4 ms·

It's only been out a week or so... If you are unhappy with your iPhone then bring it back to the store and get a full refund. Simple. This culture of lawsuits

by donohoe 16y ago

It's only been out a week or so... If you are unhappy with your iPhone then bring it back to the store and get a full refund. Simple. This culture of lawsuits baffles me.

sigzero 16y ago
I agree. This is idiotic. Take it back or wait for Apple to fix it and they will fix it.
- powrtoch 16y ago
  I don't think Apple is planning on fixing it, as that would require a massive recall. Take it back and wait for iPhone 5.
  - jsz0 16y ago
    They could make changes to future production runs however (assuming it really is a widespread issue which I'm still not really convinced of)
    - tvon 16y ago
      I've heard enough "cannot reproduce" reports to suspect it's a minority of devices, still that's a lot of people affected. My suspicion is that there is a coating process that is failing in some cases, which would mean it could probably be resolved for future production runs.
    - azim 16y ago
      I've only been able to reproduce it in areas where the signal was awful to begin with. In areas where my 3gs drops calls weekly, using other people's 4's I can reproduce a dropped call with some regularity. My guess is that it's so hard to reproduce because even by attenuating the signal by holding it wrong, a lot of users are in an area where the signal is strong enough that it doesn't matter.
      - Retric 16y ago
        Anandtech had an interesting article where they showed both the 3GS and 4g having problems based on how you hold it. With the 4g's worst case being better than the 3GS's worst case, however the loss was more dramatic so the perception is worse even though the device is significantly improved. Edit2: here it is: http://buzz.amaltas.org/story/anandtech-iphone4-gets-better-cellular-reception-even-thogh-measured-signal-is-lower.html http://buzz.amaltas.org/story/anandtech-iphone4-gets-better-...
  - mechanical_fish 16y ago
    If Apple has to they will give everyone who complains a free "bumper" case. Those things will probably cost Apple less than a dollar. I'm thinking of just buying bumpers preemptively, since they will also solve the vital "which of these otherwise identical iPhones is my wife's phone and which is mine?" problem.
    - powrtoch 16y ago
      Unlikely, according to this (posted to HN eariler today) http://mashable.com/2010/06/29/leaked-iphone-4-docs/ http://mashable.com/2010/06/29/leaked-iphone-4-docs/
    - nooneelse 16y ago
      They seem reluctant to give cases away, which is a bizarre move, imho. A few thousand or tens of thousands of cases would sweep this ongoing PR bleed under the rug, simple-dimple. That is, until the lawyers get into it. Then it gets legs of its own, can go on for eons, and there is the very real possibility of a document subpoena revealing some mention of the possibility of the problem by an engineer which can be spun up into punitive fines.
singer 16y ago
I don't know what's more sad -- the people who dream up these lawsuits or the lawyers who take the cases.
- ryandvm 16y ago
  The world is full of opportunistic parasites. Having a legal system that encourages it is the real travesty.
  - stanleydrew 16y ago
    Encourages seems a little strong. I'd say the legal system doesn't encourage this behavior, but rather allows it.
- ramidarigaz 16y ago
  Definitely the people who dream them up. The lawyers know that they'll make piles of money either way.
  - jonhendry 16y ago
    And the 'plaintiffs' will get a coupon for $2 at the Apple Store, or some similar negligible benefit.
- wmeredith 16y ago
  The lawyers taking the cases and the people dreaming up the suits are most likely one and the same. They then go and recruit clients.
SkyMarshal 16y ago
Why take it back to the store for a refund when you can get a lawyer a million dollars instead? This culture of benevolence baffles me.
- SkyMarshal 16y ago
  Ok, I know tone doesn't translate in text, but did the three downvoters really think I was serious here? Really?
vital101 16y ago
The issue isn't about being unhappy with it. The issue is that the plaintiffs think Apple knew about the problem before hand and did nothing. The discovery period for this case will hopefully clear this up, one way or the other, instead of just having speculation.
alec 16y ago
Another article claimed that AT&T charges a 10% restocking fee, so you couldn't get a full refund.
- santry 16y ago
  I returned 6 opened, activated iPhone 4s to the Apple Store the day after buying them and Apple did not charge a restocking fee. I also called AT&T to ensure the service was cancelled and to find out whether there would be any fees and they said there would not be. We'll see what happens if/when they send me a billing statement.
yumraj 16y ago
What full return? See here: http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html There is a 10% restocking fee.

by donohoe 16y ago

It's only been out a week or so... If you are unhappy with your iPhone then bring it back to the store and get a full refund. Simple. This culture of lawsuits baffles me.

sigzero 16y ago

I agree. This is idiotic. Take it back or wait for Apple to fix it and they will fix it.

powrtoch 16y ago
I don't think Apple is planning on fixing it, as that would require a massive recall. Take it back and wait for iPhone 5.
- jsz0 16y ago
  They could make changes to future production runs however (assuming it really is a widespread issue which I'm still not really convinced of)
  - tvon 16y ago
    I've heard enough "cannot reproduce" reports to suspect it's a minority of devices, still that's a lot of people affected. My suspicion is that there is a coating process that is failing in some cases, which would mean it could probably be resolved for future production runs.
  - azim 16y ago
    I've only been able to reproduce it in areas where the signal was awful to begin with. In areas where my 3gs drops calls weekly, using other people's 4's I can reproduce a dropped call with some regularity. My guess is that it's so hard to reproduce because even by attenuating the signal by holding it wrong, a lot of users are in an area where the signal is strong enough that it doesn't matter.
    - Retric 16y ago
      Anandtech had an interesting article where they showed both the 3GS and 4g having problems based on how you hold it. With the 4g's worst case being better than the 3GS's worst case, however the loss was more dramatic so the perception is worse even though the device is significantly improved. Edit2: here it is: http://buzz.amaltas.org/story/anandtech-iphone4-gets-better-cellular-reception-even-thogh-measured-signal-is-lower.html http://buzz.amaltas.org/story/anandtech-iphone4-gets-better-...
- mechanical_fish 16y ago
  If Apple has to they will give everyone who complains a free "bumper" case. Those things will probably cost Apple less than a dollar. I'm thinking of just buying bumpers preemptively, since they will also solve the vital "which of these otherwise identical iPhones is my wife's phone and which is mine?" problem.
  - powrtoch 16y ago
    Unlikely, according to this (posted to HN eariler today) http://mashable.com/2010/06/29/leaked-iphone-4-docs/ http://mashable.com/2010/06/29/leaked-iphone-4-docs/
  - nooneelse 16y ago
    They seem reluctant to give cases away, which is a bizarre move, imho. A few thousand or tens of thousands of cases would sweep this ongoing PR bleed under the rug, simple-dimple. That is, until the lawyers get into it. Then it gets legs of its own, can go on for eons, and there is the very real possibility of a document subpoena revealing some mention of the possibility of the problem by an engineer which can be spun up into punitive fines.

singer 16y ago

I don't know what's more sad -- the people who dream up these lawsuits or the lawyers who take the cases.

ryandvm 16y ago
The world is full of opportunistic parasites. Having a legal system that encourages it is the real travesty.
- stanleydrew 16y ago
  Encourages seems a little strong. I'd say the legal system doesn't encourage this behavior, but rather allows it.
ramidarigaz 16y ago
Definitely the people who dream them up. The lawyers know that they'll make piles of money either way.
- jonhendry 16y ago
  And the 'plaintiffs' will get a coupon for $2 at the Apple Store, or some similar negligible benefit.
wmeredith 16y ago
The lawyers taking the cases and the people dreaming up the suits are most likely one and the same. They then go and recruit clients.

SkyMarshal 16y ago

Why take it back to the store for a refund when you can get a lawyer a million dollars instead? This culture of benevolence baffles me.

SkyMarshal 16y ago
Ok, I know tone doesn't translate in text, but did the three downvoters really think I was serious here? Really?

vital101 16y ago

The issue isn't about being unhappy with it. The issue is that the plaintiffs think Apple knew about the problem before hand and did nothing. The discovery period for this case will hopefully clear this up, one way or the other, instead of just having speculation.

alec 16y ago

Another article claimed that AT&T charges a 10% restocking fee, so you couldn't get a full refund.

santry 16y ago
I returned 6 opened, activated iPhone 4s to the Apple Store the day after buying them and Apple did not charge a restocking fee. I also called AT&T to ensure the service was cancelled and to find out whether there would be any fees and they said there would not be. We'll see what happens if/when they send me a billing statement.

yumraj 16y ago

What full return? See here: http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html There is a 10% restocking fee.