Starbucks beverages are known to have a ridiculous amount of ice in it. But heed your complaints because a California judge disagrees.
On Friday, Judge Percy Anderson dismissed a Los Angeles resident’s claims that Starbucks mislead customers about the ice-to-product ratio of its cold drinks.
Alexander Forouzesh filed a proposed class-action suit against the company over false advertising, breach of express and implied warranty, unjust enrichment and fraud in June.
The suit alleges that the coffee chain gives less liquid than advertised. For example, a Venti cold drink is advertised as being 24 fluid ounces. Yet, only about 14 ounces of the actual liquid is served, whereas, the other 10 ounces is ice.
“As a result of this practice, Starbucks has engaged in the practice of misrepresenting the amount of cold drink a customer will receive,” the lawsuit alleges, according to MyNewsLA.com.
However, Anderson dismissed these claims. In his Aug. 19 decision, he wrote:
“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.”
“This conclusion is supported by the fact that the cups Starbucks uses for its Cold Drinks, as shown in the Complaint, are clear, and therefore make it easy to see that the drink consists of a combination of liquid and ice.”
In addition, Anderson said reasonable customers would understand that both ice and liquid are included in the iced beverages, according to BuzzFeed.
“It’s disappointing to see that the judge didn’t recognize the viability of the claims and the merits of the case,” Forouzesh’s lawyer, Justin Farahi, said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
On the other hand, according to BuzzFeed, a spokesperson for Starbucks said, “We are pleased with the court’s decision and the judge’s comments on the matter.”
The company also reminded dissatisfied customers are welcome to ask their barista for a new drink. In addition, they can ask for either light ice or extra ice when placing their order.
Meanwhile, Starbucks is facing two other lawsuits, including a similar one pending in federal court in Illinois. Another lawsuit concerns the amount of foam in the company’s lattes.
