3G iPhone Lawsuit Faults Apple's Aggressive Marketing Campaign

Amid growing criticism from 3G iPhone customers, a class action complaint was filed against Apple Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alabama.

The lawsuit alleges that despite aggressive marketing that the 3G iPhone is "twice as fast for half the price," the much-hyped smartphone is actually much slower than advertised and prone to dropping calls.

"Apple sold these devices on the promise that they were twice as fast as the pre-existing phones and that they would function suitably, or properly, on the 3G network. But, thus far, Apple and the phone have failed to deliver on this promise," Jonathan Kudulis, an attorney with Birmingham, Ala.-based Trimmier Law Firm, told ABCNEWS.com. Trimmier is the firm representing the Ala.-based plaintiff, Jessica Alena Smith.

But Kudulis says, because the complaint was only filed yesterday, Apple has not yet been officially served with the lawsuit.

Read the full story here.

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Related: Rumor: Apple To Offer Unlimited iTunes Subscription For $130

Comments

[KarateKid]

My only complaint with the iPhone is the App making the phone crash, or when only the proprietary apps work and the 3rd party ones all don't. It's a bug in 2.02 that they need to fix. Otherwise, there are a few other problems like the backups not being very reliable, but overall, the iPhone is a wonderful improvement over the Blackberry I used to own that made my almost blind from the teeny screen and almost arthritic from the teeny keyboard where my fingers could not hit the proper key, and I've got small hands.

I don't even use my high end HP iPaq anymore, which cost twice as much as the 16GB iPhone. Anyone want to buy it?

[the964kid]

At $200 this is the best cell phone on the market hands down. I've owned high end PDAs for years, and this has more power and features then any of them. The 3G network is definitely NOT twice as fast, it's only slightly faster then the old version Iphone. I've been a long time fan of Apple Computers, but their advertising on this phone was a bit much. I mean, the tv ad makes their 3G network look like it's faster then my cable modem at home, which is a joke. That all being said, its still a great device, and worth every penny (although I think AT&T definitely sucks). Guess I can't have it all.

[DannyEastVillage]

I'm delighted with the suit and any and all publicity it can get. Expose AT&T. They're shi****** anyway--not that Verizon isn't, of course. Which company do you think will sell your privacy out faster to Bush/Cheney's "Intelligence" apparatus? THE ONE THAT CAN GET THE FIRST PLACE IN LINE, THAT'S WHICH ONE. And Middle America is watching AMERICAN IDOL while Bush's Boys Burn Your Bill of Rights.

CONGRATS.

[DannyEastVillage]

I'm definitely an Apple Devotee. I'd never own a PC, knowing what I know now.

BUT--I'll say the same thing about the iPhone: if, the day I bought the iPhone, I knew what I know now, I'd never never never have bought the iPhone. The service SUCKS. And I LIVE IN MANHATTAN. HOW CAN AT&T SERVICE SUCK IN MANHATTAN?? DUNNO--BUT IT DOES.

[MyGuyO]

~Love~ my new Iphone although I, too, am having big problems also.
Am not connecting to the fast speed (3G) but to the EDGE. Have found out from AT@T where we live is in a pocket area. Isn't that precious. Lots of disconnects where the Iphone completely blacks out.

[DannyEastVillage]

yah? well let me tell you something: I live in Manhattan. My office is in the financial district--you know--the Wall Street/World Trade Center area--and IPHONE SUCKS THERE TOO. Just like it does in the part of Manhattan where I live--the village--and another part of Manhattan where I do a lot of work--the Upper West Side. Could it be that ALL OF MANHATTAN IS A "POCKET AREA"? Can't get EDGE to function in ANY of those areas, and when it does, it's so ridiculously slow as to be useless.

Do I sound mad? you bet I do.

[truth101]

IT LOOKS LIKE THE IPHONE SUCKS PHENOMENON IS
MERGING INTO THE IMAC KEYBOARD SUCKS PHENOMENON
AND ......
..............THAT.....
..................................APPLE SHOULD REFUND IMAC KEYBOARD OWNERS
AS A CORPORATE STATEMENT OF BEING AWARE OF SHODDY
ENGINEERING AND SHODDY RUSHING TO MARKET PRIOR TO
TESTING PRODUCTS.... RIGHT now they seem unaware of the overwhelming
contempt and disgust people feel for them, their nauseating ARROGANCE
AND FAILURE TO OFFER IMAC KEYBOARD OWNERS A REFUND
WHICH INCLUDES INTEREST AND EVEN A SMALL TOKEN PENALTY
OF SAY A HUNDRED DOLLARS....FOR THE TROUBLE BUYERS WERE
PUT TO OF
BEING
UNPAID......APPLE......TEST DUMMIES....JUST LIKE THE FIRST PASSENGERS ON
THE TITANTIC..........WHO NEEDS LIFEBOATS WHEN THE SHIP IS UNSINKABLE..?
WHO NEEDS AN ACTIVE RESPONSE TO PRODUCT FAILURE WHEN THE FOOLS
KEEP BUYING THIS JUNK.......SHOULD APPLE JUST CALL THEMSELVES
THE COMPANY THAT TREATS CUSTOMERS
LIKE
PUPPETS...............PULLING THE STRNGS OF TEST DUMMIES IS WHAT
THEY ARE ALL ABOUT........apple sucks

[DannyEastVillage]

well, reality, there's so much to make one seethe--and it seeps into every part of our national life... Bush&Co have f***** up so many things, whaddaya expect?

[RichardNYC]

I love my 3G iPhone - it's about the coolest phone out there. I switched from Verizon to have it. However, compared to Verizone service, AT&T service is lousy, I've never had so many dropped calls in my life, and my very first call was dropped. So, it's a win-lose trade-off I'm not happy about. I hope AT&T get to work on their service because that really defines a company - dependable service.

[DannyEastVillage]

BINGO!

[tmo7734]

To the folks who believe that Steve Jobs walks on water, I say "grow up." Sure, Apple designs beautiful products with clever features. I have several iPods and love them. However, Apple products NEVER live up to the hype. It's a fact. If you're bent out of shape with the iPhone 3G's problems, get prepared for Apple's stone silence when it comes to addressing them. It's par for the course...

[NTO08]

As someone who is proud of never owning an Apple product, it is very clear how overrated all Apple's items are...I mean, come ON, an MP3 without a radio...what is up with that?

AT&T also takes the blame for this...any company who is more than willing to give up its customers' rights to appease Bush's spying program is suspect from the get-go...they treat their customers like garbage...why are people so masochistic as to buy into their and Apple's torturing of the customer?

Recent story in NYC of how Apple has driven people crazy in the neighborhood it has its main shop in with noise and disruptive behavior of waiting customers.

[stimpy]

Have you spent more than a minute with an Apple products? You seem to wear it like a badge of honor that you don't own any. Your lack of experience coupled with your desire to be contrarian makes your opinions on this subject of dubious value. Go by a Zune if you want a tuner. Apple obviously understands that if you are carrying an iPod, you want a richer multimedia experience in your pocket, otherwise you would just carry radio. Buy an iPod Touch, and stream every station in the world to it if you must. It's a whole new paradigm in media you don't seem to be groking.

In other words, don't subject it to your own limited paradigm, then universally declare it stupid!

Overrated? 96% of the products I've bought from Apple did what they said they would, and made me happy. Apparently a lot of others feel that way,

"The latest rankings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index show that Apple has dramatically outpaced its rival computer makers in the hearts of U.S. consumers," reports Asher Hawkins). The ACSI survey "ranks Apple at 85" out of 100, "11 points above the computer-maker industry average." In fact, "Apple"s rating is also an all-time high for the computer industry." -Forbes

If you aren't Apple's market demographic, thats okay. I don't "get" my brother's $1,200 fly rod, but I don't fish and I recognize this, rather than mock him from the limits of my perception

[kellygrrrl]

I love my iPhone. I haven't met anyone who is having any problems.
MobileMe is def not perfect yet, but Apple has given a free 90-day extension on one-year contract so I feel OK about it.

[DannyEastVillage]

Hm. Wish we in Manhattan had your success with iPhone.

[MeanGreenMachine]

Steve Jobs is god.

Get over it.

[MeanGreenMachine]

Apple market cap tops Google:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10017015-92.html

[truth101]

The world's video training universe has the insufferable and nauseating
tendency to pander to Apple owners by constantly in their verbal
statements adding to the statement "control xyz:" to "and if your on the
mac thats is command xyz" WHICH IS ENUF TO DRIVE ANYONE
WATCHING A LOT OF VIDEOS TOTALLY INSANE. THE next
President should have as his first order of business making this
kind of pandering to Apple illegal by PRESIDENTIAL DECREE.
THE PRACTICE OF PANDERING TO THIS MINORITY OF
DEVOTEES OF JOBS is an INSULT TO PC USERS AND
A VIOLATION OF their human rights to not have to be reminded
continuously that there are bunch of minor APPLE USERS
WHO ARE TOO STUPID NOT TO KNOW THE BASIC
KEY TRANSLATIONS BUT REQUIRE BEING TOLD OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Someone at LYNDA. AND all the others should stop the pandering practice
as its an insult to human intelligence. STOP IN THE NAME OF
ALL HUMAN DIGNIFY.....STOP MENTIONING THE APPLE COMMAND KEY
.....PLEASE STOP.....

[MeanGreenMachine]

Would you like cheese with that wine?

[jsgaetano]

"Sales Puffery".

Case dismissed.

[ewj1]

People forget that the first iPhone was very slow and you could only view limited number of internet sites. So in reality it is twice as fast (not just as fast as other phones on the same network). It is not really half as much, given the various charges and locked to ATT for two years the iPhone true cost is atleast $50 more. Lastly the iPhone is a classic DRM device in which Apple can turn off programs, disable the phone at their own will, and you can only purchase software from Apple.

[Puzzles]

I worked on a project recently where I was the only one in the office not on a mac and without an iPhone. It became such a joke for everyone. The real fun was that they all had problems with their Macs and the tech support hours sure added up. I had a problem with my PC laptop at one point, but because of my years of using crappy Microsoft, I had the skills to solve the problem on my own. No walking around the office looking for an Apple "computer whisperer" like everyone else. Prior to this experience I was considering shifting to a Mac. But it became pretty obvious that the macs have problems just like everyone else. More importantly, the software I make my living using is not available for Mac, and most of the open source products are not available for them either. It turns out the Mac's are way more proprietary than even B Gates's system.

As for the iPhones, what a great designed product. Unfortunately, when you can't make a call with your phone, viewing pictures or playing music doesn't make up for the inconvenience. On several occasions my simple LG verizion phone was the only phone that could make calls. Still, the office decided to buy me an iPod shuffle to entice me to "the dark side". Again, a great product that it seems MUST use Apple iTunes. Fortunately, some open source programmer created a driver so I could use it with Winamp.

[rwhiteside]

Hmmm. Sorry. I don't believe your story. Macs are far more stable than "crappy Microsoft" as you put it. And in offices where they are the standard, efficiency is far superior. I freelance a ton in both environments. Your exact story is usually told with the products switched. People who use Macs never have tech support people running around, because there is no need usually, and even when there is, solving problems is easy and obvious on your own. Not sayin they're perfect, but the standard story about Macs is exactly the opposite of what you state.

As for the iPhone issue, I agree. But I think this issue is with super duper crappy AT&T. The greatest mistake Apple even made was signing an exclusive contract with that awful company. Every bad problem can be traced back to AT&T if you ask me. I can't wait to return to Verizon when they're able to service the iPhone in--what is it--four years? When I had a simple LG with AT&T, it was awful too.

[HLMerkin]

If every bad problem can be traced to AT&T, why are the iPhones having the same problems with European carriers?

[AmandaBC]

"Sorry. I don't believe your story."

You're right, macs CANNOT possibly have problems, they're all in the user's mind. Just like the bad economy. Apple cultists are really Republicans, even those who delude themselves into thinking they aren't and that Apple is a "good-hearted" corp out to help people and not to make huge profits by exploiting child labour in China...

[MalloMel]

Until recently, I worked at a job where I serviced several hundred pc's. I used to work out of my house and there were many days, at least half, that I did not even leave my house for a service call. Equipment trouble was almost non existent. It was the best job that I ever had, and I did it for almost 10 years.

Most of the calls were to help people load software on their computers, or to correct problems due to them trying to load software. Not every one that uses a computer is computer literate.

Anyway, I can't speak on the Mac, except to say that I would not get one because the availability of software for it is very limited compared to the pc.

Oh, another thing: My wife has a mac and a pc at work. She was using a mac, then where she works changed over to pc's. Now she just uses the mac to play a game that she likes, and I might add that is just during her lunch and breaks :) Go figure.

[xspotster]

spoken like a true apple fanboy. if you read any of the voluminous tech articles on the web, the issue is with the iphone chipset, not AT&T, so either apple does a massively expensive recall or people are stuck with a phone that is really good at dropping calls. and not just calls out in the countryside, it drops calls in the middle of san francisco. hope fanboy also enjoys stepping outside to make calls (yes, even here in san francisco). other at&t products do not have this problem. finally, what excuse does fanboy have for the "kill switch" (put by apple into the phone) which deletes applications which do not pad apple coffers?

i agree with the OP assessment of apple computer tech as well, having supported both systems. pc users are far more productive with their computers. mac users have a tendency to cluelessly load their machines up with crap, the number one cause of instability. pcs are less expensive and have more hardware and software options. pc users are typically more savy and require less IT resources. hypothetically speaking, i would hire a pc user over a mac user, all other things being equal.

[MeanGreenMachine]

TOTAL B.S.

[kellygrrrl]

when you get in an area with low digital svc you just turn off 3G in the settings.

[JaseAllen]

I prefer Vista over OS X and even I don't believe your story. Yes, Macs have their share of problems, but an entire office full of Macs magically acting up at the same time while your one PC was fine? No. There's a difference between a closed and a proprietary system. Windows is more proprietary than OS X as the OS as a whole is produced by Microsoft. OS X is a closed system in that it can only be installed on Apple hardware, but much of the underlying OS is based on open source code. There is less open source software for the Mac because there are far fewer open source developers who use Macs than Linux, not because of any proprietary OS code. Same holds true for Windows. BTW, how is it that your "entire" office uses Macs if the software you make a living using isn't available for it? Sounds counter productive.

[lylo]

I've worked in an office just like that!!!!
So you should believe it. If an office is the epitome of efficiency, then I am the pope. You will never overestimate office management stupidity.
Oh, and I had the same experience. The PC was, as usual, a slow pain. But the Macs cost three hundred dollars in repairs (that I know of, probably more).

[stepintothelight]

My goodness. Don't you geeks have a life???

[GEM-592]

The answer is no, of course, but don't you realize that a geek made your post possible?

[stepintothelight]

It takes one to know one ... given!

I'm one of those "Geeks" that makes this stuff possible only my a $ $ is owned by a major Medical Player, who required this mobile phone hater to be tethered 24/24 but at last let me stay with Apple. Exchange integration was flawless. That doesn't even happen with MS SP's. Most of you never see the stuff I come up with cause it's internal proprietary.

But I do have a life and my 1st gen iphone has worked flawlessly through all upgrades.

I guess I am just a walking anomaly.

Geek with a gig whose iPhone works just fine

[AmandaBC]

Now watch the Apple cultists deny the iphone ever had any problems, ready to fork out whatever the church of Cupertino wants for the next non-functioning gadget...

Apple cult = $cientology

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Well Amanda, if you had to fork out $200 or $400 for a phone wouldn't you be kind of biased about it? Same thing applies to people who swear by Apple. Don't get me wrong they make a good product but the people who use them believe that they are somehow better than all other PC's.

[SheaSF]

Too funny! Too true! [As he lovingly runs his finger along the keyboard a BlackBerry Curve that never leaves his hand]