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Starbucks has been systematically underfilling the cold drinks served in its stores, according to a new consumer class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff Stacy Pincus says that Starbucks cold drinks don’t provide nearly the amount of product advertised on the in-store menu. Pincus specifically takes issue with the drinks that are “handcrafted by Starbucks employees in Starbucks retail stores and served with ice.”
These drinks include iced coffee, shaken iced tea, shaken iced tea lemonade, Refreshers, and Fizzio sodas. (In a footnote, Pincus mentions the cold drinks class action lawsuit does not apply to bottled Starbucks drinks.)
Pincus says that despite being advertised as offering a certain volume of product, Starbucks cold drinks only contain a fraction of that volume. The rest is ice, added until it reaches the top of the cup, she claims.
For example, a Venti iced coffee advertised as 24 ounces actually contains only about 14 fluid ounces, according to Pincus’s measurements. To prepare the drink, a barista fills the cup with coffee up to a line marked on the cup, then adds ice using one of several graduated ice scoops that delivers the corresponding amount of ice for that specific size of cold drink.
Pincus says Starbucks uses the lines marked on the cup to ensure the customer gets only a fraction of the amount of product advertised on the menu – “just over half the advertised amount, and just over half the amount for which they are paying,” she claims.
She also notes that a given amount of ice takes up more space than the same amount of liquid water. So even if Starbucks cold drinks appear full with ice, allowing the ice to melt reveals the actual amount of fluid sold is still less than the amount advertised on the menu, she reasons.
In this way, Pincus argues, Starbucks is intentionally misleading its customers. That alleged deception allows the company to charge its customers “artificially inflated prices” that they would not have paid had they known how much product they were actually getting.
This Starbucks cold drinks class action lawsuit echoes a similar claim brought in California a few weeks earlier, alleging the company has been similarly underfilling its hot lattes.
If certified, the proposed plaintiff Class would encompass everyone in the U.S. who purchased Starbucks cold drinks between April 27, 2006 and the date the cold drinks class action was filed. Pincus is also proposing a subclass of such persons who purchased their Starbucks cold drinks in Illinois.
Pincus seeks an award of compensatory and punitive damages, plus court costs, attorneys’s fees, and pre-judgment interest.
The plaintiff is represented by Steven A. Hart, Robert J. McLaughlin, and Benjamin M. Shrader of Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge LLC.
The Starbucks Underfilled Iced Drinks Class Action Lawsuit is Pincus v. Starbucks Corp., Case No.1:16-cv-04705, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
UPDATE: On May 26, 2016, Starbucks filed a motion with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to transfer all underfilled drinks class action lawsuits to Washington, arguing that it would be more convenient for depositions.
UPDATE 2: On Aug. 5, 2016, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled that the class action lawsuits alleging Starbucks intentionally underfills lattes and other coffee drinks will not be merged into one centralized case.
UPDATE 3: On Aug. 25, 2016, just days after escaping a similar claim in California, Starbucks sought the dismissal of a consumer lawsuit in Illinois federal court that accuses the company of underfilling its iced drinks.
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62 thoughts onStarbucks Class Action: Customers Short-Changed on Iced Drinks
The iced coffee concentrate is brewed double-strength. So it is very concentrated, not meant to be consumed without being watered-down or with melting ice added. The caffeine content is VERY high. You arent really being ripped off. Sbux does this so that it is not a rip off. Otherwise theyd just pour regular cold brewed coffee over ice. It isnt rocket science. Source- worked there for 5 years.
I stopped buying iced coffee and iced tea a long time ago from Starbucks when I realized how little coffee/tea I was getting. I always thought it was a rip-off! I don’t want to spend $3 for a glass of ice!
Yes it like ice, ice baby. Everyone wants to give you more ice less drink over 75 percent or more ice is always in cups.
I had ordered a few iced drinks from them until I had seen them make it. Just like it was said, they filled it up, not even half way, with the drink, then added ice. Well….it I am going to pay almost $5 for a drink, I should get the entire drink. I can buy a bad of ice for a buck, and that is for 5 lbs of ice. DB makes the medium iced drinks in a large cup so that you actually get the amount of drink you are buying.
Two reasons why I think this lawsuit is silly (and if theres any Starbucks baristas reading this, correct me if Im wrong) but #1 – ice is a MANDATORY ingrediant to this because otherwise the coffee would be piping hot! (so much for iced coffee) and #2 – apparently the coffee Starbucks uses for Iced Coffee is double-strength, to make up for the fact that it gets watered down from the ice. So in other words, its TWICE as strong as their regular coffee — another reason that all the ice is necessary.
So what’s the excuse for lattes ( iced green tea latte ) to be specific… I ask for light ice then they want to charge for 2oz of milk to fill cup and $.25 for cup of ice …. Wow rediculous
buzzfeed.com/claudiakoerner/a-woman-is-suing-starbucks-for-putting-too-much-ice-in-cold – not sure if were allowed to post URLs here but the comments on the BuzzFeed story about this lawsuit are hilarious
Look into the receipy, one 1/3 of the cup is the actual components of the beverage. The rest is water. The factor to be considered is the following, when you purchase motts apple juice it says 100% apple juice. Other less quality beverages will say only 3% juice. There is no where on the complicated not to mention dark and difficult to read menu boards that states beverages are over 70% water. Bringing info to light.
I frequent Starbucks at least once weekly an have noticed the taste, quality, and quantity of the the mixture of the drink! This goes back to the beginning of the taste over two years. Everyone thinks I was over reacting. My reaction was for the price, if the quality is going down the price is going down there is something wrong!
The price continues going UP!!
I always get an iced coffee because I’m not a hot coffee sipper. Its always weak and is only a couple sips before its gone, but since I’m with people – usually business. – I get one anyway. I hope this gets fixed and we get as much coffee as everyone else.
Oh yes, that’s for sure. I thought only me thinking like that, I’m glad I’m not alone. Used to be Starbucks best customer, not much now because of this problem.