McDonald's sued for $5 million over the cheese on a Quarter Pounder

madoka

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2004
4,344
712
121
This paves the way for my $10 million lawsuit for making me pay for pickles I don't want on my Big Mac.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article211655344.html

Two South Florida McDonald's customers think the fast-food giant is being awfully cheesy with how it charges customers for a signature item that has been on its menu since 1975.

According to a class-action lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale federal court on May 8, Cynthia Kissner, of Broward County, and Leonard Werner, of Miami-Dade, say they have had to pay for cheese they don't want on their Quarter Pounder sandwiches.

The suit asks for at least $5 million.

It comes down to this: On the menu, a hamburger at Micky D's is cheaper than a cheeseburger.

According to the lawsuit, filed by Andrew Lavin of the Miami-based Lavin Law Group, McDonald's used to sell four items in the Quarter Pounder family, with and without cheese, with prices adjusted accordingly — about .30 to .90 cents more for cheese than without.

This practice continued for years, the suit says, but now McDonald's, "at some point," ceased "separately displaying these products for purchase on menus, and currently lists the availability of Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese."

As a result, the suit claims, "customers have been forced, and continue to be overcharged for these products, by being forced to pay for two slices of cheese, which they do not want, order, or receive, to be able to purchase their desired product."

Having to pay for cheese they do not receive because they asked that it be held off of the burgers, well, they are not "lovin' it," to borrow from McDonald's current slogan.

Lavin told the Miami Herald that customers who use McDonald's mobile app to order, and those like Kissner and Werner who opt to place their orders at the restaurant, face two different scenarios.

"First of all, within the past couple months McDonald's has updated its mobile app and if you want you can, in fact, purchase a Quarter Pounder using the mobile app," Lavin said. "So McDonald's is offering two specific products: one is a Quarter Pounder and one is a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. But if you go into the restaurant that option is not available to you."

According to Lavin's suit, Kissner and Werner "have suffered injury as a result of their purchases because they were overcharged, and were required to pay for cheese, which is not a component of either a Quarter Pounder or a Double Quarter Pounder, that they did not want and did not receive."
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
35,160
2,313
126
When I worked at McDonald's we had senior coffee for $0.25. They raised it to $0.40 and several people threatened to sue over age discrimination. Management got rid of the senior discount and it shot up to the normal $1.19 or whatever. Once the customers backed down it went back to $0.40.

People are idiots.
 

madoka

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2004
4,344
712
121
We already had that when Ernie Chambers sued god for terroristic threats.

I remember in law school reading a case where a NJ man sued the devil for causing problems in his life.

The judge went into a lengthy discussion as to whether the devil had a domicile in NJ to decide whether the court had any jurisdiction. :p
 

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
It does get silly sometimes, but at least we have a proper channel for redress of grievances.
Not in some back alley with pipes and chains and swinging hands.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,947
31,483
146
While this sounds silly, it does sound like a legit consumer complaint. And honestly, the only way to stop exploitative corporate behavior is with lawsuits like this.
 

madoka

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2004
4,344
712
121
It does get silly sometimes, but at least we have a proper channel for redress of grievances.
Not in some back alley with pipes and chains and swinging hands.

maxresdefault.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: highland145

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,613
11,256
136
I've ordered things plain my whole life, no one ever gives a discount. If the place then charges for BBQ sauce, though, I will never go back. "Sub all toppings for BBQ sauce" "Sure that'll be 50 cents"
 

paperfist

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2000
6,539
287
126
www.the-teh.com
They already said no mater how you customize it it's still the same price and as advertised it comes with pickles and cheese.

I guess I can't get pissed off anymore when I don't get napkins, straw or ketchup since it's not advertised as part of the meal.
 

Crotulus

Senior member
Sep 2, 2008
240
230
116
A buddy of mine once asked to add cheese to his Whopper at Burger King with cheese from a Whopper Jr because it was 15 cents less than the cheese for a Whopper. Cashier let him know that it was the same slice of cheese but they could not do it. How can you charge different prices for the same slice of cheese? No one could give him an answer. He thought about taking it to corporate but never did.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,013
13,958
126
www.anyf.ca
The lawsuit system is one of the most retarded legal systems. There should be some kind of filter to not allow these type of retarded lawsuits. You literally l can sue anyone for anything, and it should not be that way. Now it's nothing for a megacorp like mcdonald's to fight something like this, but at the end of the day, it's consumers that pay because companies need to factor this in their cost structure and price their product accordingly. A small business would also be driven to bankruptcy by the same lawsuit whether or not they win because of legal fees and lost time. Liability/litigation and all that BS is why we can't have nice things.
 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,986
3,321
126
A buddy of mine once asked to add cheese to his Whopper at Burger King with cheese from a Whopper Jr because it was 15 cents less than the cheese for a Whopper. Cashier let him know that it was the same slice of cheese but they could not do it. How can you charge different prices for the same slice of cheese? No one could give him an answer. He thought about taking it to corporate but never did.

BS to that ,,,,
 

Skyclad1uhm1

Lifer
Aug 10, 2001
11,383
87
91
Anyone poisoning anything edible by putting on cheese should be sued! :p

(Edit: Though most of the stuff at McDonalds hardly qualifies as edible to begin with)