He's got to be one of the dumbest Starbucks customers around

While on the way to the hospital, Craig Warner asked his mother to stop at the Starbucks. As she waited in the car, the 34-year-old man stood in line and warned another customer that he planned to rob the store. Employees refused his demands, so Warner ripped the register from the counter and tried to help himself. He couldn't get it open, though, and left. || Read "Hospital Trip Includes Robbery Attempts"

Comments

[LEGENDARY OR BUST]

Huh?

[CanuckBarista]

I wonder how many partners are going to get fired for not complying with the demands of the robber.

[chimarathon]

Just say yes

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Just reach around...

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

Reach around and grab the money. I meant to say.

[white_knight]

ahhh this is hilarious, his mom was driving the getaway vehicle..what a LOSER!!

what he had no friends to form an actual robbery team?..

[^0P@p^]

The Barista was probably like " I can't open the register unless you purchase something"!!!

I would have sprayed him with the boiling bucket of hot water we keep at register if this happens in my store, like I said we got the BEST Anti-Theft system home made baby!!

[Bouncing Barista]

CanuckBarista-

I was just wondering the same thing myself...funny- I thought we were just supposed to comply no matter what.

[Fr]

I would be careful with that hot water. Judges these days are liable to rule on the side of the robber for having been physically injured. There is existing precident.

[^0P@p^%]

You have the right to defend yourself ESPECIALLY if you fear for your life, c'mon man no judge is going to side with a robber who got his @$$ burned unless they are corrupt...

But we'll see, let them come into my store...

[Glenfeliz Regular]

Offer the robber some VIA...that will kill him.

[white_knight]

or or or you can just give him pikes, after all its all we're brewing at the moment..

[S]

I'd be really interested to read how this dialogue actually went.

[Sam]

Bouncing Barista-
I am not aware of any such precedent, aside from urban legends. In CA, at least, criminals are prohibited by law (our proposition system does sometimes work) from suing for such injuries. Do you have a specific case in mind?

On another note, it would seem a sign of the times if Starbucks stores are being held up. I would not think that would happen much.

[SPORK]

Sorry, but the less-than 150 dollars in my till that belongs to a multi-billion dollar corporation is NOT worth an incident. The title should be changed to "They've got to be the dumbest baristas around" if they're willing to risk their lives (even if the thief did seem harmless) for some money that corporate will barely miss. Remember guys... it's JUST NOT WORTH IT.

[SBUCKS DRONE LOS ANGELES]

I am sorry, you don't have to tell me twice. take all the money you want. You want a free drip with that too? anything you want, as long as you don't kill me. i love my job, but i can't do it if i don't have my life.

[BouncingBarista]

Sam-

The posters post is ABOVE their name...the first half of your message should be directed at Fr...

but the second half I will gladly answer...

I was at my store when we were robbed at gunpoint!! We were the THIRD store this guy hit.... also, from what I understand..it is a regular occurance in LA Area (like pratically every week...)

Since the policy states that if anyone comes in and asks for the money (Even if you don't see a weapon) you have to give it to them...I am surprised it doesn't happen more often.

But of course- it wouldn't happen very much...right? I bet we can find plenty of partners who have been at a store that has been robbed... I also PERSONALLY know two of my old stores got robbed. A friend of mine who is a manager out of state (I live in CA...not LA though)- her store got robbed. Plus I know there was this guy who robbed two stores in Mira Mesa...just by walking in and asking for the money, atleast, that is how I believe it went down.

Does that clarify for you- robbing any retail environment is actually more common than people know of.

Money and opportunity- and low chance of running in with the police if you know your way around the systems in place to call the police.

[eleanor abernathy]

It's true. Starbucks stores are held up all the time. This is not an unusual occurrence.

Back in 2004 when I was robbed, I did some research and found that about 3% of Starbuckses per year fell victim to holdups. This number had been reduced from about 11% in the 1990s due to increased security measures.

[HA]

The Baristas should have handed him the Shift Supervisor-who has the keys-and ran HAHAH!!!

[rfgs]

NO indication that this guy had a gun; sounds, from the rest of the story, like he was just truly a complete nut-job, and probably went into SB's and simply said "GIMME THE MONEY!" without even claiming to have a gun.
He apparently didn't threaten to DO much when he wasn't receiving the "service" he was requesting; instead, he attempted to take the register!

Surprised he didn't bite anyone. Rational armed robbers you cooperate with; this guy was just a psycho.

[$$]

but the cash register is in two parts, the screen, and the actual register with money, then there's the drop box for large bills $20 and up and all other items like receipts and coupons, wouldn't you go after the drop boxes instead of the register that holds tops $300. I've dropped over $2000.00 in 20 dollar bills into the little drop boxes at the register...

[BouncingBarista]

Yeah- he may not have appeared to be armed...but you don't know really...besides...i've had "just psychos" throw mugs at me..that can be dangerous too.

Basically- just do it, no matter what the circumstances...even if they are laughing while asking.

[USABEATS@$$]

NO don't let the jeopardy of your store, partners and customers into the hands of some "PSYCHO"...just beat the MF @$$ thats it...Your country will thank you I PROMISE!

[Sam]

BB,

Sorry about that. But WOW. I did not realize it was that common. Your comment and the one after it surprised me. Lawsuit or not, definitely not worth resistance. I worked at a bank for 4 months out of college. Never got held up (thankfully), but always wondered how I would react. I still have no good answer all of these years later.

[BouncingBarista]

Sam-

Of course you probably didn't realize...it isn't like Starbucks advertises it to it's other employees. In fact...I wasn't supposed to even talk about it, and my RD didn't even email or call about the incident until I reached out to him.

I think we are just supposed to be Starbucks robots and pretend it never happened...

Just like we all can pretend that Starbucks employees haven't been shot and killed in a store before...not like you really know about that unless you dig deep.

[seventysix [76]]

Jim,

Do you think we can delete this post or its comments? Despite the frequency of retail locations being robbed, I certainly don't think the comments entailing Starbucks' policies on JSY are going to weigh in our favor.

seventysix [76]
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