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

[jimoase]

He just wants the money to buy a new iMac.

I have been out of the design and testing electronic devices for a few years. 10,000 hours MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) was not a big deal then. With the ever improving processes I would be surprised if current Macs were designed for less 15,000 hour MTBF.

His machine would not have time to reach the 10,000 hour level.

This man is doing Apple a favor by highlighting their incoming Quality Assurance problems before they leak over into more products.

 

[sir1963nz]

It's a good suit for the consumer in general in many industries. All this one-year warranty, planned obselescence ******** has got to stop - it's a wasteful, short-sighted and disgusting treatment of customers.

What planned obsolesce ?
My experience (I look after hundreds of Macs) has been they are extremely reliable, I have only just got rid of the original g4 Mac Minis, and that was because the software need now is intel only, and I got rid of a class full of 400Mhz iMac because after 9 years some of the power supplies were failing and we wanted to keep all 42 Macs the same, so we upgraded the lab.

 

[KPOM]

A failure at 3 years and 1 month would be unlucky.

A failure at 1 year and 1 month is unacceptable.

Either way you are still drawing a line. "Expected useful life" means different things to different people. Some people think 2 years is a useful life for a phone. Other people think a 4-year old phone is just fine.

 

[petsounds]

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.

Our Congress is basically controlled by corporations. Any peep about mandating a longer product warranty on a federal level would send the corporate lobbyists into a furor and the legislation would quickly die.

 

[macneubie]

Underscores the importance of buying AppleCare.

 

[pmjoe]

The suit, which refers to a 321-page thread on the Apple Support Community

Quoting page 300 of the main thread - "This thread is being locked as it is getting very long and causing some browsers to time out. The thread is continued in New iMac 27inch screen flickering/tearing/shutoff (continued)"

Even Apple's Support Community can't support all the complaints.

 

[spidey211]

Really?!

I can't believe that even some of you in here are saying things like, "there ought to be legislation..." "..that's what we have in the UK." That is really dumb... And how is the electronics manufacturing going in the UK? When are people going to wake up and see that it is idiots like this that ruin it for everyone else. NEXT TIME READ THE EULA!! You know, the one that they show you when you register your machine.... Apple doesn't have to fix it if they don't want to, and if they give in to this egomaniacal joke then every other idiot will fall right in line waiting for their hand out.

One thing consumers fail to realize is that when a product fails, there is NO WAY to tell how or why it did unless it has a big bullet hole in it. Your apple products will last if you treat them right. Just like any other product. Surge protection, did he have it? Did it fall off of his desk? Did he try getting in the bath tub with the toaster while his computer was plugged in? Your guess is as good as mine. This guy needs to get a life. Boo Hoo your computer is broken. Put on your big boy pants and deal with it. No one owes you anything.

 

[sir1963nz]

Not a response to the specifics of the case, but to your comment in general...

A warranty is a cost to the company. Any warranty period increases the price of the product. For example, think of a one year warranty. In order to cover the costs of the warranty, Apple has to compute the probability of failure within the first year. Then, multiply that by the average cost of replacement/repair and add that to the cost of a consumer good.

For a five year warranty period, that probability grows substantially. Hence, the cost of a product covered by a five year warranty will be higher than a product covered by a one year warranty. It's why extended warranty products like AppleCare cost money.

Alternatively, a company might use higher quality products/better quality control to reduce the probability of failure during the five year period. But doing so increases the price of the good as well. There is no free lunch.

Hence, this kind of legislation has one impact: increasing the price of consumer goods. Moreover, it removes the ability for paying customers to choose a cheaper product that might fail after a year over a more expensive one that might fail after five. What is reasonable should be dictated by the consumer not by some government legislation.

As opposed to Apple having to pay lawyers every time a class action suit comes up, and then having to remedy the problem too ?

 

[captain kaos]

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

Well said. Im now patiently awaiting the time you have to claim on something and find your out of your warranty and you get $%&^ over. "bury the guy". Nice. Not actually like apple doesn't have the money, and or the technical knowhow to give their products a long life. We should have to be forced to buy applecare just to cover ourselves for when a product breaks 6 months after the basic warranty runs out.

 

[thekev]

Years of having bought 4-500$ pcs, I want an Apple computer so bad.
Im typing on a 3mth old Lenovo I paid $650 for, it blue screens twice a week.
Several times the touch screen starts flickering and I have to force power off to stop.

I'm not sure why I'm replying to this ridiculous wall of text, but did you change any hardware such as ram or drives since you obtained it, assuming you purchased it new. If so try putting it back to the original configuration, then see if the problem goes away. Bad ram causes this more than anything else. Otherwise it's 6 months old. It should be under warranty. If your Mac did that wouldn't you send it in?

 

[KeegM480]

Err... Yes they do. However, only one year on Apple kit is pretty poor nowadays, doesn't say much about what they think of their own hardware.

In the UK the statutory warranty is actually 6 years for items that should last a "reasonable length of time" even though Apple doesn't like to remind people of it. In the EU as a whole it's two years, but there's a really weird clause that the "consumer has to prove the defect existed when the product was first received". Apple got sued in the EU for refusing to honour the 2 year warranty, and pushing the 3 year AppleCare which was actually providing double coverage, since the EU already mandates a 2 year warranty.

I am not saying they should not have a longer warranty but they shouldn't be responsible for this, the person had the option to buy a better warranty.

 

[Andrei90]

Yea, but the lawyers will end up with tens of millions. Each.

Good for them!

This guy is right about the lawsuit, not about the money. Nobody should be able to sell you a monitor with 1 year warranty.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

I'm still not entirely sure how someone in Idaho can launch a class action suit in federal court based solely on a California law. But apparently he can.

The suit was filed in federal district court in CA. Jurisdiction is based on Apple having its principal headquarters in CA and having purposefully availed itself to the CA marketplace. Jurisdiction could also be based on diversity of citizenship, since an Idaho plaintiff is suing a California corporation. Venue is based on the fact that Apple's principal residence, or domicile, is in CA and the events giving rise to the plaintiff's claims occurred in the Northern District of CA.

There could be a choice of law argument between the parties, where Apple argues Idaho law applies, but I doubt that such an argument would work.

 

[ekiro]

Apple sure knows how to be stingy.

 

[mingoglia]

Sucks for him, but I don't see how he has a case given that it's outside of the warranty period.

You can sue even outside the warranty period if there's proof that the product was defective from the factory... this is the same basis car companies will recall cars (even for non-safety items) after the warranty period. Anyone that's followed the 27" iMac's, particularly in the beginning, know there's been huge problems with the displays. I say good for this guy. Apple has some great stuff, but they have also had some "great" QC issues as well.

 

[a.jfred]

Did he buy it with a credit card? Often-looked over feature of several credit cards is that they can extend the warranty period of certain things.

 

[gnasher729]

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.

The "5 years" of "reasonable length of time" only exists in your imagination.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

Well, it's in federal court, so the attorneys probably just have to be admitted to the federal bar. However, if they are arguing California law, rather than federal law, they'll need to be knowledgeable in it.

The lawyers are from a well-known plaintiff class action litigation firm, practicing out of their San Francisco office. All are licensed in CA.

 

[Swissdude]

Tyoical Americans

Sucks for him, but I don't see how he has a case given that it's outside of the warranty period.

Oh well typical Americans...suing for every little *****.
Things brake such is life. If you are lucky it brakes under warranty if not well then you're in bad luck. ***** happens.

 

[Fanaticalism]

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?

 

[XboxMySocks]

What is the relevance of the lemon?

It's an old joke about lemons meaning defective products.

 

[tongxinshe]

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.

And you keep wondering why the electronics HAVE TO be sold at a much higher price in the UK than in the US? Hey, why just make the law to have all companies guarantee a "forever free replacement" warranty?! Oh, of course, you have a bankruptcy law to protect those wealthy enterpreneurs' personal wealth so that they can always escape from this warranty responsibility after earning enough money.

 

[HyperZboy]

I have a PowerMac G4 going back to 2001 that still works. Grant it, my Mom is only checking email and playing card games.

But, I also have a just slighter newer PowerMac Quicksilver that I use for certain things that has worked continuously.

The Fanboys are chiming in as usual saying it's a out of warranty, should have bought AppleCare. That's BS. Those 2 WORKING Macs above have been out of warranty for OVER 10 YEARS! Yet they still work. Go Figure.

My original iPhone still works too.

To say Apple's quality as slipped a bit would be an understatement to say the least, but the Fanboys will whine on about this guy with little money and call him a money grubber & god knows what else. But it's simple, he filed for $5 million because he wants it class action status, not because HE WANTS $5 MILLION. DUH!

People here are so stupid sometimes. Since Apple's already replaced some of these displays for free, and there's over 300 complaints, I'd say he's got a damn good case. A lemon is a lemon whether it's out of warranty or not.

FANBOYS ATTACK NOW!

 

[Freida]

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.

Exactly. One year warrant from Apple will not bypass that. Consumer Law protects customers and as BMcCoy said above, its usually 5 years. Those of you who say that he should have bought Apple Care can't be serious. Or are you expecting that your computer will fail 1,5 year after purchase so Apple Care is a must? Although his clam of $5mil is ridiculous but his case is valid or at least in Europe would be. In fact, in EU there would not be a case as Apple would have to fix it for free as that is the law. If you guys over in US don't have consumer protection law then you are missing out.

 

[yeah]

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.

Well, there is always heat damage since it's running 8+ hours per day and I've kept this machine that I'm using now very well cleaned, with regular CCleaner and defragmentation. It has been on Windows 7 ever since, but to get back on topic, I just posted that to agree with the OP.