Help Me Hank: Help Me Hank! Coffee overcharge

Her favorite mug and her favorite coffee, it's Donna's favorite moment of quiet with the paper at the kitchen table.

Donna McNally, coffee drinker
"I've been drinking coffee for probably 40 years."

It's the taste, the buzz, okay, and the caffeine.

Donna McNally, coffee drinker
"I have to have coffee everyday."

Donna's been buying the same brand of beans at the same place year after year, so she knows what to expect at the cash register -- two pounds of coffee, $10.99.

But one morning she bought her beans at a different location of the same company, and to her surprise her bill was $10.99 plus 5 percent sales tax! She asked the cashier why.

Donna McNally, coffee drinker
"The girl says to me everything has tax."

Wrong. Donna rang up the company headquarters but they insisted it was the individual coffee shops problem. Instantly trouble was brewing.

Donna McNally, coffee drinker
"That's when I thought of Help Me Hank."

We asked Donna to make two more coffee runs. So she went to both locations, buying the exact bag of beans at each one and here are her receipts. On one, no sales tax. On the other, 55 cents sales tax, something's wrong.

We called the tax experts at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and they gave us the bottom line: an item sold by weight, in unopened original packaging, and for use at home is not taxable. A bag of coffee beans should not be taxed.

We told the company HQ. They instantly emailed they're working "...to determine the source of the error." And they were reminding their stores of "...their responsibility to charge and collect sales tax properly."

And now that they know the sales tax scoop, they say Donna's welcome to come in for her refund. And she says, all is forgiven.

Donna McNally, coffee drinker
"I'm still going to buy my coffee there."

To check this out we bought a lot of coffee at various places and we found sales tax is being charged inconsistently. So watch your bill and if you're wrongly charged tell the cashier. Or me, of course!

(Copyright 2008 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)