From the mailbag: What should this Starbucks employee do about her car break-in?

Eric D. writes to STARBUCKS GOSSIP: A few days ago, someone broke into a friend's car while she was at work at Starbucks. She was instructed to leave valuables in her car, as that particular Starbucks had been experiencing a rash of internal theft. Several of the AGMs recommended contacting Starbucks corporate regarding an insurance claim, since the theft occurred on Starbucks property, and she was at work. Have any of you had, or know anyone who have had, experience with Starbucks corporate regarding a situation like this? Should my friend expect any assistance, or is this wasted effort on her part?

Comments

What should she do....aaaaa call the police and say file a claim with her insurance.

In our partner hand books it says very clearly to leave valuables at home and that Starbucks is not responsible for lost or stolen items. I feel bad for your friend but come on trying to get Starbucks to pay for this is ridiculous. I think the 1st poster is correct. File a police report and hopefully she has insurance that covers this type of theft. If this store is in a section that typically has problems maybe they have external cameras and can help the police find the theif!

[atownsbuxrules]

Well... "valuables" could be as simple as one's purse, any woman can relate here. I hope starbucks helps this girl out, I don't think it's fair to condemn her off the bat without knowing the whole story first.

[LosAngelesBarista]

My fiance and I share a car, and at his work (Office Depot) the car was broken into and caused $2000 in damages. So I then started bringing my purse into work (I was with Starbucks for a year - even though they say leave valuables in the car) and I got my credit card stolen, by a former employee with think, and $120 was charged....even though my credit card had my picture on it.

So it's a no win situation whatever I did =/

[Drew]

It seems unheard of for Starbucks to have told her "leave your valuables in the car." Talk about a legal problem.

I'd check and see who said that to her and in what way it was said (ie, was it on something she signed? Would her manager agree to the fact that this was said?)

I'm guessing she'll be out of luck because Starbucks would never ever have a legal policy to say "leave stuff in your car." But if they really did say it in some official way, they might be legally liable...

[b1]

"leave your stuff in the car". this seems like quite a peculiar policy to have in writing... now i don't have hard stats but don't many if not most baristas rely on public transit to get to work? so wouldn't this policy be one-sided. whatever valuables were in the car could have been left at home. she could have easily kept her drivers license and a credit card and some cash wherever she kept her car keys.

[goggle]

if insurance doesn't cover the losses, you could always try your hand with the CUP fund...
i don't think starbucks would be liable, although if there was express direction - you may have something...
although it would seem to me that if a store was experiencing internal theft, the wisest move would be to not bring your valuables to the store, in your car or otherwise...and i would assume that would be the accurate direction given....

[EAGANASM]

Starbuck Policy in the New Hire Kits and all the other handbooks state that Starbucks is not responsible for any stolen goods on their premises (including in the store). All valuable property should be kept at HOME...NOT IN A CAR PEOPLE. Geez. File a police report and insurance claim but Starbucks is not going to give you anything. Why should they?

Well, why couldn't she just put the valuables in the trunk where no one could see them?

o.O

And also, I don't think parking lots are Starbucks property.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

What does AGM stand for?

[20secondshotguy]

AGM = Awesomely Great Manager?
Assistant Garden Manager?
Aromatic Green Matcha?
Almond Gooseberry Mocha?
Associate Grant Makers?
Annual General Meetings?
Ancient Greek Musician?

Maybe the poster meant, ASM?
Kudos to BSR on your restraint.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Well maybe this person should've had a car alarm? And the question concerning whether or not the parking lot is Starbucks property is interesting. If she was parked in a spot "reserved" for Starbucks partners or customers then I guess it would be considered Starbucks property. If she was parked in behind the store, then I guess that is Starbucks property too. Also, it depends on what you consider "in writing" notice to leave items in a person's car. For example, does a note posted by your SM, count as a legal document which could be upheld in court?

Trust No one.

BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL
PRIMUS INTER PARES
STARBUCKS REBEL ALLIANCE
AIM SN: BOSTONSTARREBEL

CUP fund??

[Badgerista]

That's nothing! Within a month of hiring in to SBUX, I had my car run over (that's right, RUN OVER) by a semi in our parking lot. Nobody saw nuttin' except for the partners I was working with. No help from SBUX, the police, the trucking co, etc. I feel sorry for your loss, but...

Oh, BTW... I'd go with CUP, too, if the loss was great.

[STARBUCKSGOSSIP webmaster]

Pls. explain CUP for non-Starbucks employees who read my site. Thank you.

[bucksguy]

Caring Unites Partners = CUP fund. It's a partner supported charitable foundation , through payroll deduction. It is utilized, typically, to help with expenses after a serious income altering event; serious injury, long term health issues (cancer, etc), natural disaster (Katrina). All partners are eligible to apply whether they financially support the fund or not.

[CuteBarista!]

i had my car run into by a semi, too, at a previous job (not sbux). oh joy.

of course my employer was not liable for what happened to my car, even though it was in the parking lot, which was shared by about five or six different businesses.

i, too, tried to get the trucking company to pay for it. after an endless run around, i gave up.

[duram]

This is why people have insurance. It's also why, if I can't bring my purse with me somewhere, I grab my DL, a little cash, and my credit card and just keep it on me in my pocket.

[Mowkus]

Starbucks is not responsible for lost or stolen articles. Period. End of story. Also, the CUP fund, as I have come to know it is used for partners in extreme need of help. IE no home, etc. Very sorry for your loss but sh*t happens right? I suggest that your store gets lockers and you bring a lock with you every shift. You can lock your stuff up and then empty the locker after you are finished.

[laura]

Just as a general note-- without exception most of my clients ask us to instruct temporary workers to bring NO valuables to work with them as they cannot be responsible for the safety of these items. Obviously, this makes running errands on your break, for instance, very difficult, but-- that's the deal in a LOT of workplaces, and it isn't unusual, unfair or unreasonable at all. I agree with whomever suggested that you should only bring with you your keys, your id and your credit card and keep them in your pocket.

[laura]

Oh, wait! I have more!

We had an employee who had her car parked on a residential street rather than in the parking lot of a banquet facility because the parking lots was "reserved for event guests." A tree branch from the front yard of the house she was legally parked in front of fell onto her car, totalling it. AND it wasn't even during a storm. It was just that limb's time to go. As her employer, what we did was... give her a pay advance with no interest charged so she could rent a car to get to work while everything got settled. We also assisted her with providing her insurance company with what she needed for *them* to track down the proper responsible parties. I think she got lucky and it turned out that the homeowner was actually responsible which surprised me. (I thought that no one would be held responsible because it would be an act of God kinda thing.) Turned out that the homeowner had ignored citations of code violations related to the tree. It did help her case that I 1)made a deposition to the effect that I had told her where to park and 2)that I had a written request from my client telling me what to tell the workers about where to park.

The take-away from this is that it was worthwhile for her to file that insurance because they subrogated the right party, and while it took time, it was *their* time not hers. Her rate did not go up, which surprised me. But it didn't! She finally got money about 9 months after the incident and was able to pay us back for the money we had advanced to her (She had been paying us back at $10/ week, and the insurance reimbursed her for what she had already given to us. They paid us directly for the remainder.)

If, as an employer, you want to loan money to an employee in this manner be sure to consult your attorney to draft an appropriate agreement. As HR director I am empowered to loan up to a certain amount each week/ month and I have the documents ready to go. We do this a LOT to help our employees avoid getting in hock to paycheck advance businesses. We do not charge interest, and yes, I think we rock!

[laura]

oh-- and one last thing-- the reason we were not responsible even though we told her to park there was because 1)we told them only to NOT park in the lot and gave a list of other options for parking (which streets allowed parking and which streets/ lots in the area which we knew would tow) 2) we encouraged (in writing) use of public transportation or carpools to alleviate the parking problem and 3) we encouraged in writing that employees consider getting dropped off and picked up for the event. And yes: it was key that we had taken all of those steps. The best course would have been for us to just say where NOT to park without directing them where TO park, but since my workers were unfamiliar with the area and I knew that many had been towed in the past we wanted to offer them detailed instruction so we made sure that we covered ourselves by suggesting enough options that it was quite clear that we were not advocating only one option. That way, it was their choice. And, it was cast as "advice" not an explicit instruction that would impact their job ie: "if you park in the museum's lot you are likely to be towed, please consider these areas..." as opposed to "any employees parking in the museum's lot will be sent home from the event and dismissed."

[BurntOutShift]

BSR, most of the time the property doesn't even belong to Starbucks, it belongs to a leasing company.

Our parking lot is not owned by us, but our building is. A month or two ago it snowed and our landlord threw a FIT because the Starbucks-contracted plow company sanded the parking lots, something management doesn't allow. We no longer have an independent contractor plow our parking lots.

[Amy Alkon]

Laura, you're pretty great. I bet your employees appreciate it -- and show it.

[Seattle]

Burntoutshift is correct-Starbucks doesn't own the property that the stores are on and most leases state that landlords are responsible for the parking lot and outer area. Someone could take it up with the landlord but they would be denied without question.

I know that customers often don't want to take responsibility for things that happen and want to name Starbucks liable for everything (e.g. I spilled my coffee in my car and now I want you to pay to have it cleaned!) but I wasn't aware that partners did the same thing.

[Erin]

Last summer we had a lady in a huge conversion van run into our drive-thru height warning sign. She tore the sign down and damaged her car, and then tried to get Corporate to pay for the damages. Needless to say, they refused.

Basically, people need to be responsible for their actions. Stop trying to find loopholes in the system and get other people to pay for your mistakes. If you live in a bad neighborhood known for theft, don't leave your stuff in your car. Simple.

[Josh - Former Barista]

What if you don't live in a bad neighborhood known for theft and it happens anyways? If you think it's a mistake to leave valuables in your car at all times in all circumstances you should just say that, not make up specific instances when it is a bad idea just to lash out at somebody anonymously over the internet. Lockers should be provided in every Starbucks, every Starbucks I have ever worked at has had lockers, if this barista's Starbucks does not provide lockers I would say she has a foundation for a request. If starbucks denies, take it to a newspaper and see if a reporter will take a look at it.

[Darleen]

Josh-former barista,
I don't know that I'd go that far as to take this to a newspaper. I do agree that lockers are the way to go here. We had them at my old store, but we don't have them at my new store and we are not in the best part of town crime wise.If you can't get lockers see if the SM will get those rubbermaid small boxes with lids, we used those at my store for partners shoes since some of them were stinky and I wanted to be able to do admin on mondays while able to breathe, lol. You guys have a pcard?(store creditcard) We have an account with our local staples and use our store creditcard for office supplies and stuff, plus we get a discount from staples.Partners would put their wallets, purses, shoes etc. in there. They stack on top of each other for those of us with small back rooms. Lockers can be big and take up a lot of back room space, this worked for us since our back room is pretty cramped already.I bought a labeler and put each baristas name on their box and keep it in the back and now I can actually sit in my back room for 8 hours on my admin day and not smell feet, it's awesome!!! Now if only we could do something about the air-condioning back there, but thats another post....

[Darleen]

oops, that was air conditioning, I have a spelling problem before I have my coffee, all better now, lol

Every store should have a set of lockers in the store (at least all three I have worked at have had them), and if people wanted they could leave their purses in there just for their shift and bring a lock of their own, thus this would never happen in the first place.

[Kitty]

It's common sense.
Don't put valuables in plain view in your car. Hide them under the seat or in the trunk. After having a car window smashed in what I thought was a "very nice" section of RI to have a camera stolen I've been far more cautious.

As far as lockers, yes, every Starbucks /should/ have them but just don't have the space.

It's unfortunate for your friend but these things happen...

[Mom]

Theft in a work environment is just unfair and lame. We like to think we can trust and rely on the people we work with, but that's not always the case. Let's back up to common sense to solve most of the issues. Even if your workplace provides a locker, putting anything of value in it is a bad idea. Lockers are good to store negligible items like tampons, ibuprophen, etc. (not iPods or your bank deposit). Keep your car keys in your pocket or similarly stored on your person. Leave valuables at home. Anything that must be stored in your car should be locked in the trunk and/or camoflaged or hidden from open view (if they have to work to find it - it takes more time). Always file a police report. It doesn't matter if the item was stolen from your locker or your car - get the report. Theft is a crime and in a workplace environment a breach of trust. It should not be tolerated.

[Phranqlin]

Auto and/or homeowners insurance should cover this situation. File a police report and call your insurance agent.

[AlisonC]

I think this is thought regardless of Starbucks policy. Anyone can get robbed just because he/she leave valuables in the car. The friend of the writer might feel angry because Starbucks instructed her to leave things in her car. Otherwise, her anger might be just for her mistake(set valuables unattended). I don't think she can blame Starbucks for her lost as Starbucks policy was set to prevent theft INSIDE THE STORE. Can anyone decide which one would be better between theft inside or outside of the store? In short, by making that policy, Starbucks did its best to prevent theft. If Starbucks has to deal with the case above, why don't you claim insurance pay for theft happened in your house?

[ASM]

By instructing you to leave valuables in the car, Starbucks releases any responsibility for the item(s). She should file a claim with her insurance. I, honestly, would be upset if the money that I donate to the CUP fund was spent to fix a problem which was clearly the partner's fault. I dont't claim that this shouldn't happen, but do side with the company 100%. This is a misfortunate event on the part of the partner. Even if the items were IN the store and stolen, P&AP (partner and asset protection) would not re-imburse, so at least now she can file insurance.

[Hailey Bates]

I make at least $20 an hour at starbucks here in Washington. And I get about $10 a day in tips.

[becca]

My daughter has been an Sbux employee for one year. She had a very bad car accident on July 5th. wherein her spleen was torn and she suffered multiple lacerations and other problems. She is currently on a one-month disability.

She has contributed to the cup fund since the day of her hire. She filled the paperwork out asking for help with rent and new glasses--which flew off her face and onto the highway during the accident.

She was informed today--via a call from corporate--that they don't help with rent unless she has an eviction notice and they MIGHT be able to help with her glasses!

This is astonishing after reading what the cup fund is supposed to be about!

BTW, she is an employee in good standing as evidenced by the manager's signature in the appropriate box.