Class action claims all Apple Watches are defective

Posted:
in Apple Watch edited June 2018
The latest lawsuit over alleged defects in Apple products contends that the company owes $5 million in damages, because all Apple Watches are defective by design.

Via Trivia_Hawk on Reddit
Via Trivia_Hawk on Reddit


Every model through the Series 3 contains "the same defect and/or flaw, which causes the screens on the Watches to crack, shatter, or detach from the body of the Watch, through no fault of the wearer, oftentimes only days or weeks after purchase," lawyers for plaintiff Kenneth Sciacca argue in a class action brought through the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

"Apple knew that the Watches were defective at or before the time it began selling them to the public," the complaint continues. "Furthermore, consumers complained to Apple about the Defect almost immediately after Apple released the Series 0, Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Watches."

The company is accused of "actively" concealing problems, and denying the existence of any defect, instead labeling incidents as "accidental damage" and refusing to honor warranties.

Apple has addressed some Watch issues, such as separated back covers and swollen batteries on Series 0 units, and stripes on some GPS-only versions of the Series 3. Detached screens have also been an occasional complaint on public forums, but without any official response so far.

One possibility is that screen issues are actually connected to battery problems, since components are so tightly packed in any given Watch that a swelling battery could put too much pressure on the display.

AppleInsider has service data collated on every model of Apple Watch from release, similar to the data we have collected on the iPhone and Mac lines. However, with absolutely zero data on sales figures, and what appears to be escalating volumes of sales over the years, it's nearly impossible to draw any conclusion from it at present.

$5 million is nevertheless a low amount to claim in damages, since it would be unlikely to cover repairs or replacements for more than a small percentage of current Watch owners.

Kenneth Sciacca Versus Apple Apple Watch Class Action by Mike Wuerthele on Scribd

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 62
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    I know a fair number of people with the Apple Watch, and none of us have had this problem. We know it happens, but there are tens of millions of these watches out there. If it was a really serious problem we would have heard more about it.
    macxpressSpamSandwichalbegarcbshankradarthekatStrangeDayshodartechprod1gysmiffy31chaicka
  • Reply 2 of 62
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    I've had an Apple Watch since the original one (Series 0) came out and I've never had this issue and never known anyone else to have this issue. 

    Once again...this is more like Apple has over $250 Billion in the bank and they think they deserve a piece of it. 

    I agree with Melgross...if this was a serious issue, we would have heard a lot more about this. People LOVE to complain about their Apple product(s) not working/being defective. 

    Of course, the "Me Too" crowd is very popular these days so I wouldn't be surprised if this results in a major issue all of a sudden. 
    albegarcStrangeDayshodarchaickanetmageracerhomie3johnfrombeyondwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 3 of 62
    aimbddaimbdd Posts: 49member
    I had this happen to my original series 0 Watch, not fun. They wouldn’t replace it. Glue failed on a $600 Watch a month after the warranty expires and they could care less. 
    gutengeleji
  • Reply 4 of 62
    davendaven Posts: 696member
    I've had my watch for six months now and haven't had the issue. I guess that means that I have a defective watch because it hasn't suffered from the 'design defect' yet.
    jbdragonrandominternetpersonwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 5 of 62
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member
    What? Never heard of this issue before and I’m sure we would have heard of something by now if there was an issue.

    Its also likely that *if* there is an issue, that it’s related to battery health. You can’t have a tightly packed computer with a high-powered battery and not engineer a safety system to prevent a chain reaction in the event the battery vents. In that case the only way to go is up which means to push the screen out. That’s an engineering consideration that is VERY justified.
    albegarcradarthekatchaickanetmagepscooter63watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 6 of 62
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    ALL Apple watches? Tort lawyers like to dramatize, inflate, and misdirect, and mislead. That's how they convince stupid juries.
    watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 7 of 62
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Sounds completely legit and not at all suspicious.  :/
    rob53pscooter63icoco3cornchipwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 8 of 62
    bshankbshank Posts: 255member
    I’ve owned 5 Watch devices. Two originals, one Series 2, and 2 Series 3. I’ve not had any of them have this issue.
    albegarcstevedownundermelgrosswatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 9 of 62
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    Yar, same. This despite their claim that it happens often. And if it did happen “days or weeks” after purchase, they’d just exchange it. 
    SpamSandwichjbdragonpscooter63randominternetpersonwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 10 of 62
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    aimbdd said:
    I had this happen to my original series 0 Watch, not fun. They wouldn’t replace it. Glue failed on a $600 Watch a month after the warranty expires and they could care less. 
    Meanwhile I've had my series 0 (48mm stainless steel with Milanese band which w/AppleCare cost almost $800) since June 2015 with no issues at all. Battery holds charge all day, usually still has 40% charge left when I put it on the charger at night. I guess that cancels out your experience. And so you decided not to repair it since Apple declined to out of warranty? Do you still have the watch? Do you sit around all day cursing Apple now? In another post you said the battery swelled? So which is it?
    edited June 2018 netmagebshankwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 11 of 62
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    Happened to my series 0 after I moved to the Philippines; a very hot and humid environment.  The battery swelled and popped the screen off.  It was one of the very first manufactured, received on that day back when everyone was going unboxing videos.  Was that April 24, 2015?  Seem to recall that as the date.  I drive a series 2 Nike Edition now.  Love it.  Nothing lasts forever. 
    edited June 2018 SpamSandwichejijbdragonmuthuk_vanalingamGeorgeBMaccornchipwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 12 of 62
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    I have a friend who works in a butcher shop. He has worn his Apple Watch at work since I have known him. I noticed it on his wrist one time and asked him about it. He claimed he wore it all the time and has never had any issues. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 62
    hodarhodar Posts: 357member
    I had a mysterious crack down the middle of my Series 2 Watch occur almost a year into owning the watch.  No scratches, no impact marks, the watch simply cracked down the middle.  I took it into Apple, they over-night shipped it to the repair, it was fixed within 48 hours and overnight shipped back to me.  All 100% free, with a written appology for my inconvenience.

    So, I fail to see what the lawsuit is about, as I recognize that manufacturing defects occur, whenever you make millions of anything.  My experience was handled professionally, promptly and politely.
    SpamSandwichchaickajbdragonzoetmbmuthuk_vanalingamrandominternetpersonlamboaudi4melgrosswatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 14 of 62
    gutengelgutengel Posts: 363member
    My  Series0 had the heart rate plate fall a couple months ago. It was pretty annoying, but now I'm just a bit careful when I charge it. I thought it'd stop working because of water damage when I do work-outs and even submerged it in water (with a small crack on the screen), but it still going!

    I thought about fixing the screen and re-glue the plate, but getting a refurbished S1 is cheaper than buying the new screen and repairing it myself...

    Anyways, I'm getting a S4 this fall, I hope it last a long as my S0. 
    chaickanetmageGeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 62
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    melgross said:
    I know a fair number of people with the Apple Watch, and none of us have had this problem. We know it happens, but there are tens of millions of these watches out there. If it was a really serious problem we would have heard more about it.
    That was my reaction, I have never once heard of this and we all know how The Verge would have had this all over the front page the first time and every time it happened had it been prevalent.
    melgrosswatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 16 of 62
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member

    aimbdd said:
    I had this happen to my original series 0 Watch, not fun. They wouldn’t replace it. Glue failed on a $600 Watch a month after the warranty expires and they could care less. 
    I'm happy for you that 'they' could care less.  If 'they' couldn't have cared less you'd have had a something to worry about.  :)
    chaickaRonnnieOpscooter63icoco3watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 17 of 62
    zompzomp Posts: 62member
    My apple 1 watch is definitely defective, the battery has survived over 1095 charges and it's still going strong. They are rated for about 800 charges - I want compensation!
    jbdragonrandominternetpersonmelgrosswatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 62
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,303member
    hodar said:
    I had a mysterious crack down the middle of my Series 2 Watch occur almost a year into owning the watch.  No scratches, no impact marks, the watch simply cracked down the middle.  I took it into Apple, they over-night shipped it to the repair, it was fixed within 48 hours and overnight shipped back to me.  All 100% free, with a written appology for my inconvenience.

    So, I fail to see what the lawsuit is about, as I recognize that manufacturing defects occur, whenever you make millions of anything.  My experience was handled professionally, promptly and politely.
    I think it's because since the watch needs to be shipped out, the facility that repairs the watches isn't always consistent in their diagnosis of what happened. This is according to someone I know who works at an Apple Store as a genius. 

    Sometimes the swelling of the battery can be so severe that it cracks the display rather than popping off. If there was any sign of impact around those cracks, then Apple would not fix the issue under warranty.  In this instance, the technician who initially helped the customer, should have checked the device before shipping it out and telling the customer this would be a covered repair. 

    Other times what can happen is that the repair facility makes a misdiagnosis that the watch was damaged from impact, when it actually did break due to pressure from the battery swelling. 

    The swollen battery issue on the watch and no more common than it is on other Apple products. The bigger issue is that you can't have an Apple Store fix this issue and it needs to be shipped out, which can be frustrating for a customer especially if they rely on the watch as much as they do their iPhone.  

    This guy has no case, but the silver lining for customers is Apple might improve the training for technicians to examine and explain what happened to a customer before giving them incorrect expectations. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 62
    bagpiperbagpiper Posts: 10member
    My family has 3 “Series 0/1” watches and one “Series 2” model

    My original “Series 0”  Stainless Steel watch, ordered on day one of release (4/15), had to be was replaced within two months of use (7/15) due to bluetooth connectivity issues.

    The next two watches we purchased were either First Gen or Series 1, and are Alumimum models. 

    This week my son told me his black Gen 0/1 Alumimum watch started to bulge and came apart.

    My Gen 0 Stainless watch has been used daily, were most of my family will not wear it 100% of the time like I do. 

     
    Original Series (0) April 24, 2015
     Series 1 - ?
     Series 2: September 16, 2016
     Series 3: September 22, 2017



  • Reply 20 of 62
    chaickachaicka Posts: 257member
    Seriously? Design defect?

    I am still wearing daily what is known as Series 0 since its launch (it’s even the initial launch day batch) and where I am located, the average climate is 32 degree C and high humidity. My partner has the same Series 0 though she wears it less frequently as I do. Even every single relative and friends and colleagues who have since gone out to get themselves either a Series 1 or 2 or 3, none of them have experience the issues mentioned in the article.

    I have even bath with Series 0 on a few rare occasions when I forgotten I was wearing it and step into the shower. Till date, it is still working well despite not being certified as water resistant.
    netmagewatto_cobra
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