[lovecg]

As a thought experiment, let’s replace “really hot” with “poison”. Do you think it’s reasonable to blame the customer for inadvertently drinking poisonous coffee from a chain when all other chains sell poison-free coffee? What if it comes with instructions like “just wait 20 minutes and the poison will evaporate”—does this sufficiently clear the company in your view?

How is unusually hot temperature significantly different from poison in this situation?

[vasilipupkin]

That’s not a valid analogy, since it’s pretty obvious when something is very hot or not, which is not the case with poison.

[lovecg]

Good point. Though I think there’s still room to distinguish an uncomfortably hot coffee spill from a third degree burn causing one, and it’s not immediately obvious to a casual consumer when you cross that threshold.