A woman filed a lawsuit against Starbucks over the amount of ice used in its cold drinks. The suit seeks $5 million from the coffee giant, claiming that the company uses too much ice in its drinks.
The suit was filed by Stacy Pincus from Illinois, as reported by NBC News. The class-action lawsuit was filed in Northern Illinois Federal Court on Wednesday. In the court document, Pincus argued that the amount of ice used in the cold drinks has been disadvantaging to customers.
In the suit, Pincus says that because of the amount of ice, customers often end up with only half of the amount of drink that is listed on Starbucks' menus as stated in fluid ounces. The lawsuit alleges that the company is intentionally using too much ice to trick customers into paying for more product than served.
For instance, when a customer orders a Venti cold drink, he or she will expect to receive 24 fluid ounces of the drink, just like the advertised amount. However, the excessive amount of ice could take up almost half of the cups, leading customers to receive just over half the proper amount as advertised. A Venti drink often contains only 14 fluid ounces of the drink, as explained by Fox News, citing the complaint.
Furthermore, the lawsuit also explains the grounds of the allegations, based on word definitions. "The word 'beverage' is defined as 'a drinkable liquid'. Ice is not a 'beverage' by definition. Accordingly, Starbucks actually gives the customer much less beverage in the cold drinks they order and pay for," says the lawsuit.
The lawsuit continues with claiming that Starbucks' cold drinks are purposefully underfilled in order to make more money and achieve higher profits. On the other hand, the practice have misled customers with its advertisements.
The coffee giant has responded to the claim, saying that the lawsuit is absurd, as reported by TMZ. In a statement, the company said, "Our customers understand and expect that ice is an essential component of any 'iced' beverage." The company also offers to remake any beverage for an unsatisfied customer.
In the lawsuit, Pincus suggests that Starbucks use larger cups to contain the proper amount of liquid along with ice. She seeks $5 million on behalf on any customer who has bought a cold drink at Starbucks within the past 10 years.
