Montreal woman says she was 'devastated' after false Tim Hortons boat win

A Montreal law firm wants to take legal action against Tim Hortons after an estimated 500,000 customers received emails claiming they had won a boat and trailer.

The emails, it turned out, were sent in error. Montreal law firm LPC Avocats is applying to launch a class-action lawsuit

Michelle Starodub, a Montreal single mother, was one of the estimated half-million people who were initially sent an email that they were winners. Not believing it, she even went to Tim Hortons to verify it was real and was told it was with the manager high-fiving her.

To find out it's not real, it's kind of devastating, especially when you're going through hard times. I got this big rush of excitement," she told CTV News. "I was excited and happy and then to go and find out it's not real, it's kind of a let-down and disappointment."

Starodub is now part of a Facebook group that was formed with many others sharing their disappointment and frustration with the multinational company.

"When we became aware of the error, we quickly sent out an email to guests notifying them of the error and apologizing," Tim Hortons wrote in an email to CTV News. "Despite this human error, we firmly believe there is no merit to the lawsuit and we will address this through the court."

Lawyer Joey Zukran says given this is not the first time Tim Hortons has had a problem with a contest, he thinks the case has merit.

The class-action lawsuit request still needs to be approved by a judge before it can proceed.

Watch the video above for the full report by CTV Montreal's Caroline Van Vlaardingen.