Starbucks sued for $114 million over canceled free-drink coupon

Attorney Peter Sullivan sued on behalf of Kelly Coakley, a 23-year-old Starbucks regular who felt "betrayed" when her coupon wasn't honored. The lawyer accuses the company of fraud and says he'll request class-action status to include the "thousands who were misled" by the free-drink offer, which Starbucks intended to go to a limited number of employees and their friends. (Associated Press)

Comments

[josh]

starbucks deserves punishment. they distributed a coupon and told people to forward it around. then when it got forwarded, they cancelled the offer. obviously 1.4 million is outrageous. they should be forced to give out free iced coffee for a month like they said they would! if they only wanted to the coupon to reach a limited audience, they could have easily put restrictions on it.

btw, some people arguing on here don't understand what happened. there was nothing fraudulent about the coupon. it was officially released by starbucks. they just didn't expect so many people to use it. that's like walking into a bar and yelling "beer's on me tonight!" and then slipping out on the tab.

[myshelle]

where do i find this peter sulliavan attony ?

[Scorpio370]

People, once again, as stated by many others...

THE COUPON WAS ALTERED, IT BECAME FAKE, IT BECAME FRAUDULENT, IT WAS NOT WHAT THEY PUT OUT, IT WAS THE CREATION OF SOMEONE NOT OF SBUX...

Does this help understand why it was cancelled now?

i think that nyc made a big mistake if your going to post something on the internet then just about everyone is going to see it. word of advice next time you try to post something like that make sure you stay with it.

[cc]

Everyone keeps saying "altered" -- let's see this alleged "original" coupon.. hmmm hasn't been seen anywhere.... must have expired and disappeared like emails do... show me any other versio nof the coupon and I'll believe it.. if not, this is just starbucks and other iddiots making up an excuse.

[Deusx]

CC, even if you don't see the original, look to the counter advertisement of the competitor who began offering to honor the Starbucks "ice grande coffee" coupon in their own stores. Not a "iced grande drink".

I realize it is a longshot to expect you to do more than skim a full paragraph of words, but if you are too lazy to read all the posts so you know what the original coupon said, at least you might check out the link to the news article.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2385275&page=1

[Jake Wolf]

Starbucks is giving free coupons to ANYONE who calls up customer relations to complain about the email they received. Get yours before everyone starts calling and they crack down again.

http://iwantmyfreecoffee.blogspot.com/

[DL]

what do u guys think about people who are coming 4-5 times a day with coupons...i work at starbucks and people were coming in many times with another coupon..

we accepted over 200 coupons each day before the coupon was cancelled

[Barista sUz]

Sometimes I think to myself, "people are pathetic&low" and then I feel bad for thinking that. And then instances like this occurs and it reconfirms my statement. :)

We've stated several times that yeah, it was a huge mistake. Huge corporations make mistakes too. Big freakin deal. If a free drink is gonna make or break your day, let alone LIFE, then that's really freakin sad. Why don't you go cry about it in a corner. While the world's smallest violin plays for you.

And once more, it has been said many times that the coupon was altered. Maybe people should read up on it before they start running their mouths, making them look like a complete jackass.

[OnlyInAmerica...]

Whenever you send a mail and encourage receivers to forward to everyone in his/hers adress book it will only be valid that one step. Since the mail was intended for staff + friend, not friend of friends to infinity. I believe the amount of people intended for this campaign would be reduced, then also an estimation of how many of the intended target would actually use it. In the end it quite impossible to calculate final cost, but not near the suggested. $114 million.

In this case the question is: Did Kelly Coakley get the claimed coupon from a Starbucks employees mail or from friend of a friend and thereby not valid???

[Brian]

Since we don't see very many of these at my store, I politely inform the customer that the coupon is a fake (then reassure them I know its not their fault) and THEN I honor it, and do a "discount 5" or "markout" on the drink they want and make it for them anyway. I've had ppl nearly bowl over with excitement and kindness when I've done this. And it's just another example of what a great company this is to work for that allows me to do a 'random act of kindness' on a customer who may or may not be aware they are passing off a fake coupon. 9 times out of 10, they probably got it in email and don't know any better... And most of the ppl I've seen are newbies anyway, so you want to make sure they come back again after they've seen your generous hospitality and kindness. I think Starbucks should have told us to accept them anyway but only after explaining the situation to them. That way, they KNOW you are on their side. Which we are...

*B*

[Colin]

Now in response to DEUSX- I have worked in customer service for nearly twenty years. First rule is don't piss off your customers. Now my coupon I got was for iced coffee, simple. And what all the media explained was that Starbucks thought it got out of hand- no mention of fake or photoshopped. But if you had gone in to my mom's (or any Caribou) yes she'd of given you and your twenty friends a free drink- no photoshop required. Though if you did it everyday as you suggested no, because it was a one day thing. But you know what I've worked at am major dept. store for years and we'd often take back items we never sold-- because you please the customer. It happens, sometimes you take a loss to not piss people off, to not get bad word of mouth. Now -- I totally agree that the lawsuit is stupid. But, my mom has about 50 new customers that used to go to Starbucks. Stopping the coupon didn't help them.

I know this is long ago, but just wanted to respond
but DEUSX if you did bring in a photoshopped coupon that you received and it seemed like you honestly didn't know it was fake-- yeah, you get a free drink. Or if you were causing a hassle, causing a problem - yeah free drink to make you happy and to get on with the next customer. That what I've been taught, and have worked at JCPenny, TGIFridays and Caribou.

my original comment-
She should've just gone over to Caribou Coffee on Friday. My mom is a manager for one a had a lot of Starbucks customers thanking her for their free drink. Funny how a twenty some billion dollar company thinks making customers angry is worth what the free drinks would have cost them. The lawsuit seems lame. I just think that with national news taking notice, it wasn't the smartest decsion on Starbucks part to not accept the coupon.

reply from DEUSX-
Im glad you and your mom feel that way Colin, then I can expect that I and 20 of my friends will be welcome every day at her store with the nifty new Caribou coupons I've photo shopped?

okay and maybe the first rule isn't about don't piss off a customer-- it's like get them in the store, keep coming back, whatever but it's up on top for me

[-m]

I tried Caribou Coffee in Detroit last year. It was horrible.

I was on vacation while the whole coupon fallout happened. None of my customers were upset though. A good few of them are lawyers too.

People who file these ridiculous law-suites should be taken into the street and shot.

[Aussie Shift Super]

Six words - get a life you litigious loser!!

[starbucks_lover]

eww this is a complete waste of time y even sue just pay for the damn drink gosh...

whether the coupon was altered or not:

i think the big difference colin, (although i totally agree with the basic thoughts of your arguements) is that the coupon that starbucks denied didn't have just a 'one day only' on it.
it had a few weeks worth of ability to potientally strangle the company...

so your mom took the challenge to give out a freebies on ONE day. that isn't hard, and starbucks has done that on many occasions (as well as only for a few hours on specific days)

this caribou thing is great publicity, but it isn't trying to undo the same level of damage that these coupons would do... it's cashing in on a mistake that would only cost ONE day of buisness, that if honoured at SB would have been weeks worth of freebies...

see the difference?

[Nancy]

Hit Ctrl F and post the following

Posted by: sb | Sep 10, 2006 9:59:51 AM

it explains everything quite well. They sent a coupon to their employees and gave permission to give it to their close friends and family... if the lady was a close friend or family member of an employee... she should get her drink, but not 114 mil.

[MKE BARISTA]

"One of those people, Sullivan said, was his client, Kelly Coakley of Queens, who works as a paralegal and administrative assistant in another Manhattan law office."

She is so crazy her own law firm wouldn't even take the case

[~NiTOXina~]

i seriously can't imagine what that kinda people would b like if they had a divorce... ppl... get a life... just because not everyhting is to ur advantage, doesn't mean u have to sue it... one of these days... ppl will start sueing a bum for looking ugly in the streets... u might be the spoiled treasure at home... or u might b the baby of the family... but that's not the world~ if u like being treasured so much @ home, lock urself @ home & stay there... the world seriously doesn't need ppl like that... i also admit i have threatened a lawsuit b4 but it never got anywhere... that was because that they screwed up my cell phone contract~ so i jus said it for the hell to freak them out~ even tho i know i'd most likely win, it's a waste of time... i'm sure a cell phone would be worth more than an iced drink... u might as well save ur time & energy doin something more worth while... i'm sure if they work hard enough, they'll eventually get $114 mill... so don't b so _____ lazy!

[wanda]

In Canada, we have starbucks but they never give us coupons. I think that we should sue United States for xety billion dollars for ignoring us. And you should pay us the rest of our money for all our softwood lumber.

[Mayjones]

I thought the woman that sued Mc'Dondals over her son being over weight was going to extrems... however, this one takes the cake. The coupon was for the state of Georgia only according to a Startbucks Rep. Then someone posted it online and the next thing they knew it was in almost every state.

I was given five copies of the coupon by an employee because I go to their store once a week. I could make a claim for the free ice coffee however, I don't drink their coffee I always have a hot tea. For me their coffee is nasty and it is beyond me how they stay in business.

Setting all of this aside... the company has paid out over $300,000,000 for one person violating copyrights and posting the coupon online. About 40% of these claims were made by people reporting false claims. It is sure to pay even more thanks to sites like these:

Still posting the coupon so you can print it:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/starbucks.asp

And, this one tells people how to guilt the copany into a free coffee:
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/starbucks/guilt-starbucks-into-giving-you-free-coffee-200964.php

For those that have filed false claims, "SHAME ON YOU!" It's because of people like you everything cost so much today. I don't know about the rest of you but I am fedup with paying more because people lie to get something for nothing.

[kathleen]

is there a benefit for partners to get theraputic massages as a health insurance benefit? Do I just need my doc to prescribe the massages?

[bri]

the coupon DID exist -- what are you talking about?? In that, this blog entry is very flawed.

then again if I were them I wouldn't have honored it either, but I wouldn't have been so stupid to put it out there in the first place. their real problem was not nipping it in the bud, but saying later "hmmm we can't really be giving all these free drinks away anymore"

[toronto]

due to an automobile accident i am just now getting up to date on this info...thanx readers digest! personally i hope that star f ucks loses this and every lawsuit that is filed against them. i had the misfortune to work for them and got to see the real inside story. there is no other more unethical, corrupt, immoral corp. on the planet. it is as if they strive to be this way. the response from star f ucks....."that they did not believe that an offer released over the internet would be so widely distributed, is ridiculous." is not only ridiculous but perfectly in line with the other lies that star f ucks will tell you when caught in the act of being who they truly are. i have often said that only two things in life will make me angry enough to want to have nothing to do with you. lie to me or insult my intelligence. and if you can lie to be so badly that you insult my intelligence in thinking that i will believe the lie then you are the gold star winner. star f ucks is a gold star winner many times over. another lie that fits the bill to explain. a vice president of human resources named christine deputy that works for star f ucks actually said to me, and i quote "there have never been repercussions against an employee of starbucks for bringing attention to the failings of one of their superiors performance." this from an individual that supposedly has a university degree in human resources! again either a blatant lie or ms. deputy is out of touch with reality! (but a perfect example of an employee of star f ucks.) i hope they all become victims of their own inhumanity and burn in a self made hell.

[HTGT]

I know Streets already said something along these lines, but what say we take a step back? If I've got the facts right, Starbucks sent out this email coupon, which was then altered and distributed beyond what they intended. Surely this huge corporation would not be so thick as to assume that their email would not be widely distributed.

Now this Sullivan uses Croakley as a face for the suit he files for "betrayal," or is it really for fraud, or is it breach of contract? And the amount of money in question seems absurdly high, although really, what's a hundred million to Starbucks?

What I'm getting at is that it seems way too simple. The first reaction to hearing the facts is, "That's so stupid!" At least, that's what mine was. Stupid on the part of the person who decided the emails should be sent, and stupid on the part of the woman who thinks she deserves millions of dollars for the coffee she didn't get.

I'm not accusing Starbucks of a shallow publicity stunt or claiming the lawsuit to be legit. Nor am I a conspiracy theorist. All I'm saying is, this whole episode probably happened for not-so-simple reasons, and it is definitely not worth getting angry about, unless of course your complaint is, as someone whose post I can't find mentioned, how stupid it makes America look.

Yep, I'm pretty sure that's all I have to say.

[Ethan]

I think it's pretty pathetic that Starbucks would put out coupons and then when people try to use them they will not honor them. But, I also don't think it is 114 million dollars worth of problems.

[Dylan Kratz]

If Bush can listen to my phone calls than they should be able to sue starbucks.

[MattyMo]

Screw starbucks! they dont know what they are doing and htey exploit children RAWR!!!!

[MattyMo]

Screw starbucks! they dont know what they are doing and htey exploit children RAWR!!!!

[sayed]

I am very impressed with your actions and will be glad to take 1 drink from you lads . Thank you very much.

[MARCI]

PETER SULLIVAN...WHERE ARE YOU? HOW COME I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND A LAWYER THAT ISN'T GOING TO BUCKLE UNDER CORPORATE AMERICA. IF STARBUCKS COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO ESTIMATE WHAT THIS MAY END UP COSTING THEM, THEN THEY SHOULD JUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND SUCK IT UP!

[Dagann]

After hearing on the news soon after 9-11 that New York firefighters were denied water from a Starbuck's manager and only recieved it after paying a exorbitant amount of money for a case of bottle water, That as far as i was concerned, i would never offer my urine to Starbuck's even if they were on fire. However, i would offer a suggestion to caffine addicts that if necessary, Mcdonalds offers gourmet coffee products at a reduced rate. If anyone agrees with me then consider dropping by and i will give you a free cup of Folgers.

[Dissertations Template]

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