Lawsuit claims Starbucks purposely overfills its cold beverage cups with ice

Iced Starbucks beverages.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

An Illinois woman is suing Starbucks on behalf of all customers whose cups runneth over with ice.

Stacy Pincus filed a class action lawsuit last week in Northern Illinois Federal Court, court documents say, claiming that so much ice is put into cold drinks that Starbucks customers are cheated out of liquid and paying for more product than what they actually receive. "The word 'beverage' is defined as a 'drinkable liquid,'" the suit says. "Ice is not a 'beverage' by definition. Accordingly, Starbucks actually gives the customer much less beverage in the cold drinks they order and pay for."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.