Complaints about reception problems with Apple’s new iPhone 4 have entered the courtroom. At least three lawsuits have been filed, accusing the device maker and AT&T Wireless of negligence in marketing, unfair business practices, and false and misleading advertising.
Separate complaints from a customer in New Jersey and another in Massachusetts were filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, and another lawsuit was filed Thursday in Maryland.
‘Misrepresentation and Fraud’
One lawsuit, from Christopher Dydyk of Cambridge, Mass., said “Apple’s sale of the iPhone with this unannounced defect, assuming Apple’s prior knowledge of the defect, constitutes misrepresentation and fraud.” The complaint added that “in omitting to disclose the defect in the iPhone 4, Apple perpetrated a massive fraud upon hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting customers.”
Dydyk asks that Apple provide a free “bumper,” or rubber case, for every pre-ordered iPhone, or that it be ordered to pay for customers’ bumpers.
Maryland residents Kevin McCaffrey and Linda Wrinn said Apple and AT&T “actively suppressed and concealed the fact that the iPhone 4 could not be held in a manner consistent with the normal usage of wireless communication devices,” and they are looking for unspecified damages.
Apple hasn’t commented, but has consistently said there is no antenna issue.
On Wednesday, there were indications that Apple was indirectly confirming the existence of antenna problems because of a new job posting for an “Antenna Engineer-iPhone,” and a reportedly leaked memo.
The memo, allegedly an internal Apple customer-care document, surfaced earlier this week on industry web sites. It advised AppleCare employees about how to deal with complaints relating to reception, noting that “gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception.”
It advised employees to suggest that customers who are experiencing this on the iPhone 3GS “avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand,” and, if it’s happening with the…