NYC Starbucks is this true?

[axman51]

I got this in a E-mail is it true?

SEATTLE (AP) -- 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.
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.

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.


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

[BucksEng91]

It's true, unfortunately.

The company has been trying to make up ground ever since.

Case in point - I walked into a Manhattan Starbucks on a Friday morning before work for a cuppa wearing my fire department jacket (not FDNY). The girl at the counter absolutely refused to take my money for the coffee, even when I tried to explain that I was not a New York City firefighter, but a firefighter in a suburb of Philadelphia. She flat out told me, "I'm not taking that money. You can have all the coffee you want. Firemen and cops drink free."

It was actually nice, in a 'surprise' kind of way. I thanked her profusely, took my coffee, and went to work.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Yes, this is true...but before you go off and propose a boycott of Starbucks Coffee, remember that Starbucks is a franchise operation. The decision made by the manager of the Battery Park Plaza Starbucks franchise to charge for the water at the time of the emergency was a poor one. When corporate HQ heard of this, they reimbursed the EMS workers who paid out of pocket.

The Starbucks franchises in my area have been collecting for the 9/11 fund...any donations made by the public have been matched by Starbucks.

I was wearing my FDNY memorial baseball cap when I stopped in at the local Starbucks the other day. I ordered a venti Mocha Valencia, and when she took the order, she looked at my cap and asked if I was a firefighter. When I said yes, she said "no charge". I took the $4.30 that the coffee would have cost me and put it in the 9/11 fund jar.

[rescue2bob]

Hey Cap do you have any spots open for a 45 year old broken down fireman. $4.30 for a cup of coffee is a lot you must get a nice salary in your neck of the woods ( LOL ).
bob g r2

[FLAME5]

DAMN! LOVE STARBUCKS (FIRST I HEAR OF THE STORY) TO BAD I HAVE TO GO TO SAN ANTONIO TO GET IT ABOUT A FOR HOUR DRIVE NORTH, WELL THE WAY I DRIVE 3 HOURS

[Grit76]

Coffee shouldn't be that expensive OR that complicated. Any coffee shop that has a complicated menu of JUST the coffee stuff is simply too extreme.

Not that this had anything to do with the original post

[DrInferno]

Grit I'm with you man if I can't say it I ain't gonna drink it. We get paid well to fight fire here in Canada but $4.30 for a cup of mud? I might try a Mocha whatever when I'm in NY on the 18th if some one can float me a loan.

[EFDems841]

When I was going to school in Boston, there was a star$'s at every corner, damned to be if you could find a good ol' dunkin donuts to get a "regular" cup of coffee for under $4 for a small cup and get a funny look for wearing jeans and a polo shirt...lol.

[FFMcDonald]

People bitch when they have to pay more than $1.25 for gas for their car... but will shell out that same amount of money for a liter of bottled water -- or even more money for a 10 oz. cup of coffee at Starbucks -

[FyreFyter402]

Sorry Captain Gonzo but Starbucks is most definately not franchised...every store is owned by the Starbucks Corp. and run by individual managers with district and area managers and so on above them....however as far as giving away product thats the managers decision, even though its all owned by the company. (A few good friends of mine work at the place)

[SafTeeTech]

F..F...Four.....FOUR DOLLARS? FOUR DOLLARS AND THIRTY CENTS???? CAPTAIN GONZO.....IS THIS SH*T LACED WITH COCAINE??? I THINK YOU HAVE DEFINETLY HAD ONE TOO MANY!!!!! HAHA!! JUST KIDDING!!! Either that coffee is laced with cocaine or the cost of living there is WAYY more than Philly!

[kfd232]

I think the point was...
They didn't charge him ANYTHING..
and he was nice enough to donate $4.30 to the fund


Come on now, what's $4.30 to you, when it could go to someone who lost their husband or daddy?

Thanks for this post though, nice to know the company is working to redeem themselves.


btw I don't ever go to Starbucks either

Be safe brothers

[FitzBFDT2]

Sorry it tok me so long to reply, I was picking myself up off of the floor. I passed out when I saw them charging $130 for 3 cases of bottled water. That is $43.33 a case. I just bought a case of bottled water in Shop Rite for $3.89 the other day. Is this some holy water or have special powers.

No wonder why I have never been in a Starbucks before.

[hctrouble25]

OK I have to admit that I am spoiled because they serve Sta$'s at my office at $1.59 for a large whatever you want. Yes charging for the water was very inappropriate....but they have made their apologies and reimbursed the EMS guys..so let's cut them some slack. I am sure the people in that store were shaken up with all that had occurred that day and maybe they weren't thinking straight. They cleared it up so let it go. Yes $4.30 is a lot for a good cup of coffee...but let me tell you, as a caffeine addict, I would pay it if I had to. Sometimes you just have to pay a little more for a good cup of java!

[Althea Forhan]

In any case...
DON'T DRINK AT STARBUCK'S!!!! They burn their coffee, and as most posts show, THEY OVER CHARGE!!!! Plus they don't make their drinks right. Support your LOCAL coffee roaster!

Really now, $4.30 for a coffee drink? Spare me.