Woman Files $10M Suit Vs. Starbucks

NY Newsday ^ | December 30, 2003 | Jamie Herzlich

[BulletBobCo]

This was taken from a Fox Article Dated September 26, 2001.

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attack, rescue workers rushed into a nearby Starbucks store to get water to treat shock victims, Rapisarda said. Ambulance company workers said employees in the shop demanded they pay $130 for three cases of bottled water. The workers paid cash, out of their own pockets.

SEATTLE — The head of a Brooklyn ambulance company said Tuesday that the president of Starbucks has personally apologized after rescue workers in New York were forced to pay a Starbucks shop $130 for water to treat victims of the terrorist attack.

Midwood Ambulance Service President Al Rapisarda said he received a hand-delivered reimbursement check — and a personal call from Starbucks president Orin Smith — after reports of the incident became public.

"It was a misunderstanding with Starbucks," Rapisarda said after talking to Smith.

Midwood Ambulance Service alerted Starbucks to the incident in an e-mail, which was obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Smith said Tuesday he did not know why the coffee shop near the World Trade Center towers charged the rescue workers.

"It's totally inconsistent with the kind of behavior we would have expected from our people, so it has been very upsetting to learn of this," Smith said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attack, rescue workers rushed into a nearby Starbucks store to get water to treat shock victims, Rapisarda said. Ambulance company workers said employees in the shop demanded they pay $130 for three cases of bottled water. The workers paid cash, out of their own pockets.

Reached by telephone, the manager of the shop, the Battery Park Plaza Starbucks, declined to comment.

Rapisarda said he was happy with Starbucks' conciliatory gestures, which Smith said included free coffee and other gifts.

"It's not a big deal anymore," Rapisarda said.

Starbucks closed stores nationwide for a day after the attacks, although the company said several stores near the World Trade Center and New York City hospitals served coffee — and water — to rescue workers for free.

He said the company also has donated coffee and other services throughout New York City since the attacks.

[cake_crumb]

"The woman who sued McDonalds had placed the HOT COFFEE between her pretty thighs(or,perhaps,not so pretty)."

Pretty NUMB thighs anyway.

[wideminded]

LOL. I love Jackie Mason and I hadn't heard that one. Saw him live a few years ago.

[Hat-Trick]

Dear Ms. Arslanian:

Sincerely,

Hat-Trick

[CDHart]

I've been to a Starbuck's exactly once. I didn't even like it, and I am a coffee lover. Don't plan to go back, either.

Carolyn

[Paleo Conservative]

I went to a Starbucks last week and their coffee makers were broken. The only thing available were expresso drinks.

I should sue.

You mean they were too lazy to go across the street to their other store and get a working coffe maker. What slackers.

[cake_crumb]

"It's totally inconsistent with the kind of behavior we would have expected from our people, so it has been very upsetting to learn of this"

They expect humanity from elitists? Cut me a break.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Yep, I remember. McDonalds was forced to pay for her stupidity and the media STILL insists we treat this idiot with the utmost sympathy. How many of us stick boiling hot liquids between our legs? Or even potentially boiling hot liquids? I mean, with an area that sensitive there shouldn't be a problem discerning minimum comfort level. Not for a normal human being, anyway"

Well this one time in band camp!

[bk1000]

"...worst coffee on earth.."

I agree 100%. I have always likened the burnt coffee fad with the Emperor's New Clothes. Now, Duncan Donuts. That's some decent coffee!

[spectre]

Great post!

Starbucks taste like burnt coffee to me as well.

sw

[CyberAnt]

Excuse me .. Starbucks requires a standard heat index for all products. You must ask for "extra hot", in order to get your drink that hot. However .. plain coffee is hot. So .. I would be curious to know what type of drink she ordered.

[Riley]

I have always liked mine black, and so strong that it absolutely forces you to make a noise like 'ggrrrrgghhhk', accompanied by a strong involuntary shimmy.

The only time I can get it that way is by making it myself-- filling up the filter basket to the top, tamping it down and dumping some more in. You just can't buy that anywhere this side of Istanbul. I'd be a regular customer, if I could find it somewhere.

When visiting my sister, I use her espresso machine, make it as strong as possible, and dump the entire pot into my coffee cup.

[Labyrinthos]

Why stop at $10 mil... why doesn't she go for the really big bucks! She should sue for $10 bil or $10 tril

Because in law school we were taught to add "two zeros" to every personal injury claim, not three or four.

[B Knotts]

I like Starbucks, but I still love that Jackie Mason bit.

[Labyrinthos]

Well, Starbucks might as well pay up now. According to that former CNN woman on Fox nowadays - the one who had the plastic surgery; can't remember her name - the woman who sued McDonalds was absolutely definitely injured because she won the suit.

The woman won big bucks from McDs because she sustained third degree burns between her thighs from coffee that was served at 189 degrees F at the drive-in window. More importantly, while McDs told the jury that it served coffee at 189 degrees because that's the way its customers liked it, on cross-exam McDs admitted that the real reason it served coffee at tempretures hot enough to scald the skin is because the brewing the coffee at such high tempretures generated a few more cups of coffee per basket. In other words, McDs was caught misleading the jury and the jury made it pay as a result.

[Conservative4Ever]

I wonder if she will settle for a lifetime supply of lattes through the drive up window. Geez...get a life lady.

Red

[B Knotts]

Umm...no.

In common English usage, M is often used as an abbreviation for million.

M is 1,000 in Roman numerals.

But MM is definitely not 1,000,000 in Arabic numerals. It is 2,000.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I've been to a Starbucks only once - on a flight stopover. I just wanted regular black coffee with cream. I had to learn french before I could order - and by that time, my flight out was boarding. It made the airline's coffee taste better than ever.

If you're ever in that situation again, just order a (whatever size you want - short, tall, grande, or vente) "drip with room".

Signed,
Seattle Resident, Eager to Help : )

[cake_crumb]

"Well this one time in band camp!"

FOFLOL...yep!

[B Knotts]

I meant to say "But MM (Roman numerals) is definitely not 1,000,000 (Arabic numerals). It is 2,000."