Oh Apple. If a tech company isn't coming after you with a lawsuit for patent infringement one day, it's a an irritated California man coming after you the next over a busted iPhone 4 that came at the hands of his daughter. The latest alleges that the cracked glass is the result of the handset design being defective.
According to the complaint, LA citizen Donald LeBuhn makes the case that Apple had known for months that the design of the iPhone 4 is defective, but failed to let customers know that normal use of the device could lead to a busted phone.
LeBuhn also noted that had paid over $250 in September for a new iPhone 4 only to see it become essentially useless once his daughter dropped it from a height of three feet, attempting to send a text message.
In the suit statement, he also claims that he had owned an iPhone 3GS that had also fallen from a similar height, but didn't break. Due to this, he feels Apple's marketing claims of the iPhone 4 glass being "20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic," being "ultradurable" and having been made from the same material as the "glass used in helicopters and high-speed trains," to basically be a bunch of malarkey.
"Months after selling millions of iPhone 4s, Apple has failed to warn and continues to sell this product with no warning to customers that the glass housing is defective," writes LeBuhn's attorneys in the complaint.
In the lawsuit, LeBuhn is asking the court to mandate that Apple give a refund of the purchase price of the iPhone 4 to any similarly situated class members, reimburse customers for any repair fees they've paid, and to further compensate customers for their "overpayment" in purchasing a defective product.
Hmm, you be the judge readers. Does LeBuhn have a case?
via AppleInsider
Follow this article's author, Matthew Tilmann on Twitter
(Image courtesy of digitaltrends.com)
DyNy
January 30, 2011 at 4:27pm
I could understand the frustration and I can see the point in wanting a replacement but is suing a must?
Phoenician1
January 28, 2011 at 8:24pm
This is fun reading 'n all, but I think we all (ok, Most of us) know the truth: out in the Real World, excrement occurs. Bad things happen to good people. You drop your phone three times, it no break. You drop it a fourth time, it break. That's not anybody's fault, that's random chance & physics.
It's. Not. Always. Somebody. Else's. Fault.
We all love our iPhones, too. We're sorry for your loss, truly. Get over it and move on. Nuff said.
macpops
January 28, 2011 at 5:27pm
This is insanity... everybody is lawsuit crazy, expecting to get something for nothing. Especially hitting the places with deep pockets. If you can't hold on to a phone, perhaps there are other problems you the USER should be dealing with, besides an "excuse" for your general ineptness... really, some of you "EXPECT" to drop a phone? As a part of normal usage? Please people, and in some cases that term might be subjective, either get a GOOD case, which is a great idea, "get a grip" or get some tin cans and some string, and make something that is more in line with your capabilities. I have had both 3G and 3GS phones, and not had issues with either. Yes, once or twice they got "dropped", by accident, which was my fault, not Apple's, and wasn't anywhere close to being normal usage, and I consider myself lucky that they didn't break (i have a good case, a Belkin flip cover, which was FREE from att when i bought my first 3G), because if you drop anything from that height, onto a solid surface, I would expect breakage, that's just plain common sense. Those that have had Apple replace their phones due to "drop breakage", you are truly lucky. My Belkin case will be surrounding my iPhone 4 when i upgrade this summer!
michaelwb
January 28, 2011 at 4:17pm
Yes he does. I got my iPhone 4 and then two days later dropped it not even a foot and a half onto concrete and it shattered. I had to pay 200 for Apple to fix it. The 4's are defective. I have had every iPhone since the first gen. and have dropped them all, the 3g and 3gs have even slid 20 feet across a parking lot and still haven't broken!!!! How would I be able to join this lawsuit???
nkornman
January 28, 2011 at 12:08pm
Glassgate will never materialize into anything that will make Apple change anything. If you are prone to dropping your phone, GET A CASE! I mean really? Is it that hard?
MacDork
January 28, 2011 at 11:10am
It's a phone. I expect to drop my phone. It shouldn't shatter if I drop it.
msgdsgn
January 28, 2011 at 4:04pm
See above. Mine shattered completely with one of those Apple bumpers.
hunterthig
January 28, 2011 at 1:38am
I call BS on this one because I have dropped my iPhone 4 three times 1 time from a height much greater than 3 feet and my phone is fine. Worst thing is a small ding on the bottom corner chrome edge. Same thing 1 time on my 3G and the display shattered. I think the iPhone 4 is a much more durable phone.
msgdsgn
January 28, 2011 at 4:02pm
It definitely isn't BS. My wife dropped hers from her pocket, while seated. This was closer to two feet, onto hardwood floors. The front cracked through the middle. This was the first drop, three days after purchase. The Apple store replaced it for free.
Three weeks later, same thing happened to me, about three feet, first time drop, with a case, front and back glass shattered. Apple replaced mine for free as well, although it took a little more effort on my part. It's all a matter of how it hits. Both of ours hit on a corner.
I have since upgraded to an Otterbox Defender and have dropped it from much higher and had it tumble through a parking lot without even getting a scratch. I have also purchased an insurance plan. This thing needs to last until I can upgrade to the rubber iPhone5.
teejaysplace
January 28, 2011 at 12:47am
Although, ya know, if the MacLife journalists would have done even 5 minutes worth of research into this story, - instead of lazily truncating it from AppleInsider, who copied it from someone else, who themselves referenced an entirely different article written months earlier - they would have discovered that the case (or at least the problem) was actually more far reaching, being dubbed "Glassgate" as early as last October. Apparently, there were quite a few people who experienced randomly broken glass; though, none of them, presumably, were daft enough to let their infant daughters fumble around with their new $250 dollar pieces of bling.
teejaysplace
January 28, 2011 at 12:37am
You can replace that piece - some do simply for aesthetic reasons - so the phone is hardly a loss. A simple Google search for 'iPhone 4 replacement parts" should do the trick.
RedSectorA
January 27, 2011 at 11:46pm
Hopefully, this will be seen as a frivolous lawsuit. Clearly, Mr. LeBuhn's attorney must be aware the case is being filed without merit and lacks a factual basis for any claims. Apple has not defined what is considered "normal use," nor has Apple made claims that the iPhone 4 would survive a three-foot drop. Mr. LeBuhn believes the phone was damaged during "normal use." However, the damage occurred when his daughter dropped it from a height of three feet. No reasonable person would consider that "normal use" of any cell phone, let alone one encased in glass, includes a drop from greater than three feet.
Unfortunately, Mr. LeBuhn represents a growing segment of our population, those who refuse to accept personal accountability. The problem is their own fault, however, they always point the finger of blame in the wrong direction. Great lesson to teach your young daughter, keep up the good work...
akfreeridemtber
January 27, 2011 at 11:36pm
malarkey... LOL that's funny.
i've been staying this for years...
they need to come out with a new game show, "Let's Get Sued"
ppl are so sue happy now days, over some of the stupids things... the sad thing is, SOME do win... ???
therealpinky
January 27, 2011 at 9:01pm
no he doesnt have any case because of the fact he openly admitted that it was dropped and secondly its well known that the front of the phone is the high grade glass not the back apple had printed this law suit out and is useing it as a ass wipe done and done
