Apple Robs its Customers: The iPod Settlement Scam
The empty battery meter on my 3rd generation iPod mocked my foolhardy $500 purchase. What was once a state of the art portable music device had been reduced to a $500 paperweight, and I was staring at a nearly $100 battery replacement fee from Apple. Fortunately, last August, consumers around the world found strength in numbers, banned together, and turned to Girard Gibbs law firm to represent us in a class action suit.
I filled out my paperwork, submitted everything with time to spare.
The class action suit was quickly ruled in favor of the consumers. Then, we waited.
Months (and several iterations of iPod product later) I was still stuck with a defunct 3G iPod. A trip to the local Apple Store merely redirected me back to the law firms settlement website. Turns out Apple filed an appeal (which they later abandoned), pushing back the whole process. Naturally, courts again ruled in our favor.
Months again passed, now half a year past the original filing date of the case. Several phone calls to Gerard Gibbs law firm resulted in mixed promises: first November, then mid-January, followed by mid-February. During this time, I have been unable to pursue other less expensive 3rd party methods of getting this iPod up and running as it would void the warranty. With several missed deadlines and broken promises prompted me to put all communications in writing. I emailed them requesting a definitive time table, to which I received the following response:
Dear Paul, Thank you for contacting us about the iPod Settlement. The Court granted final approval of the settlement and entered a final judgment on August 25, 2005. On October 24, 2005, two individuals filed appeals from the Court's order granting final approval of the settlement. As a result of the appeals, Apple and the Claims Administrator could not begin the process of fulfilling claims.
On December 20, 2005, the appeals were abandoned. The Claims Administrator has begun the process of fulfilling claims and notifying claimants of any deficiencies. Class members will be mailed instructions for how to obtain their benefits under the settlement. The Claims Administrator has provided us with the following timeframe for the distribution of the settlement benefits:
February 17, 2006- The Claims Administrator will mail $25 checks to Class Members who purchased the AppleCare Protection Plan and obtained battery repair/replacement under the AppleCare Protection Plan.
Beginning of March 2006- For Class members who own a First or Second Generation iPod and who selected the $25 cash payment, the Claims Administrator will begin mailing $25 checks to those who submitted valid claims.
Middle of March 2006- For Class members who own a Third Generation iPod and who selected battery/iPod replacement, the Claims Administrator will begin mailing letters containing instructions for battery/iPod replacement to those who submitted valid claims.
Middle of March 2006- For Class members who own a First, Second or Third Generation iPod and who selected a $50 store credit, the Claims Administrator will begin mailing letters with certificate codes for the $50 store credit to those who submitted valid claims.
Around March 17, 2006- The Claims Administrator will begin sending deficiency letters to Class members who submitted an incomplete/incorrect claim.
End of March 2006- The Claims Administrator will send denial letters to those individuals who do not fit the class definition or who submitted their claims past the claims deadline.
We sincerely appreciate your patience during the claims fulfilling process. We can assure you that the Claims Administrator is working diligently to process and fulfill the approximately 125,000 claims it has received to date. To expedite the settlement distribution process, please respond to any notices of deficiency you may receive right away. You will have 60 days to make changes to your claim form to remedy any deficiencies.
Note that these dates, which had already been moved back repeatedly, have again been moved back according to the most recent updates on Girard's website. It looks like I'll be receiving my settlement on the 5th of Never at this rate.
I have at this point received no further correspondence from the law firm or from Apple regarding my BROKEN iPod, which has been utterly defunct for over a year now. An inquiry with Apple as to the deficiency of the settlement proceedings, and a direct request for information beyond what the law firm could offer was essentially blow off by customer support with a link to: you guessed it - The iPod settlement website.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who is beginning to smell a scam. For a company which has endeared itself so well to the American public, such poorly handled customer service is both an embarrassment and a threat to their precious brand image. Apple has a lot to lose from the discontent of customers left in the dust.
If you are still waiting for your settlement, please make your voice heard.
A brief Google Search reveals that Girard Gibbs Law Firm may have mismanaged other settlement proceedings:
http://freelancerights.blogspot.com/2005/05/girard-gibbs-de-bartolomeo.html
You'll notice that in this case, like the iPod Settlement case, "all questions must be directed to the "official" settlement website."
Related Links:
Digg This Post
"Official" iPod Settlement Website
Gerard Gibbs Website
Another Gerard Gibbs complaint
I filled out my paperwork, submitted everything with time to spare.
The class action suit was quickly ruled in favor of the consumers. Then, we waited.
Months (and several iterations of iPod product later) I was still stuck with a defunct 3G iPod. A trip to the local Apple Store merely redirected me back to the law firms settlement website. Turns out Apple filed an appeal (which they later abandoned), pushing back the whole process. Naturally, courts again ruled in our favor.
Months again passed, now half a year past the original filing date of the case. Several phone calls to Gerard Gibbs law firm resulted in mixed promises: first November, then mid-January, followed by mid-February. During this time, I have been unable to pursue other less expensive 3rd party methods of getting this iPod up and running as it would void the warranty. With several missed deadlines and broken promises prompted me to put all communications in writing. I emailed them requesting a definitive time table, to which I received the following response:
Dear Paul, Thank you for contacting us about the iPod Settlement. The Court granted final approval of the settlement and entered a final judgment on August 25, 2005. On October 24, 2005, two individuals filed appeals from the Court's order granting final approval of the settlement. As a result of the appeals, Apple and the Claims Administrator could not begin the process of fulfilling claims.
On December 20, 2005, the appeals were abandoned. The Claims Administrator has begun the process of fulfilling claims and notifying claimants of any deficiencies. Class members will be mailed instructions for how to obtain their benefits under the settlement. The Claims Administrator has provided us with the following timeframe for the distribution of the settlement benefits:
February 17, 2006- The Claims Administrator will mail $25 checks to Class Members who purchased the AppleCare Protection Plan and obtained battery repair/replacement under the AppleCare Protection Plan.
Beginning of March 2006- For Class members who own a First or Second Generation iPod and who selected the $25 cash payment, the Claims Administrator will begin mailing $25 checks to those who submitted valid claims.
Middle of March 2006- For Class members who own a Third Generation iPod and who selected battery/iPod replacement, the Claims Administrator will begin mailing letters containing instructions for battery/iPod replacement to those who submitted valid claims.
Middle of March 2006- For Class members who own a First, Second or Third Generation iPod and who selected a $50 store credit, the Claims Administrator will begin mailing letters with certificate codes for the $50 store credit to those who submitted valid claims.
Around March 17, 2006- The Claims Administrator will begin sending deficiency letters to Class members who submitted an incomplete/incorrect claim.
End of March 2006- The Claims Administrator will send denial letters to those individuals who do not fit the class definition or who submitted their claims past the claims deadline.
We sincerely appreciate your patience during the claims fulfilling process. We can assure you that the Claims Administrator is working diligently to process and fulfill the approximately 125,000 claims it has received to date. To expedite the settlement distribution process, please respond to any notices of deficiency you may receive right away. You will have 60 days to make changes to your claim form to remedy any deficiencies.
Note that these dates, which had already been moved back repeatedly, have again been moved back according to the most recent updates on Girard's website. It looks like I'll be receiving my settlement on the 5th of Never at this rate.
I have at this point received no further correspondence from the law firm or from Apple regarding my BROKEN iPod, which has been utterly defunct for over a year now. An inquiry with Apple as to the deficiency of the settlement proceedings, and a direct request for information beyond what the law firm could offer was essentially blow off by customer support with a link to: you guessed it - The iPod settlement website.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who is beginning to smell a scam. For a company which has endeared itself so well to the American public, such poorly handled customer service is both an embarrassment and a threat to their precious brand image. Apple has a lot to lose from the discontent of customers left in the dust.
If you are still waiting for your settlement, please make your voice heard.
A brief Google Search reveals that Girard Gibbs Law Firm may have mismanaged other settlement proceedings:
http://freelancerights.blogspot.com/2005/05/girard-gibbs-de-bartolomeo.html
You'll notice that in this case, like the iPod Settlement case, "all questions must be directed to the "official" settlement website."
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul --
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 3:57 PM
To: Andrea --; info@apple.com
Subject: Re: Settlement Proceedings
This is truly beginning to feel like a scam. I have been stuck with a
defunct $500 product for over a year now. I neglected to pursue other
extended warrantee options for this settlement, and have held off on 3rd
party repairs so as to not void the warrantee. This email suggests
distribution in NOVEMBER 2005. 3 months later, I have no check or repair
options at my disposal.
Please help me to understand why several iterations of iPod product
later, I still cannot listen to my music. I made a lot of sacrifices to
afford an expensive product, which is now an expensive paperweight.
Paul J---
Related Links:
Digg This Post
"Official" iPod Settlement Website
Gerard Gibbs Website
Another Gerard Gibbs complaint
posted by PJ at 2:25 PM
8 Comments:
Look, I understand the joys of being anal about such settlements, but why don't you just get a replacement battery, should set you back less than $20 and would have given you a year of portable music playing. Also, the iPod 3G was in fact more like $350,-, let's try 'n keep things in perspective, mkay.
Your iPod's warranty is long since expired unless you bought AppleCare for it. Bite the bullet, buy a third-party battery, and you'll still be ahead vs. $50 off Apple's $99 replacement fee.
you just didn't do the normal thing and get a $25 replacement battery from OWC as opposed to having a non functional ipod. Class actions are just long winded lawsuits, its much easier to replace the battery then to wait and complain about a lousy $25 or $50 until the cows come home.
Get thee to http://www.macreq.com, choose to either have your 3G iPod battery changed, or get the repair kit and do it yourself. (It will cost LESS than leaving it to Apple.) If you really want to use your iPod, it's time to do something instead of waiting on the legal eagles. (I changed the battery on my 2G iPod, which has a similar layout to your 3G unit.) It's time to "fish or cut bait" and move on.
I'm w/the other commenters... Quit whining and buy a damn replacement battery for $30 or so and get your iPod running again.
It sounds like your gripe should actually be aimed at counsel for the class action. I'm in the same boat (waiting for my claim disbursement), and realized that I would have been better off if I just dealt with apple directly instead of joining this lawsuit.
We might get better results if we ask "our" attorneys why we still haven't received our claims.
I received the much anticipated $50 store credit a few weeks ago. I received two $50 credits. When I tried to used the credits online as suggested, the online store kicked back the items that I wanted. I wanted to order a 25 piece spool of Apple branded DVD-R and a 12 piece spool of same. This amount would amount to roughly $50. A lousy price compared to other media, but I could not find anything I needed for exactly $50. Anyway, when I called the Apple customer care people, I was told that I had to purchase an item that cost EXACTLY $50 and that I could not buy two or three Apple branded items that would add up to the limit of $50. I view this as patently absurd and even worse an outright misrepresentation of what this settlement was supposed to do. No where in the settlement paperwork does it say that I could not buy several Apple branded items that add up exactly to $50. Nothing implies that you can't add up to $47 or $49. This store credit is just more of the same Apple B.S. Is this the way that a loyal Apple afficiando is treated with nearly twenty years of loyalty to the Apple brand?
Dwight Threepersons
dwt204@nyu.edu
My story is identical to the furious consumer. My 3rd gen. 40 gig iPod was $500. The battery died a long, long time ago.
Today, May 24, 2006 I received a letter from Apple that asks me to pay Apple $29.95, credit card only, to Apple. They'll send me a box to ship back my iPod for the "free" replacement battery they've owed me for years. On principle, it seems wrong that I should pay Apple when the fault is theirs.
The legal firm got rich on this settlement. They sold us out. They're making us pay Apple to replace the battery after all. Meanwhile, they pay the original 8 claimants $1,500 each to shut up and take the money. Meanwhile, Apple's laughing at us holdouts cos they got us in the end. We had to pay for a bad battery and we had to pay them again for a replacement. Caveat emptor.
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