Starbucks Hit With Lawsuit After Pulling Free Drink Offer
Posted on: Friday, 15 September 2006, 12:00 CDT
International coffee giant Starbucks Corporation is facing a $114 million lawsuit from a disgruntled customer after she was told her free drinks voucher was useless.
According to the unnamed woman's legal advisor, the $114 million claim equates to the cost of the drinks for each individual who was told their coupon was worthless. The group is being sued in New York on the grounds of alleged betrayal and fraud.
Starbucks called a halt to what began as an internal promotion offering free iced coffee to staff after the campaign spread to over one million Americans.
The 12,000-strong coffee chain had emailed employees in the southeastern US a voucher for a free iced coffee, with instructions to pass it on to friends and family.
However, the coupon - which stated: "Stop by your neighborhood Starbucks Coffee between noon and 9pm for a complimentary iced grande beverage" - soon got out of hand and began appearing on internet chat rooms.
Realizing the scale of the unintentional offer, Starbucks moved quickly to issue a statement explaining that the offer was "redistributed beyond the original intent and modified beyond Starbucks' control."
Legal experts, however, do not think the case has much chance of winning.
Source: Datamonitor
Related Articles
- Velvet Ice Cream's Ye Olde Mill Restaurant Launches 40th Year with May 1 Opening
- Cellfire Partners With McDonald's to Offer Instant Savings
- Freebie Gets Out of Hand for Starbucks
- Starbucks stops free iced coffee in Southeast
- Mall Marketing Team Enlists Models
- Kids' Chess Contest 'Stimulates Their Brain'
- Ice Cream Company to Give Parties This Summer
- Class of '09 Starts at UNM; More Than 1,000 Freshmen Enroll in Classes Tailored for Beginning Students
- Starbucks to give away free ice cream on Wednesday
- Mo. Motorists 'Rewarded' for Driving Well
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds