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Movie Theater Drinks Not 24-oz. As Promised

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:

Cinemark 24 oz cup

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?

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Home Depot Sued Over Fake Regular Prices

In the past, we have talked about class action lawsuits where it is alleged that a clothing retailer used inflated regular prices to give customers the impression that their products were currently being offered at a great, low sale price. Now come two straight-shooting Texas consumers claiming that The Home Depot has been making exaggerated savings claims too by jacking up the so-called “regular” price of major appliances to levels at which they never or rarely ever sold. (See lawsuit.)

One of the consumers bought a Samsung gas dryer for $798 — that he thought was at a 33-percent discount from the $1199 “strikethrough” price. The other consumer bought a top loading Samsung washer for $578 that he was led to believe was usually $899. In the seven months since he purchased the washer, for example, his lawyers say it never sold for the $899 “regular” price.

In fact, they checked a variety of major appliances at Home Depot tracking their prices for months.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Washer sale price history

In this example, they tracked a washer like this one for four months. At no time in their checks was it ever off-sale or close to the $999 so-called regular price shown.

The lawyers say that The Home Depot engaged in unfair business practices, misrepresentations, and broke a specific regulation that specifically prohibits sellers from “making false or misleading statements concerning the reasons for, existence of, [and] amounts of price reductions.”

Time will tell if this case has legs, although MrConsumer has little doubt that the company uses strikethrough higher prices to make shoppers think they are getting a bargain.

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Thanks for Nothing – Spring 2024

A few times a year we spotlight offers from companies that are real head-scratchers, are actually less generous than they appear, are just plain outrageous, or may simply elicit a chuckle. Here’s the new crop.

JetBlue Adopts Surge Pricing for Baggage

Jumping on the surge pricing bandwagon, JetBlue just began charging more for checked baggage during peak travel times. This is on top of a higher price for checked bags paid for within 24 hours of your flight. And it is also just after the airline implemented another baggage fee increase only a couple of months ago.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Jet Blue luggage fees

Thanks for nothing, JetBlue.

Rakuten’s 15% Cash Back Offer

On April first, Rakuten sent an email promising 15-percent cash back seemingly at a whole bunch of stores.

Rakuten 15% cash back

But, when visiting the website, the offer all of a sudden changed to only 12-percent back.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Rakuten 12% back at stores

Only about half a dozen stores were offering 15-percent back among the dozens offering 12-percent cash back.

Thanks for nothing, Rakuten, except that this week (May 6 – 13) Rakuten is offering a real 15% back at about 500 stores, and on May 6th only, 20% back at several dozen stores. New members get an extra 10% back for purchases the first week. [Consumer World may earn a commission on certain purchases from this link.]

Russell Stover Valentine’s Heart

Last year before Valentine’s Day, we featured two heart-shaped boxes of candy from Russell Stover and Whitman’s that were about 10-inches high by 9-inches wide, but they only contained between nine and eleven pieces of chocolate inside. This year, we found what looked like the same size box, but for this variety of chocolate, it only had five pieces of candy inside.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Russell Stover heart

Talk about over-packaging to make you think there is more candy inside than there really is. Thanks for nothing, Russell Stover.

90% Off Everything at Temu?

Temu.com has captured bargain hunters’ attention with its incredible low prices. And when they recently sent an email promising that everything was 90-percent off shoppers couldn’t wait to clickthrough. Of course, the old adage, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” applies here.

*MOUSE PRINT:

temu up to 90% off

“Up to 90% off” is far different, so thanks for nothing, Temu.

Malk – $7.99 a Quart?

Grocery prices have just gotten out of hand. For example, a quart of Malk brand almond milk is $7.99.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Malk - 32 oz.

Eight bucks for a quart of fake milk? MrConsumer paid it but only because he was going to get a full price rebate. What excuse does everyone else have for paying such an outrageous price?

Thanks for nothing, Malk Organics.

Pizza Hut – Any Pizza $12?

Pizza Hut says the word “any” a lot in this emailed advertisement for $12 pizzas. ANY pizza… ANY toppings… ANY recipe.

Pizza Hut $12

But Greg L. complained about the smaller print which excluded extra cheese and also their stuffed crust pizza variety. We guess “any” really doesn’t mean “every” in Pizza Hut-lingo.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Pizza Hut exclusions

If you find an advertisement appropriate for this section, please pass it along to Edgar(at)ConsumerWorld.org .

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