect information," a company spokesperson said. "Despite the human error, we firmly believe the lawsuit has no legal basis, and we will resolve this matter through the court."
Gilles LeVasseu, a law and business professor at the University of Ottawa, believes that the rules of these games all contain exemption clauses, so filing a class action against Tim Hortons is not easy, but customers can still seek some punitive damages.
"They can claim damages from the company, but the question is, what kind of damages can you claim?" LeVasseu added. "This kind of situation is indeed disappointing, but people haven't actually lost personal benefits in some account. If the lawsuit continues, the judge might offer customers up to CAD 500 (approximately RMB 2,600) in compensation to bring the case to a quick conclusion. Unfortunately, the settlement amount reached is usually not very high."
Finally, the university professor added that the company should currently prioritize compensating the customers affected by the error, so that it can restore its positive brand image as soon as possible.
Image source: ottawa.ctvnews
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