Man Believes 7-Eleven Coffee Poisoned Him
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - Lakewood residents may see signs around their neighborhood warning of the coffee from a 7-Eleven store on 14th Avenue and Carr Street after a customer says his coffee poisoned him.
Some customers say the coffee at that 7-Eleven has tasted odd in the past, but Dave Dugan says his cup had a chlorine cleanser in it.
"As soon as I started drinking the coffee … all my taste buds turned numb and my lips started to burn and I had heartburn all in my chest," Dugan said.
Dugan is an avid coffee drinker. At least he was until his morning cup left him with internal chemical burns and pain.
"Over time it didn't go away," he said.
So now he's posting warning signs around the neighborhood to let others know that he thinks the staff at the store cleaned the coffee maker with a powerful cleanser called Patco 155 and didn't thoroughly rinse it before making more coffee. He said the store manager is the one who told him about the cleaner.
"He told me this had happened before and it confirmed all my worst nightmares," Dugan said.
When CBS4 asked store management about the potential problem nobody wanted to comment.
Other customers have complaints as well.
"I've bought coffee here and sometimes I throw it out because it doesn't taste so good," a woman told CBS4.
Still others say their morning routine doesn't leave them worried about what they are drinking.
"Never had any problems here -- probably every other day I stop here and have a cup of coffee at 7-Eleven," a man said.
At other 7-Eleven stores managers told CBS4 there is a three-step cleaning process they are told to follow and it does involve Patco products.
Fifteen days after the incident Dugan is still seeing a doctor for lingering symptoms. He said he isn't suing the company and he certainly doesn't want free coffee from 7-Eleven.
"How many more people that we don't know about have been affected by this?" Dugan said.
He simply wants customers to be aware and demand safer cleaning practices inside the stores.
Ian Williams, a spokesperson for 7-Eleven corporation, only said "we are investigating the matter."
