Starbucks faces $5M lawsuit for putting too much ice in their cold drinks

A Starbucks customer is filing a $5 million lawsuit in Illinois over the amount of ice the coffee chain puts in their cold beverages.

Chicago resident Stacy Pincus’s federal class action lawsuit alleges that Starbucks deceives its customers when it comes to how much liquid they are paying for.

The complaint contends that when baristas add ice cubes to the cup, it leaves customers with almost half the amount of their desired drink.

“A Starbucks customer who orders and pays for a Cold Drink receives much less than advertised—often nearly half as many fluid ounces,” the suit stated.

“Our customers understand and expect that ice is an essential component of any ‘iced’ beverage,” Starbucks spokesperson Jaime Riley responded. “If a customer is not satisfied with their beverage preparation, we will gladly remake it.”

Remaking a drink puts the onus on the barista, when the practice could simply be a corporate cost-cutting strategy. Most people would also prefer to avoid holding up a line full of people to complain about too much ice in their iced coffee.

The complaint said that Starbucks advertises the liquid amount their cup can hold rather than the amount you will actually get.

An iced Venti cup is promoted as having 24 fluid ounces, but an iced Venti drink only gets you 14 fluid ounces of liquid, according to the lawsuit.

This is not the first time the coffee giant has had trouble with its customer satisfaction. A lawsuit filed earlier this year accuses Starbucks of under filling some seasonal lattes by almost 25%.