Three More Law Firms Join Class Action Lawsuit Against Apple Over iPhone 6 'Touch Disease'

[robotica]

If Apple has been proven to have known about the issue and still made honest customers pay for replacementemts they should have to pay a decent amount of compensation.
Pretty sickening for a large company who already make record profits to act in this manner.
What ever happened to paying more for the product and getting first class customer service?

 

[Rocketman]

The lawsuit is a trivial sidebar to the actual issue. Apple will not address the issue because they are forced by lawyers and judges. They will engineer a solution, install it in a planned fashion, and take the wind out of the sails of the money grubbing lawyers. The lawyers do it for themselves, not for the benefit of clients anyway. When was the last time you were a class member of a class action suit where you recovered your actual damages much less statutory interest? Never, that's when. You get a token payment or a coupon worth little, and the lawyers get paid in full, first, up front, and with all costs, and a bunch on top of that too! Class action lawsuits are FOR LAWYERS.

BTW, the logged class members number about 10,000 not millions. It appears Apple can keep providing replacement handsets for 90% of cases to satisfy a customer.

 

[JungleNYC]

This is true, but it should have happened sans class action law suit.

Companies like Apple are usually aware of these kinds of problems, and they simply "do the math" - is it more expensive (money and public perception) to announce they've found a flaw and are offering to fix it? Or to deny it exists and weather the storm of class action(s).

Ultimately it's consumers' (our) responsibility to hold companies to task for things like this. The more we expect someone else to make things "fair" the more disappointed we will be.

 

[Phil in ocala]

If Apple has been proven to have known about the issue and still made honest customers pay for replacementemts they should have to pay a decent amount of compensation.
Pretty sickening for a large company who already make record profits to act in this manner.
What ever happened to paying more for the product and getting first class customer service?

______________________
YOU DON'T OWN THAT PHONE...that mac mini...the os....Apple does....if they want you to only buy music from the iTunes Store and never record music again...that is what you will do...repeat after me....

 

[tentales]

Exactly.
I've certainly rolled my eyes in the past over the previous class action suits (you're holding it wrong, etc) but this one feels legit. I know several people who's phones are suffering from this, mine included
...
And this started happening to me in August…out of warranty, and just in time for the 7,
...
this "touch disease" renders my 6 un-sellable, so I can't recoup any $$$ to offset the purchase of the new 7.

Knee-jerk reaction is to always scoff at lawyers.
Funny how people legitimise lawyers & legal action when it hits them where it hurts.

 

[JungleNYC]

Lawyers smell money.

So what? I'll gladly give them some % for essentially facilitating a recall/replace that should've happened anyway. If a judge decides that these phones were defective, and that Apple has some level of reasonable responsibility, then Apple will have to pay their customers for that inconvenience, and the evil evil lawyers will get a cut for organizing everything.

 

[laz232]

Lawyers aren't always awesome, and class actions can be flawed, but I would much rather the private sector police itself than give yet more power and money to the government bureaucracy.

Except that it's no longer realistically possible for a single person to take on a $1 billion company when the company can just keep throwing lawyers at the problem until the individual goes bankrupt. therefore governments need to set legislation to prevent companies from making crap products. Government should be there to protect the people both from other governments but also from corporate greed.

In a world with ultimately limited resources the pennies on the dollar that it cost extra to make things sustainable are sacrificed for even greater profit. The liberal economic promoters of a capitalistic system say that the system should theoretically be auto-correcting. however as we see the growth of large monopolies there is no affective choice and the barrier to entry is so large that there is effectively no choice, which again necessitates a certain amount of government regulation.

 

[tentales]

Ultimately it's consumers' (our) responsibility to hold companies to task for things like this. The more we expect someone else to make things "fair" the more disappointed we will be.

and how do you suggest any consumer hold a company "to task for things like this" ?
outing them on social media gets you only so far, but rarely your money back.

That's what class-action lawsuits are for. All companies f-up now & then and most want to sweep it under the rug unless compelled to do so by more than consumer outrage.

 

[minimo3]

One things for sure, between touch disease and random activation lock there's no way I'm buying a used iPhone (especially the iPhone 6).

 

[djgamble]

Really just shows how poor consumer laws are in the USA that you have to resort to lawyers.

You can't really cut lawyers out of a legal issue.

However, I get where you're coming from. Why are private lawyers doing this through a court, rather than public lawyers through a consumer watchdog agency?

Answer? I suspect because the goal is to scare Apple into settling for more than what they'd otherwise get for an issue that seems quite trivial (and may have an easy 1c fix for all interested customers, which would fix the issue, but these lawyers are just oppotuniats looking for a big 'shut up and stop making this public' settlement).

 

[fifthworld]

I've certainly rolled my eyes in the past over the previous class action suits (you're holding it wrong, etc) but this one feels legit. I know several people who's phones are suffering from this, mine included. And when the marketplace can organize to protect itself, it's a good thing.

Of course is legit this time. You are effected.

 

[JungleNYC]

and how do you suggest any consumer hold a company "to task for things like this" ?
outing them on social media gets you only so far, but rarely your money back.

That's what class-action lawsuits are for. All companies f-up now & then and most want to sweep it under the rug unless compelled to do so by more than consumer outrage.

I think you and I are saying the same thing

Imo class actions, etc, are a consumer tool.

 

[tentales]

Government should be there to protect the people both from other governments but also from corporate greed.

Operative word here is "should" !
In reality, the bigger the corporation the larger the greed and government lobbying to facilitate said greed and quarterly growth, because... ya know... "jobs" are always on the line.

Occasionally a government, like the EU demonstrated recently, compels a bigger player like Apple to pay their corporate taxes and the collective outcry from all the fanboys here on MR was largely against such legal action.

You can't have it both ways. Hate government regulation and hate corporate greed.

 

[macjunk(ie)]

Call me when you see a recall from Apple.

Samsung was the one who started the trend when they announced the recall, and what they did was good thing! but they also should've known they are crappy people in this world, and because of those crappy people..other companies would not follow Samsung example

Well...they did issue a recall because they had to! This was not some case of a touch screen not responding...it was a case of the phone spontaneously combusting and burning things and people. So they did a recall because they knew what was good for them.

But I guess they screwed up on the the diagnosis. I guess they were in a hurry AGAIN not to let the iPhone 7 garner an unassailable lead. What else can explain even the exchanged units catching on fire? They should have taken the time, done a proper diagnosis and then re-released the Note even if it meant they were a couple of months late. You NEVER play around with your customers' safety!!! If the excerpt around Samsung hiding the Minnesota incident is true, then it is even worse!

Same goes for Apple. They know that the 6 has a design flaw. Instead of simply accepting their mistake, these guys chose to make even more money of their mistakes! Pathetic!

Are there any good guys in here at all?

 

[tentales]

I think you and I are saying the same thing

Imo class actions, etc, are a consumer tool.

i think we are, was just coming at it from a different perspective.

 

[chr1s60]

Apple vs Samsung...Choose your poison.
Both companies are stubborn...refusing to accept design flaws in their product...come what may. Such a shame!

Every major manufacturer does this. Some just do it better and are able to do it more under the radar than others. All while other companies are held to higher standards and are always under the microscope. Apple is one under the microscope and after the whole Note 7 debacle, I think Samsung will be joining them to an extent.

 

[JungleNYC]

Of course is legit this time. You are effected.

Exactly, which is my point. For most people class actions and lawyers are skeevy and icky until it aligns with their interest.

 

[chr1s60]

This is true, but it should have happened sans class action law suit.

A sad reality of large companies today is that they rarely do the right thing without the lawsuit sparking it. How long do you think Samsung would have waited had the lawyers not gotten involved with the Note 7? They already had covered it up as long as possible before mainstream media and lawsuits were all over it. No different than what tons of tech companies do. Samsung was just a bit unfortunate this time around that their flaw caused property damage and injury. Had it just been a defective battery it would have never made the news. In this case for Apple they have lucked out that it is becoming an issue after 2 new phones have been introduced. Lawsuits and replacements at this point will be much cheaper to them as opposed to what it would have been even 6 months ago.

 

[Rocketman]

With all Due Respect. I do not see a level playing field. One deals with TC failing not allowing one to dribble on Facebook. The other explodes in airliners, people hands, pockets, purses, and homes.

One can set a iPhone to not even require a password or touch for it to function at all. Only use it for "need" purposes like ApplePay.

 

[ratpH1nk]

How would an EMI shield over the suspect chip have prevented this exactly? If it's separating from the PCB it needs underfill.

In addition, I think if you look very carefully between the 5s and 6 plus you will see that while the 6 plus doesn't have a metal shield covering it, it does appear to have a metal "frame" around the outside of the board that the sheeting is attached to. I think what this is going to come down to is the iPhone 6 plus is simply and noticeably bigger than the others - especially in the length dimension. It will be more prone to subtle bending *especially* if you keep it in your back pocket (which is fine when you are walking around, but I would not recommend sitting on any phone, especially a longish smart phone.) Although those big smart phones don't exactly fit well in a front pocket, especially with tighter pants.

Like you mentioned the thin piece of metal is not going to stop a grown human from sitting on a phone and their posterior subtly deforming it over the course of months to years.

Is it a design flaw? I am not sure you can easily engineer a thin phone at that size, again it is the length dimension that is the problem, that holds up to the force of a human adult sitting on it. Our phones might be getting thinner, but Americans (and Brits, and Mexicans etc..) are not.....

 

[kstotlani]

I was referring to a battery recall, not something that doesn't cost Apple nothing! but what happened to Samsung, there's no way Apple will get into in this, so if the iPhone explodes in your face? that's on you - the people who attacked Samsung's recall

Oh come on. Admit you lost and give him/her your number to call.

 

[Shirasaki]

______________________
YOU DON'T OWN THAT PHONE...that mac mini...the os....Apple does....if they want you to only buy music from the iTunes Store and never record music again...that is what you will do...repeat after me....

Then I wonder, why we don't own that phone? Why Apple still holds full rights against devices we have shelled thousands? And if so, we actually don't OWN anything, in any form?

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

My original 6+ stopped recognizing the Touch ID button for finger prints, and eventually the screen would flake out, and the damned thing would crap out. I got a replacement, after waiting for 45 minutes at the 'local' Apple Store. That one would seize up and drop calls, so I have a second replacement. The second one has a short battery life and occasionally can't recognize my finger, but so far (knock on wood) hasn't had the screen issue. Yet.

I have little faith that it won't over time. My AppleCare expires this month. I'm not happy, and can't afford to replace this one if it too dies.

This isn't funny...

Steve Jobs had special screws made for the Next cube. Screws that NO ONE would ever see. Because Steve obviously had such a level of attention to detail. The 6's skip a metal cover over the chips, which would have made the main board more resilient to flexing, because of 'cost concerns' I'd wager. I metal shield that no one would ever see...

Galaxy 7's are exploding. Crappy engineering. iPhones are failing. Crappy engineering. From a company that religiously, one could argue, over engineered their products.

I guess I wouldn't be so 'bitter' if Apple didn't stick people with failing iPhones with 'remanufactured' junque. I wonder how many of those 'remanufactured' iPhones were possibly on the verge of having 'touch disease' before they were 'cleared' for resale, or had it, and the symptom was missed during their 'strenuous refurbishment process'?
[doublepost=1476019385][/doublepost]

Say WHAT?

Really. I couldn't quite tell what they were trying to say. But Samsung does seem to have missed the cause of their self immolation...

 

[iapplelove]

One of the main reasons why I got rid of my 6 Plus for the 7 Plus. And for $650 to boot.

Your 6 plus has this issue? I bought mine on launch day and yet to experience anything like this.

And if it wasn't for MRs articles I would have never heard about it.

 

[I7guy]

My original 6+ stopped recognizing the Touch ID button for finger prints, and eventually the screen would flake out, and the damned thing would crap out. I got a replacement, after waiting for 45 minutes at the 'local' Apple Store. That one would seize up and drop calls, so I have a second replacement. The second one has a short battery life and occasionally can't recognize my finger, but so far (knock on wood) hasn't had the screen issue. Yet.

I have little faith that it won't over time. My AppleCare expires this month. I'm not happy, and can't afford to replace this one if it too dies.

This isn't funny...

Steve Jobs had special screws made for the Next cube. Screws that NO ONE would ever see. Because Steve obviously had such a level of attention to detail. The 6's skip a metal cover over the chips, which would have made the main board more resilient to flexing, because of 'cost concerns' I'd wager. I metal shield that no one would ever see...

Galaxy 7's are exploding. Crappy engineering. iPhones are failing. Crappy engineering. From a company that religiously, one could argue, over engineered their products.

I guess I wouldn't be so 'bitter' if Apple didn't stick people with failing iPhones with 'remanufactured' junque. I wonder how many of those 'remanufactured' iPhones were possibly on the verge of having 'touch disease' before they were 'cleared' for resale, or had it, and the symptom was missed during their 'strenuous refurbishment process'?
[doublepost=1476019385][/doublepost]

Really. I couldn't quite tell what they were trying to say. But Samsung does seem to have missed the cause of their self immolation...

I can't get that tenuous connection between the note battery injuring people and this as much as an annoyance as it is. Throwing them around like that as if they were equivalent minimizes them both IMO.