“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?”
“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.