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Summary: A judge dismissed a California lawsuit claiming Starbucks cheated its customers by using too much ice in its iced drinks.
One California judge is not buying a man’s lawsuit that claims Starbucks’ iced drinks cheat consumers by using too much ice.
On Friday, Judge Percy Anderson of California tossed Alexander Forouzesh’s proposed class action lawsuit against Starbucks. In June, Forouzesh claimed in a lawsuit that consumers who ordered an iced drink from the coffee chain were given less liquid than advertised because the ice took up too much space.
According to The Guardian, Judge Anderson said that the clear cups show customers that their drinks have ice and that it is easy for people to request less ice if they wanted it. He added that Starbucks was not deceptive.
“If children have figured out that including ice in a cold beverage decreases the amount of liquid they will receive, the Court has no difficulty concluding that a reasonable consumer would not be deceived into thinking that when they order an iced tea, that the drink they receive will include both ice and tea and that for a given size cup, some portion of the drink will be ice rather than whatever liquid beverage the consumer ordered,” Anderson said.
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Starbucks responded to the lawsuit when it was filed, stating that ice was an important part of an “ice beverage.” The company also said that any unhappy customer could tell a barista they wanted a change, and the drink would be modified for free.
Although Starbucks has won a victory in California, the chain is facing a similar ice case in Illinois and a latte foam lawsuit in San Francisco.
Plaintiff Stacy Pincus of Chicago said that Starbucks advertises its drinks by fluid ounce but because of its ice that number is inaccurate. She is suing for $5 million.
In San Francisco, Judge Thelton Henderson allowed Siera Strumlauf and Benjamin Robles’ latte lawsuit to move forward. They stated that Starbucks knowingly short changes customers by serving lattes that are 25% too small.
Do you think the ongoing lawsuits have any merit? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Guardian
Photo courtesy of CNN
