Apple Faces Class Action Suits on IPod Battery

asia.reuters.com ^

[chance33_98]

Apple Faces Class Action Suits on IPod Battery

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) faces five class action suits filed in December claiming it misrepresented the battery life of its iPod digital music player, the company said on Tuesday in a regulatory filing. The Cupertino, California maker of the Macintosh computer has been buoyed in recent quarters by robust sales of the iPod. But users have complained the iPod battery wears out too quickly.

The lawsuit's complaints include unfair competition and claims of false advertising, fraudulent concealment and breach of warranty, Apple said.

"The company is beginning its investigation of these claims," Apple said in the filing.

The plaintiffs have asked to consolidate the suits, which were filed between Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 in the counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco and Alameda, in San Mateo County. Apple is pushing for Santa Clara County, it said.

Apple also said in the filing that, if it had expensed the costs of stock options for employees based on the Black-Scholes method of determining value, its fiscal first-quarter earnings would have been 9 cents per share instead of the 17 cents per share it reported.

In the year-earlier quarter, it would have reported a loss of 17 cents per share instead of a loss of 2 cents a share.

[js1138]

Non-replaceable battery bump

[martin_fierro]

iPod's dirty secret

[John Lenin]

In September of 2003 the battery in my first generation ipod would hold a charge for no longer than one hour. I brought the iPod into the Apple store in Manhattan for repair and was told they do not currently offer a battery replacement program and my best option was to buy a new ipod. I then called the Apple Care 800 number regarding this issue and was told the same. I then sent my ipod to the Apple Executive office addressed to Steve Jobs with a note explaining my situation and requesting a replacement battery. The Apple Executive office contacted me via telephone to explain that Apple does not repair or replace dead ipod batteries and that it was policy of the company to recommend to the customer to purchase a new ipod when the battery fails. I then looked into and purchased a third party replacement battery, this battery was not endorsed by Apple. After the complicated installation my ipod did not work at all, even when it was plugged in. I then purchased a new ipod for $400.00.

[joonbug]

Didn't Apple board member Al Gore invent the battery?

[Glenn]

Macs are cool but there are caveats. The new aluminum models have some serious display problems. Apple should be held accountable for the problems, as would any other company. Being nearly deaf, the iPod is little more than something I contemplate growing into its own skin as a cool PDA.

[Temple Owl]

ping

[SamAdams76]

My iRiver MP3 player uses a single "AA" battery which is very convenient because it is no problem finding an "AA" battery. In fact, I buy them in bulk at the warehouse club I belong to and pay less than $1 a battery. A typical battery will last about 15-20 hours, pretty reasonable for all that it does (it's also an FM radio and a voice recorder).

I considered an iPod but was turned off by having to recharge the battery in its cradle. Doesn't do me any good when I'm in the middle of the woods on a long hike and my battery needs recharging. Much easier to slap in a new battery on my iRiver. Can't do that with an iPod.

[TalonDJ]

Avoid posting sites that are full of out and out lies.

http://ipodbatteryfaq.com/

The ipod battery IS replaceable and Apple has a program where they will do it for you. Very few ipods wear out that fast. The are well within the norm for all devices that use batteries of that type (many laptops).
My ipod is a few years old and works just fine and I know several others that have no problems. These law suits only have a chance of winning in our twisted courts that pay people for spilling coffee on themselves.

[glorgau]

This is just lawyers trolling for money. Even if they prevail, all members of the class will likely end up with nothing more than a coupon towards the purchase of a new iPod.

[BigBobber]

OK, I have to ask...After all that you bought ANOTHER iPod?

[Ulysses]

Macs are cool but there are caveats.

No, no , no...

There are no caveats with Macs! Everything is right with Macs and with Apple. No one EVER has any problems with Mac stuff...

/sarcasm

[Monty22]

"I then purchased a new ipod for $400.00."

That's the punchline to a joke right? I mean, after all that disasterous customer service? There's so many alternatives that are just as good, or better even. I really hope you're kidding.

[Glenn]

No one EVER has any problems with Mac stuff...

I've found Mac support to be quite responsive. I have a dualie 1.25 ghz that exhibited noisy fan syndrome (the cooling fan -- not the other sort). They worked with me to get it handled. My understanding is they have a plan for iPod batteries as well.

But you fans of "off the shelf" and "trial lawyers that validate my purchase decisions" would never grasp that.

[TommyDale]

Proof that P.T. Barnum was correct when he said "There's a sucker born every minute".

[martin_fierro]

Oh, lucky me.

Looks like I dredged up the president of the iPod Fanboy Club.

[TalonDJ]

I will let the numbers do the talking.

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv3.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id%20=305449

'nuf said

[John Lenin]

$400.00 and you get about 3 months service out of it. What a rip-off.

[mgstarr]

Interesting that your comment is taken directly from the Neistat Brothers website without a suitable notation/disclaimer. Are you Casey or Van?

[John Lenin]

Thats why I posted to Martin, I got the paragraph from the site he linked too.

[dead]

I was going to buy an iPod until I found out about this battery problem, and the related problem of their crappy customer service department.

It does look like the best product of its type, but you have to have a reasonably priced replacement battery that the consumer can replace on their own. Unless, you are banking (as I think they were) on repeat business without too much bitching. That didn't work out as they planned.

[mgstarr]

So you haven't had a bad experience with an iPod? Just want this to be clear to everyone, especially the serial Apple bashers.

[Monty22]

LOL, good one :)

[John Lenin]

I refuse to be gouged by Appl, I own none of their products.

[John Lenin]

I refuse to be gouged by Apple, I own none of their products.

[glorgau]

There are plenty of spare batteries and add ons available for iPods. A simple Google can find that out quickly enough.

For AA batteries, I use rechargeables in my camera - they cost more, but only take 15 minutes for a recharge and I don't feel as bad about creating a bit more toxic waste.

[newgeezer]

breach of warranty

According to the 60 Minutes story, the battery would typically go bad after the warranty expired.

Apple fans. I get a kick out of how they love their Steve Jobs, especially since he's such a 'saint' compared to dat bad widdowe EEEEVILLLL man, Biww Gates!!! ;O)

[Indrid Cold]

Wow, you're the type of customer I dream about! I don't have to offer you refunds or service work, and if I sell you something shoddy, you'll just come back and buy another one. I sure hope you come through my pawn shop someday; I've got a whole raft of "power deficient" electronics I'd like to get rid of.

[stanz]

Thanks for the info. My daughter's iPOD is a year old and I'm waiting for something to happen any day.

[MD_Willington_1976]

AA batteries are about to get way cooler, Matsushita in Japan just came up with a new design that lasts way longer then a regular battery

http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20040129S0018

quote from ee article:
Matsushita demonstrated the new dry cell by running a car on two AA batteries. The two cells drove the 18.5 kg (40.7lbs) car with a driver for a distance of 1,200 (~3/4 mile) meters, according to a Matsushita spokeswoman.


My MP3 players use AA batteries as well, currently I use metal nickel hydride batteries, they last quite a long time...

Later

MD

[BlazingArizona]

The ipod battery IS replaceable and Apple has a program where they will do it for you.

Apple has a program NOW, after the lawsuits and bad publicity shamed them into starting one. Talk about a reality distortion field...

[John Lenin]

Enuff said ...

[RJS1950]

You weren't burned enough by that unsatisfying process that you paid big bucks for another one????

[Jarhead_22]

The ipod battery IS replaceable and Apple has a program where they will do it for you.

The battery may be replaceable now, and Apple has a battery replacement program now,but until they were deluged with complaints Apple's response to requests for battery help was simply, "Buy a new iPod."

[John Lenin]

Read ALL my comments before posting, ok ?

[TommyDale]

"'nuf said"

Anyone who would go through that much crap with ANY product, only to go and buy ANOTHER one for $400....well, THAT's enough said! That speaks volumes. I stick with my earlier quote by P.T. Barnum, and rest my case.

[Uncle Fud]

The two cells drove the 18.5 kg (40.7lbs) car with a driver

Now that's news. Wonder what kind of car weighs 18 kg? Other than the ones they sell at Toys R Us, that is.

[TommyDale]

I think the negative publicity from the TechTV expose' on "The Screensavers" probably did the consumer the most good. No one was impressed with the I-Pod service record.

[Mr Ducklips]

Calling John Kerry...Johnnie Cochran...Jesse Jackson...Reverend Al...

[fritzz]

Battery replacement $99 (only) and you have to send unit to them.

The site says the batter should last 8 hours. That's a laugh. My unit is 3 months old and it lost everything last night and I didn't even use it.

[MD_Willington_1976]

It was a 3 wheeled, composite machine with some small Japanese lady...she probly weighed 50lbs out of the bath tub...

[Indrid Cold]

Oh, it'll be my turn to get embarassed next week.

[Katya]

Realy nice Ipod, I'm surprised you stuck with them. I bought my son a nomad for x-mas, it has a huge song capacity which he'll probably never use up. It was running great including holding a charge for between 7-8 hours, but now the volume button is stuck in place. I'm debating returning it and wondering if I should replace it or get aa different unit...but I'm pretty anti-apple. Any other suggestions for quality non-ipod players?

[Lady Jag]

Yeah, it was supposed to be solar.

[KneelBeforeZod]

bears repeating...

The battery may be replaceable now, and Apple has a battery replacement program now ,but until they were deluged with complaints Apple's response to requests for battery help was simply, "Buy a new iPod."

"at least" they fixed the problem... seems like they rushed to market

[BraveMan]

Using Apple software to create the public service announcement; nice touch . . .

[BraveMan]

From the article:

For applications using a small electric current such as MP3 players and portable headphone stereo players, the Oxyride performance of the Oxyride battery was less than 1.5 times better than alkaline cells.

Not quite as impressive performance in something other than an automobile. Heh. I'd like to see the MSDS on the Oxyride. If it's not a death pellet, then Matsushita could do well for themselves by bringing it to market.

I have a subscription to EE Times. I'm not sure if that's cool or sad . . .

[NotQuiteCricket]

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/01/0028211&mode=thread&tid=137&tid=141&tid=188

/. article about commodore coming out with mp3 players. There are links in the first paragraph to those products.

This has high nostalgia points for me anyway - since I started on computers w/ a commodore 64 ... I'd like to have something with that logo on it again.