You can’t please all the people all the time.
Apple is facing yet another class-action lawsuit over its iPhone handset. The most recent action comes on behalf of New York state resident Herbert H. Kliegerman, who cites that the company failed to adequately disclose to its customers that the iPhone would be locked to AT&T’s network and that using the handset would incur substantial data roaming charges.
According to AppleInsider, the nine-page complaint, filed Monday in New York Supreme Court, accuses Apple of engaging in deceptive and misleading practices by failing to properly disclose that the iPhone would only work with AT&T SIM cards and that unlock codes would not be provided to bring the device to alternate carriers.
In the complaint, Kliegerman cites a week-long trip to Mexico, where he used his iPhone to check e-mails and go online. He did so, according to the suit, after reading a statement on Apple’s iPhone website stating that “[y]ou can browse the Internet and send emails as often as you like without being charged extra.”
Upon his return, the plaintiff claims he received a bill from AT&T with approximately US$2,000 in international data roaming charges. Kliegerman then stated that, being a frequent traveler, he returned the iPhone to AT&T in order to obtain an unlock code for the iPhone, but was told that these would not be provided to him.
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You can’t please all the people all the time.
Apple is facing yet another class-action lawsuit over its iPhone handset. The most recent action comes on behalf of New York state resident Herbert H. Kliegerman, who cites that the company failed to adequately disclose to its customers that the iPhone would be locked to AT&T’s network and that using the handset would incur substantial data roaming charges.
According to AppleInsider, the nine-page complaint, filed Monday in New York Supreme Court, accuses Apple of engaging in deceptive and misleading practices by failing to properly disclose that the iPhone would only work with AT&T SIM cards and that unlock codes would not be provided to bring the device to alternate carriers.
In the complaint, Kliegerman cites a week-long trip to Mexico, where he used his iPhone to check e-mails and go online. He did so, according to the suit, after reading a statement on Apple’s iPhone website stating that “[y]ou can browse the Internet and send emails as often as you like without being charged extra.”
Upon his return, the plaintiff claims he received a bill from AT&T with approximately US$2,000 in international data roaming charges. Kliegerman then stated that, being a frequent traveler, he returned the iPhone to AT&T in order to obtain an unlock code for the iPhone, but was told that these would not be provided to him.
Within the complaint, Kliegerman argues that had AT&T allowed him to purchase and use a SIM card from a foreign wireless carrier, he would have been able to use the iPhone internationally and incurred fees less than the US$2,000 charged by AT&T. The complaint notes that AT&T has always provided unlock codes for non-iPhone handsets in the past should a customer request them.
“As a result of [Apple’s] deceptive and misleading acts, members of the Class have been injured because they are unable to unlock their phones for use with non-AT&T SIM cards,” the suit states.
Kliegerman is presently asking the court to award a judgement barring Apple from selling locked iPhones as well as requiring the company to provide unlock codes to all of its iPhone customers. The complaint also requests that Apple be made to adequately disclose to New York customers any and all fees charged for using the iPhone’s data features during international travel.
Stay tuned for more details as they become available and if you’ve seen higher international bills with the iPhone than you expected, let us know in the comments or forums.