“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?”
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.