Should I sue Apple in Small Claims after 5 defective computers last year?

[jemeinc]

1. The OP said the computer was purchased in the US.

2. I said Americans are litigious, but if you check your map from elementary school, North America includes the US and Canada, Argentina is in South America and in between is Central America. Lots of Americans live in this hemisphere.

3. The point of the post was that the OP was asking for information about Small Claims Court. I offered a positive alternative to the overused court system.

4. By the way, if you want to jump on each individual word, you don't "sue" in Small Claims Court, you "make a claim".
blah,blah,blah,blah,blah.

<sigh> OK, let's see if we can't sum up this odd conversation:
paraphrasing
OP: I'm in Argentina and I've gotten several Macs that have had problems... Should I sue?

You: Oh jeez, Americans are so litigious..

Me: He did say he was in Argentia (second person to point this out by the way)- just in case you didn't notice that point..

You: oh whatever, if you want to harp on every small point- Argentina is South America afterall (lol- loved that)..

You, oddly enough, followed this salient observation with many more truly "small points" about your vast knowledge of Apple reps and how to deal with them designed for no other reason than to prove to the entire world wide web how smart you are..

Does that about sum it up? Yeah? Cool..
Hey, nice talking with you, I'm now well aware of your knowledge of geography and everything to do with Apple reps- cool, thanks for letting me know.. You complete me..lol..

 

[Thunderpuppy]

Small Claims court

Apple will have legal representation (attorney) and they will paper you to death and you will realize that you wish you had not done it. That is unless you have had a computer expert review all of the defects and rendered a report with his expert opinion.

I handle Medical Malpractice and that is what we do to any of the patients that file a claim in small claims and we can't convince the Doctor to reimburse the fee. Once a lawyer shows up in most cases they might as well stick a fork in you because you are "done".

Good Luck

 

[ski2moro]

<sigh> OK, let's see if we can't sum up this odd conversation:
paraphrasing


Does that about sum it up? Yeah? Cool..
Hey, nice talking with you, I'm now well aware of your knowledge of geography and everything to do with Apple reps- cool, thanks for letting me know.. You complete me..lol..

Geez, Jemeinc, who ***** in your Wheaties this morning? I didn’t mean to insult you and I apologize if you were offended. I’m not trying to lecture you, just venting.

One of my pet peeves is that the citizens of the United States think they are the only Americans. The US school system is so concerned with teaching political correctness and sex education that they don’t have time to teach Economics, Geography and History. I dare say that most of the people on this list who were educated in US schools can’t even name all the provinces in Canada, the capitol city or the Head of State. Canadians know that about us, eh? When posting to a list that includes people from all over the world, I don’t think we should be so self-centered.

My other pet peeve is that people don’t know how use negotiation skills to get what they want. They are too fast to jump to the last resort – litigation.

No business wants an unhappy customer. Not Apple not General Motors and not the local plumber. That said, there will always be unscrupulous vendors and litigation may be necessary. Sometimes you have to get past an over-zealous watchdog - minimum wage - customer service twerp and get to the person who has the authority to resolve the problem. I believe the consumer has to give the company a chance to make them happy. I believe that jumping to litigation is not the answer.

A few years ago, I was at a national convention in my line of work, and I will never forget what one of the VPs said. “It is our goal to have 100% satisfied customers and we will do everything we can to make them happy. If you can’t do it on a local level, send them to us on the national level. We will do what we can. Sometimes, after you repair and negotiate and offer discounts and new product, there are some customers who will never be satisfied, no matter what. That is the time to give them their money back and let them become the competition’s problem.” I believe that 100%.

I wasn’t trying to prove how knowledgeable I am about Apple Reps, but it seems to me that the OP was asking for suggestions. I suggested some words for him/her to use to begin the negotiations. I think Apple has been working with the OP, and after he/she posted the problems with the computers, I don’t think I was wrong suggesting negotiation rather than litigation.

Once again, I’m sorry that I offended you.

 

[MacHipster]

One of my pet peeves is that the citizens of the United States think they are the only Americans.

Off-topic: It's not that citizens from the United States call themselves Americans, it's that everyone does. Whether or not this is politically or geographically correct is irrelevant; it's conversationally correct. I'm an American who's lived abroad various times and I have friends all over the world. When I first met them, they asked me, "Are you American?" They never say, "Oh, he's my United States of American friend." Also, none of my friends from Canada, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, etc. say, "I'm an American." It may get on your nerves, but being American means being from the United States.

On-Topic: I hope everything works out for you, dlapiduz. It's sounds like you've had some poor luck.

 

[jemeinc]

Geez, Jemeinc, who ***** in your Wheaties this morning? I didn’t mean to insult you and I apologize if you were offended. I’m not trying to lecture you, just venting.

LOL.. No problem man, but it did come across a little condescending - not that you meant it that way, that's just how it came across- to me anyway (which could definitely be an odd few of things by the way..lol)..

It's all good, we had a good laugh over it if nothing else- and don't we all need a little more laughter?

;-)

 

[Karstan]

Americans are way too litigious. Isn’t there a way to settle this without threats and lawsuits?

That is slander sir...I will see you in court.

 

[CST]

So South Americans aren't Americans?

Niiiiiiiice.

 

[Abstract]

No it doesn't. Any 3 problems will get you a new machine.

Really? Then maybe I'm entitled to 2 new MacBooks.

 

[gnasher729]

I believe it often depends on who you talk to. I don't know if there's an official policy one way or the other.

That kind of thing often depends on _how_ you talk to them. What often works: If you can convince the person that they are doing a good deed by helping you, they will help you if at all possible. If you convince them that they lose an argument by helping you, they will not help you if it can be avoided at all.

 

[mr_matalino]

Do it!

 

[macsimcon]

What Small Claims court are YOU talking about?

I'm not an attorney, but in California, an attorney cannot represent either side in a Small Claims action. Apple can't send an attorney to court, nor would they waste the time; do you have any idea how expensive their attorneys are?

I assume other states also prohibit attorney representation in Small Claims cases.

In California's Small Claims courts, you can't paper someone to death unless you file a counter-claim. There are no written objections, interrogatories, or depositions. Even then, what is Apple going to request? They have all the repair records, invoices, receipts, etc. I suppose they could ask the plaintiff to provide a credit card receipt or statement to prove the purchase, but doesn't the fact that warranty service was provided make that unnecessary?

In California, the lemon law requires a reasonable number of repair attempts. You should keep records of each time the product goes in for repair, and how long it was there. If the total number of repair days exceeds 30, you've got a good shot at a lemon law case.

And you can still bring lemon law cases in Small Claims court, at least in California.

Why a lemon law case instead of just a simple breach of contact or breach of warranty? Because there's a civil penalty award of twice the purchase price (some conditions apply). So, a $1,000 MacBook can yield up to $3,000 in Small Claims court.

Americans are too litigious? Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that large companies know that very few of their customers will actually sue when they are wronged? Every large company knows this. They know that if they fail to repair 100 products as required by the warranty, only a handful will sue. Yes, even Apple knows this. They might be more ethical than most businesses, but they're still a corporation which exists to make money for shareholders.

Apple will have legal representation (attorney) and they will paper you to death and you will realize that you wish you had not done it. That is unless you have had a computer expert review all of the defects and rendered a report with his expert opinion.

I handle Medical Malpractice and that is what we do to any of the patients that file a claim in small claims and we can't convince the Doctor to reimburse the fee. Once a lawyer shows up in most cases they might as well stick a fork in you because you are "done".

Good Luck

 

[chrono1081]

Holythreadrevival.com

 

[GoCubsGo]

I'm not an attorney

No, you're just incredibly slow to react to things ... which may make you a great attorney.

 

[Consultant]

Ok folks, this is a fake story created by (almost) one post wonder.

It does not make sense. Apple Care tests equipment before sending it out from repairs, the scenario described is unlikely.

In reality, Apple has the highest consumer satisfactions in the tech industry:
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/02/22/apple-ranks-third-in-businessweek-customer-service-rankings/

 

[chrono1081]

Lol This thread is also almost two years old hence my "Holythreadrevival.com" comment

 

[Alaerian]

Macsimon, first off, welcome to the forums! Secondly, make sure you check post dates before replying. Necroing a two-year old thread is generally frowned upon!

 

[tkermit]

Ok folks, this is a fake story[...]It does not make sense[...]the scenario described is unlikely.

In reality, Apple has the highest consumer satisfactions in the tech industry

Did the OP claim anything to the contrary? How do you know this is a fake story?

It's actually very likely that somebody would experience the described unlikely scenario.

 

[GS17]

So South Americans aren't Americans?

Best response I have seen in a while. For a big majority of "Americans" America ends at the border with Mexico, and everyone down to Patagonia are mexicans. Canadians don't count either. These Americans forgot that America is not a country but a continent. Reminds me of that YouTube video where people were asked to name a country starting with U and no one remembered United States.

 

[Consultant]

Did the OP claim anything to the contrary? How do you know this is a fake story?

It's actually very likely that somebody would experience the described unlikely scenario.

Real life vs internet, surely everything posted on the internet is real:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02-nmFTo_XA

Internet, serious business.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I'm not an attorney, but in California, an attorney cannot represent either side in a Small Claims action. Apple can't send an attorney to court, nor would they waste the time; do you have any idea how expensive their attorneys are?

I assume other states also prohibit attorney representation in Small Claims cases.

Lawyers are allowed in small claims in New Jersey. I filed a claim once and the paperwork clearly stated I could bring one if I wanted to. Also, apple attorneys are probably on retainer so it probably wouldn't cost extra for them to actually work, right? And besides, I think apple has enough to cover their costs, too.

 

[RaZaK]

as others have said, no. If these were all minor problems with different machines and they were fixed, you really have no case. If there were a ton of problems with one machine, it might qualify as a "lemon" after a certain number of repairs, depending on where you live.

But really, it's much better to discuss your dissatisfaction with an apple consumer rep. If it is a case where you've had to get one computer fixed many times, apple will often give in and give you a new one anyway.

I wholeheartedly agree. Apple Customer Service Reps are very helpful, and if you have extenuating circumstances, such as 5 defects!, they are willing to make things right in a reasonable way.

You should really try to work with Apple in-house staff before making a public case of it.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I wholeheartedly agree. Apple Customer Service Reps are very helpful, and if you have extenuating circumstances, such as 5 defects!, they are willing to make things right in a reasonable way.

You should really try to work with Apple in-house staff before making a public case of it.

Of course, this post is 2 years old so maybe the op could update us??

 

[chrono1081]

Best response I have seen in a while. For a big majority of "Americans" America ends at the border with Mexico, and everyone down to Patagonia are mexicans. Canadians don't count either. These Americans forgot that America is not a country but a continent. Reminds me of that YouTube video where people were asked to name a country starting with U and no one remembered United States.

LOL This is so true sadly! I blame it on the terrible education system in the states and the "no child left behind" ******** that they need to get rid of.

 

[smg9779]

Hi,

I am an Apple fan and last year alone I bought 5 computers.

They all 5 had problems and, in fact, the last one (a Penryn MacBook Pro) is still in the shop after 40 days of service (I am in Argentina now so the wait time is longer but they got a defective replacement that's why they took so long and the computers where bought in the US).

The question is should I sue them in a Small Claims Court? Does anyone has experience on this? I don't. I don't even know if Small Claims work.

I don't have time or money to get a lawyer and do a big show out of this.

I think it's time to switch to a Windows PC.