INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Not Just The Lattes: Starbucks Shortchanges On Their Espressos Too

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 22:08 PST, Mar 18, 2016

As reported in the Inquisitr on Saturday, there is currently a class-action law suit against Starbucks for their less-than-full lattes. Turns out the coffee giant is a little mean with their Espressos too.

In the Inquisitr article, it states that Starbucks are being sued for allegedly under-filling latte cups by as much as 25 percent. Two Californians, Siera Strumlauf and Benjamin Robles, are currently leading the class-action suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Not to be outdone, an Auburn man is also peeved with Starbucks, saying they shortchange people with their Espressos too. Robert King says it’s an ongoing problem for him and he is demanding the coffee giant do something about it. Instead of the two-ounce Espresso he orders, every time he only gets handed a mere one-and-a-half ounces.

According to King, this problem has been ongoing since 2015. He said he brings his own shot glass to every Starbucks he visits and virtually every time he fills his own shot glass with the double shot espresso served to him, it comes up short.

The video below shows the shot glass, with its clearly marked measurements.

Explaining he travels a lot with his work, King said, “This is not an isolated case. It has happened at all the Starbucks I’ve gone to from Grass Valley all the way down to Elk Grove, and it’s always short.”

King contacted CBS 13 about the issue and took reporters to the Starbucks outlet on Bell Road in Auburn. He showed them that when he pours the served “two-ounce Espresso” into his own shot glass, it comes up half-an-ounce short. Because he complained, the barista filled his glass up to the correct level, but he says he shouldn’t have to complain in the first place.

This, on top of the class-action lawsuit filed in California this February, is making coffee lovers mad. The lawsuit claims, “Starbucks cheats purchasers by providing less fluid ounces in their lattes than represented. Starbucks lattes are approximately 25 percent under-filled.”

That lawsuit says that by under-filling its lattes, “Starbucks has saved countless millions of dollars.. for taking payment for more product than it delivers,” and is claiming more than $5 million in damages.

According to WITN, Starbucks sales passed $19 billion worldwide last year, so it’s not like they are short of money. Of course, in King’s case, the Starbucks Espressos are also coming up 25 percent short. He says he is getting less than he paid for and this is just not right.

However, Starbucks, speaking of the latte class action suit, says it has a standardized recipe and that every size of coffee has its own respective “fill to” line.

Starbucks said in a statement to CBS 13 that claims that they are under-filling their lattes are totally untrue, adding, “We are proud to serve our customers high-quality, handcrafted and customized beverages, and we inform customers of the likelihood of variations.”

According to King, he has complained both to the manager of the Auburn store and to the corporate office, but says all he got was a ten-dollar gift certificate. King says this is not enough and he is requesting Starbucks to be honest with its customers, saying, “they are cheating them, they are just trying to make a profit, and it’s not right.”

So far there is no sign Robert King is joining the class-action suit against Starbucks, but should the suit be approved, anyone who has purchased a Starbucks latte and feels cheated can join it.

[Photo via Flickr by Faris cropped and resized/CC BY 2.0]

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