Apple Claims "Neglect," Aims to Have Lawsuit Dismissed

We've reported on numerous lawsuits surrounding the Apple iPhone 3G in previous reports here, here and here. Apple was quiet at first, but has now fired back by asking a US court to throw out a lawsuit filed by dissatisfied iPhone users, because they failed to ask for a repair or a refund.

The suit filed in August in the state of Alabama by Jessica Smith was based on complaints that her iPhone 3G was slower than advertised and had problems connecting to and making calls on AT&T's network. "The Defective iPhone 3G appeared to connect to the 3G standard and protocol less than 25 percent of the time," the suit said. "Additionally, Plaintiff experienced an inordinate amount of dropped calls." She sought class action status for the lawsuit when joined by Wilton Triggs another plaintiff.

Recently, Apple said the lawsuit should be tossed out because "Plaintiffs? Amended Complaint conspicuously omits one critical condition precedent to all three causes of action: an allegation that they contacted Apple to seek a repair of the alleged defects or a replacement iPhone 3G under Apple?s One (1) Year Limited Warranty."

Under Alabama law, consumers are not allowed to file a lawsuit until they have exhausted all the opportunities to get the product repaired or replaced when under warranty. Therefore, because of this Alabama law, Apple is asking that the lawsuit be dismissed.

Apple recently experienced a setback in a previously reported lawsuit. That suit, with a value of over $1 billion, alleges antitrust issues caused by forcing users to use the iPhone on AT&T's network.