MPH

smiffy31 said:

tht said:

Apple store rep messed up and all they needed to do was change the phone to a Qualcomm modem one.

It could be the buyer was a jerk and no communication between himself and Apple could have ensued. Well, in that case, they both messed up.

Easy to just change a 2 YEAR OLD phone for a new one because he said it should work anywhere !

robin huber said:

A nation of the opportunistic aggrieved. 

lkrupp said:

bloggerblog said:

I'm glad he won. Those scenarios where you base your purchase on what you've been told, then later find out that it was wrong and get told something else, yeah those scenarios are super irritating. Especially when you later request a reasonable solution, and get denied one.
I'm glad he won, good for him!

It would have cost Apple almost nothing to just give him a new phone. My wife took an insurance company to small claims court over a $1500 damage claim after an automobile accident. They refused to pay and brushed her off like so much dirt under their fingernails. The judge ruled in my wife’s favor so the insurance company not only had to pay the claim but court costs and their lawyer’s fees. My wife represented herself. Then the bastards drug their feet in sending the check so my wife called the court and the clerk threatened them with legal action. The check came a few days later. 

TomE said:

The buyer was not educated in the terminology.  Especially in thinking that unlocked meant that it would work on all carriers.  It simply means he could use it on any carrier that supports that communications protocol.  T, Mobile and Verizon use different protocols.  He should have known that his "unlocked" phone would not work all over the world and he would not have the ability to swap to carriers that used CDMA.   This Modem thing is a mess and the New Unlocked Phones need to work ON all Carriers' LTE bands.  Apple could have easily explained this to the buyer, but I suspect he / she was not up on the subject and was ready to rapidly get a phone and leave the store.   Who knows's.  I don't think there was any deceptive advertising.    Lets make this all uncomplicated and have an "unlocked" phone with a modem that will work on all bands around the world.  Verizon is good in Rural Georgia, but in General I do not like going into any Cellular Store.  Their service is not great at all.  If I were Apple, I would clearly explain the difficulties to the uneducated buyer to avoid any problem.  Buyers need to understand the Bands the phone works on  and the communication protocols.

GeorgeBMac said:

This all relates back to a central question:
"What exactly did he ask for and what exactly was he told when he bought the phone?"

This term "unlocked" has had multiple meanings throughout the years and created grey, muddy waters for most people.  And, for most in the general public, they don't even realize the waters are muddy.  They don't even know that there is a question to be asked.

Back in the day, a carrier would "lock" a device to their network until you had paid off its 2 year contract.  Essentially, the phone and the carrier were inseparable.   Later, as people started keeping phones longer, carriers were required to remove that lock (aka "Unlock") the phone after it was paid off.

Meanwhile, nobody explained to GENERAL PUBLIC that certain modems would only operate on certain networks and certain bands.  It took me 2 months to get that point across to a friend of mine. 
... But, there was still a difference between "unlocked" and able to operate on "any" domestic carrier. 
.........In fact, there isn't even a term to describe a phone as able to operate on any carrier!

Apple has defaulted now to calling those phones "SIM free" -- which technically means it doesn't come to the Apple Store with a SIM card in it!

I think that Apple could have done better to explain these technicalities to there customers and helped to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.  I suspect that this lawsuit relates back to that.  The customer thought he was buying a phone that would operate on any carrier while the more tech savvy Apple Store employee simply sold him an "unlocked" phone without clarifying that it was restricted to only certain carriers.