“Apple Inc., along with its chief executive and exclusive U.S. iPhone wireless partner AT&T, have been hit with a new lawsuit from a disgruntled customer who charges the trio with a variety of offenses stemming from the recent iPhone price cut,” Kasper Jade reports for AppleInsider.
“In the suit, filed Sept. 24 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Queens resident Dongmei Li accuses the parties of price discrimination, underselling, discrimination in rebates, deceptive actions, and other wrongdoings for their role in the Sept. 5th price drop on iPhone, which saw the handset’s price tag slashed an unprecedented $200 less than two months after its debut,” Jade reports.
“She, like thousands of others, the suit claims, is now the victim of price discrimination in that she cannot resell her iPhone for the same profit as customers who purchased the device after price drop. Similarly, she cannot trade up to 8GB model she had initially hoped to obtain and is now left with a product that has been discontinued,” Jade reports. “Li also feels cheated by Apple’s rebate policy because she was only offered a $100 store credit towards a future Apple store purchase when those customers who bought the same iPhone within a two week window period immediately preceding the cut received the full $200 refund under the company’s price protection policy.”
“‘Market conditions did not require Apple to change its price,'” Li’s attorney, C. Jean Wang of Wang Law Offices, PLLC wrote in the filing. ‘iPhone was selling very well because Apple’s stocks were increasing since August 16, 2007 and rose as high as $144.16 on September 4, 2007, the day before Apple announced that it was cutting the price of iPhone,'” Jade reports. “Li is requesting compensatory damages in the amount of $1 million, punitive damages in the amount to be determined at trial, and a court order that she is entitled to ‘threefold her damages, the costs involved in maintaining this action, and attorney’s fees.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Gman” for the heads up.]
We want a 73-foot tall talking pink bunny, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to get that, either. However, the chance we’ll get our wish significantly outweighs Li’s, since her attorney seems to think that stock price performance has some meaningful relationship to iPhone unit sales. Apple’s lawyers likely got a good laugh over this one before heading home for the weekend.
Did somebody say “tort reform?”
Oh for f*uck’s sake
1 million in compensation? For what, emotional damages?
\”C. Jean Wang of Wang Law Offices\”.
Is this anything like Rob Enderle of The Enderle Group?
[cough] A group of two! [/cough]
If the store credit was so bad that a lawsuit is called for, everyone participating th the suit should forfeit theirs and take their chances with the lawyers.
The lawyers, BTW, will clean up, while the whiners *might* end up with a $10.00 gift card.
Go ahead, make my day
Somebody pass me a 2 x 4… I feel the need to dispense some common sense.
sue sue sue sue sue so sue me.
my titanium lappy is now obsolete. i think i should sue apple for the price drop from a few years ago.
makes complete sense. the same with my car.
How do you get $1 million based on a price difference of (at most) $200? Emotional distress?
She was apparently OK with paying $499 for a 4GB model when she bought it. If Apple did not lower the price, she would continue to be OK with that price on September 5th. But Apple lowered the price, so she is actually up a $100 credit at the Apple Store; she’s not out $200 because that’s money already spent.
Crazy people…
Dongmei Li needs a Li-ttle spanking.
Tort! I am so sick of this crap.
Let’s see $499 for iPhone 4g
less restocking fee $75
$424 less $399 for new iPhone 8g
thats $25
She is suing because Apple will pay her $25 if she returns her old phone and gets a new phone.
Huhhhhhzhzhzhzhzh!!!!!!!!!
Uh Huh Huh You said Dongmei
What a country! What a company!
Only Apple could be sued for dropping prices! I think they should be sued for adding new features. I think we ought to sue everyone for adding new features! That means MS is safe!
I vote for the giant bunny. Let’s all get really baked first.
ONE MILLION?!! For what? So she can get an education?? Okay, that’s believable. Someone needs to be educated here and by the shear stupidity of this lawsuit it is going to take more than a million to educate this dumb rock of human being. SO SICK AND TIRED OF CLUELESS PEOPLE.
Can we just ship them off the planet? Seriously. We all have better things to do than end up paying for this stupid lawsuit through increased pricing.
^ Hey LOL, you IDIOT!
The word is SHEER, not SHEAR.
Talk about stupidity.
Missed opportunity.
If she had left her iPhone at the dry cleaners, she could have sued for hundreds of millions of dollars. Keep up people.
This is why our legal system needs to adopt a “loser pays” policy.
Notice the word ‘loser’ contains just a single ‘o’.
Kasper Jade.
Dongmei Li.
C. Jean Wang.
Sounds like the cast party for an Asian chopsocki flick.
– tclash . . . OUT!
How has our country (world) gotten so f***ed-up???? Tar and feather the lawyers!!!
Cull the race of plaintiffs and lawyers like this.
Whatever her hurt, the fact is she bought a product at a price she was happy to pay, and — importantly — it presumably continues to do the job she purchased it for.
My old SE/30 still works, but I don’t sue Apple because for half the price I can now buy a wango-tango 24″ iMac
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In the suit, filed Sept. 24 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Queens resident Dongmei Li accuses the parties of price discrimination, underselling, discrimination in rebates, deceptive actions, and other wrongdoings
A Mets fan. That figures! Those blowhards love to complain.
GO PHILLIES!
haaaaaa haa *said like nelson*
her name is Dongmei!
now, that my inner 7th grader has been satisfied, i think this is absolutely ridiculous. i have to agree with Dave Smith… why not sue every auto maker/dealer?? vehicles lose waaay more value in waaay less time (as in the moment you sign the dotted line), but no one seems to be dialing up lawyers over that… they just except it. it just blows my mind that ppl are so greedy and ridiculous… but then, it also blows my mind that i can even be remotely shocked at something like this. “i can’t sell my iphone for a profit now.” not crap, who buys something, uses it, and expects to sell for a profit?? a dumbarse… that’s who. if she bought 30 or ’em and turned around selling ’em on ebay new in the box, that would be a diff story. whatta idiot!
I have to say that I was hoping to sell the 4GB in short order to trade up, and was disgruntled to realize that the hit I’d planned to take had just gotten too big to be reasonable… But didn’t Capt. Steve-o say something about don’t drive in the technology lane if you don’t want to run out of gas, or something like that? Anyway. Whatever. The iPhone rules and since I don’t use it for video I figure 4GB will be fine for a long time.
Here in Europe you sometimes get the impression that everybody is suing everybody in the US, it seems suing is in someway a national pastime.
12(b)(6): failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
I think she seriously overestimated the resale price on these things… yikes!
It would be great to see Li & co. stuck with the legal bills and punitive damages after this is thrown out. If it did win, the lawyers would likely keep the money while the alleged victims would probably end up with a $10 gift card for the iTunes store.
@ Henri – You somtimes get that impression being in the USA!
I hope she loses and has to pay Apple’s legal fees.
If Li and the others were hoping to resell their iPhones for a fat profit, they were acting as speculators, which is a risky business. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes you lose big. She needs a good slap (along with the other litigators in her suit).
@Henri
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I live here in the US, and feel it’s waaaaaay outta control. You don’t see suing any and everybody over any and every little thing anywhere but here. I think it’s an occupation of sorts… ppl too lazy to work daily wanting an “easy buck.” Buncha losers! Making everyone pay by driving prices up… the companies have to recoup the money somehow… the suers are to stoopid to realize they’re paying the price for it along with everyone else. Whatta lotta idiots!
And the complete fucking lunacy continues.
Can we file a class action against the two of them for damaging the reputation of Asians everywhere with this ridiculous lawsuit? I think $1 Trillion in damages would do nicely.
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MW: taken… can this really be taken seriously?
What a FSCKING Joke..
If you are an early adopter then sometimes you get hit, How would you like to have one of the first Plasma TV’s only to see how cheap they are now..
From TeachMeFinance.com:
Caveat Emptor — Let the buyer beware, which is to say the purchaser buys at his or her own risk.
From Oxford-English dictionary:
Caveat Emptor – the principle that the buyer is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before purchase.
— ORIGIN Latin, ‘let the buyer beware’.
———————————————————————————————–
The plaintiffs don’t have a leg to stand on.
CASE DISMISSED !!!!!!!!
Did anyone happen to notice that the second generation RAZR is $499 or $299 with a 2 year plan… What a ripoff.
My favorite, of course, is the $1,000,000 in “damages” over her purchase of a $499 phone. How the heck did she come up with that one?
She, like thousands of others, the suit claims, is now the victim of price discrimination in that she cannot resell her iPhone for the same profit as customers who purchased the device after price drop.
So she is suing because she can’t make as much profit as others selling USED merchandise….O.K.
@Larry tate
How has our country (world) gotten so f***ed-up????
It is the mentality of entitlement and no personal responsibility. “The government will take care of me so I don’t have to pay attention and I am entitled to whatever it is I need.”
That’s what happens when people become dependent on the government for their every need through socialist style policies.
So su mi
I believe that she signed a 2 year contract – What is this Trade Up shit she is pulling out of her ass….. and she got back $100 for her 4GB phone and I also got $100 for my 8GB so she got compensated even more.
You know she was trying to make a profit by selling on eBay and she is mad that Apple made enough phones to meet demand and she could not sell hers.. TOO BAD
MW=future as in nothing is future proof
Wow, I’m an attorney, and I didn’t know that any company from whom you buy a product has to guarantee price protection in the event you want to resell it to a third party.
Hey, where’s my old 3G iPod? Lawsuit!
She had to have bought her 4 GB iPhone at least two weeks before the price drop was announced, otherwise she could have returned it and gotten her money back from Apple. And AT&T;gives you 30 days to return it.
I guess Motorola, Nokia, LG, etc. should be prepared for similar lawsuits involving their phones.
@Jeff
This has nothing to with dependence on government — it has to do with people wanting to make a quick buck abusing a system which does not discriminate between reasonable and unreasonable suits.
I’m going to file suit on Ford and Shell because I purchased a New Ford F450 Truck and Ford 2 months later is giving customers a $7,000 rebate and the price drop $3,000 while Shell raised the price of Gas to over $3.00/gallon.
This is an Attorney looking to make a name and cash in. Bet the attorney is working on contingency fees and they are hoping Apple and AT&T;settle out of court.
Sue, sue, sue, sue, sue aaaarrrrgggghhhh..
Why do people always think they are entitled to a free ride.
I sincerely hope the UK never becomes the litigation state America has become. It’s pathetic.
No offense like!
Actually Apple made ATT cut that to 14 days for the iPhone
This is ridiculous. Yeah, it’s frustrating. But Apple took an amazing move in offering the $100 credit. Give me a break.
Maybe she really is emotionally destroyed over this. . .BWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! ! ! ! Sorry. I tried to keep a straight face.
YES!!!! I hope she wins!! Apple is becoming the new Microsoft. I hope we all get compensation from this lawsuit and we get our other $100 back Apple shafted from us. On another note I hope Apple fixes all those phones that are not usable because of their stupid stand on unlocked phones. It is our legal right to unlock our phones, but it if they want re-lock at least let them operate in a locked state with AT&T;. STUPID APPLE AND AT&T;!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Apparently it is time for the courts to start assigning court costs (including the cost of the defense’s attorneys) to plaintiffs in cases such as this. And make the lawyer who filed the lawsuit (i.e. the person who should have advised this was not a good idea) pay 50% of it. And rip a strip off the filing lawyer a mile wide just for good measure, in front of everybody.
In other words, if you are so brain dead stupid as to file a brain dead stupid lawsuit, and you manage to find a brain dead stupid lawyer to do it for you, wasting court admin time, the court’s time, the defense’s time, your stupidity will cost you.
You will be amazed at how quickly the stupid cases will go away.
This is not to discourage reasonable cases, just stupid ones, and, since the judge is already making a judgment on the merit, this is a very minor, easy change.
“WWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, WHHHHAAAAAA!!!!!!”
my response: (HAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH.)
buy now!, the new Apple iDiot !! only $599
This is a unique situation being that the iphone was so revolutionary (still is), and it was so expensive… but I think anyone who complains is a moron, or being pressured to do so by other force$
YOU GET NOTHING. YOU LOSE! GOOD DAY SIR!
jaw drops…
just…
Somewhere there really does need to be a system of sanctions for this. Americans work damned hard to have a productive, efficient economy… and then… THIS.
After the lawyers laugh they have to answer and consider all the possibilities (class action is next, right?) to insure that some crazy judge doesn’t vaporlock for a minute and let this thing advance.
And those lawyers cost more than engineers…
This is such a phenomenon with Apple, someone should really study/write a book on it. Because nobody sued Motorola when the Razr went all the way to $49.
i wish i could laugh at this…
The next time you hit an annoying (or worse) bug in an Apple product, think of the value of that one more engineer to make it a bit better…. vs. one more lawyer because EVERY move the company makes generates a lawsuit.
@DC
Unlocking is not specifically legal by law. The issue of unlocking a cell phone is a gray area under the FCC rules that govern Cellular service providers.
The iPhone, in the strictest terms, is a subsidized phone because Apple is getting monetary considerations from AT&T;, in the US and other carries internationally, for the exclusive rights to provide services for all iPhones. This makes the phone subsidized, plain and simple.
Any hacking of the iPhone in the strictest terms of the law is a crime. Under the law Apple has the legal right and is obligated to protect it’s IP. You buy the phone hardware but, you only use the software that runs the phone under a license grant from Apple Inc. You violate the terms of the license grant, Apple has the right and obligation to cancel your license and delete it’s software to protect it’s IP.
LOL. Someone needs to be educated here and by the shear stupidity of this lawsuit it is going to take more than a million to educate this dumb rock of human being.
By using the word ‘shear’, I gather you mean, “Someone is going to get clipped.” Education is down the tubes.
It’s sad that Judges can only judge on the merits of the case, and can’t engage in a verbal tirade explaining in excruciating detail how fucking stupid these lawsuits are in light of the free market economy we live. Suing because of the resale value? When the fvcking Hell was anyone guranteed ANY kind of resale value after buying a retail item? What greedy horseshit is running thru these people’s brains?
HAS THE WORLD GONE TOTALLY F#CK!NG INSANE?????????
HAS THE WORLD GONE TOTALLY F#CK!NG INSANE?????????
@DC
You are a freaking moronic a**hole and need to be updated on things. Just read an_AG’s post adn everything will become clear to you… or maybe it won’t because you do not have enough attention span to read it all. You are probably one of those people who would sue Apple, AT&T;, or any other company for something this idiotic. Get a job you lazy bastards and stop trying to get a free ride from big companies.
@Jeff –
It’s bad enough to get Microsoft Trolls. Now we gotta deal with political ones, too?
I agree with DC.
I also expect his comment to be deleted because it doesn’t blindly side with Apple.
Is this for real? I can’t believe how stupid this person sounds.
Now the absolute worst thing would be if the courts/judicial system actually allowed this case to proceed.
And here I thought things were getting bad in Canada…
Apple offered everyone who bought an iPhone $200.
This will be laughed out of court.
Case closed.
The first thing we’ll do is kill all the lawyers
MW physical, never mind that she is mental
Hey Mike Kaplan (MikeK) of Blue Sky Creative…
Where’s the check for the royalty fees for using my recording of “Blue Skys” on your web page for your business the last year?
At 7.75 cents a download, times the number of hits your webpage has gotten the last year, it would appear that you’re gonna need a lot of cash to settle things.
http://www.blueskycreative.com/
It’s good to know that musical luminaries are readers of MDN. Who knew?
I bet she’s one of the Fu*ks that wanted to make money of off iPhone and bought all bunch of them. Now she’s probably stuck with few of them.
F*** that greedy biatch
I think we should file a class action suit against her. The money Apple must spend defending themselves from idiots like this one raises the prices we pay for all Apple merchandise. I would llike to get three times OUR damages.
I am on my way to sue the local gas station as well because I bought gas yesterday at 3.09 and now it is 2.79. Same idea right?
SUE ABOUT THE GODDAM GLOSSY SCREENS BEETCH!
Shesh, people don\’t have a clue what those glossy screens are going to do to their eyesight.
I KNOW, damm these glasses!!!
Maybe this will be the wake-up call for all Apple and Mac enthusiasts to grandly reach down with both hands, pull their pants up, and say…”NO… I don’t want another! SIR!”
As per the lawsuit… rather than sue, just don’t buy anything else from Apple. Stop buying. That’s it.
No iTMS purchases, no Mac purchases, no iPhone purchases… and write Apple about it to let them know.
Thats is so stupid… note to apple Release all new products overseas…Europe or Australia ,where people do not sue you for not flushing a public toilet…if you know what i mean!!!!!!! what would happen if apple put the price up $200 would the same lady feel discriminated against ,that she payed $500 instead of $700 like everybody else after the price rise…i do not think so….Every apple user knows if you buy apple products
and you buy something today it the price might go down in 2 weeks because they have released a new version of it…thats the way it is(i bought a 23 inch screen and 1 week later the price went down $200) you win some you lose some…but why sue apple…Companys like Apple should sue all lawyers that follow up law suits of this nature… FU..YOU Dongmei Li and your anti-discrimination lawyer C. Jean Wang of Wang Law Offices YOU SUCK..
In other words, if you are so brain dead stupid as to file a brain dead stupid lawsuit, and you manage to find a brain dead stupid lawyer to do it for you, wasting court admin time, the court’s time, the defense’s time, your stupidity will cost you.
You mean it is NOT already this way in the US? Wow. That explains a lot. And who pays the above in the US?
Over here if the plaintif builds up anything and he loses then he pays the whole theater. The loser pays as well the costs, that is if you are guilty you are as well responsible for the court fees.
Obviously you do not put up lawsuits then just to try and see whether you can win big bucks from companies. You have to have a real strong case.
MDN, why even post this useless shit. Or better, if you want to post this stuff, please keep us updated on Big Foot sightings.
Both have the same value.
Get real.
Nothing will ever happen as long as we sit around and complain about the need for tort reform here and leave it at that. If everyone took as much time to write their US Senator and give them hell for not addressing this issue, maybe this BS would end. Get involved and get vocal!.
the lawfirm wang, bang and su
Wow! A company getting sued for cutting it’s products prices???
Wait for the future when another will sue for price dropped
on LCD-TV’s.
I agree too…
http://www.free-cellphones-hub.blogspot.com
Maybe it is time that Apple shareholders band together and sue the filers of some of these silly lawsuits about the damage they are causing to their porfolios.
Maybe then some of the silly lawsuits will stop.
There’s a moron born any minute. And anyone hoping she wins has just “come out” as even dumber than she is.
I titally agree with “Sure Am Relieved” that stupid people who file frivolous lawsuits should have to pay.
There’s a moron born any minute. And anyone hoping she wins has just “come out” as even dumber than she is.
I totally agree with “Sure Am Relieved” that many frivolous lawsuits would simply go away if the morons who file them had to pay court costs.
So… she invested in 500 iPhones hoping to make a killing on eBay? Could that be the issue here? Perhaps she should have sued Apple for some SEC violation!
I don’t think losers should necessarily always pay in lawsuits. The little guy against the big guy, even if right, can be destroyed by that. But this and other idiotic kinds of lawsuits should be stopped.
“It’s good to know that musical luminaries are readers of MDN. Who knew?”
Who knew that someone like yourself, who claims to have worked in the entertainment industry for NBC and ABC, who owns and operates his own graphic arts and publication company, would be so disrespectful of other artists by stealing and illegally using their work?
It will be good practice for the lawyers. They will need it for when Apple gets sued for deliberately destroying people’s iPhones that were legally unlocked.
Apple Breaking the Law Again! The PEOPLE SUE!
Third lawsuit arises over iPhone battery replacements
“In what may be the clear sign of an emerging trend, a second suit filed this past Wednesday in California’s northern district alleges that Apple and AT&T;knowingly withheld information about the iPhone’s true battery replacement costs until after the June 29th launch, effectively misleading some customers into buying the device when they would have otherwise refrained.”
It has been my contention that the Apple people have an “above the law” mentality for quite some time! Others are starting to see this pattern of deceit and treachery and sueing over it. That’s right guys hit them where it hurts, the wallets!
Remember you guys, MS is your friend, sue Apple.
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com/
@DC
Why should apple have to go out of there way to make a hacked iPhone still work? They wrote software to work on the device they created with the software they had preinstalled. Had they made the iPhone “open” (which I wish they would) then they would have to account for other software, but since they didn’t, there is no reason they should expect that an iPhone would contain any software other than the software that came preloaded on it.
The lady clearly has a case of buyer’s remorse.
Unfortunately (for her), I don’t think any sane court is going to recognize that as grounds for any sort of legal action, particularly two months after the purchase….although I could be wrong.
If only some judges would have the common sense to laugh these kinds of things out of court, maybe our court system might start to regain some sense sanity.
I won’t hold my breath, though.
Speaking of early adopter’s remorse, how about that poor bastard who bought Microsoft’s Zune?
The poor sumbitch has to drive all the way to the Redmond campus to squirt someone.
It is mad and if she gets away with it it is a MAD, MAD world. She should be heavily penalised and made to pay all costs for wasting time and have a mental test. Then maybe a straight jacket. She is BARKING MAD.
If Apple wishes to half, treble or whatever their products so be it. We the public will vote with our wallets, its not in any companies interest to upset customers. It is up to the Directors and Shareholders to put the boot in; if need be, NOT THE STATE. Unless your in Cuba or the old USSR!
Fools of America…..
It’s a cultural misperception issue.
This is not an uncommon issue in Chinese American communities. Bartering is almost always involved in purchasing.
1.By lowering the price and offering compensation after the sale, Steve “acknowledged” that the original price was negotiable.
2. He then offered compensation that did not cover the difference.
3. By her beliefs he has insulted her and compensation greater than the act is required.
Chinese American business women are some of the most shrewd and most productive business people I’ve encountered. You should see the financial negotiations of a marriage.
Also – Insulting her for your mispronunciation of her name is short sighted, my last name in English, though common enough, in Chinese is derogatory. Most names in the U.S.A. have an insulting meaning in another culture.
@class action, I want to sue her for damaging the savy reputation of New Yorkers.
ME SO HORNY, of lil’ chinese butt.
“Li is requesting compensatory damages in the amount of $1 million…”
Perfectly reasonable. $200 compensation for the price drop, and $999,800 for the lawyer.
The purpose of civil suits is to make the person suing “whole” again, which means $200, not a million. It will get dismissed as soon as it makes it to court.
tokoyo drifter
Not only will this person gets absolutely screwed with legal bills by the end of this case, but she is already such a loser for making a claim so ludacrus… so much so that Apple stores around the world will probably have a sign with her face saying “Not allowed in! Go home!” Apple Inc’s supreme team of lawyers probably did have a really long laugh over lunch and they will CRUSH her legal team in opening statement lol!
ONE WORD – BOOM!
@tclash
Stop escaping your characters with the backslash already. We are humans, and do not process the punctuation as code. It just looks like you are trying to hard to show that you are a 1337 c0d34z. Just. Stop.