Discontented iPhone owner sues AT&T, Apple and Steve Jobs
By Darren Murph 
posted September 28th 2007 9:07PM
posted September 28th 2007 9:07PM
Rather than simply suing Apple, Steve Jobs or AT&T individually, Dongmei Li decided to throw all three under the bus. The suit, which was reportedly filed this week in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, accused the trio of "price discrimination, underselling, discrimination in rebates, deceptive actions and other wrongdoings for their role in the September 5th price drop on the iPhone." As you'd expect, Li was one of the folks who waited hours on end to be one of the first iPhone owners, and apparently feels quite slighted by the slashing. Purportedly, the plaintiff is hoping to secure "compensatory damages in the amount of $1 million" in addition to other punitive damages, and if you're up for a good laugh, hit the read link to browse through quite a few (more) comical gripes.[Thanks, Mark]
she's right, and probably she will win. at least, in europe we had similar cases and every single one (even one class action) finally won the fight. but i think we have different laws (price discriminitaion, as well as forcing agreement through branded phones.. are all rudely treated by our EU laws: that's why in europe 95% of people use prepaid cell phone and even more than one sim with different carriers). anyway the compensatory damages are a LIL' bit too much..
Hey John Doe, the Vizio P50 HDM that I bought for $3000 had been available for only 2 months, and dropped $400. Sound familiar? If iPhone sales were dropping off, which they probably were based on immediate availability , but there is no data to say that they did or not, then Apple may have had to drop the price, or start eating them. They have the right to price them and change them as they wish. If you bought one for $599, then boohoo for you. No one forced anyone to open their wallet and make a purchase. the RAZR dropped it's price fairly quickly as well. It happens. Get over it. By the way, my best friend is a trial lawyer. I don't believe that they are all bad. Just most of them.:)
Peace dude.
Sounds like "Boo hoo, I bought something and then the price was dropped".
In that case, I could sue Vodafone and Samsung because my E900 is now on sale for £70 rather than £100.
I'm suing Nintendo because the N64 cost me $200 back in the day and now they're worth like 50 bucks. >8^(
What is it with the Americans (and increasingly, the rest of the world) for suing companies for supposed damages? $1m dollars for a price drop that was what? $100? That's just pathetic. Greedy too. The American legal system will remain a joke whilst such pathetic cases such as this are given the time of day.
"They haven't used ANY steel but concrete to build the bridge so they would save MONEY $$$. ^^"
If it works, and stays standing for a good long while, what's the problem?
As for Wu, people like you are a good reason to bring back public stonings. (Oh, and I'm Canadian.)
What a whiny bitch. You frikkin stood in line for the thing, you KNEW how much you were paying, and you BELIEVED that the product was worth that much to you. Who gives a shit how much they dropped it afterwards? I think its mostly envy that others got it for a cheaper price.
What's the point of buying an iPhone now, when Apple bricks your phone if you've been naughty.
Just get an iPod Touch.
Hehehe, it sounds really stupid what she's doing, but I'm glad she's doing it. At list someone's showing her aggravation to the horrible AT&T and greedy Apple Steve Jobs.
"At list someone's showing her aggravation to the horrible AT&T and greedy Apple Steve Jobs."
What are you talking about? The price drop has caused some of the greatest Apple fallout in recent memory - so much so that Apple tried to appease the angry iPhone customers with store credit (which many still call an empty gesture).
A lawsuit of this magnitude is f'ing ridiculous, no matter how you try to slice it. $1,000,000 over a $200 price drop and/or a $175 cancellation fee? Aggrevation over BUYING a PERFECTLY FUNCTIONING PHONE just a little early does not equate to the extra $999,625.
I don't have a problem with her bringing this suit. She probably won't go anywhere and she'll probably end up wasting more money in legal fees.
However, as a United States citizen, I like having the right to sue companies or individuals when I feel I've been wronged. I've never done so, but I like knowing the capability is there.
Like any right, the right to sue is often abused. However, these are exceptions that we here about. There are hundreds of legitimate lawsuits brought against companies every year that bolster consumer rights. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. This is a rare example of bad; several of the consumer rights you enjoy now are the result of good litigation.
This is total BS, (I am a verizon owner) I was at the San Francisco downtown line of the APPLE store on the release morning. The line was pretty long and the fun "part" was waiting in-line for one. I see many just having fun while waiting and towards the mid-afternoon when there were less people APPLE still have plenty in-stock for anyone else to buy one. Is BS how they are getting sued over NOTHING....
Return your phones, cancel your service, pay the fee. THAT will get their attention. Stop being sheep!
Everyone needs to stfu on how stupid she is. She can do whatever she wants. If she wins then theres a big fuck you in all your faces. If she loses then bam that sucks for her and shes gunna eat shit but who the fuck cares, better you dumbfucks just stitting there sayin o shes stupid blahb lah get a life
u guys are all stupid, she'll do whatever she wants, if she wins she gets a million if she loses she loses money, SHE KNOWS WTF SHES DOING u dont need to analyze it for her. For the people criticizing for buying an iphone early. dont think youre all smart for waiting to to buy it cheaper. you guys are just fucking 1.) POOR, 2.) Rich but are fuckign cheap so youre poor in my book, i dont give a dam if youre rich, if you cant spend money then what good is that i probably enjoy life more than you u cheap asses.
The fact that this woman bought an iPhone says to me that she's an idiot. While I think the suit is rediculous, I think that this sort of thing highlights the unfortunate truth that, regardless of the merits of such a suit, the pursuit of justice costs money and the costs of pursuing justice are enough to dissuade most from doing so. And that some people are going to bring frivolous lawsuits, regardless of the cost to do so.
I read through her complaints and this girl is a little nuts. One part she uses Apple stock prices to equate how well the iPhone was selling to give reason why the iPhone shouldnt have a price drop. Does she not understand that stock prices arent directly related to sales figures of a single product. Most of her complaints link entirely unrelated figures to the iPhone in order to explain why she was wronged by Apple during the price drop. This annoying woman should be fined for wasting our tax dollars paying for judges, etc on this lawsuit.
@ Al:
"Wow, you are living proof that cavemen still exist. You're so fucking stupid that there's no words to describe what a waste you are on this planet. Do us all a favour and stop breathing. If there's ever a prime example of when condoms should've been used, you're it mate. FYI, I'm Australian, not Chinese just in case you start getting the wrong ideas in that peanut sized brain of yours."
Is that aimed at me or Master Wu?
NoOne: Pretty much everything is aimed at MastaWu. No one likes him.
Maybe one should not be ashame of the guy, but of the ridiculous Justice system that allows this to happen on a so as to there are people that live out of it
Im start thinking that in USA lawyers are all rich.
;-)
There are 3 times as many lawyers per capita in the USA than there are in the UK. It is a very profitable career. And we all pay for it, like their expensive homes, cars, boats, bank accounts, etc...Wake up and stop the fleecing of America by lawyers. Apple and Microsoft are saints in comparison.John Edwards made his millions suing the medical industry for cerebral palsy, most of which NOT the fault of doctors or hospital staff, which has been proven. Unfortunately, you have to convince the juries, which are almost always sympathetic to apparent victims. We are getting raped by people just like him, and this woman is complaining about a phone? This is just the type of crap that is destroying our economy by greatly increasing the price of, well, everything.
Apple has the right to put whatever price hey choose. Just some lady looking for an easy million, but will probably lose anyway...
Prime test case for retroactive abortions.
So were all in agreement Wu is an idiot? Ok good.
Wu's on first?
Another slow news day, so Engadget falls right in behind all the other sites that commented on this mindless story. I guess the fact that most of your comments from this story see it for what it is; I am encouraged. Nevertheless, I find this Big Nothing reported ad nauseam. STOP IT! - please.
First of all, The article CLEARLY shows "plantiff, Dongmei Li, iPod Owners, and users". Where the hell do you see ANY reference (on Engadget paraphrasing) the shows gender, hmmm?
So for those people accusing us being blatant sexist, STHU. READ the damn article, I really despise when people ASSUME we can't be objective.
Second, this is a rediculous lawsuit for one reason. Price discrimination. Where the hell do you see ANY one complaining that a man got a lower price than a woman? This was for ANYONE that bought an iPhone, period. NO discrimination.
Third, a company not only has a right to make a profit, it is an absolute obligation, ESPECIALLY for employess and stockholders. This is simple marketing. If they want to lower the price, and not say anything, that's their right. Frankly, I am amazed Apple offered a rebate at all. If this was me, and you CHOSE to buy the first iPod, that's your damn fault. Thanks, but a company is not bound to give you anything, except what you pay for.
This chink (yes, I know attack me for being a biggot, but when a woman or a man is being stupid, then the get what they deserve, a separation from the other of their race, gender, and creed in distinction because they are just plain stupid) gets what she deserves, and everyone else that bought one.
Like another poster put it, "BOO F'ing HOO"
Now before you thoroughly engage me, if this had been a dumb ignoramous from the deep south, what we call them? A Redneck, how about some woman with no regard for common sense, a bitch, and a man with an IQ of a turnip, a dumb M-F'er.
Now, she is NOT, I repeat, NOT going to get anywhere on this case. It will be tossed before the ink is even dried on her lawsuit, trust me.
Frivolous lawsuits are the bane of this country, but it's because everyone takes advantage of our democracy.. of the people, for the people... blah blah.
This is stupid, plain and simple, and it will not do anything except give her false hope. She will be sorely dissapointed.
How idiotic. The lawsuit will be dropped by the judge - summary judgement -- and Li will have to pay Apple's legal fees. That's what happens when you do a nuisance lawsuit. Deservedly! If you want to be one of the "cool kids", you gotta pay to play. Grow up and get over it.
Look,
i love Apple, used to love Windows, i never saw more extensive price drops in PCs, i bought a HUGE Dell Machine for over 9000k , and 3 Months later the Dual and Quad Cores came out and now the Machine is like $4000!
The main point i am trying to make is that have u ever thought about this:
Do T-Mobile/Verizon etc actually support the Iphone functions? I am german living in the US,
i have some german Phone with UTMS (1.5 MB bandwidth) options, but no us provider supports them!
Its like buying Bentley an trying to use Hunday Service with it, grew up!
Thank you
Wonder why one would go for this phone in the first place. It makes sense to sign a 2 year contract if you got a phone at a subsidized price. When paying the full price for the phone why still sign an contract? Should sue AT&T for this reason instead.