Apple Facing Litigation Over iPhone Discounts

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Finally, somebody got mad enough to take action against Apple for providing discounts on their latest batch of iPhones. How much is the angry iPhone owner looking to get out of this lawsuit? A somewhat ridiculous amount, according to some pundits. The person is suing Apple for $1 million for a number of different company indiscretions. According to the irked iPhone owner, Apple committed violations including price discrimination, underselling, and discrimination in rebates.

This single owner wasn’t the only person who was angry over Apple’s price drop. After releasing their product this summer in the United States, Apple waited only a little more than two months to drop the price of the product by $200. Dongmei Lei, of New York City, is the person who is doing the suing. According to published reports, Lei waited in long lines during the first iPhone release to buy the company’s 4GB version. Now, Lei wants restitution for a whole laundry list worth of wrongdoings.

The interesting thing about this lawsuit is that Apple only dropped the price on their more functional 8GB version of the iPhone. It debuted at $599, but was later dropped to $399 in order to accommodate more customers. Lei, however, purchased the lower level iPhone, which was eventually phased out by the company. Now, Ms. Lei has decided that Apple took inappropriate action and didn’t look out for its early buyers, who should have been protected more than the average iPhone owner.

Apple has repeatedly tried to make peace with people like Lei, who are set on making a name for themselves through litigation. They even offered a $200 refund for iPhone owners who purchased the more expensive product two weeks or less before the price cut. In addition to that, Apple CEO Steve Jobs personally approved a $100 Apple store credit for those customers to go along with it. For some, this peace offering wasn’t nearly enough. In addition to this one lawsuit, there have been quite a few more from customers who both see opportunity and seek restitution. Some of these suits have been more successful than others, as Apple has had to face its fair share of meaningless litigation as a result of the product.

Back in January, before iPhone had even gotten off of the ground, it ran into a legal speed bump when fellow power Cisco decided to file suit against them. Cisco claimed that it actually owned the iPhone brand and it demanded millions from Apple. Predictably, the two companies settled out of court and Apple went about its merry way promoting the product.

Even those who got a good price on the iPhone aren’t completely happy with the service being provided. One man sued the company for $2,000 after he racked up roaming charges by using the phone out of the country. According to him, that wasn’t supposed to happen and the charges were bogus. Other users have been angry because their phone didn’t allow them to change out the battery.

In the midst of this windfall of legal trouble, Apple seems set on changing their reputation for service. Steve Jobs’ public admission that he hasn’t been as good to customers as he should have been was a head turner for those within the business and seems to indicate the company’s desire to get it right in the future. With the impending second launch of the Apple iPhone coming this fall, Apple would be well served to get their ducks in a row, as customers will be looking for a change in attitude from Jobs and the rest of his crew.