[Infowarrior] - Apple: We're Not Lying, but Don't Believe Our Ads

[Richard Forno]

Apple: Our Ads Don't Lie, But You're a Fool if You Believe Them
By Brian X. Chen EmailDecember 02, 2008 | 3:25:46 PMCategories: Apple,  
iPhone

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/12/apple-says-cust.html

Apple doesn't want you to believe what it says, even though the  
company claims it's not lying.

That's the gist of the Cupertino company's legal response to a lawsuit  
regarding allegedly misleading advertising for the iPhone 3G.

The corporation's nine-page legal document [.pdf] is an answer to a  
complaint filed by William Gillis, a 70-year-old San Diego resident  
who alleges that Apple falsely advertised the iPhone 3G by calling it  
"twice as fast for half the price" compared with the original handset.

Some parts of Apple's 32-point rebuttal say that the company was being  
truthful. But one paragraph says, in effect, that anyone who believes  
what the company says in its ads is a fool.

"Plaintiff's claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by  
the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no  
reasonable person in Plaintiff's position could have reasonably relied  
on or misunderstood Apple's statements as claims of fact," Apple said  
in its answer.

Gillis was one of several dissatisfied iPhone 3G customers who  
recently filed lawsuits alleging Apple falsely advertised the  
handset's performance. The lawsuits stem from widespread frustration  
over the popular smartphone; the complaints vary from frequently  
dropped calls to sluggish broadband speeds and the inability to stay  
on 3G before it switches to the slower EDGE network.

Apple has already moved to dismiss some of the iPhone 3G lawsuits  
filed, but Gillis's remains alive and kicking. Michael Ian Rott,  
Gillis's attorney, said that out of the five iPhone 3G lawsuits filed,  
he thinks his client's is the most likely to succeed.

"Ours has the most teeth and the most legs to it," Rott said. "If  
there was any way that Apple could get out of it, they would have  
filed a motion to dismiss here, too. Their M.O. has been, 'File motion  
to dismiss and let's get out of here,' but they haven't done that with  
ours."

In the past, Apple acknowledged the iPhone 3G's network issues and  
promised the problems would be addressed with future software updates.  
Consumers are reporting that the most recent firmware version --  
iPhone 2.2 -- appears to be mitigating the issue of frequent dropped  
calls. However, many still complain about reception problems.

"I keep waiting and hoping for a fix," wrote iPhone customer  
"BarJohnG," in Apple's support forums. "So far the reception is still  
lousy. I can't believe that Apple is not fixing this issue but merely  
trying to mask it and keep the customer confused by showing more bars  
than there is signal. When you look at the logs it is shocking the  
number of crashes and problems with the phone and OS."

Though Apple is continuing to hold its ground in U.S. courts, the  
corporation hasn't been so lucky in the U.K. The U.K. Advertising  
Standards Authority banned two iPhone 3G advertisements, deeming them  
misleading for exaggerating the speeds and internet capabilities of  
the handset.