New Source: JusticeNewsFlash.com
Starbucks Coffee Company agrees to settle lawsuit with three California District Attorney’s Offices.
Government lawyers with several California District Attorneys Offices settle consumer fraud case with Starbucks Coffee Company.
Monterey County, CA–Monterey, Shasta, and Sonoma County District Attorneys’ Offices have agreed to a settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of jilted Starbucks customers with the Seattle based coffee company, Starbucks, for $225,000 as reported by TheCalifornian.com. According to reports, Starbucks, the largest coffee house company in the world headquartered in Pike Place Market in Seattle, violated a California law when they refused to refund customer’s gift card refund requests in Monterey, Shasta, and Sonoma Counties.
-Wallace Francis
The coffee powerhouse was investigated after Starbucks customers began complaining in April 2008 that company stores were refusing to provide cash refunds on gift cards with balances under $10 dollars when consumers requested the balance return. California legal investigators for several county government lawyer’s offices discovered Starbucks employees were demanding customers make a purchase to receive the cash back refund on the balances of their gift cards. The settlement agreement between Starbucks and the District Attorneys Offices will be divided and company leaders admit no wrong doing in the legal agreement. The coffee company will place signs in stores educating customers regarding their rights regarding gift card redemptions, conduct employee training, and place special cash register buttons to allow for redemption of the under $10 gift card balances.
California government lawyer news by legal news reporter Heather L. Ryan. News Source: JusticeNewsFlash.com – Press Release Distribution
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Gift card purchases are an area of consumer law that is rife with problems. Most people do not know that in California, gift cards and gift certificates cannot expire. Companies from other states rely upon this claim to pocket millions of dollars from unsuspecting customers, but it is illegal. If a company tells you that your gift card has expired, write them a letter telling them in California this is illegal and may subject them to litigation.
