Theme parks are a place for joy and fun, for the most part. That's why they were built, after all. Think of places like Disneyland or Universal Studios. Every inch of those places are built to maximize fun and transport its visitors to a whole new world of magic and entertainment.
Fun isn't always the end result though. We have all been to a theme park and seen a stressed out family with a couple of toddlers having a crying fit for one reason or another. It can turn the magical day into a total disaster. It makes you wonder why these people even try to go to the park in the first place.
There are other times when a trip to the amusement park can turn into a total nightmare as well. For example, in the past there have been instances where a ride shuts down in the middle of a loop, or someone gets injured. This story is much more benign. A man got upset because his soda wasn't limitless.
We have all heard of unlimited refills at a restaurant. Movie theaters have adopted these as of late as a way to make people feel less bad about spending seven dollars for a soda. Most people won't even come close to finishing their first soda let alone drinking a second or third helping of the beverage. It can be a great selling point for many restaurants, but one man did not get what he was promised, so now he is fighting back.
NBC Universal owns the Universal Studios theme parks where they offer unlimited refills for their soda machines. A man from the Bronx in New York tried to use the machine but was surprised when he found out that it wasn't exactly as promised. The machine would make the user wait ten minutes between pours, prompting him to sue the company.
The man from the Bronx is Luis Arnaud. He's furious over the false advertising, which may be an overreaction, but he must really love soda. He is upset that instead of being unlimited, the soda is limited to six per hour. It is a class-action lawsuit that he's partaking in. Arnaud had gone to the Island of Adventure theme park in Orlando Florida on July 30th. It was there that he bought a 16 ounce Coca Cola Freestyle cup. It was sold as having unlimited refills at the cost of $16.99. The next day he came back to the park and spent $8.99 to reactivate the cup.
Customers reactivate the cup with a computer chip that shows they've paid for the specific bottomless deal. It was then that he learned the computer chip would prevent him from getting a soda unless he waited ten minutes.
When Arnaud tried to refill within ten minutes of a previous fill, the screen told him he had to wait. Arnaud's lawsuit is based on the fact that the literature for the deal doesn't mention the limits. His lawyers are going with the story that the deal is "deceptive" and a "unconscionable trade and business practice." According to his lawyers, Arnaud would not have wanted to pay for the original product had he knows that it was actually limited. They have yet to explain just how Arnaud was drinking a full soda within ten minutes.
NBC Universal hasn't responded yet, but it is safe to say they will crush him with their lawyers. While the ad should mention the limitation, common societal norms would assume that a person shouldn't be drinking a soda every ten minutes.
