How do I go about initiating a class action lawsuit against AT&T?

[macboy4]

No, I'm in the (growing) camp that includes people who've been waiting for 2+ weeks for our iPads to ship and deliver. Meaning, we ordered them BEFORE this annoucement was made, but we won't have any activation before June 7th.

And the response will be, "you can return your unopened iPad to Apple for a full refund."

Thanks for playing.

 

[barkomatic]

For a lawsuit to be viable, there must have been damages suffered.

What were your damages? You could argue that you are out the $500 you paid for your iPad, but then your iPad does what it says it was intended to do does it not?

One could say that in fact the iPad no longer does what is was intended to do. It was advertised with a worry free unlimited data plan option (that can be switched on and off) that most reasonable people would assume to be good for at least 6 months or so. Apple must have known that AT&T would be changing their plans a month after the release but Apple *still* advertised the unlimited plan giving the impression to consumers that this would be an option for some time.

Again, the more I think about it, Apple is more at fault if they knew that AT&T was going to be changing things.

You're correct that since the plan is contract free that AT&T is off the hook legally. Apple might not be. Though honestly, outside of technology blogs and forums I don't think most people care. They just see cheaper data plans.

 

[rdowns]

OK maybe Apple deserves some share of blame (it's not like AT&T and Apple didn't consult each other before this horrible decision was made, so that's why), but we need to go after the main problem here.

I have never done anything like this before - attempted a CAL. Yes, as a buyer of many many many electronic consumer goods in my life, there have been a few that turned out to be huge disappointments plagued with many problems, but never have I felt bamboozled, mislead, cheated, hoodwinked, as I did today.

I feel like I bought a beautiful Mercedes-Benz, and then 1 month later, my tires are taken away and I'm told by the company "Enjoy your beautiful car, now with limited use."

THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE! This is so wrong. Many of us bought iPads for heavy, extensive internet use on the go, away from home or stable Wi-Fi. The internet is probably the BIGGEST selling point of iPad, and now it's been crippled.

Is there a lawyer on this board? Is there a legal expert or law school student? How can we (the people) go about making sure AT&T answers to us??? I want to "spearhead" a CAL and get the ball rolling, so to speak. I know I'll need documents, papers, contracts, and signatures. What else?

ATT answers to their shareholders and (maybe) their customers. ATT answering to the people? LOLz.

You ask what else? I answer, a clue.

 

[Elise]

Good luck with that. You're going to need it!!

 

[jalpert]

There is only one potential winner in a class action lawsuit.... the lawyer.

 

[radicalcentrist]

There is only one potential winner in a class action lawsuit.... the lawyer.

This.

A) Several posters have already debunked any thought of a legitimate cause of action on this.

B) IF you get an attorney to file, AND get enough class members to serve as lead plaintiffs, AND have a Court certify the suit as a legitimate class, AND convince AT&T to settle, it would take years. And it would likely net you less than $100.

C) While the OP's Mercedes-without-wheels argument is clever, it's less than accurate. This is far more like buying a beautiful Mercedes Benz and then being pissed at Exxon-Mobile for raising gas prices so you can't afford to drive your beautiful Mercedes as much as you'd like.

 

[iFerd]

I'm sure that if I were waiting for delivery of my iPad and the data charges had become this big a deal for me, I would be headed to the Apple store on line to cancel my order. If it was ordered from Apple, the order can be canceled without further issue if it hasn't already shipped.

 

[Luiis81]

Yeah, I'm not sure how or why you would sue AT&T... I think they have the right to change the services they offer and they never had a contract or even implied that the pricing structure would remain unchanged.

I do agree however, that many iPads were sold with the idea that you could activate and deactivate an unlimited 3G plan for $30 per month. But this is not the case. You can only do this basically for the first month. After that, to keep the same rate you need to continue to use the 3G plan every month - doesn't this essentially mean that if you want this rate you are MUST renew each month? That I think is the problem. But it was Apple that promoted this and used it as a big selling point for the iPad. It's one of the big reasons that i bought one.

 

[mlad1101]

Sure its already been said. From a legal perspective you have no case.

The only possibility is if you pre-ordered a 3g while the unlimited plan was available under the notion you could get it and it wasn't available by the time you received the iPad and they tried to charge you a restocking fee to return it. Then you'd have a case, but I highly doubt that they won't waive the restocking fee's in that situation.

 

[iserian]

You can count on it -

AT&T went on record today, saying they have the right to "introduce new desirable plans in the future for new devices" (the gist of it).

What's to stop them from, later down the road, abandoning the 30/unlimited data plan all together???

 

[DougFNJ]

I love Class Action Lawsuits. People think they will get something decent and find out they only get a couple of dollars or a meaningless service. It's great for the lawyers though, they are the ones making the money

 

[mac jones]

I'm sure ATT has an army of lawyers just waiting for you, chomping at the bit.

go for it

 

[nj-mac-user]

post above makes no sense- that wasn't how it was promoted.

and If Stevie knew this was gonna change 1 month out and promoted it with the plan features, he is greedy and willfully deceptive. if he didn't know that ATT would do it a month out, he's been played by a company that he made huge amounts of moola for with the iPhone.

Also, realize at&t lost lots of moola with the iphone by not capping data and subsidizing it. This is kind of their way of "taming the beast" so to speak and stopping it before it reeeally gets bad and they start losing more than they're making.

 

[Kavik]

This.
C) While the OP's Mercedes-without-wheels argument is clever, it's less than accurate. This is far more like buying a beautiful Mercedes Benz and then being pissed at Exxon-Mobile for raising gas prices so you can't afford to drive your beautiful Mercedes as much as you'd like.

This is actually more like buying a Mercedes advertised with an "all you can drive" unlimited gas plan, then having Exxon change the terms as soon as you bought the car only allowing you 20 gallons/month (with additional gas only available in 10 gallon increments!). It's an incredible bait and switch, and actually Apple is the one that is more liable for false advertising* as it was one of the biggest selling points for the iPad 3G.

I'm actually of the mind that Apple didn't know about this before AT&T pulled this stunt. If so, I'd hate to be on Stevie's bad side

*p.s. Just checked and Apple is still showing the unlimited iPad plan on their website and store today

 

[skubish]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

Yawn
your threads bore me...

 

[mlad1101]

This is actually more like buying a Mercedes advertised with an "all you can drive" unlimited gas plan, then having Exxon change the terms as soon as you bought the car only allowing you 20 gallons/month (with additional gas only available in 10 gallon increments!). It's an incredible bait and switch, and actually Apple is the one that is more liable for false advertising* as it was one of the biggest selling points for the iPad 3G.

I'm actually of the mind that Apple didn't know about this before AT&T pulled this stunt. If so, I'd hate to be on Stevie's bad side

*p.s. Just checked and Apple is still showing the unlimited iPad plan on their website and store today

That is why you read the fine print when you enter a contract. Because trust me, that mercedes will have it written in the fine print, as does AT&T and there is little to nothing you can do. Caveat Emptor

 

[T4R06]

watch the movie taken where the kidnapper says... "GOODLUCK"

 

[HelveticaNeue]

I'm with you. I am filing a CAL against my local pizza restaurant. I started ordering pizza from them last month when they had a large pizza with unlimited toppings for $9.99. This month they've changed it to a large pizza with three toppings for $7.99. I feel like I've been tricked.

 

[3goldens]

yet another bonehead thread!

 

[goobot]

YES sue for lowing the coast of your plan and making it so you have a cap that you wont go over. they must have violated a contract that you did not sign! they are doing what the us government recommends "competition" SUE!!!! thats what you children sound like. plus they let you keep the 30 if you dont cancel, get over it.

 

[andiwm2003]

No, I'm in the (growing) camp that includes people who've been waiting for 2+ weeks for our iPads to ship and deliver. Meaning, we ordered them BEFORE this annoucement was made, but we won't have any activation before June 7th.

so you have no contract with ATT whatsoever and you want to sue them for not giving you in the future the contract you want?

My uncle promised me a 500 HP BMW for 1000 Euros. I'm going to sue BMW because they don't offer it. But this is the USA. Try it you might just win.

 

[andiwm2003]

I don't know if there is a legal basis for a lawsuit against AT&T. There might be more of a case against Apple actually for advertising the 3G with an unlimited plan and then having that plan immediately withdrawn--but I'm not sure.

.............

If there is a case then it's against Apple. However technically you can keep an unlimited plan. I don't know if Apple still advertized unlimited plan while ATT already cancelled that offer. In the best case you can return your iPad. But you can do that anyway.

 

[jfyrfytr25]

the poster who used the analogy of buying a mercedes and then mobile raising gas prices is spot on. that is a direct parallel to this situation, yet no one would consider sueing the gas company for the cost of your car.

it is what it is. I hate ATT. I think it sucks what they did. (i am affected through my iphone) but as mentioned you had a month to month contract.

and I am sure if you look through the pages when you signed up that somewhere in there in small print it says "rates are subject to change"

your law suit is out of gas (no pun intended)

 

[DctrJ]

One could say that in fact the iPad no longer does what is was intended to do. It was advertised with a worry free unlimited data plan option (that can be switched on and off) that most reasonable people would assume to be good for at least 6 months or so. Apple must have known that AT&T would be changing their plans a month after the release but Apple *still* advertised the unlimited plan giving the impression to consumers that this would be an option for some time.

Again, the more I think about it, Apple is more at fault if they knew that AT&T was going to be changing things.

You're correct that since the plan is contract free that AT&T is off the hook legally. Apple might not be. Though honestly, outside of technology blogs and forums I don't think most people care. They just see cheaper data plans.

Apple is still advertising the unlimited plan on their site! Seems deceptive to me.

 

[Julien]

Apple is still advertising the unlimited plan on their site! Seems deceptive to me.

It's not deceptive since you can still get an unlimited plan? Apple is also advertising the 3GS iPhone when they know a new one is coming out next week. Isn't that deceptive also in your book?