Complaint Review: STARBUCKS - Nationwide

A pound of coffee costs more in Canada? What a shock. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but just about everything costs more in Canada (i.e., a loaf of bread costs more in Canada ($CAD) than that same loaf of bread costs in the US (in $US)), regardless of the value of the US dollar. You are committing a logical fallacy by assuming that the price of consumer goods and commodities in Canadian Dollars ($CAD) should be affected by the value of the US dollar ($US) simply because the company selling the product is headquartered in the US. Comparing $CAD to $US is like comparing apples and oranges; short-term changes in the value of one currency compared to another rarely have any long-term impact on purchasing power of either currency within their respective economies. The value of the Loonie has increased significantly against the value of the $US recently, but the actual PURCHASING POWER of both dollars, within their respective countries, has not changed substantially in that time. Having the Loonie on par twith the $US will only be helpful to you if you actually spend your money in the US (you will get more for your money shopping in the US than you will in Canada. i.e., everything in the US willl seem cheap.) For example, the price of a loaf of bread in Canada has not changed, has it? The price of a loaf of bread has not changed in the US, either. However, now that the Loonie is on par with the $US, Candians travelling to the US can get a really good deal on a loaf of bread (or electronics, coffee, alcohol, gasoline, etc.) But your complaint addressed the cost of Starbucks coffee within Canada, in Candaian dollars. There is no reason to expect that the price of coffee would have changed significantly (at Starbucks or anywhere else) in the short time since the Loonie has gained strength against the US dollar because the actual value of a Canadian Dollar, spent WITHIN CANADA, has not changed. If you expect the price of coffee to drop so that it is the same as it is in the US, would you also expect a similar cut in your earnings (to "compensate" for the increased value of the Loonie)? Would you expect the value of your home to be worth less? Have you seen the prices of other consumer goods plummet accordingly? No. If your employer approached you and said "The Loonie is worth 25% more than it was 2 years ago, so I am cutting your pay by 25%", I'm sure you would be outraged. Why? Because you know that the Loonie is not really "worth" 25% more than it was 2 years ago. The cost of living in Canada, relative to the Candaian Dollar, has remained stable during that time, and the value of the Candadian Dollar, within the Canadian economy has not changed significantly. Just about everything is still "more expensive" in Canada (i.e., a higher dollar amnount on the price tag) and that probvably won't change in the near future. My advice is to enjoy the weak US dollar (note that this is not a case of the Loonie being stronger, but the $US being weaker) while it lasts and take lots of shopping trips to the US to take advantage of the outrageous deals. While you're there, stock up on Starbucks coffee (at $10 US per pound) from south of the border. Also, while Starbucks may be a US company, when they do business in Canada, a weak US dollar actually hurts them. They still have to pay Canadian wages, rents, shipping costs, etc. with a weak dollar, which gives them absolutely no insentive to artificially lower the price of coffee in Canada just because of fluctuations in international currency markets.