iPhone Users Sue for Phones Without Multimedia Messaging Service
A class-action lawsuit seeking more than $5 million in damages has been filed on behalf of all iPhone users in Texas who claim they were lied to, mislead, and ripped by purchasing phones that were not equipped with multimedia messaging service.
Henri and Allison Friloux filed their lawsuit on Dec. 16 against Apple Inc. and AT&T Mobility LLC. The suit seeking class-action status was filed in the Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas, according to a report in the Southeast Texas Record.
All Texas residents who bought a 3G or 3-GS iPhone between July 1, 2008 and the date of resolution of the lawsuit are part of the proposed class to be represented by the suit.
“All the millions of purchasers of the 3G and the 3G-S iPhone have been deceived and cheated out of what they thought they were purchasing – a phone with MMS functionality,” the lawsuit states.
iPhones Debut Without MMS Service
The iPhone 2G debuted in 2007 and was replaced by the 3G in 2008 and the 3-GS in June 2009, according to the Record. The first-generation of iPhones did not allow multimedia messaging service (also called MMS), which allows users to send pictures and video via text messages.
The lawsuit claims Apple and AT&T aggressively advertised that the newer versions of the iPhone, the 3G and 3G-S, would allow multimedia messaging. However, the plaintiffs say the messaging service was not available even on the newer models. Instead, users had to view multimedia messages using a computer hooked up to their iPhones, the lawsuit claims.
The plaintiffs claim they were told they could install a software update for their iPhones to allow multimedia messages, but that was not the case.
Marketing Fraud, Deception Alleged
The class-action lawsuit seeks to determine whether Apple and AT&T concealed, suppressed, or omitted material facts to customers, the Record reports. For example, AT&T may have known that its cellular towers did not support MMS service, upgrades would not be completed for months, and the software upgrade would not solve the problem, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs claim that the defendants violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by deceiving or misrepresenting the phone’s functions, according to the Record. The lawsuit also alleges civil fraud, tort, conspiracy to defraud, and unjust enrichment.
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