Posted on 20 August 2008, at 7:32 pm, by Judie Lipsett
There has been much said regarding battery drain problems and AT&T’s lame nationwide 3G coverage, but here’s something new: Apple just got slapped with a class action lawsuit for dropped calls and slow data speeds. The suit was filed in an Alabama US District court, and since it was just filed yesterday, Apple still hasn’t actually been served…yet.
“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.
WOW.
I have to admit that part of what kept me from biting on the 3G iPhone was the fact that I wasn’t naive enough to think that just because my phone was capable of 3G speeds, I would actually get them. Try telling that to the average consumer, though. Because the 3G iPhone is strongly marketed as twice as fast, it should have been just as strongly marketed as only capable of achieving those speeds in select markets. As for the dropped calls? I’m not sure what’s going on there, as I have found the AT&T network (EDGE, anyway) to be rock solid.
Chip problem, AT&T problem, Apple Problem…who knows, but everyone gets an equal shot in the article’s possible blame game. You’ll have to read the ABC News article to see what AT&T and Infineon are saying about the brouhaha; of course Apple is staying mum, since it is (after all) only pending litigation.
So do you have a 3G iPhone? How has your experience been? Are you interested in jumping aboard the lawsuit train…or are you wondering what all the fuss is about?
Source: Chris Spera phone call after seeing Clinton’s tweet.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I am not experiencing an abnormal amount of dropped calls with my 3G. My guess is that Apple’s praying a recall won’t be needed (and in most instances of crap devices does the mfg EVER recall anything? … my experience is they ignore and plow forward).
Name me one major device that recalled or did more than issue product patches (like Apple is doing). I can’t think of one.
Prediction:
$ 7.5 million dollar settlement split as follows:
Ambulance Chaser : $7.45 million
Consumer: $ .55 million (in the form of vouchers that expire within 3 days and must be used in person at the Apple store and represent $5 off a $ 500 purchase).
August 20th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
It’s not just AT&T, Judie. It seems to be a worldwide issue - and one that the 2 recent updates were supposed to fix, but didn’t. A strong tip is that the 3G chip in the device is defective in a fair percentage of the devices sold.
Here in Australia, it’s not all beer and skittles either:
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/4.....dwide.html
August 20th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I can’t comment on the Iphone 3G since I don’t have one, but as far as AT&T goes I’ve never experienced a dropped call with them. I wonder if AT&T is starting to rethink its exclusivity deal with Apple as a lot of people are putting the blame on their network and it’s kind of tarnishing their reputation especially since Apple is keeping quiet and telling people the device has no known problems.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
@Wayne - yep, I am sure you aren’t far off with your lawsuit dispersal guesstimates.
@Kevin - according to Infineon, this is the same chip that Samsung uses, and of course *they* have had no problems…
@Marko - I’ve been very pleased with AT&T service, too. I do wish that we had 3G in San Angelo & Eldorado, but EDGE is certainly better than nothing (and as I mentioned, it is rock solid).
August 21st, 2008 at 6:34 am
My comment’s twice as good.*
(* Where available.)
August 21st, 2008 at 7:19 am
@reidme -
watch out or we will slap you with a class action lawsuit for not backing up your claim! 
August 21st, 2008 at 8:20 am
I’ve generally had very good luck with AT&T service as well (although we’re not 3G here either). My iPhone 2.x reception difficulties have cleared up, though the jury is out as to whether 2.0.2 fixed the problem or AT&T network changes have occurred.
Having said this, I think it’s a little early for a class-action suit. The claimant is going to have to show that they tried to resolve the problem with the defendant and that the defendant did nothing to help resolve the issue. Tech issues like these can take longer than 30 days to resolve, so I suspect that they’re going to have an uphill battle to show that they gave Apple a proper chance to respond to their concerns. One also has to question why AT&T wasn’t also listed as a defendant in the suit? I think the way it’s presented that this suit is going to fall flat. I also suspect that other suits will follow.
So the real question here is - how many people are really affected by this problem? It’s awful for those that are, but is it really a large percentage of 3G iPhone users or only a small number as AT&T has stated (keeping in mind AT&T would only know about U.S. customers having problems)?
August 21st, 2008 at 9:43 am
Well Apple actually DID apparently make a statement about the 2.0.2 patch indicating that it does fix SOME 3G issues.
I ran across this at macnn.com (originally from USA Today):
http://www.macnn.com/articles/.....s.reduced/