June 16, 2025
Couple Claims Starbucks Denied Them Emergency Help Since They Didn’t Stand In Line
Thankfully, a competing coffee shop, Capital One Café, was able to save the day.
A Virginia couple alleges they were denied assistance during an emergency from a local Starbucks because they didn’t wait their turn in line, WABI 5 reported.
Kevin and Nelisa Key were in the Short Pump Town Center in Richmond when Kevin, who is battling stage 4 kidney failure, suffered a scary medical episode. Kevin, 38, is in Stage 4 kidney failure. Nelisa remembered her husband suddenly saying he didn’t feel well. “He started leaning over, and then he started vomiting,” she remembered. As he has suffered similar incidents, Nelisa said she was “frantic” to get him some ice water — something she knew would help him.
She noticed a Starbucks and ran inside.
Despite there being a long line, Nelisa explained the emergency to customers — and workers — and mentioned just needing some water. Patient customers were sympathetic, but not the barista at the time, who allegedly informed Nelisa that she would have to wait in line like the rest. “I pointed back, because you could see Kevin, and I was like, ‘That’s my husband right there. He’s in Stage 4 kidney failure. I just need water fast for him,’” Nelisa said she mentioned to the employee.
“And the employee looked at me and was like, ‘You need to get in line.’ And then I repeated what I said, I’m like, ‘But my husband, he’s in kidney failure, we just need ice water quickly.’ And he looked at me again and was like, ‘You need to get in line.’”
When his wife alerted him to what happened, Kevin was taken aback on the issue, saying a simple cup of ice water could have saved his life. “I could have possibly blacked out. It could have had a more dramatic impact on my body,” Kevin said, according to WWBT.
“My kidneys could have possibly just shut down.”
The American Kidney Fund defines stage 4 kidney failure as the kidneys being moderately or severely damaged and not properly filtering waste from the blood. Without properly filtered kidneys, waste products like urea and creatinine from the blood can lead to a condition called uremia. Kevin said choosing policy over compassion could have turned into a tragic situation. “A situation that should have taken, like, less than probably 10 seconds to get water, turned into a nightmare instantly,” he continued.
Thankfully, a competing coffee shop, Capital One Café, was able to save the day. “That’s when I walked in, and Emma was standing there. I told her the same thing and she acted fast,” Nelisa said.
“She was like, no problem at all. I hope he feels better. And when I got to Kevin and gave him the water, he almost instantly felt better.”
While Starbucks’ Media Relations representative Sam Jefferies said the company is trying to “make this right,” the spokesperson also alluded to wanting customers not to ask for water in the pick-up area since it disrupts the workflow. “As we continue to train our partners on the new Code of Conduct, we are working to ensure that everyone who visits our store has a great experience and training partners to communicate openly and from a place of kindness, compassion, and consideration for other patrons when determining how to proceed when a guest makes a request outside of our policies,” a statement read.
“We’re simply asking that water is handled like other orders — at the point of sale.”
They will be waiting to right the wrong as Kevin got a chance to meet hero Emma and thanked her for “being a caring human being.”
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