When Starbucks Dumps Scalding Hot Coffee On You, It's A PR Problem
When a Starbucks barista accidentally dumped scalding hot coffee all over Matt's father, he got to see Starbuck's crack PR response in action.
From SFWeekly:
Early last month my father, a retired Methodist pastor in Red Bluff, three hours north of San Francisco, ordered a cup of coffee for himself at Starbucks. Before Dad picked up the coffee, the barista bumped it off the counter. It spilled on the front of Dad's pants, burning his crotch, then running down his legs and settling into his shoes.Matt tried (unsuccessfully) to learn what procedures Starbucks has in place in case their bartista drops boiling water on your head. Turns out they do have them, but they're a secret.Instead of running to get some ice, the barista grabbed a questionnaire.
"I don't remember all the questions, because I was thinking, 'What am I going to do with this burn?'" Dad recalls. "There was a man in the shop who was a male nurse. He came from where he was sitting and said, 'I've been watching this, and I'm a nurse, and I must say to you, you must not fill out this form. You must take yourself to the bathroom and make sure you get some water on your foot.'"
The nervous employee persisted. "He said, 'I'm almost done.' I said I had to go to the bathroom and cool my foot," Dad recalled.
The resulting burn was so bad that Dad had to go to the emergency room, get the welts on his foot treated, and take pain medication so strong he wasn't supposed to drive for three weeks. His hospital visit and medicine cost around $500.
"I thought they'd call and say, 'We heard you were injured, and we want to know what we can do in response to that, and these are our protocols, and we want to do what we can,'" Dad said.
Such a humane approach would apparently fall outside the guidelines of a secret corporate "program" Starbucks has in place to deal with scalding incidents.
"Do we have a policy in place for responding? Yes, we do. We have a policy in place. I can't really give you details," Darrow said.Matt's dad got a $50 gift card for his troubles. Is that fair compensation for a serious burn? We don't know, but we do find it a little strange that Starbucks is so hesitant to speak about their "scalding incident program."She said that scalding incidents do happen at Starbucks stores, but that it's a secret how often.
Can't you explain how you care for people who are scalded in your stores? I asked.
"No, because, first of all, we don't give specifics on the program," she said.
Did you just say "program?" I asked.
"Our scalding incident program," Darrow said. "They have guidelines for how to respond. I'm not sharing those, because they are part of an internal practice."
Accidents happen, Starbucks. What's the big mystery? In any case, if a Starbucks barista accidentally throws a pot of coffee at you, don't wait around for the questionnaire. It's important to get cool running water or cold moist cloths on your burn as soon as possible. Don't use ice or ice water, and don't rely on Starbucks for first aid.
Burning Brew [SF Weekly] (Thanks, Scott!)
(Photo:smcgee)
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Comments:
Yes, you always should cool a burn as soon as possible to stop your skin from basically cooking. Don't wait. Use cold running water, I'd say for at least five minutes.
That said, I wonder if there's going to be a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. At least this guy wasn't trying to carry his cup in a CAR.
I like how you said accidents happen.
Now if only the rest of the common sense universe could come to that conclusion instead of suing like idiots.
But in this case, exactly what was the Barista thinking? If the burns actually did require serious medical attention, that's serious negligence by the Starbucks employee and could lead to an easy win in a suit or claim filed against Starbucks for the negligence, not so much in the spilling, but in the response to the spill!
wow.
when i left the company in April, there wasn't a "scalding incident program" that i knew of. and i was a supervisor.
if i spilled hot anything on someone (which, by the way, was an extremely rare occurrance in my experience), the first thing out of my mouth was an offer of help. not a questionnaire.
what a weird company. glad i jumped that sinking ship...
of course this happened in SF. freakin hippies
I work as a Barista at Seattle's Best Coffee (the better half of Starbucks), and it's basically the only ting we're instructed to do in an emergency. They have to fill out an accident report form, and that's it. Make sure they do that.
Thankfully, I'm also a lifeguard, and I'm not about to possibly ruin another persons life by worrying about an accident report form until the persons okay.
I'm sure what happened is the barista just freaked and had no clue what to do.
"Program"??
This whole debacle just oozes Starbucks slime. I bet the "program" forgot to mention a first, very common sense step: let the burnt customer take care of him/herself first, see if they need immediate medical attention, then callously bombard them with a questionnaire.
Just shows you where their priorities lie: not with customer safety, but shareholder safety.
There should be a lawsuit. My sleazy consumer-attorney spidey-sense is tingling.
That's when you, the customer, take charge and tell the Barista to get the hell away with the survey before you knock his (or her) teeth out.
@chimmike: If Starbucks doesnt pay his medical bills then a law suit is not only inevitable, it's also justified.
Accidents happen, but when they're your fault you have to pay for the consequences of said action.
I'm not saying they should sue Starbucks, but they should certainly demand medical compensation. They burned the guy, and so they should pay for his medical bills (at the very least).
A $50 gift card is a kick in the burned, painful crotch. "Here's more money so you can get burned again by our clumsy employees."
Not cool.
"Our scalding incident program," Darrow said. "They have guidelines for how to respond. I'm not sharing those, because they are part of an internal practice."
Yeah, right... so the baristas have signed a nondisclosure agreement or something?
In what universe does it make sense to go at someone with a questionnaire after burning them? How does it make sense to prevent someone from getting help with an injury?
What's he expect to end up on the questionnaire? "Yes, I enjoy the sensation of my crotch burning?"
Uh I'm sorry, how could a full-grown man be prevented from going to nurse his foot by a teenager with a questionnaire?
Sounds like this Methodist pastor need to grow a pair.
And by "crack" you mean, "caffeine", right?
Question 1: You touched the cup first, right?
Question 2: No, really, it was you who knocked over the cup, wasn't it? Because it certainly wasn't any employee of the Starbucks corporation.
Question 3: Do you agree that you're not in that much pain? You can scream the answer.
Question 4: Do you want some cold water and to absolve Starbucks of any blame in this matter?
Question 5: Would you like me to call 911 for emergency treatment of your delusional burn?
Question 6: Sign right here, where it says "I've never been to Starbucks," and you're free to go.
@Pope John Peeps II: I'd imagine that his pair, having just been scalded, was temporarily out of commission.
When I was a waitress and something got spilled, the policy was solve the problem first and deal with the bureaucracy aspect later. If for no other reason than to avoid further liability for slips and falls!
The person who suggested that Red Bluff, CA is full of San Francisco hippies needs a map and a better joke.
First of all, fire the barista. He should be able to respond in an emergency like that.
Second of all, pay his medical bills.
But everything starts at home. The pastor shouldn't have waited to answer the questions. I usually order hot tea at starbucks, and if I ever spilled any on me, (or if any employee spilled tea on me) I would make sure FIRST AND FOREMOST that I run water over my burns.
@liquisoft:
Exactly right about the gift card. It's like if you went to six flags and fell off a roller coaster and for compensation they gave you free tickets to ride all the rides.
Weird. I also worked at Starbucks and never heard of this program. I don't think anyone in my store was ever burned badly enough to warrant medical attention--aside from those of us working behind the counter, that is. During training, we were taught how to use the accident report (which is pretty common in any chain restaurant, so they have a record of what happened soon afterward). This was a stupid decision made by a scared barista who doesn't know anything about first aid.
It would be cheaper for Starbucks to cover the medical costs than get sued, especially since another customer stepped in and might be willing to testify.
As an aside, anyone else think it's interesting that the customer who offered medical help HAD to be called a "male nurse"?
one of my wife's friends works at starbucks and is a newspaper reporter...i smell a story brewing...(pun intended)
As far as not discussing thier policy...that's pretty standard. I would think it's a defense against friviouls lawsuits. The idea being that people trying to stage an incident can't set it up specifically to the flaws in your policy.
Yes. Exactly. Spilled coffee happened in SF because we're all hippies. It's actually because gravity works better here. But that's a part of our secret program.
Was his foot as burnt as their coffee?
I kid, I kid. :)
Accident reports are a pretty important part of corporate policies. I was told frequently, at almost every job I've had, to fill out a report for anything out of the ordinary. Heck, I had to fill out a report when I slipped on the ice on a work errand in another county, because they needed a record if I filed for Worker's Compensation.
The barrista had to have freaked out, I can't come up with any other conclusion. They freaked and the only thing their brain latched onto was "accident report."
Starbucks should pay his medical bills. It's only good business, forget the gift card. $500 in medical bills does not equal $50 gift card. 10% is not appropriate compensation for even an accident.
@Kurtz: I apologize my joke wasn't 100% factually accurate. Forgiveness please.
[I did read the article, but after reading it and all the comments, "SFWeekly" is what stuck in my head.]
Look, the barista can't help and shouldn't help. What if he gave the guy incorrect medical advice? Now, Starbucks is on the hook for any further injuries caused. Filling out an accident form is the only thing they should do at the time of the accident. Let corporate handle the rest.
And I know what some of you are thinking, "every retard knows to put running water on a burn". Well, what if someone didn't know, and instead told the guy to put some butter on it....which was commonly accepted not that long ago.
No, did someone just say buttered boiled pastor? mmmm-hmmmmm!
@kidgenius: In this case it's rather hard not to use some common sense and give good advice. Unless the barista suggested pouring more coffee on the victim to soothe the pain.
On the other hand there are good samaritan laws that will protect a person for trying to help another person during a medical emergency, within reason of course.
Shouldn't a barista of all people know how to deal with burns? Saying that they might not know might work for the common person, but these people deal with hot liquids all the time. If the person truly didn't know, than Starbucks is incompetent for not teaching them.
So did Starbucks pay for the medical treatment? I am the ONLY person in my family who is not an insurance underwriter and I guarantee you that every single Starbucks store has a liability policy that covers everything from customers slipping in the bathroom to having scalding hot coffee dumped all over you. The poor doofus employee that spilt the coffee was probably filling out the paperwork that Starbucks needs to fill out when a customer gets injured. Unfortunately he didn't have the sense to wait and make sure the injured customer was taken care of first.
If they paid your medical bills then I would say it's time to say thank you for $50 worth of coffee and to take the money and run. And well, if they didn't you're going to need that coffee to keep you energized while you get on the phone with your lawyer so that they can write an official letter saying "Yo Starbucks, pay up bitches!"
IIRC, whenever an injury (customer, employee, vendor, etc) happens, the supervisor on duty fills out an "incident report."
its not a "questionnare," but it does have questions regarding the injury, like any report does.
it gets sent to Seattle and who knows what happens from there. The empire never really told us at the retail level anything. I'm sure this hasn't changed since I left a few years ago.
If the coffee served at Starbucks is going to cause such burns to my naughty-bits and feet, what the hell is going to happen when said contents exit the cup and enter my mouth?
Grabbing a questionnaire instead of ice? You gotta be kidding me!
Um it couldnt have been that bad of a burn if his total medical exspenses are only $500. Around here that same thing would give an er bill of $750 plus. Ive spilled hot fresh coffee on myself by accident and I never found it that hot. This world is becoming of full of pansies.
Cmon Starbucks pay his little medical bill and maybe $100 worth of coffee drinks and tell him to go away.
Who told you to put the balm on?
This is what happens when retards sue corporations and win $1,000,000 (ie. McDonalds), they become absolutely paranoid. When I was at Best Buy they also had a survey and procedures to follow. Of course, first was call 911 if its an injury, then keep your mouth shut about how bad it looks, and then the questions would come. Of course I can see how those policies could get some teen all flustered about losing his job and make them less caring of the situation and more worried about following policy.
I don't blame Starbucks for not releasing details of their "scalding incident program". I guarantee that if it were made public, the number of scalding incidents in Starbucks would skyrocket the next day from people trying to cash in on frivolous lawsuits.
@Bill
... button pushers? Sorry oh great one, teach me the ways of the true barista. We have to steam, grind, and struggle just as any other coffee shop must.
"First of all, fire the barista. He should be able to respond in an emergency like that."
Why SHOULD he have? Training doesn't include first aid? Not to mention, I'd have to see the $500 medical, cause the coffee is NOT that hot. Shit, I get burned by the espresso machine and oven on a daily basis, and the worst left is nothing.
@xamarshahx,
The McDonalds lawsuit was legit, considering that the store wasn't following proper temperature regulations, despite being warned numerous times.
I love that they called him a male nurse. gaylord focker would be so proud.
A few years ago a cup of coffee was spilled on my 5-year-old daughter's arm at a Starbucks thanks to an extremely wobbly table and unusually hot coffee. (I burned my hand brushing it off my daughter's arm.) A Starbucks employee brought us some kind of burn pack and another customer reminded us to get it under cold water and we rushed off to the local urgent care as quickly as possible. A few weeks later she was fine.
Could I have sued? I don't really care...it's not my style and there was no permanent physical damage done. I probably should have followed up and told them I wouldn't sue if they fixed the table, so at least it wouldn't happen to anyone else.
This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode wherein Kramer settles for all the free Lates he can drink.
But seriously...if I can't afford to make my sub-prime mortgage payments because Starbucks has to raise the price of my Mocha in order to settle your lawsuit...I am coming after you.
Interested in accidents and civil suits? Here is a site that has loads of info on personal injury law for stores and businesses just highlight and paste the link:
Here is a site that has information on the Top Secret Security/Loss Prevention policies for Target Department Stores. It is so SECRET that the person who posted it is being sued in Federal Court:
And just how much liability might Starbucks have for preventing a customer from doing elementary first aid on himself?