Homeless Man Waiting To Buy Food Removed From Starbucks

A man says he was “disgusted” by what he saw employees at Starbucks do to a homeless man who waiting in line to pay for a sandwich.

Ed Cheung, 24, was in a Starbucks when he saw an employee approach a homeless man who was waiting in line to pay for his food. He says that the staff member asked the man to leave the premises. The man’s sandwich was then thrown away, Cheung says.

Cheung was horrified, as he had just given the homeless man money, which he then intended to use to buy himself a sandwich.

“I’m horrified,” Cheung told Mirror. “From giving change to a homeless person who was clearly suffering and living a hard life, to next noticing he’s being escorted from the premises without food. To then see the food he had touched be thrown in the bin. It’s horrifying.”

Cheung shared the story in a post on his Facebook page. He wrote:

“Starbucks – Witnessed the world’s disgusting thing tonight in your Buchanan street store (7.45-8.15pm). A homeless man was approached by a member of your staff whilst in the queue to pay for food and was asked to step out of line and leave the premises without food. He was walked out the door by your employee and once he was happy he was out and away from the premises, your employee walked back in and had the nerve to bin the sandwich he had touched.

Why is this such a big issue? Since when was there a policy where you can reject customers due to their appearance or current living standards? The man had money to pay for the food because my friend gave him it!! Come on it’s 2017, get your head out your arse.

This fellow is having a hard time already sleeping rough and little to no money in his name and with the money he had he wasn’t even allowed to purchase money to feed him!! I actually feel sick thinking about what happened.

I hope something gets done regarding this, because it’s a bloody disgusting world to be living in if this happens.

Regards

one disgusted customer”

Cheung’s post quickly spread on social media, with more than 13,000 shares on Facebook. More than 3,000 people commented on the post. 

After the post went viral, angry customers took to Starbucks’ Facebook page to share the post and criticize the company for what their employee allegedly did.

“You will probably take down but this is going to go viral. So you should maybe rethink your staff training and get whoever was involved told this is not acceptable,” one reader posted on Starbucks’ page. “Looking at people for the way they dress or live is not your right to judge.”

A spokesperson for Starbucks responded to the story in a statement.

“We want to provide a warm and welcoming place for everyone in our stores,” the Starbucks spokesperson said. “The safety and security of our partners (employees) and customers is always our highest priority. Our team has worked with the local police on this recurring issue and we fully support our partners’ approach in resolving a difficult situation.”

Sources: Mirror, Ed Cheung/Facebook / Photo Credit: Google Maps via Mirror