Judge pours cold water on lawsuit claiming Starbucks rips off customers with its iced drinks
He told the court "even a child" would understand they can increase their beverage size by ordering no ice
A JUDGE has poured cold water on a Starbucks lawsuit which claimed the coffee chain was ripping off customers with its iced drinks.
The legal action was brought by Alexander Forouzesh, from Los Angeeles, who brought an action against the company in May for fraud.
He alleged it was putting too much ice in its drinks and was in breach of warranty and had false advertising.
However Judge Percy Anderson tossed out the potential class-action lawsuit, saying most customers would know an iced coffee or tea would have ice, and would be able to see it in the clear plastic cups used to serve the drinks.
Starbucks advertises all its drinks according to the size of the cup they are served in so, for example, a Grande sized drink comes in a 16 oz (454ml) cup.
And to clarify his point he said: “even a child would get it.”
Judge Anderson added: “As young children learn, they can increase the amount of beverage they receive if they order ‘no ice.'”
The ruling was issued Friday in a U.S. District Court.
He continued: “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 … some portion of the drink will be ice rather than whatever liquid beverage the consumer ordered.”
It was in May Forouzesh sued Starbucks Corp. for fraud, breach of warranty and false advertising, as well as a number of other claims.
He alleged it was cheating customers out of iced coffee and tea due to the amount of ice used in its chilled drinks.
Forouzesh said he was insulted by the remarks and added: “Any child can figure out that they’re being deceived by Starbucks, as well.
“It’s not right. The whole point is that we’re being deceived.”
The result could have an impact on a similar case which is ongoing in a court Illinois.
Stacy Pincus, from Illinois, in the US, also alleges the firm is falsely advertising drinks, because a cup with ice cubes in does not contain the stated amount of liquid.
But Ms Pincus claims the cup will sometimes only contain only half as much as the advertised amount due to the space taken up by ice cubes.
She is now demanding $5 million (around £3.4 million) in damages and restitution.
Ms Pincus filed a class action complaint because she says customers would not have paid for the cold drinks if they knew the true amount they were
getting.
As a result, Ms Pincus claims to have “suffered injury in fact and lost money or property”.
Starbucks told the lawsuit was ‘absurd’: “Our customers understand and expect that ice is an essential component of any ‘iced’ beverage’.”