Apple Settles Antennagate Class-Action Lawsuit

An anonymous reader writes "A preliminary settlement has been reached in the class-action lawsuit brought against Apple in June 2010 over the 'Antennagate' fiasco. Ira Rothken, co-lead counsel for the case, says there are 21 million people entitled to either $15 or a free bumper. 'The settlement comes from 18 separate lawsuits that were consolidated into one. All share the claim that Apple was "misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4 — particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software." The settlement has its own Web site, www.iPhone4Settlement.com, which will be up in the coming weeks (the site doesn't go anywhere right now). There, customers will be able to get information about the settlement and how to make a claim. As part of the arrangement, e-mails will also be sent alerting original buyers to the settlement before April 30, 2012. The claims period is then open for 120 days.'"

Comments

Just another class action suit

[newcastlejon]

"misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4 — particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software."

So naturally, the people who actually had the problem are entitled to fifteen (count 'em!) dollars.

Are there any figures for the people who got a full refund for a phone that was - according to some, anyway - not fit for purpose?

Re:Just another class action suit

[Anonymous Coward]

I own an iphone4 and live in a rural area. The iphone4 was unusable at my house until I put a bumper case on it. However when I put a bumper case on it, the phone started working perfectly, the reception was as good as any other phone I had tried (I used to be a blackberry user). That is why this didn't blow up bigger in my opinion.

Also, I highly recommend apple's bumper case, they fit so tightly onto the phone it seems like you aren't using much of a case at all. A friend of mine gave me an apple bumper case or I would have never tried one. They add a certain amount of needed grippyness but not too much (the non-apple one I'm using right now pulls my entire pocket out with it). The apple case I received from a friend was made for an AT&T phone so the ringer switch was hard to use, so I'll use this settlement to get a case that fits my phone.

The disappointing part is that apple was allowed to make extra money on bumper cases all this time. I never bought one from them and it did not feel right to have to buy one from them to get my phone work. At the same time, since I had found a workaround, I wanted to keep my new smartphone because I was really enjoying how well it worked doing everything else.

More useless anecdotal evidence :)

Also, recently I have started hanging out in apple stores telling people who show up to buy a power adapter that they need to go home and check out adaptersettlement.com and bring their laptop/strain damaged laptop instead of spending $80. Made two people REALLY happy last week, but it was apple's fault, they made me come in a second time for my adapter settlement, so I was working overtime on my information campaign.

Re:Just another class action suit

[errandum]

I can't, for the life of me, see how this could have been marked as informative. Tests ( http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2 ) show that the iPhone 4's antennae behaves very much like the Nexus One antennae, but when gripped drops the signal much more than the iPhone 3GS and the Nexus One.

There is a serious flaw that manifests in low reception areas and with left handed people. If it wasn't a big problem, it would not have been noticed.

Apple touted improved reception and revolutionary design in it's adds, but that was not true, and it took them long enough to "admit" it (actually, they never did, but still accepted returns and gave free bumpers to those affected with by the problem they claim did not exist).

In one thing you're right though, the hype was ridiculous. But what caused that hype was people proving, either by simple tests or real research, Few days after steve job's mea culpa (or actually "no culpa"), the media frenzy stopped. It's a textbook example on how not to handle a problem.

Re:Just another class action suit

[dachshund]

Of course, in reality, the antenna was only marginal in signal areas beyond that of the 3GS it replaced, so the majority of people never saw the issue. Antennas are susceptible to detuning; that's physics for you

Or for god's sake, this post completely misrepresents the issue. I notice you've posted essentially the same comments twice in this thread -- shill much?

For the record, the problem was not limited to marginal signal areas, unless you define 'marginal' as being any area not directly beneath a cell tower. And this isn't just a question of the antenna 'detuning' more (but similarly to) other phones. The unique design characteristic of the iPhone 4 was the decision to place two antennae on the exterior of the phone with no insulation over them. This made it possible to bridge the antennae and essentially swamp them both with noise. This wasn't something that happened 'some of the time'. It was pretty easy to repeat, and it happened in real usage.

Moreover Apple knew it was a serious problem. If you ignore the PR and look at Apple's technical actions, you see a company moving heaven and earth to rectify a catastrophic engineering screwup and repair the antenna as quickly as possible. The only evidence for the idea that 'this wasn't a big deal' came from Apple's public statements.

I don't necessarily think that this is a huge legal issue -- Apple eventually gave out cases so that people with defective phones could use them. And they offered full refunds. But from a customer-relations point of view it was sickening. They basically lied to their early adopters -- people who had enthusiastically lined up to purchase a defective phone -- and agreed to do nothing but send them a bandaid -- while quietly acknowledging the problem and re-engineering the phone so it wouldn't be broken for their next round of customers.

Re:Just another class action suit

[dachshund]

I don't necessarily think that this is a huge legal issue

Actually, screw that (yes, I'm replying to my own post). It is a legal issue.

If Apple had been forthright about the technical issue -- and had been honest about the fact that they were designing a 'fixed' version of the phone -- then I think they would have been blameless. People would have been properly informed and thus could have made the correct decision in deciding whether or not to return the device.

But instead Apple lied. They lied because they knew if they downplayed the issue, a lot of people would take them at their word and hold onto phones that they knew were defective. Moreover, they didn't acknowledge that they were fixing the issue -- since they didn't really acknowledge the issue in the first place (remember when it was going to fixed via a software update?) So people didn't know that they could return the phone and buy a better one a few weeks/months later.

I think that really forms the core of their legal culpability. I wish that their damages exceeded the $$ they probably made by sticking people with those defective phones, but I really doubt that it does. No doubt the shareholders are toasting the ghost of Steve Jobs right now.

Re:Just another class action suit

[interval1066]

But instead Apple lied.

Yes. But you're making it as if Apple were Monsanto lying about 3 headed babies because their mothers ate corn in the 3rd trimester. Lets scale this down to what it is; a defective consumer product. That's it. Its not a "gate." Not even a Keating 3. Its a 3 oz candy bar with wrapping saying its 5, at best. We both have bigger issues in our lives, at least I do.

Re:Just another class action suit

[dachshund]

Yes. But you're making it as if Apple were Monsanto lying about 3 headed babies because their mothers ate corn in the 3rd trimester.

What I'm saying is that Apple collected a profit by lying to its customers, they should be liable for some or all of that profit.

Has our culture degraded to the point where this thought is shocking? If so, please kill me.

Re:Just another class action suit

[Daniel Phillips]

Actually, it betrays a rather extensive lack of clue about antenna design, and the elevation of form over function. It also suggests some engineers quaking in their proverbial boots instead of telling Jobs what a dumb idea it was.

Lawyers rake it in

[SirBitBucket]

Once again, some law firm gets millions for shuffling some paperwork around, and the consumers who actually experienced the problem get a few bucks each. Just doesn't seem right.

Re:Lawyers rake it in

[Overzeetop]

Yeah, but Apple already gave everyone a free bumper who wanted one. The problem is that it solves the antenna issue, but causes the phone to be the wrong size for every docking connector made for the phone, including all "compatible" and official Apple accessories when installed. I just hold mine differently (really, it almost feels like someone else is holding it). Seems like a lawsuit that should never have been dismissed early based on Apple's official response.

Re:Lawyers rake it in

[rsilvergun]

Nope, only the lawyers are entitled to millions. You get $15 bucks or a cheap plastic case. There's got to be a better way to keep companies honest than giving some schmuck lawyer millions of dollars and everyone else pittance. Christ, the last class action I qualified for I got a 10% off coupon for services from the company that screwed me. My settlement was participation in their marketing campaign for pete's sake.

Re:Lawyers rake it in

[Richard_at_work]

You are more than able to bring your own case, accept the risks of doing so, and reap whatever you get Apple to settle for.

Those legal costs might very well take a big bite out of whatever you get. And if you lose, you will still have legal costs to cover - thems be the risks.

Re:Lawyers rake it in

[Theaetetus]

Once again, some law firm gets millions for shuffling some paperwork around, and the consumers who actually experienced the problem get a few bucks each. Just doesn't seem right.

And that law firm spent a million to do that shuffling. Would you pay a lawyer a million dollars to sue Apple over $15? Of course not. No one would. So, absent a class action suit, everyone would just suck up their $15 loss and Apple - or any other large company - would get away with it.

Class action suits are more about punishing the company for wrongdoing than compensating consumers... which is why it's not surprising that there are a lot of shills out there arguing that they're wrong and that lawyers are just filing these out of greed.

Re:Lawyers rake it in

[theNAM666]

Actually, no, no, no no no.

With the existing precident, you are almost guaranteed to win in any small claims venue. Your costs range from free to about $75. You can represent yourself.

On the other hand, Apple, as a corporation, is going to have to send a lawyer. At $350/hr or so, they're going to spend at least $5000 on the case -- time, travel, expenses (hotel etc).

If you sue them for $500 or less, it simply makes sense to settle. And in fact, I've only seen Apple not settle once-- when a law student at Berkeley did them the convenience of (intentionally) suing them in Cupertino over a defective laptop.

Guess what? He still won. Small claims litigation is not massive class action. It has restricted, common sense rules and proceeds by a common sense, preponderance of the evidence. Guys in fancy suits tend not to impress judges who have deep caseloads to clear.

In this case, the question is the damages. Hard to calculate, but I could see service costs over a year, plus some punitive or retributive damages in some jurisdictions. The higher you make it, the more incentive you give Apple to fight, so realistically, I'd peg a reasonable suit at $500-750.

If it's worth your time to do the research and/or go through the hoops of the small claims procedure in your jurisdiction (5-10 hours for a novice), then I'd say go for it. If people did it all the time, corporations would be much more careful and responsive.

Otherwise, my point is that the parent post is mostly FUD, mixed with ignorance.

Re:Lawyers rake it in

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

The problem is that it solves the antenna issue, but causes the phone to be the wrong size for every docking connector made for the phone, including all "compatible" and official Apple accessories when installed.

This is NOT true. I've had an Apple supplied bumper from day one and have NEVER taken it off.

Small claims

[Anonymous Coward]

Can I do what the woman did against Toyota a few weeks ago and sue them on my own in small claims court (unlike the class who received $200, she received almost $8000)? Can I use the evidence presented during the class action in my own case? I didn't join the class action myself.

Re:Small claims

[CSHARP123]

it was against Honda. Not Toyota. Here is the link http://finance.yahoo.com/news/woman-sues-honda-unlikely-place-195014842.html/

Re:Way too little, way too late

[schnikies79]

Thanks for littering, asshole.

Re:Why did they settle?

[roc97007]

Good point. "iNetworkDevice" doesn't have the same ring. Get it? Ring? Hello, is anyone out there?

A free bumper sticker ?!?

[dargaud]

One that says: "I bought an iPhone without a working antenna and now I'm eagerly waiting for the next model" ?

A lawyer scam

[tgibbs]

Class action suits over consumer electronics are basically an extortion scam (albeit a legal one) perpetrated by lawyers. It works as follow:

1. Contact the media, announce a class action lawsuit demanding a huge amount of money over a "flaw" in a widely sold product.
2. Contact the company, offer to settle for pennies on the dollar. The company nearly always settles, regardless of the merits, because it would cost more to fight the suit.
3. The members of the class (i.e. the customers) get a pittance, often hardly enough to pay them for the time to fill out the paperwork.
4. But the lawyer gets a slice of every one of those piddly little settlements, which adds up to a nice chunk of change for hardly any work.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Is there a hotel called Antennagate?

[Beelzebud]

I'm still puzzled by the urge to put "gate" at the end of any type of scandal or conspiracy.

Re:Is there a hotel called Antennagate?

[Tablizer]

If there were a lawsuit & scandal over Bill Gates tripping over something, it would be called GatesGaitGate.