Customers Sue McDonald’s for $5M Over Quarter Pounder Cheese

McDonald’s is under fire for serving customers cheese on their Quarter Pounder sandwiches. You heard that right. Earlier this month, two McDonald’s customers, Cynthia Kissner and Leonard Werner, filed a lawsuit in Fort Lauderdale for “$5 million because they say they’re being unfairly charged for cheese they don’t want on their burgers.”

McDonald’s is under fire for serving customers cheese on their Quarter Pounder sandwiches. You heard that right. Earlier this month, two McDonald’s customers, Cynthia Kissner and Leonard Werner, filed a lawsuit in Fort Lauderdale for “$5 million because they say they’re being unfairly charged for cheese they don’t want on their burgers.”

According to the complaint, while hamburgers and cheeseburgers are priced differently at the fast food restaurant when Quarter Pounders are ordered without cheese, customers are “still forced to pay the same amount.” The lawsuit goes on to argue that “McDonald’s used to sell four different Quarter Pounder options, two of which came without cheese and cost between 30 to 90 cents less.” Nowadays if you look at a McDonald’s menu, you’ll see a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese listed, but no cheaper option to order the sandwich without cheese.

As a result, “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,” according to the lawsuit. It added, “McDonald’s is being unjustly enriched by these practices because it receives payment for cheese it does not deliver to its customers.”

Additionally, both Kissner and Werner claim they “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,” according to the suit.

The two plaintiffs also noted that the McDonald’s website lists a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a Quarter Pounder without cheese as options, along with the nutritional information for both, yet the sandwich without cheese isn’t offered on the menu in McDonald’s restaurants.

When commenting on the case and whether the restaurant chain believes the plaintiffs have a case, a McDonald’s spokesperson issued the following statement:

“McDonald’s does not believe the claims in this lawsuit have legal merit. The advertised Quarter Pounder burger comes with cheese. We try to accommodate our customers’ requests by allowing them to customize their orders, such as a Quarter Pounder with no cheese.”

In addition, the same spokesperson noted that menu prices are set by individual franchisees and are “based on their respective markets.”

If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how this case plays out, and what kind of effect, if any, it will have on McDonald’s menus and pricing across the country.

Sources:

McDonald’s customers suing for $5M over unwanted Quarter Pounder cheese

McDonald’s Customers Sue Over Being Forced to Pay For Cheese on Quarter Pounder