Starbucks app complaint overview:
- Who: The Washington Consumer Protection Coalition filed a complaint against Starbucks to Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
- Why: The group claims Starbucks uses dark patterns to lure customers into spending more with the Starbucks app than they normally would.
- Where: The Starbucks customers filed the complaint in Washington.
A consumer group filed a complaint with Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson claiming the company uses dark patterns to lure its customers into spending more than they normally would using the Starbucks app.
The Washington Consumer Protection Coalition is a group that includes nonprofits and individual citizens. It alleges customers loaded roughly $15 billion onto Starbucks cards last year and roughly 760,000 Washington residents may actively use the app.
Starbucks is the largest coffee chain in the world, with 38,000 stores globally and $36 billion in annual revenue. It holds 41 percent of the coffee shop market in the United States.
The group alleges the company uses what it calls dark patterns to entice customers into spending more than they normally would.
The group alleges Starbucks entices customers to spend in violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act.
“These consumers report frustration with having to pay for Starbucks purchases using preloaded funds on Starbucks Cards in order to earn full rewards and with not being able to reload the exact amount of money they need for a given purchase,” the Starbucks app complaint says.
Starbucks app reload policy makes it involuntary subscription, complaint says
Customers are only allowed to reload payment cards with specific amounts, including a $10 minimum, with the default reload settings of $25 and $15 displayed as the lowest reload amounts, the complaint states.
Tipping is limited through the app, and customers cannot split payments between the in-app payment and another form, meaning they need to reload instead of spending the remainder left on the card.
“Because Starbucks also makes it difficult or impossible for customers to reclaim funds from their cards except by making Starbucks purchases, these practices trap consumers into perpetually reloading funds on their Starbucks cards in an effort to use all remaining funds, which essentially amounts to an involuntary Starbucks subscription,” the Starbucks spending complaint says.
Starbucks has said it would like to resume contract talks this month with the union representing its baristas, Starbucks Workers United, more than two years after its cafes first unionized in the U.S.
Does the Starbucks app lead you to spend more than you otherwise would? Let us know in the comments.
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