Movie-theater snacks are just too pricey for one Michigan man, who is filing a class action against his local AMC for overcharging for snacks and soda.
Justin Thompson, a film fan from Livonia, Mich., decided he was fed up after his local box office posted a sign noting that outside food and beverages are prohibited, the Detroit Free Press reports. Like many others, the young security technician used to escape the steep prices by bringing his own treats, but the new rule left Thompson incensed.
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“He got tired of being taken advantage of,” Kerry Morgan, Thompson’s lawyer, told the newspaper. “It’s hard to justify prices that are three and four times higher than anywhere else.”
Though Morgan first chalked up the price hike to rights of private proprietors, he soon discovered that it may be in violation of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, according to the Los Angeles Times. The suit, filed last week, could incite other moviegoers who fall victim to overpriced snacks and could lead to possible copycat cases.
But local legal experts are already dismissing the prospect of a favorable outcome. “It’s a loser,” business-law professor Gary Victor told the Free Press. Supreme Court decisions in 1999 and 2007 exempt most businesses from the protection act, he said.
As for the theater, an AMC spokesperson told the Times the company could not comment on pending litigation.