AfterDawn: Tech news

Judge dismisses iPhone battery suit

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Sep 2008 2:05 User comments (11)

Judge dismisses iPhone battery suit According to Bloomberg, the class action lawsuit filed last year over the iPhone battery has been thrown out.
The suit was started by an angry iPhone owner by the name of Jose Trujillo and claimed that Apple was misleading customers by not informing them that the iPhone battery was not user-replaceable and that battery would only last a little over a year. A replacement from Apple costs $86 USD.

U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly has thrown out the case however and added, “Apple disclosed on the outside of the iPhone package that the” battery has “‘limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by Apple service provide,…Under the circumstances, no reasonable jury could find that deception occurred.”

AT&T, also named in the suit, may not be so lucky however, as they attempted to force the matter into arbitration as per their service terms. The judge said however that Trujillo did not have paper copies of the TOS when he bought the phone and scheduled a hearing for September 29th.

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11 user comments

128.9.2008 15:23

i didn't know people actually whined so much.

228.9.2008 15:48

even though i hate apple and the way they make you jump through hoops, i still think this guy is an idiot.

328.9.2008 15:53

So this guy bought the phone and then whined thinking he had a case or did he not see the discloure on the manual before taking this to court?

428.9.2008 17:25

No, you guys don't understand. This IS bull crap. They do this with everything now. I got a big screen TV that has to have a lamp replaced in it every two years.. and that lamp costs like $300. I can get another TV for that price. iPhone's no different. These little maintenence costs are crap. You buy something, you shouldn't have to spend some ridiculous price of 20% of the value of it to keep it operational. It's like they force you into their maintenence package instead of researching and/or developing something better. Does anyone notice that everything more or less "breaks" now a little more quickly than it used to?

528.9.2008 18:51

Originally posted by edsrouter:
No, you guys don't understand. This IS bull crap. They do this with everything now. I got a big screen TV that has to have a lamp replaced in it every two years.. and that lamp costs like $300. I can get another TV for that price. iPhone's no different. These little maintenence costs are crap. You buy something, you shouldn't have to spend some ridiculous price of 20% of the value of it to keep it operational. It's like they force you into their maintenence package instead of researching and/or developing something better. Does anyone notice that everything more or less "breaks" now a little more quickly than it used to?
I understand where you coming from with that but its up to the consumer do do their research on a product before you buy it. You wouldnt buy a car that only gets 10mpg then complain you are always spend money to fill it up or better yet a expensive sports car you have to pay thousand of dollars to replace brakes. If you have to replace your Bulb in your TV every two years no one force you to buy that TV technology is always growing and some things are too fragile for customer to do on their own. I'm a person that do my research on a product to see if that product is worth me buying especially maintenance I may have to spend on.

629.9.2008 05:08
1bonehead
Inactive

It's always about money

729.9.2008 11:12
sKrEwZ
Inactive

^^^^Indeed it is. Things are often intentionally designed to require some sort of maintenance or repair better done by a qualified group of people. Keeps the money coming in after the sale.
This guy is just another case of a failed get-rich-quick-by-suing-someone whiner.

829.9.2008 13:13
varnull
Inactive

I really think he has a point tho..

Last phone you bought.. could you replace the battery by unclipping the case and removing the old one?.. Thought so.. And we take it for granted that all phones work the same. They always have, so why suddenly do apple have to do it different?
Consumer rights have a fair bit of "assumptive legislation" built in which allow a product to be described in somewhat minimalist ways as long a it's features and components are considered "generic to the form of existing products" I guess that means that as all other phones have customer replaceable batteries then apple should have it clearly stated that theirs is different.
I guess their excuse is "Well you can't change the battery on an ipod either".. but that isn't a phone is it apple? It's a different device with different customer expectations.

UK advertising standards and trade descriptions act lawyers would have a field day with this one... and as for return only to apple stockists for replacement?.. how about another anti-trust for stopping the manufacture and sale of generic iphone batteries by the generic replacement battery makers? Theres another one I would start throwing into the mix ;)

Lets get hold of one and rip it open.. I bet we will find a generic £4.99 "made in Korea or India" battery inside.. obtainable from many many sources... if only we could get in to change it.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 29 Sep 2008 @ 1:18

929.9.2008 13:34

I guess their excuse is "Well you can't change the battery on an ipod either".. but that isn't a phone is it apple? It's a different device with different customer expectations.
quote]I really dont understand all the fuss with new technology getting more more advance things arent as simple as they were years ago. Apple doesnt make cell phones they make ipods. Their iphone is more a mini computer than it is a phone. Granted most their products are expensive and and they make it not verizon or at&t so if something happens to get apple doesnt want at&t screwing up their device. My only issue with this all why $86 to replace a battery if it was $40 so dollars would see not a problem since it cost almost that to buy a new battery. Maybe in the future the iphone will be a little more customer friendly since the technology is getting dated with other phones coming out like it

1029.9.2008 16:01

The MAC Air Notebook also needs to be sent in if you want to get the battery replaced. And I bet it cost more than $86 dollars.

1129.9.2008 18:34

Sorry for the bad grammar trying to type this and work at the same time.^^^lol

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