What's your take on the woman who is suing Starbucks for putting too much ice in her iced coffee?

“Starbucks is advertising the size of its Cold Drink cups on its menu rather than the amount of fluid a customer will receive when they purchase a Cold Drink”

Says it all to me. It’s universal. You receive “X” amount of fluid, whether it’s in liquid or solid state.

IMO, there’s no way she will prevail. I don’t see where the lawsuit has moved forward, and I don’t expect it will.
On the flip side, it’s probably cheaper than advertising for Starbucks, and the ridiculousness of the lawsuit is sure to make it a darling of the 24 hr. news cycle.

(10 years is a hell of a learning curve to admit to!)

First world problems and a dumb bitch without shit else to do. Why did she never just ASK for less ice? She’s standing right there and I know that big flappin’ yap of hers works.

It’s very silly.

I have cold-sensitive teeth, and have often asked for less ice. I’ve never been denied a full glass because of a reduced amount of ice.

I should sue Sonic.
I buy a 44 oz. drink there a couple times a week, and I regularly have to ask for extra ice. Considering that I often order soda water, making ice is likely more expensive than the water.

This:
The action recalls an infamous lawsuit filed by a McDonald’s (MCD) customer who was burned by hot coffee purchased at a drive thru in 1992. The suit, which was successful, argued the coffee was unreasonably hot.
however, just pisses me off.

There’s no correlation, IMO. If you actually go to the trouble of reading the McDonald’s “hot coffee suit”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald's_Restaurants
in which the woman offered to settle for $20,000 to cover medical expenses, including 8 days in the hospital and skin grafts.

Yeah, her coffee didn’t cause her to starve due to lack of calories (the only way I can conceive of too much ice causing someone physical harm).

The McDonalds “hot coffee incident” – once it was fully comprehended what had actually happened to that poor woman, and the way it happened – had been a completely legitimate negligence lawsuit just waiting to happen. The woman was badly burned by the combination of overly hot coffee (not just “hot coffee is hot”, but “hot coffee is nearly boiling”) served in an improperly sealed container. (I imagine that the woman’s own actions contributed to her injuries somewhat, or she might have been awarded more than she was.)

But this (I can’t get your link to open) sounds like “a complaint about an unsatisfactory beverage” taken to a hyperbolic extreme.

There was an interesting documentary about the woman who sued McDonalds. It was about how the suit was actually about tort reform, and how the goal was to get McD’s to lower the standing temperature of their coffee. The woman had major burns. They were successful and McD’s did lower the temp of their coffee.

http://www.hotcoffeethemovie.com/Default.asp

”...anything less than the best is a felony”
“Ice ice baby…word to your mother”

It sure sounds frivolous to me. However the article implies that the court accepted the suit. I suppose those millions of iced coffees could total a substantial fraud. Let’s watch to see if the suit is thrown out of court.

Recently, one of the NBC correspondents, Jeff Rossen, did a Starbucks segment where they ordered lattes from several different Starbucks, and then they took the drinks back to a lab and poured them into containers where they could measure. The amount of latte in each cup was less than the amount that was supposed to be in there. They contacted Starbucks for comment and Starbucks (corporate) said since the drink is hand made, it won’t be exact every time. The point of the segment was not that it wasn’t exact, but it was several ounces less than it was supposed to be, every time.

I hope she loses and has to fork up attorney fees and court costs. So damned stupid.

Are the cup sizes fraudulent, or is this people complaining because whipped cream takes up space?

@Seek: If I remember correctly, the drinks didn’t have whipped cream. The cup sizes were correct, but the amount of coffee in each cup was less than the stated amount.

I always took the beverage measurements as the measurement of the paper cup (in Starbucks and everywhere else.) I thought the paper cups came in fairly standard mass-produced sizes. I also assumed that “12 oz.” meant that you fill the cup to the brim, it’s 12 oz. But of course that’s a bad idea, because drinks slosh when they’re moved….

I guess that means I’m a “cup spills less” than “cup not full” kind of person.

Also I know the reporter was having some fun, but this ice thing is absurd, not “naïveté” that “is almost charming.” Starbucks is so famous for its customization of drinks that the lengthy drink name/instructions are regularly used for jokes.
Actual Orders
Purposefully long order that actually asks for ‘light ice’—and it just popped up on a random YouTube search… first thing I clicked. Ironically, though, maybe more ice would be better in this case, as a way to dilute it (it was just designed to be the longest order, not an appetizing order.)

Well, it worked.
We’re talking about it.
I have to believe that was most of the intent.

My personal coffee shop order is “medium nonfat one pump no whip white mocha with an extra shot”.

Though I might order a quad next time. Yum.

The only reason for this is that they put way too much chocolate and I want chocolate flavored coffee, not a coffee flavored milkshake.

I have a simple way to avoid Starbuck’s prices, lines and ice.

I avoid Starbucks.

Wawa has white chocolate lattes at half Starbucks’ prices, that don’t start with burnt coffee beans.

Here’s the “Latte at Starbucks” issue from Jeff Rossen, The Today Show:
http://www.today.com/money/starbucks-lattes-are-25-percent-underfilled-lawsuit-claims-t84031

“25% underfilled.” They measured using standard laboratory beakers, not going by the cup sizes.

” then measured them in laboratory-grade beakers after allowing the foam to settle. The results were revealing. ”

Yes, they were revealing that lattes have foamed milk in them. Which they’re supposed to.

If you let the foam settle, of course it’s going to have less volume.

When you watch the video, he explains better than the article. 16 oz drinks, some containing 12 oz of liquid. If they’re made to a certain standard, they’d all have the same amount no matter what store you buy them from.

If you shop at starbucks you deserve what you get, sad excuse for coffee, pretentious load of twaddle couched in millenian hype mocha-cappu-al-pacino. wtf?

@Guitarded—amen.

@Seek

You have Wawa in Fla ?

I thought they were a Penna. thing since they’re named for the town where corporate headquarters are located.

I really got to love Wawa when I lived in Philly. The coffee was great and the food was pretty decent for a convenience store. So much better than crappy 711, that’s for sure. And the people working there were a lot nicer also.

It’s one of the things I really miss here in MI.

They’ve sprung up in the last year and a half all over the place, and I friggin’ love them.

I know. Aren’t they great? Have you tried their Mac N Cheese yet? Reeeeaaaallly good!

I wish they’d expand out in this direction. The nearest I’ve ever seen any has been in Pittsburgh and that’s still a long long way from Detroit :(

Oh, I don’t know if they do it in the ones by you, but in Philly they woukd get fresh made donuts delivered every morning.

However, if they had any still left by late aft. or evening they’d sell them really cheap like 50 cents or $1.

If Starbucks is selling drinks by the oz then they have to sell the right ounces. If they are selling them by the fluid ounce or by the weight, that is two different things. Taking a drink to a lab and pouring it into a beaker measuring ‘fluid oz’ isn’t going to compare to the weight in ounces.

Normally, drinks are sold by the fluid ounce. And come on, people, we are arguing over hot water and ice cubes here, not fine wine or caviare. Talk about your insulting First World Problems. Shit.

They’re sold by volume at the time of service. The study measured the drinks after they had settled, not at the time of service.

For espresso drinks (and this is not just Starbuck’s, it’s just how it’s done) milk is heated by pumping hot steam through it. Then the milk is removed almost all the way from the steamer to create a layer of foam.

Steam=gas=bubbles=increased volume in the milk.

This is mixed with the espresso and whatever flavors, and topped with a small layer of foamed milk (greater volume increase because more bubbles and bigger ones) for a latte or a thick layer of foamed milk for a Cappuccino.

Now, you get the drink right away, and the cup is full, because that milk is full of all the vapor bubbles.

If you let the drink sit on a counter for two hours, those bubbles will rise to the surface, pop, and then the drink will settle, reducing the volume of the beverage.

Yes, this will vary based on how the drink is made, because there are a lot of factors involved: How cold was the milk when steaming started? the standard is to bring it up to a certain temperature, so the colder the milk, the more steam needed to warm it, the more volume will be lost upon settling. Was the Barista new and wasn’t totally certain the right amount of foamed milk vs. steamed milk for a latte vs. a cappuccino? that could account for some drink space. Did the person ask (or the Barista assume based on experience) that they needed room to add sugar and stir without spilling?

Don’t get me started on coffee. This is serious business. haha

Ah, so not just arguing about hot water and ice cubes, bit hot air as well. I rest my case.

There’s a metaphor about politics hiding in here somewhere, but I’ll be damned if I can figure it out… or I literally would be damned if I figured it out and wrote it out loud. So I’m just going to have an iced tea and get back to YouTube.