Back in September, a court gave initial approval of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Apple and AT&T alleging that the companies failed to live up to customer expectations with advertised data plans for 3G-capable models of the original iPad. At the device's launch, Apple touted a $29.99/month unlimited data plan through AT&T, but just two months after the 3G iPad models became available AT&T discontinued the plan in favor of a capped data plan.
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Today, the administrator handling the settlement began sending out claim forms to customers who purchased or ordered an original iPad Wi-Fi + 3G on or before June 7, 2010, allowing them to register to receive their settlement benefits. Claim forms must be filed by February 3, 2014, and the final settlement terms still need to approved by the court.
Under the terms of settlement, all U.S. customers who purchased a 3G-capable iPad will be eligible for a $40 payment from Apple. Those customers who purchased the affected device but did not activate a data plan will also be eligible for a $20 discount on AT&T's 5 GB iPad data plan, good for one year. Current pricing for that data plan is set at $50/month, so the settlement will reduce that fee to $30/month for that one-year period.
On the claim form, customers must attest that the ability to switch in and out of the unlimited data plan was a factor in their decision to purchase the 3G iPad. Customers must also provide the serial number and IMEI number for the device in order to be credited with the data plan benefit. For any customer eligible for the data plan benefit but who is no longer in possession of the affected iPad, he or she may apply the benefit to a newer iPad by submitting the serial number and IMEI number of that newer device.
Full details on the settlement and required claim forms are available on the settlement website.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Finished submission. I wonder how long it will take?
********. I bought the original iPad with 3G the day it came out and I still have it. I got the email moments ago. I'm not going to claim.
I think it's fine to sue Apple on your own, but it should be illegal to sue on behalf of others (like me) without my express permission. I don't feel injured by the end of unlimited data after I realized I'm rarely away from WiFi.
$40 is nothing in the long run, but I bet the lawyers are happy.
Many/most class actions suits have an option to remove yourself from the suit, which then allows you to sue on your own or take your position. I'm too lazy to check if that's the case with this one.
I am however going to file for my $40 without any qualms. Even though they allowed those who had the unlimited plan to keep it after they said "Oh wait, did we say unlimited? That's not what we meant." there was still a significant loss in the originally promised benefit as one could no longer come and go freely. I got hosed by that as a couple of months later the credit card I was using expired before I noticed, and then when I went to update the expiration date that couldn't be done, the only option was a new sign up, which meant no unlimited option. That's Ok though, rather than pay them $30/month I did my best to not pay them anything at all (rarely did after that), and now I'll be buying an iPad Air -- with Verizon. :)
Anytime now the bitter MR members will chime in with their hatred for anyone suing Apple. Ironically, if they received the claim form they wouldn't hesitate to fill it out.
I didn't hestitate nor do I have hatred for anyone suing Apple.