In a very poor move from the biggest coffee chain in the world, Starbucks recently manned a Florida man from entering any of their venues when his only crime was telling patrons to respect handicapped parking spots for those who truly needed them.
62 year-old Tampa resident Rob Rowen received a lifetime Starbucks ban a while back when he repeatedly asked customers of one of the venues to stop parking in handicapped spots - and, seeing his reasons for talking to other customers as perfectly valid, Rowen didn't hesitate in fighting the decision.
MyNews13 reports that the Starbucks ban happened as Rowen, a regular customer at the venue, noticed a string of different customers breaking the law and parking in the handicapped spot, and he called them out repeatedly only to be met with an icy cold response from the chain.
According to Business Insider, Rowen felt the actions that got him the Starbucks ban were necessary in the South Dale Mabry Starbucks in Tampa, as out of around 20 spots in the store, there's only one dedicated exclusively to handicapped people, and still there were those out there who abused this.
After Rowen repeatedly called out people who were doing this - one of them called the police and got a ticket - the store's manager gave him a lifetime Starbucks ban for his actions, saying he was harassing customers.
"She said to me, 'You're harassing my customers,'" Rowen explained. "I said, 'I'm one of your customers. I'm a regular customer, and I'm trying to help you protect your other customers who might not be able to park anywhere else.'"
Following this injustice, the Tampa resident, who dubs himself Rob "Starbucks Wake Up and Smell the Coffee" Rowen, went on to call the senior vice president of the regional office in Austin, Texas, then publishing an update to his story on his personal Facebook page, which later went viral.
Handicapped spots are an important topic for Rowen, as his son-in-law suffers from muscular dystrophy, causing him to be in a power wheelchair.
According to Newser, Rowen's strategy works, as the Starbucks ban was lifted - and the chain's corporate offices wrote to him to say they were working on improving the handicapped parking situation at the Tampa venue.
