Canteen Vending Machines Don’t Show Higher Card Prices Florida Class Action

Compass Group USA, Inc. does business as Canteen, offering vending machines and claiming to be “the largest vending company in the nation…” Consumers can use cash to pay for the items in these machines, or they can use credit, debit, or prepaid cards. However, the complaint for this class action alleges that the machines actually charge customer cards more than the price displayed for the items, because it operates a two-tier system, with the displayed price being for cash only.

The class for this action is all persons or entities in Florida who, between the applicable statute of limitations and the date of class certification in this case, bought an item from a vending machine owned or operated by Canteen with a credit, debit, or prepaid card and were charged more than the price displayed for the item on the vending machine, except where the items were bought from a machine that stated that the charges would be higher with the use of a card.

This Florida class action lists Canteen locations in Altamonte Springs/Orlando, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Lake Buena Vista/Orlando, Lakeland/Tampa, Largo/Tampa, Melbourne/Cocoa, Miami, Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Tampa.

The plaintiff in this case, Andres Borrero, used a machine in Tampa. The complaint alleges he used it once or twice a day, whenever he had a break, for every day that he worked, which was on average five days per week.

The Canteen vending machines allow customers to pay with a card, but they maintain a two-tier pricing system: the price paid when the customer pays cash and the price paid when the customer uses a card. “Generally,” the complaint alleges, “the price for a credit, debit or prepaid card transaction is []10 cents higher than for a cash transaction.”

However, the complaint alleges that the machines don’t always have labels warning customers about the two-tier pricing system. “On information and belief,” the complaint claims, “many of [Canteen’s] ‘two-tier’ vending machines in Florida, including the machines used by [Borrero], failed to have such labeling informing consumers that the ‘Card Price’ is higher than the posted ‘Cash Price.’” Instead, the complaint claims, the machines simply show the lower price for cash, so that consumers do not know they will be charged a higher price when they use their cards.

The complaint contends, “By displaying the lower ‘Cash Price’ on the machine and not informing the consumer that they will be charged the higher ‘Card Price’ when paying with a card, [Canteen] deceives the consumer into paying a higher amount than listed.”

The counts include breach of contract, violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and unjust enrichment.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Breach of Contract, Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Unjust Enrichment