Earlier this year, a Texas consumer went to a local Cinemark theater and bought both a 20-ounce beverage and a 24-ounce draft beer. Somehow he suspected that the 24-ounce clear plastic cup didn’t look like it held four more ounces compared to 20-ounce one.
He took the cups home and measured how much liquid the larger one actually held. To his surprise, it only held 22 ounces despite being sold as the 24-ounce size and actually being marked as such on the bottom.
*MOUSE PRINT:
After hearing about the issue, this TV reporter tested one of the 24-ounce cups herself to see if what the consumer claimed was true.
Sure enough, the consumer was right. And as any aggrieved customer would do, he hired a lawyer and sued the movie chain for misrepresentation.
One has to wonder how many consumers across Cinemark’s over 300 theaters have been shortchanged, and for how long (if these cups were used chainwide)? Does this now mean that in addition to sneaking in snacks to the movie theater, we also have to bring a measuring cup?
Those 2 ounces matter and matter a ton.
Maybe the movie chain got scammed by the cup company. Advertising 24 oz when they were downsized…
Could well be.
That would be their problem, not the end consumer’s.
I’m not going to rush to defend Cinemark here, but given the cups were still marked as 24oz, I wonder if they changed supplier or their supplier changed the manufacturing process without Cinemark knowing. Ultimately, that would still be Cinemark’s fault, but Cinemark could potentially go after the manufacturer later for what they’ll lose in court.
This is a pretty serious omission ~8% less beer in every cup means Cinemark is netting a cup’s worth of profit every 12.5 cups sold.
If the manufacture or even the supplier of the cups did not notify Cinemark of the size change we have a mega problem here.
A few bucks profit every roughly 13 cups is good profit…
I haven’t bought beer at a movie theater, but do they sell it as 24oz, or do they sell it as small/medium/large like soft drinks?
If they don’t sell it as 24oz, the number on the bottom of the cup doesn’t matter…. kinda like women’s clothes sizes 🙂
In the lawsuit, the photo of the price board states that you can upsize to a 24oz beer. But surprisingly there is no indication that the other volume is 22oz. Weights and measures laws on the sale of alcohol by volume and the containers used may not allow sale in terms of small/medium/large.
This is just as egregious as Walmart’s charging full price on discounted bagged items. Thank you for keeping the Consumers informed, Mr. Consumer!
This reminds me of Seattle’s Qwest Field, way back in 2011. The “large” beer that cost $8.50 holds the exact same amount as the small draught beer that cost $7.25.
So, at the Mariners game I would get the 16oz and hubby got the 20oz. When this story broke, I thought wow! I got a steal of a deal.
Well, except for I actually paid $7.25 for a beer.
Well, fastfood places have benn doinf something sinilar for years, Yes the cup holds 32 oz, but it is not 32 oz of soda, after they fill it with ice. I have noticed that a lot of them has now changed how much ice they put in the cups, so its closer to 32 oz of drink. I wonder if they got sued
It is Cinemark’s responsibility to routinely check their products given to their customers because if not, it gives them bad press and customers lose trust in them.