iPad class action

[Sonny Burnett]

Steve Jobs is the one who touted the Unlimited on and off plan with no contract. That was a major selling point. Perhaps the end result will be all of the 3G owners will get a $130.00 refund. I can't see anymore damages being awarded than that.

The market can take care of this on its' own when 3G sales fall off of a cliff or perhaps HP will offer their Web OS based tablet with an unlimited on / off no contract 4G plan from Sprint. That would kill Apple & AT&T.

 

[phenixagom]

I don't like what AT&T did but to me, if I was the judge, I would throw this case out as a fraudulent lawsuit. If you don't like the product, then don't buy it. No one is forcing you. If you have a 3G and bought it with the unlimited data offer, then you still can sign up.

I bought a 3G because maybe in the future I wanted data, or when I travel overseas. But I also wanted the GPS with it also. I think it sucks they are not doing unlimited anymore but it's their company and if I don't like it than I can buy a different product.

you are missing the point. i bought the radio for $130 extra because it had value to me at the time; now today, not so much value. if on july 1st, att says sorry we can't afford to offer month-to-month. from now on, you have to sign a 2-year ipad data plan with a $1000 cancellation fee.

fine if they do that, they do whatever they want. but now i have a $130 radio in my ipad that i am stuck with and for me, it's no longer worth it. att lured me into buying this extra radio with a sweet deal that i can't even use anymore. i thought paying $130 for a radio was good as long as i could go unlimited. i made that choice. if att backs out, i should be able to back out as well. if att refunds me $130 and disables the radio in my ipad permanently, i'll be fine.

so sure att can do whatever it wants. but i can sue if i feel damages. i feel $130 is a small price to pay for occasional unlimited and month-to-month. take away unlimited and the radio is only worth $50 to me. add a 1-year contract to it and the radio is only worth $10 to me. that's fair isn't it? who's going to make me whole?

if the wifi-only unit price = wifi + 3g unit price, this would would be much less of an issue. i realise att said ymmv but if the damages are significant or unusual, you're going to have lawyers who will seek to point this out in court.

No you are missing the point. No one ever signed a contract with them. Its only month to month service. They have the right to change their terms at anytime without a contract. If yup don't like it, then don't get the 3G and complain about it. Take responsibility for your purchase. It was always stated and always been month to month. Heck I have a tmobile phone plan that I signed up month to month. It's cheaper than signing a contract but zi know that tomorrow they could not offer the plato new people or they could change the terms and not offer it to me anymore.. Its month to month and I am willing to take that risk.

 

[figmo10]

The circumstance that makes the Apple/AT&T iPad advertising appear to be deceptive is the practically immediate cancelation of a program highly touted as a major feature of the 3G iPad...done without notice or recourse. My expectation that a major feature of my device would continue past a five-week period is not irresponsible or unrealistic on my part.

 

[kensteele]

I don't like what AT&T did but to me, if I was the judge, I would throw this case out as a fraudulent lawsuit. If you don't like the product, then don't buy it. No one is forcing you. If you have a 3G and bought it with the unlimited data offer, then you still can sign up.

I bought a 3G because maybe in the future I wanted data, or when I travel overseas. But I also wanted the GPS with it also. I think it sucks they are not doing unlimited anymore but it's their company and if I don't like it than I can buy a different product.

you are missing the point. i bought the radio for $130 extra because it had value to me at the time; now today, not so much value. if on july 1st, att says sorry we can't afford to offer month-to-month. from now on, you have to sign a 2-year ipad data plan with a $1000 cancellation fee.

fine if they do that, they do whatever they want. but now i have a $130 radio in my ipad that i am stuck with and for me, it's no longer worth it. att lured me into buying this extra radio with a sweet deal that i can't even use anymore. i thought paying $130 for a radio was good as long as i could go unlimited. i made that choice. if att backs out, i should be able to back out as well. if att refunds me $130 and disables the radio in my ipad permanently, i'll be fine.

so sure att can do whatever it wants. but i can sue if i feel damages. i feel $130 is a small price to pay for occasional unlimited and month-to-month. take away unlimited and the radio is only worth $50 to me. add a 1-year contract to it and the radio is only worth $10 to me. that's fair isn't it? who's going to make me whole?

if the wifi-only unit price = wifi + 3g unit price, this would would be much less of an issue. i realise att said ymmv but if the damages are significant or unusual, you're going to have lawyers who will seek to point this out in court.

No you are missing the point. No one ever signed a contract with them. Its only month to month service. They have the right to change their terms at anytime without a contract. If yup don't like it, then don't get the 3G and complain about it. Take responsibility for your purchase. It was always stated and always been month to month. Heck I have a tmobile phone plan that I signed up month to month. It's cheaper than signing a contract but zi know that tomorrow they could not offer the plato new people or they could change the terms and not offer it to me anymore.. Its month to month and I am willing to take that risk.

You don't know what you are talking about. You are dismissed. I'm probably arguing with a teenager. LOL LOL

 

[kensteele]

And what is to prevent you from selling it on eBay for a profit, then buying a wifi model? If you bought one before they cancelled the program, you have options. You can be on the unlimited plan by staying on it, or you can spend less money for a plan that is very good. With the wifi availability increasing, there is little that this will actually affect. And anyone who would use more than the 2GB/month should have no trouble justifying staying on the unlimited plan.

This is about people trying to get something for nothing. Lawyers love that and one good lawsuit can make them a living for a long time.

@seadog, selling my property at risk is not a legal remedy to the problem. if you wrong someone, it is not a defense that they can sell and problem goes away. if your neighbor drives a car thru your wall, just sell your home at a profit, buy another home and you're good? it might be an option but if i am damaged, then I will be the one to seek a remedy for my damages and i will be asking for $130 to make me whole. I won't be asking for "I'll sell my ipad, see what i can get for it, move to a different product." If that is offered to me without making up for the shorfall if I happen to sell and the difference is less than $130, I will reject it.

I purchased my Ipad when the unlimited data plan was available. As of today, my 3G data service is turn off. When I purchased my iPad, I was promised that I could turn it ON and OFF as often as I wanted and that when I do decide to turn it ON, i could do so with unlimited....all summer long, all year long, no specific ending date. In exchange, all I would have to do is pay $130 extra. I paid the $130 extra. Am I still getting what I was promised? When I get ready to turn on my data in September, will I be able to choose unlimited?

If I can, no harm, no foul.
If I cannot, I feel I have been damages.
Is one year reasonable? Is one month reasonable? Is one week reasonable?

Maybe I will legally seek a remedy in court and if that means joining the class, so be it. Matters little to me who else is benefiting or who's the blame (att or apple). But it's not my fault. I didn't shut off the unlimited plan. Place the blame somewhere else, I don't care where, you can discuss it all day if it's Apple or ATT the blame or whoever. Consumers are protected against businesses mired in confusion, deception, and/or mismanagement.

Someone else mentioned the cellphone situation with your service provider. Not the same.

 

[phenixagom]

you are missing the point. i bought the radio for $130 extra because it had value to me at the time; now today, not so much value. if on july 1st, att says sorry we can't afford to offer month-to-month. from now on, you have to sign a 2-year ipad data plan with a $1000 cancellation fee.

fine if they do that, they do whatever they want. but now i have a $130 radio in my ipad that i am stuck with and for me, it's no longer worth it. att lured me into buying this extra radio with a sweet deal that i can't even use anymore. i thought paying $130 for a radio was good as long as i could go unlimited. i made that choice. if att backs out, i should be able to back out as well. if att refunds me $130 and disables the radio in my ipad permanently, i'll be fine.

so sure att can do whatever it wants. but i can sue if i feel damages. i feel $130 is a small price to pay for occasional unlimited and month-to-month. take away unlimited and the radio is only worth $50 to me. add a 1-year contract to it and the radio is only worth $10 to me. that's fair isn't it? who's going to make me whole?

if the wifi-only unit price = wifi + 3g unit price, this would would be much less of an issue. i realise att said ymmv but if the damages are significant or unusual, you're going to have lawyers who will seek to point this out in court.

No you are missing the point. No one ever signed a contract with them. Its only month to month service. They have the right to change their terms at anytime without a contract. If yup don't like it, then don't get the 3G and complain about it. Take responsibility for your purchase. It was always stated and always been month to month. Heck I have a tmobile phone plan that I signed up month to month. It's cheaper than signing a contract but zi know that tomorrow they could not offer the plato new people or they could change the terms and not offer it to me anymore.. Its month to month and I am willing to take that risk.

You don't know what you are talking about. You are dismissed. I'm probably arguing with a teenager. LOL LOL

Actually I am spot on and am only arguing with an idiot.

 

[phenixagom]

Steve Jobs is the one who touted the Unlimited on and off plan with no contract. That was a major selling point. Perhaps the end result will be all of the 3G owners will get a $130.00 refund. I can't see anymore damages being awarded than that.

The market can take care of this on its' own when 3G sales fall off of a cliff or perhaps HP will offer their Web OS based tablet with an unlimited on / off no contract 4G plan from Sprint. That would kill Apple & AT&T.

And was Steve Jobs saying it will always be unlimited for always $30 a month?

No.

Bottom line is no one signed a contract with AT&T. You always took a risk that tomorrow, there would be no unlimited data and for $30. Legally, AT&T and Apple have no responsibility for your purchase assuming there would always be 3G. You could even say that when you purchased your iPad 3G it was well expected you would have also signed up for data services within a day, or even a week. Well you still had that option. I had that option when I purchased my iPad 3G, I decline risking the chance data won't be unlimited a few later and I didn't mind. It's the risk I took had I not signed up for unlimited data now. I pretty much expected it to be not unlimited at some point. Unlimited data was talked about for awhile on being cut, not just for iPads but for all mobile devices. If you bought an iPad today you would be told the new pricing plans which means you have no claims to being duped into unlimited data and like I said, if you boughten it previously than it was expected you would be signing up for service ASAP, not 6 months from now.

Bottom line is no one signed anything guaranteeing that AT&T will always allow for unlimited data signups. Unless you did sign something than you have a legal claim, otherwise, you don't.

I do think that there is a good change AT&T and or Apple will settle just to make people happy and try to keep their name in a good light.

 

[phenixagom]

I purchased my Ipad when the unlimited data plan was available. As of today, my 3G data service is turn off. When I purchased my iPad, I was promised that I could turn it ON and OFF as often as I wanted and that when I do decide to turn it ON, i could do so with unlimited....all summer long, all year long, no specific ending date. In exchange, all I would have to do is pay $130 extra. I paid the $130 extra. Am I still getting what I was promised? When I get ready to turn on my data in September, will I be able to choose unlimited?

Is it in writing? Where does it say that?

No where....

Just like my cell phone service is contract free. I know that my provider can cancel me or make me change plans. Generally they just don't. They grandfather you in and new subscribers can't take the old plans. Heck, Qwest use to have unlimited everything for $50 per line a month in my area. I wish I kept that service. But my service I have now, if I cancel it I know very well 2 months from now it may not be offered again and unless I have something in writing there isn't anything I can do about it.

 

[y2kgtp]

I still say Apple will just hand out store credit. This sounds similar to the 1st iPhone when they dropped the 8gb 200$, and dropped the 4GB from the lineup.

All they (AT&T) did at the time was offer 100$ store credit to buyers within 30 days of the price cut. I think Apple only gave a 15 day grace period.....

 

[phenixagom]

I still say Apple will just hand out store credit. This sounds similar to the 1st iPhone when they dropped the 8gb 200$, and dropped the 4GB from the lineup.

All they (AT&T) did at the time was offer 100$ store credit to buyers within 30 days of the price cut. I think Apple only gave a 15 day grace period.....

I think they probably will do something like that. They want to keep a good name for people buying their products. I know when I bought my current Mac Book Pro some 3 weeks afterwards they had a deal and were cool enough to give me that deal they had.

 

[y2kgtp]

I still say Apple will just hand out store credit. This sounds similar to the 1st iPhone when they dropped the 8gb 200$, and dropped the 4GB from the lineup.

All they (AT&T) did at the time was offer 100$ store credit to buyers within 30 days of the price cut. I think Apple only gave a 15 day grace period.....

I think they probably will do something like that. They want to keep a good name for people buying their products. I know when I bought my current Mac Book Pro some 3 weeks afterwards they had a deal and were cool enough to give me that deal they had.

I am guessing.....60$ keep it to about 1/2 of what the 'feature' cost extra over the WiFi model.

 

[pallentx]

There is nothing to this lawsuit. At no time did anyone promise this data plan would be available for any amount of time. I agree its bad business decision to offer it and then yank it so soon, but its not an illegal breach of contract, false advertising or anything like that. Companies do promotional pricing with new products all the time. Before I signed a contract for a fixed rate, but electric rates used to up and down at random. When I signed up for DSL internet, I got a really cheap rate, but after 3 months it doubled.

 

[figmo10]

There is nothing to this lawsuit. At no time did anyone promise this data plan would be available for any amount of time. I agree its bad business decision to offer it and then yank it so soon, but its not an illegal breach of contract, false advertising or anything like that. Companies do promotional pricing with new products all the time. Before I signed a contract for a fixed rate, but electric rates used to up and down at random. When I signed up for DSL internet, I got a really cheap rate, but after 3 months it doubled.

You can state with certainty that YOU believe that there's nothing to this lawsuit. Apparantly there are some legal pros who disagree.

 

[kensteele]

Ok so I guess we have a couple of folks who are not smart enough to figure out how to prosecute a lawsuit so they say it's not possible. That's ok, some people are victims and they just roll over and take it. They are told "show me in writing" else forget about it.Well, it works both ways. When I use 300gb in data, is ATT going to show me "in writing" where I agreed to pay them? I should be able to change the rules midstream as well.

So I'm not saying ATT can't do what they did, I'm just saying it might cost them as a result. Of the 2 million people affected, they probably expect 1.5 million sheep to bleep the blues and roll over but I believe there are enough of us to make this work.

Even without a contract in writing, the class is going to show you and others how it's done. You will witness and learn how it really works and you can either ride our coat tails and jump into the class (which people always want to follow a winner) and get yours or you can drop out, sign away your rights, take your licks, and continue to be told how, when, and where to spend your money.

Just because you don't know when you've been scammed doesn't mean others don't. I've tried to explain my angle to you and you reject it. Fine. ATT rejected it as well and that's why they did what they did.

Just take a look at some of the past class action lawsuits. If you can look past the "lawyer's fees" and the "they just settle because it cheaper" tired arguments, you just might understand what consumer protection laws are all about.

Consumer protection laws are all about being fair. Not necessarily what's legal to the letter of the law but what is right for the layperson. That's why there is a class and that's why there is a court. When you bought your ipad, of course it will get scratches. Nobody promised you it will never scratch and of course you never signed a contract saying you would get a scratch-free ipad for a year. But if my ipad scratches excessively in a month to the point where I can't use it....lawsuit.

I hate lawsuits just like the next person. I'd much rather we work this out, as someone mentioned half and half $60, or grandfather for 6 months, etc. But I won't accept unlimited as no longer an option; whether in writing, not in writing, in your dreams, or however you want to spin it. A limited data plan of any sort is unacceptable to me, bottom line. If I am unhappy, a class action lawsuit is the most appropriate method available to me to recover my damages and attempt to make me whole.

 

[kensteele]

Class Action Against Apple and AT&T Is Amended - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com