Apple Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Failing 27" iMac Displays

oopl said:
I'm glad I didn't have to deal with this issue.
I do agree that 1 year warranty is not enough.
Step up the consumer protection laws U.S.
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I don't know about you, but I'm fine with a 1 year warranty. If I want more, I can purchase it.

Your "Consumer Protection Laws" seem nice on the surface, but all they do is put a mandate on business that winds up increasing prices for the consumer. No thanks.
 
baryon said:
lol, I'm joking and exaggerating. I live in the UK, and when my MBP failed in every possible way, they didn't help. The thing is, they can be nice and help, but they can be jerks and just say "well too bad. you have to pay". You're at their mercy. The point is that when you buy a Mac, there's no guarantee that you'll still have a Mac in a year's time. You "hope" that you will, you hope Apple will be nice if it fails, you hope it won't fail, etc… And most of the time it will be okay. But if something goes wrong, the customer is potentially screwed, like I was!
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1. You should have said _where_ you bought. Apple gives 1 year warranty as the manufacturer; your statutory rights are against the seller. So if you buy from PC World then Apple doesn't have to do anything after 12 months.

2. Guideline for geniuses is: They should decide whether they think it is Apple's fault, and repair it if they think so. The law says they must repair if the customer proves that it is Apple's fault. So these guidelines are better than what the law requires.

3. If the seller refuses to fix the problem, then UK law is very, very vague.
 
ltownbrown said:
This is why regular consumers in the US have to pay so much for good products. Idiots like this opt to not purchase the extended protection coverage and when they have an issue with their system they want to rush to the legal system to be their savior instead of accepting the consequences for their actions. I hope Apple buries his butt as well as all the other customers that are too cheap to protect their investment like the rest of us.
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So you are ******** because you bought AppleCare? is that what all the whining is about? wow....

You and your fellow ranters fail to realize that the failure rate of these systems is higher than should be expected. Hence, a lawsuit is appropriate, since Apple won't address the issue.

What Apple should have done is extend the warranty on certain models of the iMacs.
 
madcran said:
Thats why AppleCare exists. While Apple does have the smallest number of issues with their products versus other PC manufacturers, it does not mean they are all going to last forever. It is still built with consumer electronics that are manufactured by other companies. You take a chance when you do not buy AppleCare.
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I agree. I feel that the free market should decide how long a warranty is, not the government. If you aren't ok with a 1 year warranty, buy another brand. If no other brands offer longer warranties, buy an extended warranty/AppleCare. If the extended warranty is too expensive, don't buy the product at all. Vote with your cash. The company will eventually discover the reason why people aren't buying their products and they'll remedy the situation. This is how the free market works.
 
iMLo said:
I don't know about you, but I'm fine with a 1 year warranty. If I want more, I can purchase it.
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Umm... no.

1 year warranty is fine on a $75 keyboard, not on a $3000 computer, especially on components like screens. Or motherboards with capacitors that like to blow up. Remember those?
 
Fanaticalism said:
Customer purchased product.
Customer decided not purchase service plan.
Customer knew manufacturer warranty was one year.
Product failed 6 months after warranty expired.
Customer feels entitled to a free replacement.

What is wrong with this picture?
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Heres another POV
Manufacturer decided to do business in another country
Manufacturer knew the consumer laws in that country
Customers product fails under these laws
Customer gets the product repaired/replaced under these laws

You note here that the whole chain starts with the manufacturer choosing to business in that country.
 
BMcCoy said:
Yup.

We have the Sale Of Goods Act in the UK, which ensures consumer products must be fit for purpose, and last a reasonable length of time, which is usually around 5 years for small and medium electricals, including computers.

Very surprised that the US does not have similar legislation.
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There's a very good reason that we don't have these types of laws. First, any consumer can choose to buy a different product if they don't like the warranty offered by a company. And if they really, really want the product they could always buy an extended warranty to hedge their risk. Second, and most importantly, if a defect is present in most/all of the product then consumers can sue and still get compensated if they can prove the flaw is endemic.

A certain % of products will always have defects. This is the nature of any manufacturing process. Therefore, a certain % of products will fail during year 1, an additional % during year 2, and so on. Based on this metric, by offering a warranty period a company has a good idea of how much money they will lose per product sold (i.e. replacing 10% of defective products in the first year will cause ~a 10% profit loss). A company decides where it would like to put its cutoff to limit its financial losses.

When a government forces a company to extend this warranty period to something like 5 years, it also forces the company to bear additional financial losses. A decrease in profits is never good for any company so they will likely attempt to recoup these losses by raising prices. This means that consumers ultimately bear the costs associated with these extended warranty periods.
 
macneubie said:
Underscores the importance of buying AppleCare.
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applecare. my god that name.

anyway, you're saying it's unreasonable for him to expect a $2,000 computer to work for over a year if he doesn't shell out an extra 10% of the purchase price as an insurance policy?

you feel it's reasonable for apple, a self proclaimed premium computer manufacturer charging premium prices for their products, to shrug their shoulders at a customer complaining over a defective screen barely a year and a half after purchase?
 
apple with a poor quality......i guess so.
I hope this would teach apple a lesson about making "long lasting" products.
 
ltownbrown said:
This is why regular consumers in the US have to pay so much for good products. Idiots like this opt to not purchase the extended protection coverage and when they have an issue with their system they want to rush to the legal system to be their savior instead of accepting the consequences for their actions. I hope Apple buries his butt as well as all the other customers that are too cheap to protect their investment like the rest of us.
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lol

this guy right here
 
Consumer Protection

Everyone complains when these things happen, and expect consumer protection laws. At the same time, they elect anti-consumer representatives to Congress, and they complain about "government intrusion into free market capitalism".

If you really want this to be fixed, elect people who will fix it. If congress hadn't held up Elizabeth Warren's appointment to the Consumer Protection Board we might have rules in place now to protect this consumer.

Don't fault a company for setting a warranty to "industry standard", fault your congressman for not fixing the problem.
 
kcamfork said:
I agree. I feel that the free market should decide how long a warranty is, not the government. If you aren't ok with a 1 year warranty, buy another brand. If no other brands offer longer warranties, buy an extended warranty/AppleCare. If the extended warranty is too expensive, don't buy the product at all. Vote with your cash. The company will eventually discover the reason why people aren't buying their products and they'll remedy the situation. This is how the free market works.
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The free market you want would also see corporations colluding to raise prices, have agreed monopolies and in fact reduce consumer choice and reduce competition.

Or does your "free market" now require laws to stop this ?
 
wildmac said:
Umm... no.

1 year warranty is fine on a $75 keyboard, not on a $3000 computer, especially on components like screens. Or motherboards with capacitors that like to blow up. Remember those?
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The failure rate on "$3000 computer"s is going to be low unless there is an underlying hardware defect present in all the machines. If one exists class actions handle that. If not, and your computer fails, tough luck. But seriously, you had bad luck and got a machine that had a unique problem. It happens. No product line will be 100% perfect. Some of those products will have defects. Its simple probability.

That being said, after a year or two that 3000.00 computer is not worth 3000.00 anymore. A simple trip to Ebay would prove this point.
 
Pro Tip: Use your credit card to make these types of purchases. Many of the better cards will have built-in purchase security and warranty extension.
 
sir1963nz said:
The free market you want would also see corporations colluding to raise prices, have agreed monopolies and in fact reduce consumer choice and reduce competition.

Or does your "free market" now require laws to stop this ?
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How does this have anything to do with the topic? I don't see how monopolies have anything to do with this article. Way to stay on topic.
 
sir1963nz said:
The free market you want would also see corporations colluding to raise prices, have agreed monopolies and in fact reduce consumer choice and reduce competition.

Or does your "free market" now require laws to stop this ?
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That's why you have solid laws in place to stop these activities.
 
iMLo said:
I don't know about you, but I'm fine with a 1 year warranty. If I want more, I can purchase it.

Your "Consumer Protection Laws" seem nice on the surface, but all they do is put a mandate on business that winds up increasing prices for the consumer. No thanks.
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that cost works out to be LESS than the cost of an extended warranty.

The risk of being sued is also a cost that manufacturers add in to the price of every product. You pay for it one way or the other.
 
I remember a time about 10yrs ago, when Apple would go out of their way to fix things for free, even if they were off warranty...with no questions asked! I know, because it happened to me numerous times. I guess that was when Apple was not as huge as it is now, and they were building the loyal fan base of today.

18 months is not long for a $2,000 machine to experience catastrophic screen failure. If this was just one guy, those bashing him might have a point, but there have been widespread reports of screen problems on the new iMacs.

I find this troubling, especially since I plan on purchasing a new iMac.

I remember when my G5 imac had a logic board issue that turned out to be widespread, and Apple stepped up and fixed it free of charge...and I was off warranty.

If there is widespread screen issues involving the new iMacs, I think Apple should do the right thing, and fix them without charge because that would be a defect issue and not a warranty issue. Just saying.

I love Apple. Been using their products since before the iphone & apple stores, before it was "cool" to buy Apple.
 
kcamfork said:
How does this have anything to do with the topic? I don't see how monopolies have anything to do with this article. Way to stay on topic.
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YOUR post where you said "I feel that the free market should decide how long a warranty is"

I simply pointed out that the free market does not include just the things you like, e.g. monopolies.
 
I had this same issue with my 2011 27inch iMac. Had to replace the screen two times… I hope I won't need to do it again.
 
5 mil!!? Really??? It is ridiculouse how anyone is allowed to sue any amount for any reason! Try doing this in Europe or any other country and they will tell you to reconsider the amount or get the ***** out. Our court system is a real shame!
 
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