Complaints about Apple iPhone 3G move from forums to the courts

Bandwagon alert.

A man in New Jersey is suing Apple over problems with its iPhone 3G, the second such US Federal lawsuit in 2 weeks.

This has real potential in causing Apple a serious headache because both complainants have asked for class action status, allowing others with similar complaints to join the lawsuits.

The first suit was filed on August 19 by Jessica Smith of Birmingham, Alabama who alleges that Apple’s advertised claim that the iPhone 3G can reach “twice as fast” internet speeds as the original iPhone is misleading. She claims that thanks to a number of connection problems with the iPhone 3G, this supposedly super-fast connection is allegedly next to impossible. As a result, the “twice as fast” claim made by Apple’s marketing heads is in breach of “express warranty.”

Hot on the heels of that lawsuit, last Friday a Eulardi Tanseco from New Jersey filed his case against Apple over a number of alleged defects in the iPhone 3G which does not make it a “reliable and efficient mobile phone”. In complaints that echo the frustrations of many iPhone users, the suit claims that the iPhone 3G drops calls and doesn’t consistently connect to AT&T’s data network in the US. 

Apple’s support forums had flooded with gripes about the iPhone 3G – particularly problems with reception. The company Apple finally acknowledged the iPhone 3G's reception issues last month, confirming that the iPhone OS 2.0.2 software update was designed to fix those problems. These lawsuits now escalate the problem for Apple.

Apple will no doubt will take these cases seriously. Amongst other sanctions, Apple faces an injunction that would force it to stop selling the iPhone unless it fixes the flaws or changes its advertising (and Apple have already been in hot water in Britain about how it advertises the original iPhone.) If class action status is granted, similarly aggrieved iPhone 3G owners may decide they want in on the compensation claim. 

There goes that loyal Apple fanbase then.

Comments

[Mike]

Apple may be the fashion leader for a music player albeit at a premium cost but their expertise at mobile phones is next to useless. Their marketing gambit on pre 3G and now with 3G was all a fashion statement and no substance when for a fraction of the cost, anyone can pick up a Samsung, Nokia, Motorola or other well known brand name that's guaranteed to perform. Steve Jobs launched this product expecting to get the same phone connectivity performance of phone makers that had honed their experience over decades and he failed miserably. I suggest people with a problem demand their money back, buy a real phone and also think about much lower cost but still very usable music players. The iPhone is one very expensive joke and many posers fell for Apples advertising scam.

[Alex]

Please can people who don't actually own an iPhone (or have only just used one for 5 minutes in a store) please refrain from slating it. Your views are ususally groundless, overly negative opinions and most people who have one are very happy with it. If the phone was bad, why are people still buying them?

I agree that the network connecivity has been patchy, but this seems to have been fixed (for me at least) with 2.0.2. The phone is very simple to use and makes internet browsing a realistic prospect. Music and videos are pretty good too. I'm not a macoholic, but I couldn't really go back to a Nokia or a Samsung (I have actually had these phones for extended periods of time), but this is just my opinion and not necessarily the only one.

[Gavin Sullivan]

Why would you sue a company because their phone doesn't work?

You wouldn't sue Sony (for example)if their TV didn't work, you'd take it back and ask for a refund/replacement...

Odd behaviour if you ask me.

[Ben]

Apple was damned if it didn't and damned if it did. The fact is that if you are a mac user you have always wanted a portable device which integrated with your MacBook and/or iMac.

For all the iPhone's faults and frustrations (and there are some!) Mac users can now take their Address Book, Mail and iCal with them wherever they go.

No Nokia, Blackberry etc could do that. Synchronicity never performed as Nokia et al promised for Macs (just like HP printers today).

There were problems with duplicate diary and contact data. Imagine not knowing when your girlfriend's birthday is because for the month of (say) August it appears five times a day everyday because your Blackberry just cannot talk to your Mac properly.

I would have been satisfied for the iPhone to be able to just do the above. But in typical Apple style they decided to push the boundaries as far as possible. My phone has a brilliant music player, good camera, amazing touch screen and truly phenomenal internet browser.

I don't believe there is a single Mac user out there who would hand their device back for a full refund... unless of course it came with a better iPhone.

My only worry is that these litigious people will simply prevent Apple from doing what it does best because it has to divert cash to it lawyers rather than R&D.

[Rich]

"Imagine not knowing when your girlfriend's birthday is because for the month of (say) August it appears five times a day everyday because your Blackberry just cannot talk to your Mac properly."

I'll have to remember that one should I ever forget my GF's birthday...

Seriously though. As a long-time Apple Macbook Pro user, I think the Iphone is fantastic. But I was put off by the price, the need to use two hands, lack of Mac/Modem tethering, non-removable battery and no cut/paste support. Plus any Apple user knows that the 3rd/4th generation will be even better and have the bugs sorted. Opted for a Nokia N95 8GB. Not perfect, but works very well with my Mac.

[AYOOB AMLA]

SERIOUSLY THOSE THAT HAVE ANYTHING NEGATIVE AGAINST THE IPHONE ARE PETTY AND DONT HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO, THE SIMPLE FACT IS, THE IPHONE IS THE BEST ON THE MARKET EVEN WITH ITS FLAWS

[Nick]

I agree with most of the others that have commented positivly about the iPhone. I've had mine for a few months now, and despite the only very occasional crash, which I have been told is down to the 3rd party applications on the app store, I've hod no problems at all. It has never dropped a call and the reception is always pretty good. It works seamlessly with a mac.

What everybody that has commented on it negitivly has to remember that it is a phone, not a computer! Of course it has it limitations as it is a phone! It works great and by far better than anything else on the market.

Some of the 3rd party apps have a lot of bugs, but the reputable app developers have done a good job.

The iphone is easy to use and good fun too. Music and video on a phone has never been better!

[Graham]

Why do people rush out and buy these new phones when most of them are rubbish with gimmicks included.
My nokia 6310i is now 10 years old and still on its original battery and is in use every single day to receive and take calls for my taxi company would I change it now way
That's all a phone is a means of communication

[Grimmy]

I agree that the iPhone is buggy - the wireless and 3G internet keeps hanging - but I wanted more than a phone, and it's still way ahead of anything else out there that's affordable. I tried two recent Windows Mobile phones, and had to return them because they crashed a few times every day - even when the phone was ringing.

I still have my frustrations with the iPhone, wish it had a better camera, wish it had video recording and cut-and-paste, but it's hard to imagine going back to the tiny screens and keyboards of the past. I know something better will come along eventually, but as of now, this is the best for my purposes - that is, something much more than a phone.

[BigKahunaFSU]

I wish I could get an Iphone, but the service is what I find to be unreasonable.

[JONNYMACK]

The iPhone is a revolution in evolution. Live with it. It's the easiest to use device and consistently expands its capabilities like nothing I've ever owned. What users have to get through their thick skulls is that they are holding in their hands an extraordinary tiny computer that can also make phone calls. Once you realize this, it makes sense that once every day or two you should reboot it (Something I never had to do with my TREO, but then it was so hard to use the email and Web functions on my TREO that I simply didn't). Also, 2.0.2 is a perfect example of this. When was the last time you hooked your Nokia up to you computer and the computer said: Hey, there's new software, want to update it? And then did it for you? Like anything, there will always be detractors, but there really is only one iPhone and it's fantastic. I wouldn't give it up for anything.

[Bill]

Iphone is garbage, mine has been replace 2 time b/c of touch screen failure and a lock-up.

The reception is trash. I will have 2 bars and drops calls every other word and by buddy's crackberry has full 5 and never loses a call.

I tell everyone that I know that they are trash and don't buy them but they just keep buying them like lemmings jumping off a cliff.

[ryan]

The iPhone is superior in so many ways. So it drops a few calls and has a few hiccups, it's man-made technology. It's not flawless. I just know that I could NEVER go back to a blackberry (and I had one for 3 years) even with the stated issues. Trade your blackberry in for an iphone for 1 month and tell me it wasn't the best decision you could have made. The internet is REAL internet, the contacts and calandar work seamlessly, maps and google search are unbeatable, not to mention it has an ipod onboard.

The bottom line is this: almost everyone who now has a Mac switched from a PC. NOBODY IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND switched from a Mac back to a PC. Same with an iPhone.

Peroid.

[Clerkenwellman]

The iPhone is a terrific product. Its software does need a little attention...but show me software as complex as this that doesn't. It is nonsense an perverse to start suing on the basis of this performance.

[Mr Happy]

I bought apple's latest sex toy. The missus is very happy with it.

[the grib]

The key is in the word 'can', the iphone 3G 'can' reach twice as fast speeds.

Why do Americans feel the need to sue the world? Its daft.... the Iphone 3G is brilliant, and for once it appears that we in the UK have something over them, a pretty decent 3G network in areas.

[brian]

Why do people criticize Apple? They are most wonderful company in the history of the world and Steve Jobs is a genius! I would gladly sell my wife and children into slavery so that I could buy Apple products, whether they work or not! All hail mighty Apple!!

[T'aku]

Precisely why I didn't buy an iPhone and why I advised my friends to stay away from it. Those who listened are happy; those who didn't listen are unhappy.

[Teri Davis Newman]

I almost love my iPhone. I have a Samsung that I use for phone calls because the AT&T cell minutes are outrageously overpriced unless I am talking to someone else on At&T which is most of my family and my husband. Unlimited Web surfing for $40 a month is the primary thing I love about my phone and it's basically a portable laptop that saves me lugging my big laptop around or finding a wireless access for the full-size laptop. The iPhone is a computer in my handbag and it's pretty good--it drops calls but so does my Samsung and if I lose the website I just put it right back up. Would I get rid of it? No. It works well enough that I wouldn't get rid of it. Do I love it? Almost. If it was a better phone and the airtime for calls wasn't so insanely overpriced I would love it--but I wouldn't get rid of it. It's excellent for what I use it for and my husband LOVES his iPhone.

[andrew in seoul]

If only we could get an iPhone here in S.Korea! S.Korea is now a technology dead zone as a consequence! So I can't comment on if its good or not but many friends I have around the world have never expressed ant frustration with their iPhone and have indeed only positive thoughts! It's GREAT! But if only it was here in Seoul :( Apple? KTF?

[Tom]

I love my Iphone! Fastest connection speeds I have ever had with a mobile phone. Love everything else about the phone with absolutely no problems of any kind. Perhaps these people need to sit down in an Apple store and ask for some one-on-one training.

[derek]

Unlimited Web browsing for $40 a month?
I only pay £7 in Uber Ripoff Britain.
Is someone this end missing a trick?

[Jeff]

I have the iphone and my only complaint is that safari crashes sometimes. other than that, it works wonderfully. I'm very happy with it, and it's the best phone that I've ever had. You have to remember...people are always going to pick things apart. That's cuz they have nothing better to do and no body loves them.

[madprof4]

If you own a mac you should own an iphone, it really is that simple. I bought my 1G the week after its first release (in an otherwise empty store), and have nothing but praise for it. Software and firmware updates have made it much more versatile than when I first bought it. Apple deserves praise for not forgetting about 1G users.

[Michael Nieman]

I have never experienced a better piece of consumer electronic perfection than my Iphone. There were a few bugs when I got it, but I download the latest software update which seems to fix everything. True, I dont get the same service as I did with verizon, but I still get pretty darn good reception. I LOVE THIS PHONE.