Allegedly faulty iPhone 4 power button target of new class action lawsuit against Apple

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 52
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AnalogJack View Post


    Forget this what about the disgraceful G5 17" imac screen scam by Apple. I had two G5's and one day a pink vertical line sometimes changing to blue occasionally appeared then disappeared. Often popping up in different spots. Long story short this started on both G5's and gradually increased to a plethora of permanent lines over a two year period until it was virtually unusable.


     


    This is well outside the warranty. But in looking for clues to this behaviour I discover that there are hundreds of people similarly confused over the years. By the time I realised that this is a manufacturing fault, like everyone else, one just moves on. I didn't really want to upgrade when I did the G5's were perfectly adequate for what I wanted to do.


     


    Point is that only 17" G5's were affected, not other monitors, other lcd's even other 20" G5's but hundreds (if one extrapolates the many posts about this over the years, probably thousands) of 17" G5's. 


     


    Why no class action here? I guess because there's no power base of G5 17" users. Divide and conquer. 



     


    This is well outside the warrantyWhy no class action here?  Perhaps because some tiny fraction of devices failing (well outside of warranty) isn't grounds for suing?  You think Apple intentionally designed the product so a small percentage of them would fair in a weird way to inconvenience their customers?  Perhaps some shady supplier said "psst, here are some defective screens (well ok they work fine now but in a few year...) why don't you use them to save a couple bucks?" Or more likely Apple had some bad luck with some batches of screens.  Bummer.  Caveat emptor.


     


    I don't believe this is what RICO was created to address.  

  • Reply 22 of 52
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    So were is the document that proves it was designed to fail just after the warranty expired? what about people with extended Applecare? do their phones get a secret software patch that prevents the button from wearing out until a year later?

    I have had a number of iOS devices in my family and this is the first I have even heard about a power button failing - and the list includes at least six iPhone 4 and a iPhone 4S.

    The iPod Touch Home Button on the other hand - that sucker doesn't seem to work half the time - but that is the child's device.
  • Reply 23 of 52
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by lilgto64 View Post

    what about people with extended Applecare? do their phones get a secret software patch that prevents the button from wearing out until a year later?


     


    That takes "We'll fix it in software" to a new level. Only Apple!

  • Reply 24 of 52
    studiomusicstudiomusic Posts: 653member


    This happened to my daughters phone. Just after the 2 year warranty.


    This was just when Apple hired that horrible VP that killed the customer service, so they wouldn't replace it.


    So, I bought the part on Ebay and fixed it.

  • Reply 25 of 52
    kindredmackindredmac Posts: 153member
    My power and home buttons failed miserably after 14 months of use.
    I would have to push the power button down on a table top to get it to work.
  • Reply 26 of 52
    j1h15233j1h15233 Posts: 274member
    This was definitely a problem with the iPhone 4. My phone and my wife's both broke about 10-14 months in but I wouldn't sue Apple about it.
  • Reply 27 of 52
    mvigodmvigod Posts: 172member
    If apple could collect on their lawyer fees if the plaintiff loses you would see a lot less of these frivolous lawsuits.

    After the warranty you are out of luck. Also 100's out of 10's of millions does not a class action suit make. At best apple could just out of goodwill fix or replace the phones, period.

    This woman suing is just pathetic and reflective of all that is wrong with our legal system in the country. Next thing you know someone will sue for spilling hot coffee in their crotch because the cup of hot coffee did not have warnings on it. Oh wait...that already happened...

  • Reply 28 of 52
    analogjackanalogjack Posts: 1,073member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by malax View Post


     


    You think Apple intentionally designed the product so a small percentage of them would fair in a weird way to inconvenience their customers? 



    What makes you think I'd think that?


     


    Some manufacturing flaws are subtle, and do not show up for years, like for example the leaking capacitors on an emac that I had, it was a recognised problem and was fixed outside warranty. Do I think Apple deliberately put in faulty capacitors? Er ...no.


     


    However years after the fact it is now evident that an entire batch of 17" G5 imacs had some sort of component fault that was specific to that particular model. Consumer protection laws are designed specifically to address issues such as this where there is a fault in manufacturing. It is only obvious years later, although I suspect that Apple, if they monitor their own discussion boards and service centres would have had an inkling that there could be a problem. 


     


    I am suggesting that they rode their luck on this one and got away with it.


  • Reply 29 of 52
    isaidsoisaidso Posts: 750member
    Holy s**t!... RACKETEERING?!!
  • Reply 30 of 52
    cash907cash907 Posts: 893member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    "I manhandle my possessions. I broke my Power button. I demand a replacement for free for breaking both my possession and my warranty."



     


    To be fair, I treat my possessions better than most people treat their own children, and this happened to me within 5 months of purchase. The power button started to lose it's springiness which lead to me having to push harder and harder for it to register, until it eventually failed completely. It was obviously a defect, as I've owned every single iPhone since the 3G and have never experienced nor heard of any other model exhibiting similar problems, but I wasn't upset about it since Apple replaced it with a new handset in a matter of days. Had this happened to me outside the warranty period, I'd probably feel much differently about it, however.


     


    I take strong issue with anyone saying this is user-inflicted, because as I said, I'm exceptionally gentle with my electronics. I honestly don't understand some of you Apple apologists. Sometimes things are built with faulty parts, it's just a fact of life when dealing with complex electronics manufacturing. If Apple knew about this defect, and tried to hide it and lied to their customers, they should be held accountable and those customers should be reimbursed for any fees they paid to repair a faulty button.

  • Reply 31 of 52
    curtis hannahcurtis hannah Posts: 1,833member
    Well known many iPhone 4s all still in use, you can(and have been tested) that a hammer will do little damage.

    Well when Steve wanted no moving parts were buttons included?
  • Reply 32 of 52
    shompashompa Posts: 343member
    I have had every single model of iPhone. The iPhone4 was the only phone I had replaced 3 times because of the home button.

    The double tap for multitasking switching killed the button.

    People actually use the phones!
  • Reply 33 of 52
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Lawyers will get rich. The class action plaintiffs will get a $1 app for free.
  • Reply 34 of 52
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    "I manhandle my possessions. I broke my Power button. I demand a replacement for free for breaking both my possession and my warranty."

    ...oh yeah and 5 million dollars too.

    My iPhone 4 still works fine, almost 3 years old now.
  • Reply 35 of 52
    pendergastpendergast Posts: 1,358member
    cash907 wrote: »
    To be fair, I treat my possessions better than most people treat their own children, and this happened to me within 5 months of purchase. The power button started to lose it's springiness which lead to me having to push harder and harder for it to register, until it eventually failed completely. It was obviously a defect, as I've owned every single iPhone since the 3G and have never experienced nor heard of any other model exhibiting similar problems, but I wasn't upset about it since Apple replaced it with a new handset in a matter of days. Had this happened to me outside the warranty period, I'd probably feel much differently about it, however.

    I take strong issue with anyone saying this is user-inflicted, because as I said, I'm exceptionally gentle with my electronics. I honestly don't understand some of you Apple apologists. Sometimes things are built with faulty parts, it's just a fact of life when dealing with complex electronics manufacturing. If Apple knew about this defect, and tried to hide it and lied to their customers, they should be held accountable and those customers should be reimbursed for any fees they paid to repair a faulty button.

    If Apple knew is irrelevant. When you purchase a phone from Apple, they warrant that it will work for at least a year. That's it. That's their promise. By purchasing it, you are saying you are ok with that promise.
  • Reply 36 of 52
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    pendergast wrote: »
    If Apple knew is irrelevant. When you purchase a phone from Apple, they warrant that it will work for at least a year. That's it. That's their promise. By purchasing it, you are saying you are ok with that promise.

    Two years in some countries.
  • Reply 37 of 52
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    "Hundreds of customers complained".

    And how many million iPhone 4 were sold? Sounds like an incredibly low failure rate.
    She will get nothing from this suit.
  • Reply 38 of 52
    stniukstniuk Posts: 90member


    Daughters power button broke, she looks after her phone.

  • Reply 39 of 52
    enjournienjourni Posts: 254member
    Based on my experience working on iDevice repairs, this is absolutely relevant. On many actuators, apple uses a small piece of foam to bridge the gap from the plastic button to the control cable inside the unit. Over time, the adhesive wears off, the piece of foam moves, and the button no longer reaches, disabling the part.

    I've seen it on iPhone and iPod Touch power buttons, and a lot on 5th generation iPods with the home button. Anytime apple uses a piece of foam on the cable, the part eventually goes bad.

    Sorry guys, but it's just bad design on Apple's part. I'm just surprised this is only coming up now, instead of several years ago.
  • Reply 40 of 52
    "I manhandle my possessions. I broke my Power button. I demand a replacement for free for breaking both my possession and my warranty."

    dasanman69 wrote: »
    She went and did it, she called Saul.
    400
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