What’s a product release these days without a healthy dose of class action lawsuits to go along with it? True to form, the iPhone has attracted more than its fair share of negative legal attention. In the interest of fully informing you, our faithful readers, we’ve decided to do a little mini-roundup of the most significant iPhone-related class action lawsuits and formal complaints to date. Buckle up, folks.
Illinois: Jose Trujillo, a resident of Cook County, IL has brought suit against both Apple and AT&T, alleging that the two companies mislead its customers in regards to the iPhone’s battery. Trujillo seems to think that both Apple and AT&T were engaged in a concerted conspiracy to trick buyers into thinking that the iPhone’s battery was user replaceable. We’ll be the first to admit that the iPhone’s battery design is a pain in the badonkadonk, but did the two companies actively try to defraud the public? Trujillo and everyone that signs on to the lawsuit most likely knew full well what type of battery situation they were buying into when they scooped up the phone. If not immediately clear, the situation is undeniable when the phone is removed from the packaging. Anyone that was unhappy with a non-user replaceable battery had at least 14 days to return the thing. Sorry, Trujillo and Co. This one sounds like it might be DOA.
New York: While this one hasn’t formerly evolved into a class action suit, it certainly seems to be headed in that direction. The New York Consumer Protection Board, a state-run consumer advocacy group, has formally expressed their concerns about the iPhone battery, as well as Apple’s warranty replacement program. In an open letter to Apple, the CPB denounced the iPhone’s non-user replaceable battery and chided Apple for providing sub-par customer service (just imagine what would have happened if this had been the Dell Phone). The board actually wants Apple to “redesign the iPhone to provide for a replaceable battery.” Whoa. They also want Apple to extend their return policy from 14 to 30 days and remove the 10% restocking fee they currently assess. Again, decent sentiment, but you buy an iPhone, you know what you’re getting. If you don’t like the design, don’t buy the product. It’s pretty simple. Is anyone really that upset that they can’t replace the iPhone battery?
