If you buy less than 1lb of beans, check the cost!
If you have been buying your coffee at Starbucks loose by the pound, and you buy less than a pound, you may have been getting hit with a secret fee!
A Massachusetts consumer agency began an investigation last August. They found that Starbucks was adding $1.50 to orders of less than a pound of coffee beans. The fee itself isn't the problem - the problem was what Massachusetts deemed "deceptive practices." Starbucks didn't post any information about the fee, Starbucks employees did not mention the fee to customers, and the fee was not itemized on a customer's receipts. It was just silently tacked on to the order such that "For example, beans listed at $11.95 per pound ended up costing $7.45 for a half-pound - not $5.98, or 50 percent of the price."
Under pressure from Massachusetts and other consumer agencies, Starbucks has pledged to remove the fee nationwide. But surely anyone purchasing less than a pound of coffee should be keeping a sharp eye on the price!
The surprise to me is that no one had noticed this fee sooner. I know that I am often guilty of ignoring prices, especially when buying stuff in bulk. I usually just want "some" of whatever it is, and I don't get too caught up on the price. And there are so many distractions when you are ordering at the counter at a Starbucks, it's easy to overlook a price discrepancy.
Reading this article, I realized how long it has been since I have bought loose beans by the pound at a Starbucks. It seems like most stores phased out the loose beans ages ago, and now only offer pre-packaged pounds of coffee. The benefit there is obvious - it's easier to standardize amounts, and you don't have to take up an employee's time with weighing out and marking the bag. But I do miss the days of being able to mix-and-match your own blend to order.
Maybe next these consumer agencies will go after the three-quarters-sized bags that are sold at grocery stores. Many people assume that they are buying a pound of coffee, and that therefore the $10 price is about fair. But in truth, these are 12 ounce bags, which makes them considerably more expensive per pound than buying a bag at an actual Starbucks store. (And you can have the beans ground there while you wait, which makes a huge difference in the quality of your cup of coffee.)