Dust mites attack in Starbucks Malaysia.

Few days before my birthday, I suffered from a skin allergy all thanks to the unhygienic of Starbucks. Here is the full story which I posted in Facebook and garnered an overwhelming attention.

On the 12th of January 2014, I visited a Starbucks outlet in 1 Utama and sat on the rattan chair provided outside. Within 10 minutes, I felt some tingling sensation on my thigh area. After that, red bumps started to pop up on my thigh's skin.

The itchiness started to get extremely severe by midnight and when morning arrived the next day on 13th January 2014, what looked like horrible huge red bumps evolved into gigantic red patches that ooze blood when scratched.

I consulted a doctor and I was told that it was a skin allergic reaction caused by dust mites. While researching online, I found that dust mites don’t bite. Their bodies, secretions and faeces contain particular proteins that can trigger allergic symptoms to people. This traumatic experience has lasted for 3 days, while writing this I am still suffering from the allergic reaction. I have sleepless nights, distressing itchiness, unable to be present for work, emotional and physical pain and worst of all, while filing a complaint to Starbucks, the reply from them just added more suffering to me.

I could not believe that an international F&B company such as Starbucks could be so negligent and sloppy with their reply that they could actually replied me to have a "Grande Day" after I told them about my misery. They did not even have the courtesy to apologize nor added in a point of contact to follow up on this matter. It has already been 2 days since the email was sent and I have not receive any follow up on emails or phone calls regarding this matter from them.

Their ignorance has forced me to take actions in my own hands to bring their attention via social media. I believe that if Starbucks do not even bother to take care of the hygiene of the seats for their customers, I doubt they will even care about what goes in to the drinks and sanitation of their utensils and overall hygiene.

A quick check in Starbucks Facebook page, I realized I’m not alone in this situation. There were many victims before me who had the same experience and treatment from Starbucks. I cannot believe they have not taken any action with all these cases. You can refer to this link for other victims’ experiences.

As a loyal customer of Starbucks for many years, I truly felt cheated and disappointed. Whoever who is reading this, your next visit to Starbucks may cost you more than what you pay for a cup of coffee. Please be warned. 

After posting this on Starbucks page, it hit more than 300 shares. They responded to my post in Facebook and asked me to PM them my contact. 

One of the representative called me after a few hours and made a scripted apology without even offering any compensation for my medical treatment and trauma experience. The excuse was that the case was still under investigation. It is obvious that there are already countless of reported cases of the same matter, why are they taking such a long time to investigate? Or is it just an excuse to pacify me and shut me up? They did not even have the courtesy to write an official apology email instead, all I got was a brief, scripted apology over the phone. In fact, I cannot verify if the personnel who called was from Starbucks Malaysia as he sounded very casual and not professional. As a loyal customer of Starbucks for many years, I am truly appalled and disappointed by the way this case has been managed, by their so-called esteemed company who prides so highly on human rights.

I emailed the Starbucks international afterwards and here how it goes.

They did not reply me anymore after that. Nor Starbucks Malaysia contacted me either. It seems like they have an I-don't-care attitude. Talking to them felt like talking to a brick of wall. I know they are not going to make a formal apology because they don't want to have any black and white proof. Their ego is too big to handle it. If they do, it will scar their reputation. They are just another company who doesn't give a shit as long as they can gain profit from the customers that they don't care. But yet, people are still contributing billions to their business, making them even more arrogant.

Many people gave me their kind regards, but many people gave their negative 2 cents too. They thought I'm just being whiny but the point is, I'm not the only one who suffered. If I'm the only victim, I will say that it was just my luck. But there were so many people who got bitten by dust mites from Starbucks. Note: ESPECIALLY STARBUCKS! The point is proven. They also said I just want to make a big hoo-ha for compensation. Trust me, compensation is the least of my worries, I just want my point to be sent across. The point of Starbucks being negligent in taking care of the cleanliness of their furniture and their non-existent concern for their customers.

These are the comments that I found amusing.

Ng Yu Sheng, do you even know what is private message? It means the message can only be seen by me and the corespondent. So yeah, I'm pretty sure that person who texted me with Starbucks Malaysia account can obviously see the message. And of course, I felt weird why is this guy defending Starbucks like I just killed his pet. I  clicked into his page and saw that he is a barista in Starbucks. This dude should be fired because under no condition he has the rights to respond on behalf of the company he works at. Even if he is in the PR department, he has no rights to comment with his personal account. That is so unprofessional. But of course I don't think Starbucks will fire him because they just don't care about anything and everything.

Woo Wei Jun, of course Starbucks is responsible for spreading dust mites! You think dust mites just pop out from the rattan chair like magic? There is even a reason why pimples pop out from your face! That's because your pores are clogged and dirty! Same goes to dust mites. The reason why dust mites spread in their chair because they don't clean their furniture. The dirty condition of the chair mix with the humid weather is a perfect spot for them to breed. They should have sun their furniture for hygiene purposes. Taking care the cleanliness of their utensils, furniture and premise is mandatory for all F&B companies. You know?

Same goes to Jin Tham. If I'm the only one who had this from Starbucks, fine. But so many people got it, so everyone gotta get an allergy test before patronizing Starbucks? Or everyone should wrap themselves in plastic like how smartly you suggested? Your ignorance and rudeness is one of the reason why the world is such a bad place. God bless you.