A North Texas man has filed a class action lawsuit against Cinemark, claiming the movie theater chain is lying to customers about the size of its drinks.

Shane Waldrop claims that Cinemark’s 24 ounce cups can only hold 22 ounces of liquid, according to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

On Feb. 14, Waldrop went to the Cinemark in Grapevine and purchased the 20 ounce and 24 ounce draft beer.

He noticed the 24 ounce cup did not appear to be big enough to hold 4 more ounces of liquid.

Waldrop took the empty container home and measured how much it could hold, discovering it only held 22 ounces.

Waldrop and his legal team says the movie theater chain is taking part in “deceptive” and “otherwise improper” business practices that violate state and federal laws about misbranding.

“This is especially misleading because the 24 oz drink should provide a deal for consumers over the 20 oz drink’s price: $0.37 per ounce vs. $0.39 per ounce. But due to the actual volume of 22 oz available in the ‘24 oz’ drink, the price is $0.40 per ounce making the larger drink more expensive per ounce, which is not a deal at all,” reads the lawsuit.

    • trolololol@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I do too, but I wonder what kind of mental problem that guy has to invest money in lawyer and court fees, plus tons of personal time, to get this going.

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        The mental illness known as “tired of everyone getting fucked with no recourse”

      • yeather@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        None, these types of cases barely ever go to trial, they will end with a settlement of which the lawyers will take a portion as compensation.

        • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de
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          7 months ago

          Yup lawyers who take these kinds of cases that are easy wins, do it on contingency. If they don’t think you have a good case they tell you, and then charge you hourly.

          • trolololol@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            I’m missing understanding some things here, but how much is the case about to handout in money? And shouldn’t the guy here split it between himself and lawyers?

            • yeather@lemmy.ca
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              7 months ago

              Depends on what the guy and the cinema agree upon to make this go away. Usually the lawyers will take 30-40% of a settlement.

                • yeather@lemmy.ca
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                  7 months ago

                  Everything the cinema did can be considered fraud and false advertising. Potentially millions if they play it right.

                  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                    7 months ago

                    Or it might come down to that one particular theater was using different cups that one day because they were out of the regular cups

        • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Judges decide the law, juries decide the facts. Juries are only needed if there is a material dispute of the facts. I doubt this case would have a jury even if it didn’t end in a settlement.

        • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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          7 months ago

          And by “a portion”, they mean “the entire thing”: the average member of the class will be lucky to get a check worth the time it takes to deposit it.

          • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            I was a member of a class action suit once.

            I think I got about 50 dollars over the course of two payouts. Which was significantly more than my “damages”, so I was happy.

            What made me less happy was they printed the checks on these non-standard size or material cards, so my bankat the time gave me a hell of a time trying to deposit the 100% non-standard sized or material check.

          • bjorney@lemmy.ca
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            7 months ago

            The plaintiff(s) in a class action usually gets a pretty decent chunk - substantially more than the class members because they are the one’s doing all the work on the class’s behalf

            The payout for class members depends on the number of people who sign up, which generally depends on the burden of proof. If you need to provide a receipt the payout is generally much higher because it gets split up fewer ways. I’ve gotten class action payouts as high as $300 when all I had to do was dig up through my bank records to find out the date of a transaction, and as low as $2, when all I had to do was click a link and enter my email address

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        The lawyer probably took the case on a contingent basis (doesn’t get paid unless he wins), and the dude will probably get a fat check. That’s not a mental problem, that’s cashing in big on a corporate lie he discovered.

            • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Pretty lucrative for the lawyers. Each person who has ordered a beer in the past few years will get a check in the mail for 3¢, and a coupon for a free beer next time they go.

            • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              each member of the class is gonna get the cash value of 2 oz beer * number of short beers they bought * .6 (assuming 40% attorneys fees). Nobody’s retiring off this money.

        • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          Yeah but everyone knows being anything other than a conniving mole is a sign “mental illness”. The only legitimate way to live is like a scurrying beetle, telling whatever lies one can to gain favor with the elite.

          • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            We’ve gotten so used to oligarchy that we don’t even see it when it has infected us. That’s scary and sad at the same time.

      • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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        7 months ago

        i wonder what kind of mental illness some already rich bigwig has to have to defraud even our fucking soda

      • FiskFisk33@startrek.website
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        7 months ago

        i guess a dash of autism.

        If anything this is a good example of how society would be worse off if everyone were neurotypical

        that or our hero is just bored and petty as fuck!

      • originalfrozenbanana@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        The mental problem of wanting to earn a lot of money in a lawsuit. Mans gonna get three, maybe even four bucks outta this

            • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              Hopefully it’s about sending a message that casually dropping 10% of delivered goods as a matter of policy isn’t going to fly.

              I hope the judge makes it hurt for Cinemark, assuming this was actual policy and not just a case of them using different cups that day from being out of the normal ones.