We all knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time. A lawsuit has been filed against Apple over what the plaintiff is referring to as the "Defective iPhone 3G," which she hopes will become a class-action complaint. Alabama resident Jessica Alena Smith filed the complaint yesterday against the iPhone maker, alleging that the new iPhone's 3G performance and reliability has been subpar, despite the claims made by Apple's aggressive marketing campaign. Considering that a true fix has yet to be issued for users' 3G problems, this could just be the tip of the iPhone lawsuit iceberg.
Smith purchased her new iPhone 3G sometime after it went on sale on July 11, after being bombarded with ads on TV, radio, and print about the device. "One could barely turn on the television without hearing that the new iPhone 3G was 'twice as fast for half the price,'" reads the complaint. Immediately after the purchase, however, Smith noticed that the iPhone's data connection, e-mail, SMS, and other communications were slower than expected, and that the device only appeared to connect to AT&T's 3G network less than 25 percent of the time. She also experienced an "inordinate amount of dropped calls," according to the lawsuit.
This was despite the fact that the area where Smith lives and works—Birmingham, Alabama—has excellent 3G coverage from AT&T. If you're getting a tinge of déjà vu from reading this, you won't be the only one. There have been numerous complaints across the 'Net about the new iPhone 3G's capabilities (or the lack thereof, in some cases). iPhone 3G customers on AT&T have reported extremely spotty coverage, even in major cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, not to mention a smattering of smaller cities.
Even some of us at the Ars Orbiting HQ have experienced it—one minute, you'll have full 3G signal, and the next, you'll have none without having moved an inch. Other times, calls won't go through despite, seemingly having a full signal. This week's release of iPhone 2.0.2 firmware apparently remedied a few smaller 3G issues for iPhone users, but a bigger fix is allegedly still on the way. This week's update hasn't helped everyone, either. Some users, like our own Editor in Chief Ken Fisher, now experience new problems with 3G on their iPhones after having performed the update, and can't even make phone calls over the network anymore without switching to EDGE.
Smith is aware that her issues aren't entirely hers (hell, anyone who reads the Internet would be aware), and that's why she is requesting that the suit be approved as a class-action. In her complaint, Smith theorizes that the class contains thousands, "perhaps tens of thousands" of members. She alleges that she and all members of the class have sustained monetary and economic injuries due to the purchase of the defective iPhone 3G, and that Apple breached its express warranty that the iPhone would perform adequately on 3G. "Defendant was and continues to be unjustly enriched at the expense of Plaintiff and Class members," reads the complaint.
Smith and the class, assuming the suit is approved as a class-action, ask that Apple be ordered to repair or replace all Defective iPhone 3Gs. Additionally, she asks that the company be required to pay unspecified damages, pre- and post-judgment interest on monetary relief, and attorney's fees. Considering that Apple has yet to truly offer a fix for the problem, and some users are still suffering from 3G flakiness, it seems as if this lawsuit might just mark the beginning of Apple's troubles over the device.
Further reading:
- If you have PACER access, search for case number 2:08-cv-01498-WMA
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