14 DAY TRIAL // Carp Law Offices, LLC is the second law firm to take on Apple claiming the iPhone 4 antenna is defective, citing the company’s refusal to correct the issue, or to at least accept returns without restocking fees or contract penalties. On behalf of a certain Dr. Thomas Gionis and “other similarly situated individuals”, Carp has initiated a class action law suit against the phone’s makers, as well as against AT&T, the exclusive iPhone carrier in the United States.
According to a report by MacDailyNews, which has been able to obtain and publish a lengthy statement from Carp Law Offices, LLC, the complaint mostly focuses solely on the so-called “defective antenna installed in the new iPhone 4”, although the antenna itself is not to blame, but rather the entire phone’s design (including software), which creates some unfortunate circumstances for end users, if the problem is even confirmed. Also mentioned in the complaint is “Apple and AT&T’s refusal to correct the issue or to accept returns of the phone without restocking fees or contract penalties for attempting to void the service agreement before the contractual two year period has run.”
The firm points out to Steve Jobs’ statements with respect to the iPhone 4, alleging that, “Purchasers and users of the Iphone have been falsely induced to buy a product that requires the user to hold the phone in a particular manner in order not to disable the external antenna. Apple is aware of the design defect, but has suggested the only remedy is to hold the phone differently, or to put a rubber shield around the product to prevent the user’s skin from blocking cellular signals.”
Robert Carp of Carp Law Offices, LLC of Newton and Gloucester Massachusetts is quoted in the report as saying that the two companies’ refusal to address these issues is incredulous: “This was one of the most highly advertised retail products to ever to be released. Now, with enough feedback to clearly demonstrate the flawed antenna, Apple has refused to offer a fix or any other sort of work around except to tell its customers ‘to hold the phone differently’. This sort of advice coming from a firm that prides itself on cutting edge technology is incredulous, and the hallmark of a corporate mentality that only acknowledges mistakes when sufficient critical mass is raised by irate consumers.”
Until the problem is resolved, Carp Law Offices, LLC is asking for class-action certification and an injunction to stop Apple from manufacturing any more iPhone handsets.