Hey, Man, This Beer Is Too Small!

BOISE, Idaho (CN) - Owners of an Idaho sports arena defraud customers by using different-size cups to hide that its $7 "large" beer contains the same amount of brew as the smaller $4 cup, angry hockey fans claim in court.

Brady Peck, Michele Bonds, and William and Brittany Graham say they have attended hockey games at CenturyLink Arena in downtown Boise for years.

The multipurpose facility is home to the Idaho Steelheads, a member of the East Coast Hockey League and one of Boise's main sports attractions.

The plaintiffs claim the owners of the arena have been scamming beer drinkers for at least 5 years by using different-size and -shaped cups that hold the same amount of beer, but charging $3 more for what a "large."

Peck, who says he has been attending events at the arena for 3 years, finally had enough at a March 5 hockey game, where he says he was once again duped into paying more for the same amount of beer.

Bonds and the Grahams, who say they have been attending sporting events at the arena for about 5 years, say they too were perplexed that the cups seemed to hold the same amount.

They sued CenturyLink Arena owner Block 22 LLC in Ada County Court, claiming the company defrauded beer drinkers by presenting its large in a tall, narrow cup and its small in a shorter, wider cup.

"Defendants knowingly sold two sizes of beer (large and small) and sold the large beer for substantially more money," the complaint states. "The large beer was sold in a differently shaped cup that appeared larger, but in fact contained substantially the same amount of liquid as the small beer."

The outraged fans add: "Defendants knew that the manner in which the beer was marketed and sold was deceptive and misleading."

Boise resident Gwen Gibbs recently posted a video on YouTube demonstrating the difference between the two cups.

CenturyLink Arena responded to "inquiries" about the story, issuing a statement Monday that promised fans to fix the problem.

"It was recently brought to our attention that the amount of beer that fits in our large (20-oz) cups also fits in our regular (16-oz) cups," CenturyLink President Eric Trapp said in the statement. "The differentiation in the size of the two cups is too small. To correct that problem, we're purchasing new cups for the large beers that will hold 24 ounces, instead of 20, for the remainder of this season to provide better value to our fans. As we do every offseason, we'll evaluate our entire concessions menu for next season over the summer."

The plaintiffs seek special and general damages of more than $10,000.

They are represented by Thomas Angstman and Wyatt Johnson of Angstman Johnson, in Boise; and Kenneth Pedersen, Jarom Whitehead and Brian Hilverda of Pedersen Whitehead, in Twin Falls.

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