News

Louisiana Woman Sues Apple Over iPod nano Scratches

Tuesday, December 27th, 2005 at 12:35 PM - by Staff

While little has been heard about the class action lawsuits filed this past fall over iPod nano scratches, a woman in Louisiana has filed her own class action suit in a Baton Rouge federal court. Her legal action joins five others filed in California, New York and New Jersey.

According to a story at The Advocate, Emily Mayo's attorney, Philip Bohrer, commented: "These devices are not designed to withstand even routine use. There's a flaw in the design that needs to be changed."

Mr. Bohrer estimated that tens of thousands of iPod nano owners in Louisiana could be part of the class action lawsuit. However, reporter Penny Brown Roberts visited a local Best Buy and spoke with two consumers who didn't think much of the lawsuits.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 2:12 pm

The linked article brings up a good point. Like the iPod, there's a thriving industry around cases and other accessories, some bling, some not. If you're in a rough environment, then maybe a case is a good idea. If plastic comes in contact with a material that is harder, the plastic will scratch. Not sure how recent a development this is, but the Nano I just received comes with a case.

I've worn glasses for many years, and using a case for the pair I'm not wearing is second nature. Even though they have a scratch-resistant coating, I wouldn't expect them to be scratch-free if I carried them in my computer case (which I do) with all sorts of other nasty stuff, some which could scratch the lenses.

I've also see several Nanos, and have yet to see one that is scratched so badly it isn't usable.

This lady and her lawyer should be charged for bringing up such a baseless lawsuit.

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Spider said:

member since 12 Aug 2001 with 2997 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Dec 27, 2005 2:35 pm

I am so sick of hearing people complain about scratching. Just about anywhere you buy a Nano there are cases right there. If you are going to spend at least $199 on something another $20 won't kill you to protect it.

So what's next? I buy a car and a while later there is a chip in my windshield because a stray rock hit it from somewhere and I get to sue the car maker and windshield maker because the windshield didn't withstand a rock thrown at it at 30-50mph?

Each time I sell any iPod I suggest to people to get a case. Many say no. I have done my part about educating the customer and feel that they have accepted the (known) risks by not buying one.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 3:19 pm

As a Louisiana iPod owner who has also given several iPods as gifts, I'm sorry to see still another junk lawsuit (basically, a get-rich easy scheme by unscrupulous attorneys).

It takes bad handling to the point of stupidity to severely damage or scratch an iPod screen to the point of losing usability. I've got a first-generation iPod and have a fifth-generation video iPod. I've used Nanos on trips without scratching their screens. I bought a protective case for the video iPod, because I want to use it for a long time.

Should all devices be constructed so as to prevent damage by careless or simply dumb users? Of course not. I've got a digital camera with a wonderful zoom lens. Scratching that lens (easily done), or smearing it with fingerprints (easily done) would reduce it's image quality to the level of a cheap, throw-away camera. Dropping it one time could make it incapable of focussing. Are these design defects that justify class action lawsuits against the camera manufacturer? Of course not. They are the results of user abuse.

We may pity those among us who tend to destroy everything they touch. But that doesn't give them the right to raise prices for the rest of us, who treat their property properly. As for the class-action attorneys, Shakespeare had the right answer.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 5:47 pm

That's a good phrase - "bad handling to the point of stupidity". My nano lives in a soft case. Its sole purpose in life is to provide me with some badass workout music in a gym. There's a whole bunch of activity there that presents a threat to the nano, but with the application of just a little commonsense, the nano comes out of the experience having lost nothing but some battery charge.

Lawsuit? Only in America. Elsewhere in the world you'd be laughed at for merely entertaining the thought that your own carelessness, stupidity, clumsiness or lack of commonsense deserved to be compensated through the judicial system.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 6:23 pm

I do feel that these Nanos scratch way too easily, I can do it with my thumbnail. The material in the Nanos feels different to me than the stuff used in the other iPods, it is softer. It may be a frivolous lawsuit, especially outside of the USA where consumers are used to being abused by manufactures, but without such lawsuits things don't get fixed.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:42 pm

Quote
Guest wrote:
I do feel that these Nanos scratch way too easily, I can do it with my thumbnail. The material in the Nanos feels different to me than the stuff used in the other iPods, it is softer. It may be a frivolous lawsuit, especially outside of the USA where consumers are used to being abused by manufactures, but without such lawsuits things don't get fixed.

So the DOJ's action against Microsoft got things fixed, did it? Pfft.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:10 pm

"So the DOJ's action against Microsoft got things fixed, did it? Pfft."

Talk to the Pinto drivers. As for you, roll over and take it.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:53 pm

Roll over and take it? That's some allusion to your need to engage in a homosexual act?

Umm, gee, no thanks.

As for the Pinto case, it's so entirely different in scale that it hardly bears comparison to the nano. When was the the last time a nano exploded?

Stop clutching at straws. Or whatever it is you like to clutch at.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:40 am

Quote
Guest wrote:
I do feel that these Nanos scratch way too easily, I can do it with my thumbnail. The material in the Nanos feels different to me than the stuff used in the other iPods, it is softer. It may be a frivolous lawsuit, especially outside of the USA where consumers are used to being abused by manufactures, but without such lawsuits things don't get fixed.

Um, how about by not buying them? If people think the Nano plastic is shoddy - word of mouth gets around, the press talks about it, and Apple either redesigns it or starts including a case with purchase - lo and behold, they've done just that. New nanos ship with the same sort of cases the vid pods do.

This is hardly scalding hot coffee or a gas tank that explodes, and scratches don't BREAK the device.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:22 am

Yes, exactly. Don't buy them. Talk to other owners. Read reviews. Get the vibe. Do some research. It's not rocket science, and losing sales is an infintely more powerful motivator to a company to force it to fix a mistake. This is how consumers should react to a product known to have a fault.

Increasingly, however, and particularly in America, consumers are resorting to relying on the state to sanction the poor quality of their decision-making through the reward of a cash settlement. So we live in a world where the individual is increasingly belligerent towards their responsibility to self. It's sad and pathetic, and this disease could be assuaged by making attorneys accept a flat fee for their services, as opposed to a cut of the settlement following a satisfactory outcome. Thus, the claimant and plaintiff pay a fee to the lawyer regardless of the outcome. Makes everyone think twice, you see.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Dec 28, 2005 4:43 am

Let's face it... Apple uncharacteristically BLEW IT on this one. The Nano DOES SCRATCH far too EASILY

. So GET OVER IT Apple apologistas. You are NOT HELPING by defending Apple even when it is CLEARLY IN THE WRONG.

All I hope is that Apple LEARNS from the WAVE OF LAWSUITS and NEVER AGAIN releases something so shoddy as the 'scratch me up' plastic used in the Nano. It is the ONE MAJOR MISSTEP I've seen them make with the iPod. I hope its the LAST.

I say all of the above as the OWNER of TWO iPODS. It will be THREE when Apple FIXES THE NANO.

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LaurieF said:

member since 15 Jun 2001 with 3462 posts, TMO Forum Mod, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:03 am

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
especially outside of the USA where consumers are used to being abused by manufactures, but without such lawsuits things don't get fixed.

Oh bollocks. Your ignorance of "outside of the USA" is palpable. "Used to being abused"? Pillock. Stop begging the question and think and learn.

Many countries don't allow these sorts of actions. In this country consumers are covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act, which requires the manufacturer or its agent to repair or replace an item within its warranty period (this is generally, for electronic goods and the like, twelve months.) What more could anyone want?

When I bought my first iPod, its battery needed replacing within a couple of months. I sent it off - to Australia, actually - and got a new one. A few months later that one packed it in as well. That was promptly replaced as well. It's still going now, three years or so later. Should I sue Apple for my not having an iPod for a total of a fortnight?

Some people are so stupid.

(I listen to Mac Geek Gab - I like rants)

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Dec 28, 2005 2:01 pm

I hope the judge looks at this woman, tells her how stupid she is, and throws her out of court. Why in the HELL would you go buy this device knowing full well that five other class action lawsuits have been filed for the supposed design flaw. I have only seen a Nano once, I didn't try to scratch it with my thumbnail, as I didn't want to have to pay for it in case I did scratch it, and that was two months ago. The person who did buy it as a gift for her husband, an avid runner, also bought five colored cases for it. She knew it had a reputation for scratching. Heck, I have scratched my Shuffle. It's plastic. It happens.

You should see the scratches on my car. Am I suing GM for them? No. It comes with the territory. If she's thrown her Nano in her purse, or even stuck it in her pocket unprotected, it's her own fault. In legal terms, it's assumption of the risk. My Nokia cell phones all scratched badly. I got rid of them and got a flip phone that protects itself. But I bet if Apple redesigned the Nano as a flip device, people would get mad at the sudden growth in size, weight, and cost.

And nowhere in this post am I apologizing for Apple. I think the design is flawed. But the people who keep buying them and then suing are flawed in the head.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue May 30, 2006 2:47 pm

I hope the judge looks at this woman, tells her how stupid she is, and throws her out of court. YOU are very right.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue May 30, 2006 2:49 pm

The Nano scraches so get over it and buy a case. Use the case it came with for now.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jan 16, 2007 3:37 am

I think it's good that someone brought this up as a case. It's a stupid lawsuit, but maybe Apple would hear it out and maybe consider using a better material that isn't such a scratch and fingerprint magnet. I think they do this on purpose so people would have to waste and extra $20 to $50 on a case. You practically have to wear gloves to use an ipod, you just touch it and it gets full of fingerprints!

I just got an iPod, I've heard that it scratches, but this is ridiculous. I ordered a case on the internet, which should get here in a week, but I wasn't going to stop using just to get my case. I have used it for less than two days, I haven't even left my house, it was just sitting there on top of my table or I had it in this leather case I had. And it already has some scratches on the metal part in the back! It has like 4 or 5 scratches. Now I probably have to go buy some scratch remover and some other crap.

They have to do this on purpose to make more money or something.

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