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

[fixmymac]

Except that in practice those laws don't mean anything. If your Mac fails in the UK after 1 year and 1 day, they still won't fix it. You'll have to sue them. Which you won't do. And they know that. So they charge you more than in the US but you don't get any benefit from it whatsoever. If anything they should charge less since they're selling you false hopes and plus it rains all the time.

Sorry, but you are quite wrong. I have sent many of my own customers to Apple with products out of warranty buy a few days or even a week or two. In almost all cases, Apple have agreed to do the repair with minimal fuss. I have experienced this with two of my own products. I got a 23" Display replaced 7 months out of warranty by providing them with a logical explanation why.

In the UK, the general position is that the onus is on the Manufacturer during year 1. In year 2, the onus moves to the customer to show that the fault was present during year 1. This is inherently difficult to do. However, we also have the legitimate argument that certain products should last a certain amount of time. It is this part of the law that can 'extend' warranty coverage to around 5 years.

Lastly, it doesn't rain here all the time. The sun often comes out for a couple of days in late June or early July... oh, we also don't have the likes of The Westboro Baptist Church

 

[SavMBP15]

I don't think this is an accurate statement. As previously posted here, the price shown on the UK Apple Store is the total price the buyer pays.

For example, if I bought the base model iMac 21.5" the total I pay is £1,149.

How much would it cost you in total, including your various taxes, for the same item?

Right now, in US I would pay $1389.93 USD for the base iMac 21.5" including tax (with free shipping).

At today's conversion rate from xe.com your £1,149 is equal to $1,843.71 USD.

So you are paying more ($453.78 USD more) for you goods and services in the rest of the world, than in the US. In some spots you get laws that "protect" the consumer more, but all that is, is big government taking over our lives.

 

[iPad Air]

So you are perfectly fine with a product that has a high failure rate as a normal business practice? Wow, you are a corporate shill.

This isn't some putz suing because the coffee was too hot, this is a complaint about a product with a high defect rate that Apple hasn't addressed.

Yeah, they guy should have purchased Applecare, but that still doesn't excuse issues with higher than expected failure rates.

I certainly agree that Apple should really look into this. Also, I am not fine with products that are held up so well in quality having high failure rates. That was my way of venting about a person who would go so far as to try to sue Apple for so much. That is ridiculous.

 

[Mike Oxard]

I dont know how this can wven be allowed to proceed in a sane society. He bought a product and it failed outside of warranty and is suing for about 2500x its original worth.

If this is such a big issue then Apple would probably do a recall. Id imagine most of this 300+ page thread is this guy moaning and people sayin thats life.

Just get better warranty regulations. 1 year isnt good enough and it should be more but if thats what you have and people arent pushing to change it then dont get mad when your products fail outside this.

Find out what a class action lawsuit is and it might make more sense. He's not after ALL the money for himself.

 

[sir1963nz]

Hence the reason for consumer law in the UK.
One year warranty is not good enough.
Simple.

In New Zealand we have "The Consumer Guarantees Act" which has all sorts of implications. One being "Reasonable expectation of life", so it is fair and reasonable for a computer to last 3-5 years. TVs and whiteware can be up to 10 years !

I had a 2 1/2 year old MacBook given a new motherboard for free after it failed at zero cost for me. They had the options of Repair, Replace, or Refund, they chose repair.

 

[yeah]

Is this guy joking? That stinks his monitor is not working well but it is well past the warranty period.

The A/C on my 4 year old car isn't blowing as cold now as it used to when new - guess I should sue BMW for 10 million lol.

America and these law suit laws seriously need an overhaul so frivolousness can be cut off at the source before tying up court time.

Exactly, like I should sue Intel because my 2nd generation Core i3 chip is slowing down.

 

[baryon]

Thats your problem, not Apples.

Surely, but I don't feel it's fair at all. I doubt anyone is expected to update their computer yearly in order to own a computer. This is not Apple Creative Cloud, yet.

If Apple can say their computers are durable and should last long, they should provide warranty up to whatever point they think their computers should last.

If you buy a car, do you expect to buy a new one the following year, and the one after, and so on? So, would you buy 50 new cars in 50 years? I'm using cars as a comparison since their price is comparable to that of some Macs. But I know it's a bit unfair, since cars have moving parts and are driven around in changing weather and therefore are far more prone to failure. Yet they still come with 3 years warranty minimum, some with 7 (Nissan or Kia or something).

 

[keithjfuller]

how do you sign up for this suit - my 27" has grey bands all over it. you'd think $2,500 would last longer...

 

[DonutHands]

What should be a class action lawsuit is the brown coffee looking stains that show up on the 27" iMac display. It is just ridiculous the amount of displays i see with the same exact problem.

 

[ZipZap]

$5 million really?

Its a class action. He's not getting $5 million.

 

[palmharbor]

Solution

All he has to do is buy a new Mac....that's all.

 

[wildmac]

I certainly agree that Apple should really look into this. Also, I am not fine with products that are held up so well in quality having high failure rates. That was my way of venting about a person who would go so far as to try to sue Apple for so much. That is ridiculous.

Sadly, that's the only way to get most corporations to take responsibility for products with high failure rates.

 

[Mike Oxard]

Right now, in US I would pay $1389.93 USD for the base iMac 21.5" including tax (with free shipping).

At today's conversion rate from xe.com your £1,149 is equal to $1,843.71 USD.

So you are paying more ($453.78 USD more) for you goods and services in the rest of the world, than in the US. In some spots you get laws that "protect" the consumer more, but all that is, is big government taking over our lives.

Yep, but it's how we choose to live, we choose the government deciding what is right instead of the corporations. It's not better or the lesser of two evils, just different, that's all.

 

[wildmac]

What should be a class action lawsuit is the brown coffee looking stains that show up on the 27" iMac display. It is just ridiculous the amount of displays i see with the same exact problem.

Ya'll are talking me into a new MacPro.

 

[sir1963nz]

Right now, in US I would pay $1389.93 USD for the base iMac 21.5" including tax (with free shipping).

At today's conversion rate from xe.com your £1,149 is equal to $1,843.71 USD.

So you are paying more ($453.78 USD more) for you goods and services in the rest of the world, than in the US. In some spots you get laws that "protect" the consumer more, but all that is, is big government taking over our lives.

Did you account for taxes ?
The UK price probably includes VAT, the US price probably does not include taxes.

Consumer law in NZ means all products being sold to consumers (vs businesses) must include GST (NZ version of VAT). When I was in the USA 6 weeks ago the prices shown excluded sale taxes, so the advertised price and the ticketed price were never what we actually paid for goods we bought while we were there.

Not including GST is considered a deceptive practice and is illegal.

 

[baryon]

Sorry, but you are quite wrong. I have sent many of my own customers to Apple with products out of warranty buy a few days or even a week or two. In almost all cases, Apple have agreed to do the repair with minimal fuss. I have experienced this with two of my own products. I got a 23" Display replaced 7 months out of warranty by providing them with a logical explanation why.

In the UK, the general position is that the onus is on the Manufacturer during year 1. In year 2, the onus moves to the customer to show that the fault was present during year 1. This is inherently difficult to do. However, we also have the legitimate argument that certain products should last a certain amount of time. It is this part of the law that can 'extend' warranty coverage to around 5 years.

Lastly, it doesn't rain here all the time. The sun often comes out for a couple of days in late June or early July... oh, we also don't have the likes of The Westboro Baptist Church

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!

 

[sir1963nz]

Exactly, like I should sue Intel because my 2nd generation Core i3 chip is slowing down.

Its NOT slowing down, it is running at the same speed it always has.
The fact that you have added bloatware or your perception of it vs a faster machine has NOT changed the i3 at all.

 

[halfapie]

Sadly, that's the only way to get most corporations to take responsibility for products with high failure rates.

Exactly. But Apple has been sued at disproportionally high rates. Only because they sell lots of products.

We SHOULD BE suing all the other manufacturers who's stuff actually breaks much more frequently. Here's looking at you _insert company name here_.

 

[jason1566]

I see how purchasing a $2,000 equals to a $5,000,000 reward. Times like this, I hope Apple lawyers burry the guy

It's a class action law suit.

 

[fixmymac]

Right now, in US I would pay $1389.93 USD for the base iMac 21.5" including tax (with free shipping).

At today's conversion rate from xe.com your £1,149 is equal to $1,843.71 USD.

So you are paying more ($453.78 USD more) for you goods and services in the rest of the world, than in the US. In some spots you get laws that "protect" the consumer more, but all that is, is big government taking over our lives.

Thanks for the price. However, the significant difference in price is not Apple's doing. The Westminster Government slap an Import Tax/VAT on goods were produced outwit the EU. They even do this with second hand goods... ask anyone in the UK who has bought from eBay USA.

I am quite sure that Apple will have a different per unit price for many countries to cover any additional costs and ensure they maintain their desired profit margin.

It is fair to say that goods cost more in the UK. However, the bulk of that additional cost is not imposed by the manufacturer.

 

[Thinkman12345]

App

To everyone who's complaining about out-of-warranty issues — TOUGH LUCK! Next time buy an Apple Protection Plan! For an item as expensive as an iMac, the APP is a bargain; WORTH IT'S WEIGHT IN GOLD. Apple has the best support I've ever experienced, and I've been using their products for over 20 years. They will spend AS MUCH TIME AS NECESSARY to resolve your issue and the APP bumps your warranty up to 3 Years. They have thee best technicians in the industry and they couldn't be friendlier or more patient.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

Can someone tell me why class action lawsuits are even allowed, other than to give whiners a "voice"?

Are you being sarcastic or seriously asking?

 

[bilbo--baggins]

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.

It would be terrible if manufacturers could cut costs to the point where it's acceptable for failures to be common shortly after the warranty period.

Anything that keeps companies like Apple under pressure to maintain quality is a good thing. I tend to buy AppleCare for peace of mind (and minimise getting stressed if something goes wrong) but it shouldn't be necessary.

Despite making Apple products from highly recyclable materials, the best thing for the environment are well made products that give a long and productive life before they are considered obsolete (which is why soldered in RAM is also a bad thing - I normally need to upgrade RAM after 18 - 24 months to keep a Mac up to date).

 

[fixmymac]

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!

I see. I jumped on your weather comment and assumed you were over the pond.

When I get customers in that I feel have a legitimate case, I coach them on how to get Apple to do the repair for free. The simple rule is that you must go with all the facts regarding the various laws. You must realise that the person serving you is not 'Apple' and that you WANT them to help you. Lastly, and I know this as fact, the very last thing the manager of the store wants is a stooshy happening out front.

Be cool, calm and well informed. Slowly elevate things and down back down too easily.

 

[Garrod]

Do you guys have no consumer protection laws at all?

I'm not 100% sure on the official terminology, but in the UK (and presumably all across the EU) we have the right to demand a replacement on goods that dont last a 'satisfactory amount of time' - I.E in general don't last as long as you'd expect them to. This does mainly apply to electronics, and is based on price. So a £30 LCD obviously will not get replaced 2 years down the line, but a £500 one might.

It's a very grey area, but the law is there so that when something like this comes up, the consumer is protected, and rightly so.

I had a very similar on a 2007 iMac - the screen had terrible ghosting and was replaced twice under Applecare. I was able to get it replaced again 6 months after it expired - I just said it hadn't lasted a satisfactory amount of time for the price, and they accepted it.

I believe Australia also has the same, or a very similar law.

I wrote a blog about the six year English consumer law (not Scottish, that is five) and wrote in detail how I got my five year old iMac replaced using our wonderful consumer laws. Link: http://bit.ly/AazB2F