Apple Settles for $2.25 million in Australian iPad 4G Dispute

[Maura]

9to5 Mac reports that according to a story in The Australian, Apple has settled the case that has been going through the Australian law courts about its advertising and marketing of the latest iPad as 4G, by agreeing to pay up $2.25 million. The case arose because of complaints from customers in Australia, who said that Apple’s advertising in countries such as Australia and the UK was misleading, because (until it was changed by Apple as a result of the complaints) it still referred to the new iPad as 4G on the Apple website, despite the fact that true 4G LTE is not supported in Australia, or indeed the UK, where advertising authorities are also looking into the matter. 9to5 Mac says that the case is not quite done and dusted yet, despite Apple agreeing to make the payment, as the judge still has to give his final seal of approval.

Source:
Apple agrees to $2.25 million settlement over iPad ’4G’ advertising in Australia | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence

 

[5er driver]

So who gets the money? Certainly not the consumers who were duped into purchasing the iPad thinking they could access 4G networks in their countries. :/

Sent from my iPhone 4S or iPad 3rd gen, whichever I happened to have in my hands at the time, using iPF.net

 

[dhewson777]

So who gets the money? Certainly not the consumers who were duped into purchasing the iPad thinking they could access 4G networks in their countries. :/

Sent from my iPhone 4S or iPad 3rd gen, whichever I happened to have in my hands at the time, using iPF.net

The ACCC keep the fine. Any consumers who felt misled by the advertising were able to return their iPads for a full refund.

To be fair, the only people who were "duped" were those who did not do their homework. It was common knowledge to those frequenting forums and even many news outlets here that the new iPad would not work on Australia's only 4g network, in fact, many users report that the 4G model ran at faster speeds on the existing 3G networks than the iPad 2. Most people were informed at the point of sale as well, I believe.

 

[5er driver]

To be fair? Fair to whom? Let's be real. We were all once first-time Apple consumers. And I would venture to say that 95% of first-time Apple product purchasers did not follow forums about Apple products and turned to them only after they have run into issues. Such as finding out that their 4G hardware doesn't work in their countries. And then found out there is no Flash on iDevices. And then found out you really don't sync, you overwrite. And then found out iCloud doesn't store everything. And, and, and.....and then, welcome to the forum. You and I, and the regulars on this and other forums, are the exceptions. Sad to say, the majority of consumers will always get lost in the Applespeak. It's not really fair to say "they should have done their homework". As Apple geeks, we did, but a first-time consumer is not an Apple geek.

Sent from my iPhone 4S or iPad 3rd gen, whichever I happened to have in my hands at the time, using iPF.net

 

[dhewson777]

You have fair points Driver. I guess in the end, the word "duped" has a connotation of purposely being misled, and I don't think Apple did it on purpose, but are certainly guilty of not being 100% clear on the matter in the general marketplace and guilty of that common Americanism of not looking outside of the US market and adapting to regional variances.

 

[Kaykaykay]

You have fair points Driver. I guess in the end, the word "duped" has a connotation of purposely being misled, and I don't think Apple did it on purpose, but are certainly guilty of not being 100% clear on the matter in the general marketplace and guilty of that common Americanism of not looking outside of the US market and adapting to regional variances.

Plus any company that does business in another county is responsible for following that country's laws.