BOSTON (AP) — Starbucks Corp. has stopped tacking a surcharge on bags of coffee beans weighing less than a pound nationwide after a Massachusetts consumer protection agency discovered the practice and fined the company.
The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation found in August that the coffee giant was adding a surcharge of about $1.50 for bags of coffee beans weighing less than a pound without notifying the customer as legally required.
That meant beans listed at $11.95 per pound ended up costing $7.45 for a half-pound — not $5.98, or half the price.
The state fined Starbucks $1,575 for overcharge violations.
A Starbucks spokesman tells The Boston Globe (http://bo.st/uuanOt) the company charged extra for half-pound bags to cover additional labor and packaging costs. The practice has since been dropped nationwide.
