“In reality, however, although plaintiff paid $5.45 for the venti size pumpkin spice latte, she received a watered-down version of a pumpkin spice latte, one that contained the exact same amount of espresso and caffeine as the grande size,” Adams said in the suit. “Plaintiff would not have purchased the venti-sized pumpkin spice latte had she known the truth about the espresso/caffeine content of the venti-sized drink — that it equaled the grande sized equivalent of the drink.”
By Craig Clough
Law360 (February 5, 2020, 6:09 PM EST) — A disgruntled latte buyer hit Starbucks with a proposed class action in California federal court Tuesday, alleging that the coffee giant is tricking customers into buying larger espresso-based drinks despite them containing as much caffeine as a smaller size.
Starbucks Corp. customer Teresa Adams claims the company “engages in widespread false and deceptive advertising designed to cheat consumers without giving them the benefit of their coffee bargain.”
Starbucks generally offers three sizes of espresso beverages: tall, which is the smallest; grande, which is medium; and venti, which is the largest. Adams says the proof of the scam is right on Starbucks’ website, which lists the ingredients of some espresso-based drinks such as its cappuccino, pumpkin spice latte, blonde vanilla latte and caffe latte as having the same amount of caffeine in its grande and venti sizes. But the caffeine information of its products is not included on Starbucks’ menus at its locations, Adams says.
“Starbucks engages in a classic bait-and-switch scheme that causes unsuspecting consumers to shell out more money for the larger, venti-sized, espresso beverages under the false belief that the venti-sized espresso beverage contains more espresso, and thus more caffeine, than the medium grande-sized drinks,” Adams said in the suit. “However, in reality, consumers receive a more expensive, venti-sized drink containing the same amount of espresso and caffeine as the cheaper grande-sized equivalent drink. This misleading practice offends reasonable consumer expectations.”
Furthering the confusion, Adams claims that some other drinks do in fact contain a larger amount of caffeine in the larger sizes, including in iced drinks such as the iced caffe latte.
Adams says she herself was duped Nov. 20 when at a Starbucks location in Orange County, California, she purchased a venti-sized pumpkin spice latte while believing the larger size would contain more caffeine that the smaller version.
“In reality, however, although plaintiff paid $5.45 for the venti size pumpkin spice latte, she received a watered-down version of a pumpkin spice latte, one that contained the exact same amount of espresso and caffeine as the grande size,” Adams said in the suit. “Plaintiff would not have purchased the venti-sized pumpkin spice latte had she known the truth about the espresso/caffeine content of the venti-sized drink — that it equaled the grande sized equivalent of the drink.”
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Case Title
Teresa Adams v. Starbucks Corporation, et al
Case Number
8:20-cv-00225
Court
California Central
Nature of Suit
Other Fraud
Judge
James V. Selna
Date Filed
February 04, 2020