iPhone Upgrade Program Members Sue Apple

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As much as I hate lawsuits like this, I can't help but wonder what the hell Apple is thinking by not taking care of their loyal customers that actually pay to be first when it comes to upgrades. Any of you out there members of Apple's Upgrade Program?

The class-action lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in California, claims that Apple gave higher priority to new customers’ iPhone 7 pre-orders over orders placed by members of the Upgrade Program. According to the lawsuit [PDF], Apple allowed the non-Upgrade customers to snap up the limited inventory of the new devices while telling members of the Upgrade Program to “check back later.”
 
Did people forget how to sell things?

This upgrade program makes no sense, for $40.75 a month for 12 months gets you a new 64gb iphone + apple care+($99 value), so $489 a year.
If you buy a new phone for $750 and sell it a year later for $500 so the phone cost you $250, add apple care+ for $99, you just paid $350 to use an iphone for a year. Am i missing something?
Why would you want to pay $489?
 
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gxp500 said:
Did people forget how to sell things?

This upgrade program makes no sense, for $40.75 a month for 12 months gets you a new iphone + apple care+($99 value), so $489 a year.
If you buy a new phone for $650 and sell it a year later for $400(some are selling for $450+) so the phone cost you $250, add apple care+ for $99, you just paid $350 to use an iphone for a year. Am i missing something?
Click to expand...

I think that is Exactly the reason for the lawsuit.

The Members feel if they are paying "more" they should be 1st in line for the latest each year.
(I have no idea what the actual agreement says. Just reading the article)
 
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gxp500 said:
Did people forget how to sell things?
Click to expand...
I think that question would best be directed towards Apple. If you've got people paying a premium subscription price for your products, you have got to take care of them first, regardless of the written details of the agreement. Those are the kind of customers any good business would bend over backwards to please. They knew exactly how many people would be expecting new phones on that plan, so if it meant pushing back the product announcement/release to have enough for them plus new customers, that's what they should have done.
 
I"m surprised this is an issue. Last year my mom ordered one from AT&T at least a week or 2 after orders were opened and got it the day it was launched. I guess Apple doesn't allocate very many for their own stores. That said, they need to make this right. Also the people on this plan need to just stop. Buy the phone outright and sell it every year (if you need a new one that often). If you can't afford to buy it outright, get a credit card with 1 year 0% interest. Buy it from macmall you pay no taxes. Buy it used in 3 or 4 months and it'll be cheaper still.


That said, this is one iphone I don't want. I'll wait for next year when they might add wireless charging and I'll have an idea of how people deal with the lack of a headphone jack (most boneheaded move so far).
 
I remember pricing it out last early this year and was $100 cheaper to buy from att or verizon with apple care than it was from apple, and was $150 cheaper from amazon. Couldn't figure out why it was even being offered other than hoping to play off false trust for apple having everyones best interests at heart...
 
Darunion said:
I remember pricing it out last early this year and was $100 cheaper to buy from att or verizon with apple care than it was from apple, and was $150 cheaper from amazon. Couldn't figure out why it was even being offered other than hoping to play off false trust for apple having everyones best interests at heart...
Click to expand...
Ah i didn't factor in Apple Care. Then again, I consider an extended warranty a sucker bet (though if I had kids running around the house I might feel differently). I've never broken a phone in such a short period of time (and even when I took my windows phone in the pool it worked fine after I tossed it in a desiccant for a few days).

Now if they covered lost/stolen phones I might bight ;)
 
Darunion said:
I remember pricing it out last early this year and was $100 cheaper to buy from att or verizon with apple care than it was from apple, and was $150 cheaper from amazon. Couldn't figure out why it was even being offered other than hoping to play off false trust for apple having everyones best interests at heart...
Click to expand...
Right or wrong, cost-effective or not, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons people signed up was in the expectation that they'd be first in line for new phones. If you can't get dibs by paying the manufacturer directly, and in advance, the manufacturer must really be screwy.
 
I'm shocked... SHOCKED!

Apple doesn't have a binding arbitration clause to avoid class actions?

On the actual topic, the whole program doesn't seem like good value for money, but I guess it depends on how much you value your time, and the convenience of not having to sell your old device yourself, and risking dealing with some moron who immediately breaks it and then demands a refund claiming 'it was like that when you gave it to me' or any of the other potential pitfalls.
 
A class action lawsuit?!? Has it even been a week yet since the stupid thing came out? The lawyers almost certainly had this one locked and loaded in advance - probably tripping over each other to be first to file.
 
This whole program is liking signing up to be a golden-opiate-laced-milk-giving cow for Apple, they'll get their phones is my bet. That cow will get milked.

To do otherwise would be incredibly short-sighted for Apple. Apple has never been a short-sighted company. The whole program is proof that Apple knows exactly how to handle a sucker.
 
nilepez said:
Ah i didn't factor in Apple Care. Then again, I consider an extended warranty a sucker bet (though if I had kids running around the house I might feel differently). I've never broken a phone in such a short period of time (and even when I took my windows phone in the pool it worked fine after I tossed it in a desiccant for a few days).

Now if they covered lost/stolen phones I might bight ;)
Click to expand...

I myself have never purchased a warranty, just get a case and screen protector (because it sits in my pocket with keys or on work bench getting solder splatter on it) and have always had a very good phone to re-sell when my term was up.
 
Darunion said:
I myself have never purchased a warranty, just get a case and screen protector (because it sits in my pocket with keys or on work bench getting solder splatter on it) and have always had a very good phone to re-sell when my term was up.
Click to expand...

Anyone with a half decent credit card already gets a 2 year warranty anyways. Extended warranties are a complete waste of money.
 
Apple care is great because the current nanny state doesn't allow you to beat your kids if they do something stupid with their phone and you will get sued for causing mental distress and bullying by their pears if you don't give them the latest apple products.
 
I know plenty of people on this program and they are getting their phone soon.
 
If you pay for early access, and you don't get it, that's, in a sense, a breach of contract. It's irrelevant what the product is. Hell, we could change the subject to healthcare, and it would generally mean the same.

I know there are those who criticise others for how they spend their money, but they probably worked for it, and why shouldn't they do what they want with it?
 
I don't remember this being an early access program, just about every company out there will fill preorders first before they move on to anything else. I'm not in the program but I bet you still have to preorder your phone and this could be those who expected it to automatically happen.
 
This sounds like a loser of a case for a couple of reasons. First, there's no promise of priority access. Second, there's no "premium" being paid - the cost of the phone and AppleCare is the same regardless of whether you purchase outright or do the upgrade thing. And third, the contract says that you're "eligible" for an upgrade after 12 payments.

That said, a couple of my friends who did the upgrade thing last year are getting their new phones delivered next week, the same time as me, a non-upgrade customer. I think that the real moral of the story is "You snooze, you lose".
 
Personally, I prefer Squaretrade. When my phone screen got damaged from too much moisture (I was cleaning the screen with a screen cleaner spray), Apple told me their care didn't cover that. I had 2 phones blow out, over the years with 1. a bad speaker and 2. a the home button stopped working.
 
ecmaster76 said:
A class action lawsuit?!? Has it even been a week yet since the stupid thing came out? The lawyers almost certainly had this one locked and loaded in advance - probably tripping over each other to be first to file.
Click to expand...
it comes out in 2 days.
 
gxp500 said:
Did people forget how to sell things?

This upgrade program makes no sense, for $40.75 a month for 12 months gets you a new 64gb iphone + apple care+($99 value), so $489 a year.
If you buy a new phone for $750 and sell it a year later for $500 so the phone cost you $250, add apple care+ for $99, you just paid $350 to use an iphone for a year. Am i missing something?
Why would you want to pay $489?
Click to expand...

Think of it more like credit for phones. If you buy one outright you have to ensure you have the $750 up front to do so. A lot of people dont, and most people dont want to sell their phone first and be phoneless for a day or whatever until they can buy the new one, which being Apple might not even be available when they head to the store. Basically it requires a lot of "doing stuff" to get it done. You dont know for sure if you can sell your phone for $500 a year later, then you have to go through the whole process of actually selling it, which means either meeting someone of craigslist (safety concern) or taking time out of your day to go to a UPS store and have it wrapped and shipped, and then hoping the buyer doesnt make some false accusation about the condition of the device, etc etc etc.

With the upgrade plan you are paying for convenience. You just walk into a store and trade out phones.
 
gxp500 said:
Did people forget how to sell things?

This upgrade program makes no sense, for $40.75 a month for 12 months gets you a new 64gb iphone + apple care+($99 value), so $489 a year.
If you buy a new phone for $750 and sell it a year later for $500 so the phone cost you $250, add apple care+ for $99, you just paid $350 to use an iphone for a year. Am i missing something?
Why would you want to pay $489?
Click to expand...

To turn your math back on you, people paid $139 a year to not have to deal with the population of craigslist.
 
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